Authorities in Geauga County, Ohio are filing charges after breaking up a party of over 100 people. Via FOX8: GEAUGA (WJW) – The Fox 8 I-Team has learned the Geauga County Sheriff’s office arrested one, issued a summons for another, and charged two with underage drinking, following a large Amish party this weekend. Deputies were sent to a home on Bundysburg Road in Huntsburg Township…
An elderly Amish man with COVID-19 has died in LaGrange County, Indiana. This is the first Amish death associated with coronavirus that I have seen publicly confirmed. Like many of the disease’s victims, this man had other health conditions. From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: LaGrange County Commissioner Larry Miller said the county’s one death was an 80-year-old Amish man with underlying health conditions. He said…
This was reported last week, but with all the other stories going on I am just now getting to it. Dr. Holmes Morton is best known as the founder of the Clinic for Special Children in Lancaster County, treating children with genetic disorders, primarily from the Amish and Mennonite communities. Dr. Morton has since opened a new clinic in Belleville, PA, which is smack dab…
The Amish in Geauga County have been having issues following the state’s “stay-at-home” order – at least to the satisfaction of their neighbors. Now, health officials have gotten involved. First, Amish were reported for holding gatherings in violation of the state’s stay-at-home order. Non-Amish neighbors sent in photos allegedly showing Amish breaking the order’s rules. Health inspectors are now filing a notice of violation against…
The Amish community at Seymour, Iowa has gotten criticism for a large horse auction held on April 2nd. Close to 500 attendees from seven states came to a trotting horse sale. The event was legally permitted at the time, as reported April 2nd by KTVO: According to the state’s current COVID-19 guidelines, Gingerich was well within his legal rights to host the sale. Livestock auctions…
People living in the Geauga County Amish community area have contacted Cleveland’s FOX8 news channel with reports of Amish “gathering for church and parties,” presumably violating the state’s stay-at-home order. Ohio’s stay-at-home order, prohibiting gatherings above 10 people, was issued March 22, to last from March 23 to April 6. Last week it was extended to last until May 1. Several have sent in photos of…
An update to the story of last week on Amish producing 13,000 homemade masks for medical institutions. The news today is the Amish and others involved are scaling up their production to reach more recipient organizations. From Lancaster Online: At first, the goal was to sew 13,000 masks for health providers and patients at Lancaster Health Center to protect against COVID-19. Now, Sylvan Stoltzfus and…
Iowa has been getting attention as one of the states not officially ordering schools closed during coronavirus. The governor limited it to a recommendation that they close for four weeks, issued mid-March. Here is an article describing it as a “recommendation,” and here is the governor’s own two-minute video statement doing the same. But things have apparently changed in the past several days. Bear with…
This is one of the few negative stories I’ve seen so far, concerning relations between English and Amish people during the ongoing coronavirus situation. Non-Amish neighbors have complained after an Amish household held a large wedding yesterday in a southern Michigan community. This happened in California Township in Branch County. As you’d expect for an Amish wedding, hundreds of people attended: CALIFORNIA TOWNSHIP, MI (WTVB)…
Wednesday doughnuts have been canceled for now. But the Community Market in the Amish community at Unity, Maine remains open. Bangor Daily News visited owner Lewis Brenneman’s store to give us a look at how the Amish market is operating during this time of coronavirus. Traffic to the store is down, Brenneman says, but sales have remained steady – probably due to people stocking up…