Pennsylvania

Republicans seek votes among the Amish, who rarely cast them, in Pennsylvania

Published

1 year ago

October 28, 2024

Republicans seek votes among the Amish, who rarely cast them, in Pennsylvania

On its own, that cannot come close to flipping a state that went for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 by about 80,000 votes.

Of course, the Amish are hardly the only religious or ethnic constituency being courted by candidates. “In a context where every vote counts, every vote counts,” Nolt said. “But no, we’re not talking tens of thousands of Amish votes.”

Still, Smucker is optimistic about a larger turnout. He said Republican messages resonate with a changing Amish community.

“It was once more agrarian, but they’ve long ago run out of land in Lancaster County,” he said. Only a minority are still in farming, with many starting small businesses, where the Republican emphasis on limited regulation is appealing. Plus, he said, the Amish community perceives Republicans as more friendly to religious liberty and opposed to abortion.

He said Amish tell stories of how their forebears were more likely to vote in the 1950s during controversies about compulsory school policies, but the practice has decreased since then.

Wayne Wengerd, Ohio state director of the Amish Steering Committee, which navigates relations between Amish community leaders and government officials, recalls registration efforts as far back as the 1960s. Get-out-the-vote activists are “going to go after everyone and anyone they think they could possibly convince to vote for their party,” he said. “The Amish are no different.”

Amish theology keeps the church separate from government

But most Amish avoid voting in keeping with “two-kingdom” theology, which puts a stark separation between earthly government and the church with its focus on a heavenly kingdom. They see themselves “being citizens primarily in another kingdom,” Wengerd said.

But, he noted, some still vote. “The Amish are just like any other people,” he said. “Not everyone thinks the same.”

Rural Lancaster County has for generations voted Republican, Nolt said, and so it’s also not surprising that any Amish who do vote would be influenced by their neighbors’ preferences. Most Amish voters register as Republicans, he said. .

An ad in a Lancaster-area newspaper, attributed to an anonymous “Amishman” from Ohio, said refusing to vote would violate Scripture by failing to “stand against evil” while “every good thing our nation stands for is destroyed.” A voicemail message seeking comment, left with the phone number on the ad, wasn’t returned.

Nolt said that ad is appealing to a theology more similar to that of mainstream Reformed Protestantism, which says Christians have a duty both to God and country, than to traditional Amish two-kingdom theology.

“It’s very different than anything in historic Amish documents, which would have said responsibility of the church is to be the church,” he said.

Nolt said a letter being sent to Amish residents did call for voting Republican but didn’t appear aimed at the Amish in particular, citing such issues as immigration.

The widespread support for Trump among conservative Christians of many types has long perplexed observers, given his casino ventures, allegations of sexual assault and vulgar public statements.

Nolt, however, said that compared with the Amish’s separatist lifestyles, neither presidential candidate looks much like them — one reason most of them don’t vote. “Donald Trump’s life is very different from an Amish person’s life, but so is Kamala Harris’,” he said.

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Pennsylvania

Greencastle fire company gets unclaimed money from PA Treasury

Published

8 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

Greencastle fire company gets unclaimed money from PA Treasury

A Greencastle fire company received $16,000 in unclaimed funds from the Pennsylvania Treasury.
Pennsylvania currently holds about $5 billion in unclaimed property, with one in ten residents estimated to have a claim.
Unclaimed property can include uncashed checks, old bank accounts, and tangible items from abandoned safe deposit boxes.
Residents can search for and claim property online or through treasury outreach events.

An oversized check presented to Greencastle’s Rescue Hose Co. by Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity on Thursday, March 26, 2026, is a small representation of billions of dollars of unclaimed property her office wants to return to its owners.

The $16,000 was uncovered by Larry Booker, who works in regional outreach for the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, during an unclaimed property event hosted in Greencastle by state Rep. Chad Reichard, a Republican who represents part of Franklin County.

“Near the end of the event, Larry asked for the local municipalities and fire stations so he could look them up,” according to Josh Peters, Reichard’s district director.

