Anthony Iovino, a lifelong resident of Williamstown, realized during the COVID-19 pandemic that Gloucester County needed a new playground.
His son, Finn, was diagnosed with autism at 2 years old, and with the world shut down, Iovino’s family quickly taught themselves how to support Finn from home.
“So then you learn that one of the most essential therapies for kids with special needs is play,” Iovino, 51, said. “And there really wasn’t a space for kids with special needs.”
Now Finn is 8, and an accessible playground named in his honor has finally opened to the public. It sits between the baseball fields and basketball courts off Church Street in Monroe Township, by Pfeiffer Community Center.
“I’m very happy that this park is done because, like, it’s a special memory I think I’m going to remember forever,” Finn said.
Lindsey Truong (rear) pushes her daughter Amelia, 3, on the swing in the newly opened Finn’s Friends Park in Williamstown Thursday, July 16, 2026. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The project to revamp an old T-ball field into an autism and mobility-friendly playground was a collaborative effort between Monroe Township and Finn’s Friends, an autism awareness nonprofit run by Iovino and founded in 2024.
Iovino, a local real estate broker and owner of Cocaboni’s Cafe in Williamstown, said he approached Monroe Township Council a few years ago about the project, and Monroe officials agreed right away.
Mayor Greg Wolfe said Monroe has some other parks with limited-accessibility features, but none to the scale of Finn’s Friends.
The new playground uses rubberized flooring rather than mulch to allow mobility aids, wheelchairs, and strollers to move smoothly, along with concrete pathways throughout. For children with sensory needs, the playground features musical equipment, canopies for shade, and lots of texture and color. Educational panels built into the playground teach kids sign language and Braille. The playground is fenced in, a first for Monroe, to keep children who tend to wander inside.
Arnold Patten III, 8, pushes his dad, Arnold Patten II, who is holding his little sister, Jaliyah, 2, in a swinging sled in the newly opened Finn’s Friends Park in Williamstown on Thursday, July 16, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
“I hope that everybody utilizes it,” Wolfe said. “I hope that it draws children from other communities who might not have access to a park like this.”
Most of the $1 million project was funded by a $750,000 state grant awarded in 2024 by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program. The rest of the money came from the township’s capital improvement fund budgeted for parks.
Jake’s Law, a 2018 state law supporting all-inclusive parks, made the grant possible. Jake’s Place, an accessible playground in Cherry Hill named after Jacob Cummings-Nasto of Voorhees, inspired the law. Cummings-Nasto, who enjoyed the playground despite his own physical limitations, died at 2 from a cardiac medical condition.
On Thursday morning, the humidity and air quality warnings didn’t stop about a dozen children from playing at Finn’s Friends Park. Lindsey Truong, 29, of Deptford, hung out with her family at the park for about a half hour after a visit to the local farmer’s market. She said her kids, Amelia, 3, and Tristan, 1, enjoyed the musical elements and the shade, and felt safe there as compared to other playgrounds in the region.
Teresa Casey, 65, of Williamstown, brought her four grandkids to the playground, too. Even though Casey lives down the street from Mary Mazza Duffy Memorial Park, she said she’s started bringing the kids to Finn’s Friends instead.
“We used to go there, but everybody comes here now, so there’s hardly any kids there to play with,” Casey said. “If there’s a playground around, we’ve hit it, but right now, this is their go-to spot.”
Teresa Casey thanks Anthony Iovino (right) and Kim Bidinger (center) with Finn’s Friends in the newly-opened Finn’s Friends Park in Williamstown on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
There is still work to do. Finn’s Friends is fundraising through sponsored golf outings and engraved brick sales to build an archway at the entrance, and the nonprofit is hoping to eventually add a pavilion and bathrooms by the playground. So far, Iovino said Finn’s Friends has raised about $50,000 for the park.
To maintain the park, Wolfe said the nonprofit is also raising money to go into a trust account through the township.
Other Jake’s Law-funded playgrounds already exist in South Jersey, but Wolfe said the park is a first for Gloucester County.
Washington Township received the same grant as Monroe in 2024 for an all-inclusive park project at Washington Lake Park, but that work is still in progress.
