Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Author: Lacey Latch

  • Asianfresh Food Market is expanding from Chinatown to Cherry Hill

    Asianfresh Food Market is expanding from Chinatown to Cherry Hill

    Chinatown’s popular Asianfresh Food Market is bringing its fresh produce, seafood, and hard-to-find Asian imports to Cherry Hill.

    The specialty market is preparing to open its second location at 2005 Route 70 East, less than two miles away from the newly renovated H Mart.

    Like its two-story flagship on 10th Street between Race and Cherry Streets in Philadelphia, the new store will be stocked with specialty products and seasonal items imported from across Asia.

    Asianfresh Food Market will be holding a grand opening for the new store on Sept. 12 at 11 a.m., said spokesperson Karen Louie. The details for the event are still being finalized, Louie said, but they are planning to have giveaways, contests, and more to celebrate the store’s opening.

    Throughout the summer, the grocer has been posting periodic updates on social media showing stocked shelves and full seafood tanks as they prepare for visitors.

    By late last week, the exterior Asianfresh sign was up on the building and rows of branded shopping carts were lined up and waiting for shoppers. A flier indicating that the store is hiring for all departments was taped to the front doors, the view inside blocked by brown construction paper.

    Shopping carts are lined up outside of Asianfresh Food Market’s new location in Cherry Hill on Aug. 28, 2026.Lacey Latch

    The Asianfresh expansion comes not long after the Korean grocery store H Mart reopened in June following extensive upgrades, including a new food court, bakery, and beauty shop.

    The efforts by both international grocery stores to enhance their offerings in South Jersey reflects the growing demand for these products in the area and nationwide.

    The number of Asian residents in Cherry Hill Township grew by 32% between 2014 and 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

    The township’s population was in line with national trends as Asian Americans remain the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S.

    The openings also come at a time when Asian grocery staples like ghee, miso, chili oils, and more are becoming increasingly popular with non-Asian shoppers.

    Sales from the “Asian/ethnic aisle” commonly found in American grocery stores jumped almost four times more than overall sales between April 2023 and April 2024, according to the New York Times, citing data from market research company Circana.

  • South Jersey destination for Czech delicacies is moving to Haddonfield

    South Jersey destination for Czech delicacies is moving to Haddonfield

    Four Green Cats Cafe, which has brought authentic European flavors to Mount Laurel for the last seven years, is about to get a bigger home.

    Started as a farmers market stand in 2019, the Rancocas Woods café, whose owners have Czech Republic roots, has become a destination both for South Jersey locals and within the broader Czech diaspora.

    Now, with the building’s lease expiring at the end of the year and business that owner Nadia Vasa says has been more popular than ever, she’s soon planning to move her offerings of handmade Czech delicacies to a new, larger location in Haddonfield.

    Mila and Nadia Vasa posed for a portrait outside of Four Green Cats Cafe on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Mount Laurel. Nadia is moving the cafe to a larger location in Camden County.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    “To continue to provide the customers authentic food and entertainment, we need a bigger space,” Nadia Vasa said in Czech, translated by her husband and business partner, Mila Vasa.

    The new spot at 18 Tanner St., the former home of Sang Tong Thai, has both a larger kitchen and dining area to provide enough space to expand their menu and to continue to host musical performances, comedians, and other live events.

    The expanded menu will undoubtedly include the staples that Four Green Cats has become known for: Bohemian doughnuts, traditional kolaches, apple strudel, babka — all handmade with flour imported from Europe.

    Chimney cakes on display at Four Green Cats Cafe. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Soon to be equipped with a full-service kitchen, the Vasas hope to add new breakfast and lunch offerings in addition to Nadia’s traditional Sunday night dinners.

    Once complete, Nadia envisions the new location as embodying the character of classic European cafés of the past that could have been found on street corners from Vienna to Paris.

    The Vasas are aiming to open the new location sometime in September and will run both locations concurrently until their Rancocas Woods lease expires, they said.

    And while they never wanted to leave Mount Laurel, they hope that the community they’ve built over the years will make the move with them.

    The exterior of Four Green Cats Cafe on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Rancocas Woods in Mount Laurel. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    “We’re hoping some of our customers follow us,” Mila said, but he knows that they’ll inevitably lose some of their regulars, especially those who currently live close enough to walk to the café.

    More than just a coffee shop and bakery, Nadia sees Four Green Cats as a window into the world that raised her.

    Owner Nadia Vasa holds a plate of Czech sandwiches at Four Green Cats Cafe. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    She makes every decision thoughtfully and with cultural authenticity at the forefront, from using her great-grandmother’s recipes to decorating the walls with her grandfather’s art, she said.