When Reichard’s office called the Rescue Hose Co. with a message about the money, Bill Hull, president, recalled he quickly asked, “What do we have to do?”

Paperwork was completed, a regular check deposited in the general fund and the money will be used to pay bills, according to Tom Bricker, fire company treasurer.

Garrity, a Republican who took office in 2021, is running for governor of Pennsylvania this year. She stopped by the Rescue Hose Co. before attending the Franklin County Republican Committee’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner in the Marion Fire Hall.

What to know about unclaimed property

At the check presentation, Garrity took some time to talk about unclaimed property in Pennsylvania, some $5 billion, including $17.5 million in Franklin County.

One in 10 Pennsylvanians has unclaimed property, she said.

“It’s not the state’s money, it belongs to the hard-working people of Pennsylvania,” Garrity said. It also belongs to municipalities, organizations, fire companies and other groups. The total includes $17.5 million in Franklin County.

Antrim Township Administrator Chris Ardininger got some laughs at the presentation when he said his township recently claimed $67.

The money ends up in the state’s hands from a variety of sources, such as uncashed checks, closed bank accounts, rebates, old insurance policies, a misspelling or a wrong address.

There’s also tangible property from abandoned safe deposit boxes, police evidence lockers, nursing homes and college dorms. The list includes things as diverse as jewelry, fine china and guitars, according to Jake Sarwar, deputy press secretary.

Garrity is a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel and returning military medals – Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars and even a World War I Mothers and Widows Gold Star Pilgrimage Medal – to veterans and their families is very meaningful to her and her staff, Sarwar said.

How to claim unclaimed property

“We do whatever we can to help find the owners,” Sarwar said.

Treasury outreach representatives participated in about 1,300 events last year, Garrity said. They can help people search and file the paperwork to claim unclaimed property.

Anyone can look for money on their own by going to patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property or calling 800-222-2046.

The check really is in the mail

Money Match is a new way for the Pennsylvania Treasury Department to return unclaimed property. Supported unanimously by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Gov. Josh Shapiro, it went into effect last year.

When individuals with unclaimed property of $500 or less, who meet other criteria of the bill, are identified by the treasury, their money will automatically be sent to them.

“If you receive a letter from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department indicating that you have money coming thanks to Money Match, hold on to it. You should receive your check about 45 days later,” says the treasury department website.

The payout was $50 million in 2025. The first round of checks for this year – 100,000 totaling $23 million – was just sent out, according to a news release from the Treasury Deparment.

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania DEP accuses J&K Salvage of violating order, continuing to accept waste

Published

20 hours ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

Pennsylvania DEP accuses J&K Salvage of violating order, continuing to accept waste

YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection accused J&K Salvage of violating its administrative order to close the business, according to a new court filing.

During an inspection on March 23, a DEP inspector saw several vehicles enter and exit the salvage yard while hauling scrap metal, according to the petition.

The DEP said this is in violation of its March 17 administrative order that required the business to “cease accepting all solid wastes at the site.”

READ MORE | Pennsylvania DEP orders York County scrap yard to shut down, asks court to jail owner

In his report, inspector Kalen Boyer attached several photos of vehicles that he said brought additional scrap metal to the site.

A photo submitted by DEP inspector Kalen Boyer in his inspection report. He captioned the photo, “Roll off container on the back of the roll off truck entering the Site. Scrap metal is sticking above the sides of the container.”{ }

A photo submitted by DEP inspector Kalen Boyer in his inspection report. He captioned the photo, “Roll off truck entering the Site with roll off container containing scrap metal.”

A photo submitted by DEP inspector Kalen Boyer in his inspection report. He captioned the photo, “Tan pick up truck that entered the Site with the scrap metal desk leaving the Site empty.”

In the petition, the DEP is requesting a judge enforce its order against J&K Salvage. It also requests the owners to pay $100 per day for each day they fail to comply with the court order.

CBS 21 reached out to J&K Salvage for comment and has not immediately heard back.

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