I want to get caught up on some of the Amish in the News that has accumulated over the weekend. Â Today's news has a definite theme to it in terms of the Amish and public safety. Â Let's start out with what has turned out to be an ugly story out of Upstate New York. Â A non-Amish couple abducted two Amish girls from a farm-stand and then, prosecutors say, sexually abused them before they escaped. Â That's the heart-breaking part. I am so thrilled they were found and are alive and reunited with their family, but, what a sleazy "couple" who orchestrated the abduction. Â On the other end of the spectrum is the Amish family who are, in typical Amish fashion, expressing a spirit of forgiveness.
ABC NEWS: Â Amish father feels sorry for abductors.
New York Daily News: Â new charges planned against couple, prosecutors say they abused girls before releasing.
Syracuse Post-Standard: Â Woman who helped abduct Amish grils studied "rape psychology" in college.
FARM-STAND SAFETY:  And, on a related issue, I have stopped at more rural Amish-run farm-stands and baked goodie tables over the years than I care to count. Often there are only a couple of young Amish girls sitting there collecting money and helping customers.  I have to admit that their vulnerability to a crime never crossed my mind until the abduction in New York.  Now it is on the minds of a lot of Amish farm-stands operators. Click here to read how Amish roadside farmstand operators in Lancaster County were reacting to the news of the New York abduction.
CAPTION: an Indiana State police office conducts a school safety seminar in northern Indiana this week before the start of school.
AMISH SCHOOL SAFETY: Â And, continuing with our theme, Â it's sad that Amish schools (or any schools for that matter) have to concern themselves with crazed gunmen. Â But Amish schools, as was tragically driven home by the Nickel Mines tragedy years ago, are not immune from the violence-soaked culture of the rest of America. Â But Amish schools remain vulnerable without the school resource officers, picture IDs, and cameras that are in other schools, public and parochial. Â So an Indiana State Police officer decided to offer a safety seminar to Amish school administrators in northern Indiana. Â Excellent idea, sounds like he was very respectful in his approach and was well-received! Â Click here to read more.
 MENNONITE FURNITURE:  And, on a lighter note, read about Mennonites who are now settling in the Two Rivers area of eastern Wisconsin and starting some thriving businesses.
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