“Hopefully when they’re there, we can get over there and support them,” Iovino said. “The more the merrier.”
Good morning, South Jersey. Breathe easier today: The Canadian wildfire smoke has largely left the region. But poor-air-quality events may become more common.
Kenneth Houseknecht killed his 12-year-old Deptford neighbor, Kim Marie Anderson, in her bedroom in 1988. The gruesome case shocked South Jersey and devastated a community.
Houseknecht apologized publicly for the first time in a recent Gloucester County Superior Court hearing as he sought a reprieve from a life sentence.
The recording of his hearing sheds light on the murder, as well as the Andersons’ ongoing anguish.
“It’s just not fair that not just my family has to live in fear,” Kim’s father said about the possibility of Houseknecht’s release.
How do you honor a century of life and a lifetime of service?
If you’re a multi-war, multi-branch veteran like Stephen Anderson, you get a big party, heaps of praise, and letters from the governor, state legislators, and American Legion leaders.
The longtime Burlington County resident celebrated his 100th birthday last week in Cinnaminson, calling the surprise “amazing.”
Plus: Inspired by Anderson’s celebration, Inquirer photographer Tom Gralish reflects on the changing meaning of birthday parties through the years in his latest Scene Through the Lens column.
What to know today
Sen. Andy Kim on Friday toured anti-hunger nonprofit Cathedral Kitchen in Camden and called President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal food assistance “devastating and cruel.”
A federal appeals court ruled that the state’s bans on assault firearms and magazines holding more than 10 rounds are unconstitutional, according to the Associated Press.
New Jersey Monitor reports that NJ Transit has approved a $3.5 billion budget, raising spending 11% over the prior year’s budget after facing financial headwinds.
Taylor Farms is recalling iceberg lettuce that had been shipped to retailers in New Jersey and 26 other states due to potential contamination of the cyclospora parasite, the New York Times reports.
The community is mourning Lawnside’s Ewart Rouse, who died at age 85 this month in Voorhees. The retired award-winning reporter and editor for The Inquirer previously covered South Jersey news.
A couple quietly collected rotten-smelling extraterrestrial material for scientists after a meteorite crashed into their Somerset County home two years ago. A study says it contains “alien world chemistry.”
Gloucester Township is debuting a new “fitness court,” a free outdoor gym for all ages, at Veterans Park, complete with an app explaining how to use the equipment.
🧠Trivia time
M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin was filmed in The Pine Barrens. What book was the film based off of?
A) The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
What does your community look like? What South Jersey memory would you like to share? Submit a photo and/or a brief description for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.
Nearly four decades after a 14-year-old boy killed his 12-year-old neighbor by stabbing her 95 times in one of South Jersey’s most infamous crimes, the killer spoke extensivelyfor the first time about that day, according to a newly released recording.
“I am truly sorry,” Kenneth Houseknecht, now 53, said of the events in April 1988, when he attacked Kim Marie Anderson as she was getting ready for school in her family’s home in Deptford.
“Years ago, when I first got incarcerated, I didn’t take responsibility at all for what had happened. I was going back and forth between no, it didn’t happen, this is a dream. It couldn’t have happened. It wasn’t me. All I can say is that I am sorry, not only to the Andersons, but to my family.”
Houseknecht’s comments came during an unusual May 28 hearing in Gloucester County Superior Court.
After serving 38 years, Houseknecht was seeking a reprieve from a life sentence under a 2022 New Jersey Supreme Court decision that declared mandatory minimum 30-year prison sentences without parole unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.
The ruling allows juveniles serving lengthy prison sentences to seek a review after 20 years of incarceration. Describing it as “the most gruesome homicide of my time,” Superior Court Judge Kevin T. Smith ultimately affirmed the original sentence, stating that Houseknecht continues to be a danger to the community.
No media was present during the nearly two-hour hearing. A succinct news release issued by the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed Smith’s ruling.
However, an audio recording of the proceeding, obtained through an open public records request, offers a compelling window into Houseknecht’s imprisonment since he was a student in junior high school, his family’s pledge of support for his potential release, and the continued anguish and anger of Anderson’s parents, Stephen and Esther.
