Each Monday, our digital team takes a look at last week’s top stories on LancasterOnline.
We look at news, sports, business, life, culture and local history.
Here are the most-read stories between Monday, June 24, and Sunday, June 30.
1. 2 Lancaster County smorgasbords voted No. 1 and No. 3 buffet restaurants in US
Two well-known Lancaster County eateries have been voted No. 1 and No. 3 among the top 10 buffet restaurants in the United States by the readers of USA Today's 10Best — a food, travel and lifestyle site.
On Wednesday, June 26, the USA Today 10Best site reported Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl was named the top buffet restaurant in the country in its Readers' Choice contest, while Miller's Smorgasbord in Ronks earned the No. 3 spot.
Shady Maple rose from the No. 4 spot in the 2023 edition of the 10Best buffet contest last year to the top of the leaderboard for 2024. Miller's held its No. 3 spot from last year.
The 20 nominees in each USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice category are chosen by panels of experts. Then, readers vote for the top-10 winners in each category.
MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff Writer2. 2 behavioral health company execs died by suicide; questions remain for facility in Ephrata
A second top executive of a company that failed to pay employees last week and abruptly shut down several locations this week has killed himself.
The suicides punctuate uncertainty for countless Retreat Behavioral Health workers who provide addiction and mental health treatment in Lancaster County and across several states. And it appears that there will be no prompt answers.
Chief Administrative Officer Scott Korogodsky, who took up leadership of Retreat Behavioral Health after the Friday suicide of CEO and founder Peter Schorr, killed himself Wednesday in Palm Beach County, where he has a home, local police report.
Schorr also killed himself in Palm Beach County, at his home in Delray Beach, according to a local police and fire spokesperson.
A Lancaster County judge appointed a temporary receiver to oversee the company that runs Retreat Behavioral Health operations in Pennsylvania.
3. 9-year-old Amish girl dies after horse drags her down Salisbury Township road
A 9-year-old Amish girl died after a horse pulled her down a road in Salisbury Township on Tuesday morning, according to the Lancaster County coroner.
Emergency crews responded to the 100 block of Snake Lane around 10:30 a.m. for someone in need of medical assistance, according to a Lancaster County-Wide Communications dispatcher.
The girl was on foot leading the horse when something spooked the animal, and it pulled her down the road, Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said. The coroner's office said Wednesday that the girl had been caught in the horse's reins.
The coroner’s office pronounced the girl dead at Lancaster General Hospital, and he is withholding her name until he can notify her next of kin. Her cause of death was determined to be multiple traumatic injuries, and her death was ruled an accident.
![Coroner identifies 9-year-old Amish girl who died after being pulled by a horse in Salisbury Twp. [update]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/26/a2649be8-404d-11e5-ae8c-cf13da0a9045/55ca2f7c8f127.image.jpg?resize=570%2C400)
4. Fourth of July fireworks 2024: Where to see 13 fireworks events in Lancaster County
From Ephrata to Elizabethtown to Quarryville, there are plenty of Fourth of July firework events to enjoy in every region of Lancaster County.
This year, July 4 lands on a Thursday, meaning many municipalities are celebrating the weekend before, the week of and the weekend after Independence Day.
New to the county this year is a fireworks display at the Barn at Paradise Station in Ronks and a collaborative Fourth of July celebration between Columbia and Wrightsville, York County.
5. York man sentenced to probation, must pay $1.02M for destroying Enola Low Grade Trail bridge
Maxxwell Ray Redman Jr. didn’t have a father figure for the first seven years of his life.
Nearly two decades later, Redman, 24, pleaded for Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker to spare his two children of that very fate.
“They’re my everything,” Redman told Reinaker on Monday. “I’m scared of going to jail, but I’m more terrified of my children not knowing me.”
Redman was appearing before Reinaker to be sentenced for the fire he set to a bridge on the Enola Low Grade Trail, which destroyed the bridge and cost nearly $3 million to rebuild.
Reinaker did spare Redman jail time. He sentenced Redman, of York, to 14 years of probation for causing catastrophe, arson and four related charges. He must also pay $1.02 million in restitution and complete 250 hours of community service.