    “It’s culture that no one gets here unless you fly home,” Mila said.

    The interior of Four Green Cats Cafe. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Customers have traveled from across the country to get a taste of their European roots without having to cross the Atlantic, Mila said.

    Over the years, the business has also developed a relationship with the Czech embassy in Washington, he said, which will routinely send traveling musicians and artists to Four Green Cats to experience a taste of the Czech Republic.

    The interior of Four Green Cats Cafe on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026 in Mount Laurel. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    More than once, he said proudly, traveling Czechs have raved that Nadia’s food is better than what they have at home.

    “Now, she has the room to do what she wants to do,” Mila said.

  • Body of Delran woman who helped rescue drowning girl found in Delaware River

    Body of Delran woman who helped rescue drowning girl found in Delaware River

    The body of a 33-year-old woman who disappeared in the Delaware River after she rescued a struggling swimmer on Monday afternoon has been recovered, the Delran Township Police Department said Tuesday.

    Search crews located the body of Priscila Alvares Pereira Dos Santos about 20 feet off a beach at Amico Island Park in Riverside shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday, Delran police said, roughly 16 hours after she was last seen in the water.

    Alvares Pereira Dos Santos reportedly drowned after saving a girl who was struggling in the river around 4 p.m. on Monday, according to officials.

    She was able to push the girl toward bystanders on the shore before she vanished under the surface, they said.

    The girl she saved has not been publicly identified and her condition is unknown.

    Amico Island Park was closed Tuesday as the investigation into the incident continued.

  • Residents can weigh in on $30M boardwalk-style trail under Route 130 and across Rancocas Creek in Burlington County

    Residents can weigh in on $30M boardwalk-style trail under Route 130 and across Rancocas Creek in Burlington County

    Burlington County is in the early phases of designing a new $30 million extension of the Rancocas Creek Greenway Trail that would cross Route 130 and Rancocas Creek.

    The preliminary plan is to build a boardwalk-style path along the southbound Route 130 embankment and underneath the highway that will connect to a new bridge across Rancocas Creek, officials announced Monday.

    Likely years away from completion, the project would extend the trail system from Pennington Park in Delanco to separate connections in Willingboro Lakes Park in Willingboro and Rainbow Meadow Park in Delran.

    The first segment of the Rancocas Creek Greenway Trail, a four-mile stretch between Amico Island Park in Delran and Pennington Park, opened in 2022.

    The new trail will put the county one step closer to achieving its goal of building a path along the 30-mile stretch of Rancocas Creek from the Delaware River to its source in Pemberton Township.

    In a statement, Burlington County Commissioner Deputy Director Allison Eckel said the extension will “provide an important route for vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists to travel across the Rancocas Creek and Route 130, providing a long-sought safe connection for both sides of the highway.”

    While the project is still in its preliminary phase, the community can weigh in on it during a virtual public information session on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

    The project is expected to cost around $30 million and will be paid for mostly by federal funding, according to the county.

    The Delaware Valley Planning Commission has already approved more than half a million dollars for planning and design on the trail extension.

    The commission also took the first steps to obtain federal funding for the remainder of the project through the New Jersey Transportation Improvement Program, the county said.

    With the project still in the Local Concept Development phase, it is too early to nail down a detailed timeline, county spokesperson David Levinsky said in an email.

    “The county anticipates finishing that portion of the planning and design later this fall,” he said, before it pursues funding for preliminary and final engineering for the project.

    “Construction would come after those steps,” Levinsky said, which is still “several years” away.

    He expects a timeline could come once the design phase is completed.

    According to New Jersey Department of Transportation data, there were 111 crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists along Route 130 between 2019 and 2026, including 11 fatalities.

    “The deaths and injuries on Route 130 over the years are proof positive that more needs to be done to improve safety for all road users, especially pedestrians and cyclists,” State Sen. Troy Singleton (D., Burlington) said in a statement.

    Singleton cosponsored legislation in 2018 to reduce the speed limit on Route 130 and make other safety improvements along the highway within Burlington City. The law is named after Antwan Timbers Jr., a 17-year-old Burlington City High School student who was killed in 2016 after being hit by a car along a stretch of the roadway.

    “Infrastructure enhancements, like the one Burlington County is planning, will absolutely save lives and improve mobility through the Route 130 corridor,” Singleton said.

  • Voters will have the final say about lifting Collingswood’s liquor license ban

    Voters will have the final say about lifting Collingswood’s liquor license ban

    After years of scattered discussion and debate, the future of Collingswood’s long-standing status as a dry town is officially in the hands of voters.