In 1991, Houseknecht was sentenced to life in prison, meaning he would have to serve a minimum of 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.
If Smith ruled in Houseknecht’s favor, he could be released without relying on the discretion and supervision of a parole board.
Twelve-year-old Kim Anderson, seen in a painting in 2009.John Costello / Staff Photographer
The crime
In the early morning of April 19, 1988, Kim and another girl were expected for breakfast at a friend’s house across the street before all three girls boarded their bus for school. Esther Anderson would normally be home to see Kim and her brother, Stephen Jr., off to school, but because of an issue at the family’s catering business, she was already at work, assisting her husband.
Houseknecht was a friend of Stephen Jr., who left the house before his sister because his bus came earlier. Other than the family’s boxer, Bo, Kim was home alone.
It was supposed to be a simple robbery. Houseknecht owed money to an older friend for pornographic magazines. He didn’t expect anyone to be inside the Anderson home. He had with him a small knife he had stolen from the Ames department store.
Confronted by Kim, Houseknecht, who was 6 feet tall and weighed 200 pounds, attacked the 5-foot-3, 120-pound seventh grader. He stabbed her nearly 100 times. The ferocity of the assault was so intense that the tip of the knife broke twice, leaving pieces in her head. Houseknecht also beat her repeatedly with a French-style telephone.
One of Kim’s friends discovered her battered body lying on the floor just inside her bedroom, next to a blood-soaked Cabbage Patch doll.
Investigators immediately focused on Houseknecht as a suspect. While they were scouring the neighborhood for clues shortly after the murder, he approached them and made a bizarre revelation.
“You know my fingerprints are all over the house, even in Kim’s room,” he told them, according to sworn statements at the time.
Investigators also discovered a note on Houseknecht’s bed to the Andersons featuring sexually explicit drawings.
“This is your daughter’s killer. I hope you know I used gloves. The next one to get it is Mrs. Anderson,” the note read.
When a judge ordered Houseknecht tried as an adult, Houseknecht pounded furiously on the table, shouting, “Kill me, kill me,” and “I didn’t kill that girl purposely.”
A jury convicted him of murder following an emotionally charged trial that was moved from Gloucester County to Salem County because of extensive pretrial publicity.
Over the years, attorneys with the state’s Office of the Public Defender have exhausted most appeals to have his sentence reduced, contending, among other things, that Houseknecht’s lawyers provided ineffective counsel.
The May hearing before Smith appeared to be the best chance for Houseknecht to be released, barring any potential future parole board decision.
Kenneth HouseknechtState of New Jersey Department of Corrections
Houseknecht’s courtroom appearance
Dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, Houseknecht stood for most of the 17 minutes he addressed the court, trying to convince the judge that after being in prison since he was a teenager, he was ready to reenter society. At one point, he became emotional and told Smith he would be more comfortable sitting down.
“It was a robbery that turned tragic,” Houseknecht read from notes. “I had forgotten about somebody being there. I hated that. I hate it today. I fully understand the pain that I caused the Andersons, especially Kim. I know their family can’t be whole.”
He said he regretted writing the note threatening Esther Anderson, describing it as a “stupid attempt to avert attention” from what he had done.
He noted that he had since earned his GED certificate, taken college-level courses, and was a model prisoner who helped tutor other inmates.
“I’ll just end it here with this,” Houseknecht said. “What you see, what you read about me, all that I’ve learned is genuine. I do want to give you my word that I will continue to be the same way on the streets.”
Houseknecht’s sister, Katrina Andreen, testified on her brother’s behalf via Zoom. An actress who goes by the name Katrina Law, she appears on the show NCIS.
“It took many years for him and us to figure out why he did what he did, and then even more years to address it properly, which Ken has done,” she read from a statement. At the time of the murder, she was 11 years old and went by the name Joyce Houseknecht.
A former Miss New Jersey Teen USA pageant winner, Andreen said, “Ken does not shy away from taking full responsibility for his past mistakes and actions. Ken has had almost four decades in prison to think about and reflect on what he did as a troubled 14-year-old, and now, as a grown man, he takes full responsibility and is truly sorry.”
