Amish in the News: Tragedy in Indiana; Close Shave in Ohio; Illinois Angst, and More

By Kevin Williams

The Michigan City Pier on a calm day

Michigan City pier as captured by Peter Jangle on a rough surf day.

INDIANA DROWNING:  This story is a wrenching one.  A 24-year-old Amish man, about to be married, is swept off a pier in Indiana and drowns.  It was a gorgeous day and he was out taking photographs with his fiance and friends.  As I had just posted last week, in some Amish communities it is perfectly permissible for Amish people to own cameras for capturing scenery shots, etc.  These Amish were from the more progressive community near Shipshewana. The water in Lake Michigan even at this time of year is cold.  So the young man, probably got disoriented and chilled fast and was just overcome.  How sad.  Click here to read more.

OHIO SHOOTING:  This story shares eerie similarities to another one several years ago in the same area.  A young Oho Amish girl was killed when she was struck by a stray bullet.  Turned out someone accidentally discharged a gun while cleaning it and the bullet struck and killed an Amish teen over a mile away.  Last week a 17-yea-old Amish boy was struck in the head with a bullet while out plowing in rural Ohio, but, this time the result was better.  He survived and is back home. Read more here

ILLINOIS ANGST -  The Amish have been targeted with graffiti and vandalism near the town of Ava.  This is a very rural area in the far southern part of the state.  The Amish are relatively new to this area and sometimes there is a bit of a cultural clash when that happens.  Of course this could also be an "inter-Amish" dispute.  Either way, hopefully this situation will get resolved. Click here to read mor

STUNNING HUTTERITE PHOTOS:   The Daily Mail in the UK often goes all out when it comes to publishing photos with their stories and this Hutterite piece is no different.  The photos were captured by Canadian photojournalist Tim Smith and the images really are stunning and striking. The Hutterites are a very similar sect to the Amish, but they live communally and embrace more technology.  Click here to enjoy some of these spectacular photos.

MORE MILLIE: Illinois Amish writer, Millie Otto, waxes on windows and shares a recipe for baked, filled French toast. Yum. Click here to read her column.