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Amish Controversies

Judge Discusses Prison For Amish After New Citations; Letter from Amishman Harvey Hostetler
ByErik Wesner November 10, 2022December 3, 2022
3 Comments

Nine more Amish people in Ashland County, including two women, have been cited following citations for violating Ohio’s new flashing buggy light law. The nine pleaded “no contest” on Tuesday. Prison is already being discussed. From ashlandsource.com: Judge Good said he understands the argument. But he had a question for Mahlon J. Swartzentruber, who confirmed to Good on Tuesday that he is a leader within…

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Amish Food

Five Amish Desserts Not To Miss (…And 2 To SKIP)
ByErik Wesner November 8, 2022December 8, 2024
12 Comments

I run through my five favorite Amish sweet treats in this post. I am calling them “desserts” in the post title, but I guess one or two of them might not be technically desserts, though it’s arguable 🙂 I also share two that I’m not so fond of. What are your favorite Amish desserts, baked goods, sweet treats? Let us know in the comments….

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Amish Life

Men Point Pistol At Amish Girl; Now Sought By Police (Northwest PA)
ByErik Wesner November 8, 2022December 3, 2022

Disturbing story from Northwest Pennsylvania. Based on the description of where it happened, I would guess this is the Spartansburg community in Crawford County. This report is from the Meadville Tribune: ROME TOWNSHIP — Pennsylvania State Police at Corry want the public’s help in finding two men involved in pointing a pistol at a teenage girl last week. The incident took place along Fish Flats…

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Amish In The Media

Q & A with Amish Artist Christy Otto (Book Giveaway)
ByErik Wesner November 4, 2022March 8, 2023
115 Comments

Christy Otto is an Amishman living in the LaGrange-Elkhart County settlement in northern Indiana. He is known for his artwork. Being an artist and Amish is not the most common combination, but there are more and more people who can describe themselves that way. Christy has become quite well-known in Amish circles for his drawings and paintings. David Arment, who helped put this Q&A together,…

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Amish Controversies

Amish in Other Ohio Counties Also Rejecting Buggy Light Law. What About a Re-do?
ByErik Wesner November 2, 2022November 10, 2022
5 Comments

Two weeks ago we learned of the first group of Amish cited for not adhering to the new Ohio buggy light law. And now, a second unsurprising report from another part of the state. Amish in two other Ohio counties have been cited for failure to comply with the law: ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A new law requiring Amish buggies and other animal-drawn vehicles to be…

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Amish Life

Part 2: On-Camera Interview with Amishman Joseph Yoder
ByErik Wesner November 1, 2022November 10, 2022
8 Comments

Joseph Yoder is an Amishman in the Arthur, Illinois community. He recently did an on-camera interview for news channel WCIA. This is the second part, you’ll find part 1 here if you missed it. In this segment, Joseph talks about getting into the furniture business and challenges the community faces with technology. He explains how it came about that he was able to begin carrying…

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Amish Life

Amish Benefit Dinner: How much food is needed?
ByErik Wesner October 28, 2022October 28, 2022
2 Comments

Lovina Eicher (who last month commemorated 20 years of writing columns) answers this question in a recent Amish Kitchen column. Lovina has covered this big meal logistics topic before. I like these columns because they quantify just how much goes into these larger meals and events like weddings and benefits. The occasion here was a grilled chicken and pulled pork benefit dinner for Lovina’s daughter…

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Amish Life

On-Camera Interview with Amishman Joseph Yoder (Part 1)
ByErik Wesner October 27, 2022November 10, 2022
6 Comments

Joseph Yoder is an Amishman who works in the furniture industry in the community at Arthur, Illinois. Local news station WCIA had the chance to do an on-camera interview with Joseph. They’ve released it in two parts. Joseph of course had to consent to do the interview on camera. Not too typical, but it sounds like he might wish to further public education about his people…

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Amish In The Media

“Facebook on Paper”: A Closer Look at The Budget Newspaper
ByErik Wesner October 24, 2022October 24, 2022
6 Comments

The Budget, published in Sugarcreek, Ohio since 1890, is a correspondence paper popular in Amish and Mennonite communities. This is one of the best articles I’ve seen on the paper, a fairly deep dive into how the Budget gets made, who reads it, what it covers, and more, by Sophie LeMay of thereportingproject.org. The intro: SUGARCREEK, Ohio – Of all print newspapers in the U.S.,…

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Amish Controversies

As Expected: Amish Cited For Buggy Light Violations, Refuse To Pay Fines
ByErik Wesner October 20, 2022January 16, 2023
28 Comments

There’s nothing surprising about this. Well, maybe it is surprising to Representatives Scott Wiggam and Darrell Kick, creators of the new law requiring flashing lights on all horse-drawn vehicles in the state of Ohio. But if they had bothered to actually dig deep into this issue regarding the group it would predictably most effect (Swartzentruber Amish), it might not be so surprising. My suspicion is…

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