She said her family was prepared to help her brother transition to a life beyond prison.
“Our family will be there for Ken every step of the way, offering moral support, encouragement and most importantly, love,” she said. “I look forward to our family being whole again. I ask that we please believe in forgiveness. I ask that we please believe in rehabilitation. I ask that we please believe in second chances, and I ask that we believe in my brother.”
The Andersons respond ‘it’s just not fair’
Stephen and Esther Anderson, in 2009, in their Mount Laurel home as they prepare to move. Portraits of their slain 12-year-old daughter, Kim who was murdered 21 years ago hang on the walls of the dinning room and den.John Costello / Staff Photographer
Over the decades, Stephen Anderson, now 76, has attended numerous court proceedings in support of justice for his daughter. When it was his turn to speak, he chose not to read from a statement. Instead, he spoke extemporaneously about how his family’s life was forever upended on that April morning in 1988.
He described Houseknecht as a monster who is “not even human to do what he did.” He explained that his wife was not with him in court because she remains fearful of Houseknecht because of the threatening note found on his bed after he killed Kim.
He was extremely skeptical of Houseknecht’s profession of remorse, calling it a lie.
“It took him all these years to become remorse, the doctor said he wasn’t, and now all of a sudden he has it because his lawyers are telling him to say it,” Anderson said.
He said not only is his family fearful of Houseknecht’s release, but the community who remembers the crime is also frightened of the possibility.
“It’s just not fair that not just my family has to live in fear,” he said. “There are a lot of people still living in Gloucester County, and they are going to be fearful of what they have to face when he gets out.”
He asked the judge to “see it the right way” and keep Houseknecht behind bars.
“We’re not gun people, but we’re going to apply for gun permits because we’re scared,” he said.
Assistant County Prosecutor Michael Mellon argued that the original sentence remains intact. He cited expert opinions that found Houseknecht had failed to accept the reality of what occurred and his role in it.
He also reminded the court that Kim Anderson never got to experience high school, college, relationships, or a career.
“Regardless of the outcome here today, no one that can hear my voice should forget Kim Anderson,” he said. “No one in this room, no one that reads this transcript, because Kim matters today, she matters tomorrow, and she matters always.”
The judge’s ruling: ‘The deep-down demon that brought about this crime’
Before sharing his opinion, Smith pointed out that while the hearing focused on Houseknecht’s future, Kim would be 51 today if not for that fateful encounter with her neighbor when both were young.
“We don’t know whether she would be the first woman president,” Smith said. “We don’t know whether she would give birth to the next man on the moon. We don’t know what 12-year-old Kim would have to offer, as 20-year-old Kim, 35-year-old Kim, or 50-year-old Kim. We don’t know that, so we can’t lose sight of the absence of this particular person in this equation.”
He acknowledged Houseknecht’s positive experiences while in prison and his efforts to better himself, saying he has not “gotten into the unproductive behavior of many of his fellow inmates of just playing cards all day.”
But he sided with prosecution experts who believe Houseknecht still poses a risk of violence. Smith also noted that an expert had suggested there was a sexual component to the crime, though that was never addressed at trial.
In affirming the original sentence, Smith said to reduce it and allow Houseknecht to be freed with no supervision, would be derelict on his part.
Despite having spent decades in prison and his efforts to improve himself, Houseknecht, Smith said, has never addressed the fundamental issues and “the deep-down demon that brought about this crime.”
Houseknecht remains in custody at the South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton. When he first became eligible for parole in 2018, he refused to cooperate with the hearing process and a hearing was not scheduled.
Nicole Swiderski, a spokesperson for the New Jersey State Parole Board, said in an email that Houseknecht’s status has not changed.
Thousands of New Jersey employers will have to provide protected family leave beginning this past Friday under an expansion of the state’s family leave law signed by then-Gov. Phil Murphy shortly before he left office in January.
The change expands the number of companies that must comply with the New Jersey Family Leave Act and decreases the amount of time it takes for an employee to become eligible for the law’s job protections.