    The Collingswood Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Wednesday to add the question to the borough’s general election ballot in November, just days ahead of the Aug. 21 deadline giving the Camden County Clerk’s Office enough time to put it on the ballot.

    The three-person board was required to adopt the resolution after residents submitted a petition in favor of adding the ballot question that was signed by at least 15% of borough voters who participated in the last general election.

    Of the more than 1,100 signatures submitted, the borough verified that 1,019 came from recent Collingswood voters, officials said Wednesday, just eight more than the number of valid signatures required to place the referendum in front of voters.

    The signatures were collected in a hurry over the last three weeks by Booze on the Ballot, a group of residents who, after years of what they viewed as unproductive back-and-forth on the issue among borough officials, got together to finally give voters the chance to settle the debate, organizer Joe Sperlunto said.

    Collingswood’s vibrant downtown needs a weekday evening boost, business owners say

    The bipartisan group did not explicitly take a position on the issue but rather emphasized this as an opportunity for residents to decide for themselves what they want for the future of their community.

    “We’ve just seen it kicked around a lot for a long time, and we just felt like it was time for the community to make a decision about it,” Sperlunto said.

    Petitioners equipped with clipboards and pens fanned out across town, collecting signatures wherever they could — among the crowds at the popular Saturday farmers market, in front of businesses along Haddon Avenue, and even knocking door to door, Sperlunto said.

    After the resolution was approved, Collingswood Mayor Daniela Solano-Ward noted that as Election Day approaches, there will be informational sessions for voters to learn more about the referendum as well as any others that may be on the ballot.

    “Just to give everyone the facts and the information,” Solano-Ward said.

    “You make your decisions as you wish, but we want to make sure that you have information from us as to what is real, what is not real,” she said. She added, for example, that BYOBs will still be permitted in the borough if liquor licenses are issued, contrary to a popular misconception.

    What could allowing liquor licenses mean for Collingswood?

    Repealing Collingswood’s liquor license ban would represent a historic shift for a borough that has prohibited alcohol sales by ordinance since the 19th century, linking back to its Quaker heritage.

    If the ban were lifted, the borough would have two options for how to award licenses, borough solicitor Caitlin Harney Norcia said during a commissioners meeting earlier this year.

    Collingswood could award licenses in a competitive bidding process, which could generate one-time revenue for Collingswood’s budget, she said, or the borough could enact an application and review process that includes annual fees and public presentations by prospective licensees.

    The number of liquor licenses permitted within the borough is limited by a state-mandated population-based cap. If voters decide to lift the ban, Collingswood could issue either a single distribution license for a liquor store or up to four retail consumption licenses that permit restaurants or bars to serve alcohol.

    Annual licensing and renewal fees could generate between $1,000 and $10,000 for the borough each year, Harney Norcia said.

    Proponents of lifting the longtime ban see liquor licenses as an opportunity to bolster Collingswood’s local restaurants while generating revenue for the borough.

    At the same time, borough administrator Cassandra Duffey previously told The Inquirer, some business owners are worried that existing Collingswood restaurants would be overlooked for licenses awarded through the public bidding process.

    If alcohol sales are ultimately permitted, Duffey said, the borough will work to not “disrupt the balance” of its established businesses.

    Just a few miles down the White Horse Pike, Haddon Heights is preparing to sell its first retail liquor license at a public auction next month after getting rid of its de facto ban on alcohol sales in 2024.

    The efforts in both towns appear to be in line with goals set forth in legislation signed in 2024 by then-Gov. Phil Murphy to increase the availability and affordability of liquor licenses statewide. The measure was touted as an unprecedented reform of New Jersey’s liquor laws, which have been criticized as being arcane and antiquated.

  • A former dump in Camden County will soon be home to energy-generating solar panels

    A former dump in Camden County will soon be home to energy-generating solar panels

    A former landfill in Voorhees Township will become the home of a new solar field aimed at expanding access to renewable energy and lowering utility bills for New Jersey residents.

    Once complete, the 13.5-acre community-scale solar array will join the more than 200 solar projects that make up the state’s Community Solar Energy Program.

    Started in 2019, the program allows households served by the state’s four major electricity providers — Public Service Electric & Gas, Jersey Central Power & Light, Atlantic City Electric, and Rockland Electric Co. — to subscribe to a participating solar facility to receive renewable energy credits on their bill without requiring that they install solar panels themselves.

    The program also mandates that a majority of the available renewable energy be set aside for low- and moderate-income households, who are less likely to be able to install their own systems, program manager Sawyer Morgan said in an email.

    There are now more than 51,000 households subscribed to the community solar program statewide, Morgan said, receiving over $18 million in net savings since the first projects came online in 2021.

