The news is breaking that Justo Smoker, charged with kidnapping Linda Stoltzfoos, has now been charged with killing her: State police on Monday charged Justo Smoker — already facing a trial related to the kidnapping of Amish teen Linda Stoltzfoos — directly with the June death of the Lancaster woman, according to an arrest warrant. Police cited numerous sources of evidence, including witness accounts, DNA…
On Saturday I visited the Union Grove Amish settlement, one of two in North Carolina. This was a quick one as I was on the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway on a trip with my brother. We stopped in at the big attraction in the community, the Amish-owned Shiloh General Store. That was followed up by a stop at Wholesome Country Creamery just down…
A reader brought the following to my attention and I wanted to pass it along to you. I hate to be covering so many accidents involving our Amish neighbors lately, but that just seems to be the unfortunate case right now. This was not a buggy accident, but a car accident due to which Amish Kitchen columnist Lovina Eicher’s son-in-law, and his driver, lost their…
Some more details have emerged following yesterday’s fatal buggy-truck accident in southern Lancaster County. First is that there are now just three fatalities being reported, contrary to the initial report of four: “Police initially said four people were killed, but later said the ‘initial release of information regarding the number of fatalities was incorrect.’” There were seven minors in the buggy which was hit yesterday…
I remember when I started noticing the barn stars. It would have been around 2009 or 2010. This was in Holmes County. When you haven’t been to a place for a few years, it is easier to notice the changes. And for me it had been several years in between trips to this community. It struck me because in my previous extended visit of several…
Yesterday evening, helped by my mother and brother, I enjoyed the “Down Home” gift basket, which arrived from Goot Essa last week. The basket came well-packed with insulation on all six sides, and four cooling packs. It also came with two cards. One has a photo of the cheese shop. On the reverse side it tells the Goot Essa story: The other card offered four…
Some terrible news out of Lancaster County this morning: A crash between a horse and buggy and a dump truck killed four people and injured four others Monday morning, Pennsylvania state police said. The crash happened about 6 miles south of Quarryville, in Lancaster County, shortly before 8 a.m., according to state police Trooper Kelly Osborne. Images in the video below show the destroyed buggy,…
Here’s Elam Stoltzfus with part 2 of 4 of his Rediscovering the Ausbund series, originally published in Plain Values magazine. If you missed part 1, find that here. All photos here are by Elam. My father Elmer was an Ausbund song leader. When we met for church, he would lead the Amish congregation in song, starting slowly, rolling out the syllables written in German gothic script….
From Cleveland.com: COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio House on Tuesday passed a bill that would require flashing lights on the backs of Amish buggies, a move meant to cut down on dangerous crashes. House Bill 501 is now headed to the Ohio Senate for approval after clearing the House with a 74-10 vote. It would toughen existing law that requires animal-drawn vehicles to have two…
From the Spooner, Wisconsin Advocate: Five children were injured when an allegedly drunk driver crashed into their horse and buggy on Monday afternoon, Dec. 7. The accident occurred on Cty. Hwy. M near Church Road, west of Birchwood. The horse and buggy was northbound on Hwy. M and was rear ended by a pick-up truck. All five children were injured, and two of them were…