The law gives workers who take family leave the right to return to their same job, or one with the same pay, benefits, seniority, and other terms of employment, upon their return. State officials estimate another 400,000 will gain protections as a result of the changes that take effect Friday.
“No one should have to choose between caring for themselves or a loved one and keeping their job,” acting Labor Commissioner Kevin D. Jarvis said in a statement. “These changes strengthen one of New Jersey’s most important worker protections by ensuring more people can take the time they need with the confidence that their job will be there when they return.”
The law provides 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave over a two-year period for workers bonding with a new child, responding to a health emergency, or caring for a seriously ill family member. It does not cover an employee’s own illness, which falls under a separate program.
The law previously captured businesses with at least 30 employees. Under the changes taking effect Friday, companies with 15 or more workers companywide must provide family leave.
The change also loosens rules on who qualifies. Previously, workers needed to be on the job for a full year and have worked at least 1,000 hours. Under the new rules, workers are eligible once they have worked for three months and 250 hours. Officials said this change will protect more part-time employees and recent hires.
Although the leave is unpaid, some employees can be eligible for partial wages via state Family Leave Insurance, which guarantees up to 85% of their weekly pay, to a cap of $1,119 in 2026.
The July 17 change is the first of three scheduled steps to expand the law. The employee threshold drops to 10 or more workers July 17, 2027, and to five or more workers July 17, 2028.
Business groups had opposed the change, warning that expanding family leave eligibility could make New Jersey small businesses less competitive.
NJ Transit’s board approved $3.5 billion in spending for the fiscal year that began July 1, the largest operating budget in the agency’s history.
The new budget represents an 11% increase over the one approved last year and comes after 12 months of fiscal headwinds that saw the collections from the agency’s dedicated revenue source tumble and its spending on labor and benefits surge beyond expectations.
“This governor is the only governor in recent memory who has given us an 11% increase in budget. I don’t know when the last time that happened,” said NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri. “That is how you begin to put the pieces together for this agency to make sure we do it.”
The agency’s fiscal 2027 budget maintains the patchwork of funding sources that have paid for buses, trains, and light rail cars across the state for years.
State subsidies, whether through a direct appropriation from New Jersey’s general fund or via collections from a special corporate business fee statutorily dedicated to NJ Transit, are expected to account for a majority of the agency’s revenue in the current fiscal year.
Combined, NJ Transit expects to receive nearly $1.07 billion from New Jersey’s coffers, including a $302.2 million direct subsidy and $765.6 million in revenue from the corporate transit fee, a 2.5% non-marginal corporate business tax surcharge on businesses with more than $1 million in income.
The direct subsidy is significantly higher than the $43.9 million subsidy approved as part of last year’s budget, but that subsidy grew to $230.6 million as a slump in corporate tax collections drove down revenue from the corporate transit fee. That fee is set to expire, by law, at the start of 2029.
Fare revenue, traditionally the largest single source of funding for NJ Transit, is expected to remain level with last year’s projections at $980 million. Collections from fares undershot their revenue target by about $48 million last fiscal year.
Since an initial 15% fare hike following a board vote in 2024, NJ Transit’s fares have automatically increased by 3% each year, rises officials have said are needed to fund the agency as it seeks to boost reliability after years of disinvestment.
Transit advocate Adam Reich noted on Thursday that state statute required 10 public hearings — and no more than one in a given county — before raising fares.
“If Gov. Sherrill’s going to insist that she’s transit obsessed, certainly taking the most rider-friendly view of the statute is absolutely critical,” Reich said. “It doesn’t mean New Jersey Transit can’t raise fares every year. It doesn’t mean they can’t necessarily follow a 3% plan, but it just means that riders at least be heard before we do that.”
The board’s vote approving both the one-time 15% increase and the 3% annual hikes followed numerous public meetings. The agency has argued that it does not need an annual vote to raise fares as a result.
Reich said they might be able to raise them further if they asked riders.
“Maybe we’d rather pay a little more but see service improvements or at least service stability instead of service cuts, as we did on May 31,” he said
An annual diversion from New Jersey’s clean energy fund will remain level at $140.1 million, while a yearly transfer from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority under an agreement struck under former Gov. Phil Murphy will send the agency $485 million, up from $470 million last year.