    Most of the existing community solar projects are at capacity for participating households, he said, but the program anticipates over 100 additional solar projects to be completed and operational before the end of the year.

    While New Jersey is currently home to 209 community solar projects with a total capacity of 291 megawatts, Morgan said, an additional 392 projects that are in development or under construction will add 703 megawatts of capacity to the grid.

    “These projects are all on rooftops, canopies, landfills, contaminated sites, mining sites, and certain bodies of water as floating solar,” he said, including the solar project in Voorhees.

    The 35-acre landfill on Centennial Boulevard ceased operations in 1972, and the property was acquired by the township five years later. In the decades since, the land has remained largely untouched, unable to be developed because of its prior use.

    Now, solar panels are expected to cover about half the property, according to development plans approved by the Voorhees Township Planning Board last month. The exact configuration of the panels will be finalized before construction begins, the plans show.

    The developer, Voorhees Solar LLC, was not immediately available for comment about the construction schedule, overall cost, and other project details. The company is owned by the Pegasus Cos. Inc., a wireless and broadband service provider based in Bala Cynwyd, according to the application submitted to the township.

    “We can’t build a park or redevelop it with homes,” said Stephen Steglik, Voorhees Township administrator. “The only other option was keeping it empty and in its current state.”

    At least with the solar project, he said, the township can create savings for residents while also collecting nearly $900,000 in one-time land lease fees.

    The project will have the capacity to produce around four megawatts of energy when operating at full power, according to the project plans, enough to power up to 4,000 typical households.

    Of the energy is generated by the project, 51% is going to be dedicated to low- and moderate-income households, Steglik said.

    “While costs are going higher and higher, at the very least Voorhees Township is trying to take steps to maintain utility costs and at least try to save people a little bit of money,” he said.

  • Months-long Camden County bridge closure postponed until further notice

    Right as work was set to begin on the Collings Avenue Bridge, Camden County announced Wednesday that the $2.5 million repair project is postponed until further notice.

    The steel bridge over Newton Creek at the border of Gloucester and Camden cities will remain fully operational until a new project start date is determined, the county announced Wednesday.

    The county is still waiting on some New Jersey Department of Transportation permits that have yet to be issued, a county spokesperson said.

    A new start date for the project will be announced at a later time.

    The bridge was previously scheduled to close for about three months starting on Tuesday for the repair project. Traffic headed towards the bridge was to be diverted to I-676 via Broadway and Morgan Boulevard.

    The project includes replacing the concrete deck, sidewalks, and parapet, as well as refurbishing support beams and bearings.

    “These improvements to the Collings Avenue Bridge are essential to keeping our infrastructure safe and reliable,” Camden County Commissioner Al Dyer, liaison to the Department of Public Works, previously said in a statement. “We want to thank our residents for their patience during the next few months and recommend that they give themselves extra time in their commute while detours are in place.”

  • A judge has tossed Cherry Hill schools’ lawsuit against a journalist for filing too many public records requests

    A judge has tossed Cherry Hill schools’ lawsuit against a journalist for filing too many public records requests

    Freelance journalist Benjamin Shore will not have to stop filing public records requests in South Jersey after a judge dismissed Cherry Hill schools’ lawsuit alleging that his requests amounted to harassment.

    The Cherry Hill Board of Education filed a 128-page lawsuit in Superior Court in February claiming that the “numerous, repeated and vexatious” requests that Shore filed under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act qualified as harassment and “substantially interrupted” school operations.

    Shore operates the online outlet Shore Investigates, a news site focused on Cherry Hill. His brother Daniel was also named in the lawsuit.

    The suit sought to bar Shore and his outlet from submitting requests for public documents for one year. It also sought to shut down an online portal that Shore created where the public can file requests instead of using the district’s website.

    Journalist Ben Shore in front of the Cherry Hill Public Schools Board of Education headquarters in the Arthur Lewis Administration Building in Cherry Hill on Thursday April 2, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    “The Board tried to stop us from requesting records,” Benjamin Shore said in an email following the dismissal. “Instead, the case ended with its complaint dismissed with prejudice and its unsupported allegations rejected. Shore Investigates will continue following the records, asking difficult questions, and keeping the public informed.”

    Cherry Hill Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The school board’s lawsuit specifically referenced 18 OPRA requests that Shore had filed over the course of a year and a half, averaging out to roughly one request per month.

    The board claimed that as a result, district personnel, including the custodian of records, spent more than 100 hours reviewing and redacting documents and responding to Shore’s requests.

    Shore argued that the amount and frequency of his requests is in line with standard journalistic practice.

    Superior Court Judge Michael Mikulski agreed, dismissing the suit on July 31 and stating that the district had failed to provide evidence of Shore’s ill intent.

    Instead, the judge found that Shore actually displayed a “willingness to cooperate with the Board in making the requests less intrusive,” he wrote in the seven-page ruling.

    “The Court finds the Board has failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that Defendants filed their requests with the intent to disrupt agency operations,” the ruling concluded.

    Journalist Ben Shore in front of the Cherry Hill Public Schools Board of Education headquarters in the Arthur Lewis Administration Building in Cherry Hill on Thursday April 2, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Mikulski determined that the suit met the requirements to be dismissed under New Jersey’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, which is meant to shield people from baseless lawsuits meant to silence political speech or engagement.

    The law allows defendants to request an early, expedited dismissal of a lawsuit and to recover legal fees if the suit is ultimately tossed.

    While Shore succeeded in getting the case thrown out, he said it still had its intended effect.

    “The lawsuit nevertheless accomplished something before it was dismissed: it chilled our reporting. We paused records requests and held back stories because every new inquiry appeared to carry the threat of further litigation,” Shore said. “That is what it means to report with a target on your back.”

    New Jersey’s new open records laws

    The district’s lawsuit was possible thanks to a controversial June 2024 bill signed by then-Gov. Phil Murphy that overhauled the state’s existing public records laws.

    The new law enables governmental entities like the Cherry Hill Board of Education to sue someone seeking public information if they can prove the request amounts to harassment or substantially prevents them from doing their jobs.

    The new law also no longer guarantees that people who successfully overturn record request denials in court can recoup their legal fees.

    “We knew when they amended OPRA in 2024 to include this provision that it would sadly be weaponized to retaliate against people who seek public records,” Shore’s attorney, CJ Griffin, said in a statement. “But thankfully the trial court agreed this suit had no merit and that my clients were nothing but polite and had no intention of disrupting agency operations — they simply wanted government records to report on matters of public concern.”

    “No one should be hauled into court for filing public records requests, especially not reporters who keep us informed about the public business,” Griffin said.

  • Kepple’s Carpet Inc., a family-owned company in Camden County, has filed for bankruptcy

    Kepple’s Carpet Inc., a family-owned company in Camden County, has filed for bankruptcy

    Family-owned Kepple’s Carpet Inc., which has served the South Jersey region for more than 30 years, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

    The West Berlin-based company reported less than $50,000 in assets in its bankruptcy petition filed on July 22. The company could owe up to $500,000 in unsecured creditor claims, the filing shows.

    Some of Kepple’s largest outstanding debts include $138,000 across three financing firms, more than $60,000 in state taxes, and over $50,000 owed to Comcast Business, the filing shows.

    The company also owes its landlord $29,000 for their sprawling Cushman Avenue showroom featuring floor-to-ceiling carpet and flooring samples.

    Chapter 11 allows the company to continue operating under court supervision while it restructures its finances and develops a plan to repay the debt over time.

    Neither Kepple’s Carpet nor the company’s bankruptcy attorney returned multiple requests for comment. The large showroom was open for browsing Tuesday morning as signs indicated staff were away on a consultation.

    Kepple’s filing comes as the American flooring industry grapples with inflation and tariffs.

    About 70 independent flooring retailers closed their doors in 2025, industry publication Floor Focus reports.

    After tariffs were put in place early last year, prices of imported goods rose by about 6.2% relative to the levels predicted by pre-tariff trends, and domestic goods increased by 3.6% between March and October, according to research from the Harvard Business School Pricing Lab.

    The price of carpets and other floor coverings increased the most of any industry, data showed, with prices surging by as much as 54.6% for imports.

  • A civil complaint has been filed to unseat a jailed Willingboro council member

    A civil complaint has been filed to unseat a jailed Willingboro council member

    Though he’s currently behind bars at the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix, Willingboro Township council member Nathaniel Anderson has not resigned from his position on council.

    Now, prosecutors have filed a civil complaint in New Jersey Superior Court seeking to remove Anderson from office, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday.

    The action asks the court to declare that Anderson, who previously served as Willingboro’s mayor, has forfeited his ability to serve on the council.

    Anderson was reelected to a four-year council term last November before being convicted by a federal jury in January of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, bank fraud, and two counts of making a false statement on a mortgage application.

    He was sentenced in June to one year and one day in prison and ordered along with his co-defendant to pay about $221,000 in restitution to the victims.

    While state-level convictions trigger immediate, automatic removal from office upon a guilty verdict, prosecutors must petition the state Superior Court to remove an elected official who refuses to resign following a qualifying federal conviction.

    A hearing on the order to show cause is scheduled for Sept. 11.