NJ Transit paid nearly $103 million more for labor than it expected last year, and its spending on fringe benefits came in $70.5 million above budget. The agency faces a range of cost increases that outpace the rate of inflation.
“The costs are real,” said Kolluri, who also heads the Turnpike Authority. “I know people don’t want to understand or care because they are frustrated sometimes when their train is canceled. I understand it, but the fact that the labor contracts cost $55 million more than they did last year is a fact.”
With a century of life under his belt, it’s not easy to get much past World War II veteran Stephen Anderson.
But last Tuesday, Anderson was surprised to return home to find a large 100th birthday celebration in his honor with gifts, commendations, and even a letter from Gov. Mikie Sherrill waiting for him.
Wearing both a T-shirt and belt buckle emblazoned with the United States Marine Corps emblem, Anderson entered the dining room at the Wynwood Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Cinnaminson with a big smile as his friends, fellow veterans, neighbors, and more sang “Happy Birthday.” Each of Anderson’s arms are adorned with prominent dark tattoos that have now mostly faded to outlines, the finer details lost to time.
As cupcakes and ice cream were passed around, Anderson was quick to laugh as he joked with the staff and reunited with longtime friends from the American Legion, where he has been a member for 82 years.
“It’s amazing,” he said in between bouts of banter with old friends.
“It’s great because I can’t get out like I used to,” he said. Now, everyone’s come to him.
WWII U.S. Marine Corps (and U.S. Air Force) veteran Stephen Anderson is surprised by fellow vets who attended his 100th birthday party Tuesday at the Wynwood Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Cinnaminson.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The party was put together by the staff at Wynwood, where he has lived since 2023 and has since become a beloved resident.
Stephanie Ward, Wynwood’s director of social work, was the driving force behind the celebration, organizing the party and contacting the Legion, the Tun Legacy Foundation, and the governor’s office to recognize Anderson for his lifetime of service.
“He’s so amazing, he’s got a kind heart,” Ward said. “All the veterans always have a special place in my heart and this big milestone, you’ve got to celebrate it.”
Cupcakes, including one with topping of iconic flag raising at Iwo Jima, at the 100th birthday party for WWII U.S. Marine Corps (and U.S. Air Force) veteran Stephen Anderson at the Wynwood Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Cinnaminson. He was presented with a letter from Gov. Mikie Sherrill, and letters from both the commandant and sergeant major of the Marine Corps, and more. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Not one to draw attention to himself, she joked that Anderson would probably give her a hard time for setting up the elaborate surprise party for him.
“I’m going to get yelled at later,” she said with a laugh. “But he deserves everything.”
Separated by oceans and decades, it is clear that Anderson’s military service is still close to his heart.
Originally from Massachusetts, he enlisted in the Marines at just 17 years old and was quickly sent to fight in some of the most harrowing battles of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. A rare two-branch veteran, Anderson also served in the Air Force from 1961 to 1963.
“Where he fought is legendary. Saipan, Okinawa — some of the largest battles of the war,” said Patrick Dailey, a Marine and founder of the Tun Legacy Foundation, which is working to rebuild Philadelphia’s historic Tun Tavern, where the Marine Corps was born in the 17th century.
WWII U.S. Marine Corps (and U.S. Air Force) veteran Stephen Anderson arrives for his 100th birthday party with Stephanie Ward (left), director of social services at the Wynwood Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Cinnaminson.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
To honor his years of service and sacrifice, Anderson was presented with official letters from Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the New Jersey legislature, and various levels of American Legion leadership.
Anderson seemed particularly moved by messages from his fellow Marines — personal letters from the Marine Corps commandant, the highest-ranking officer, and the sergeant major of the Marine Corps, the most senior enlisted member of the service.
He was also gifted an American flag that was flown over the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial by troops in Washington, D.C., on July 4 for him.
WWII U.S. Marine Corps (and U.S. Air Force) veteran Stephen Anderson (left) is greeted by his roommate Michael Evans (right) at his 100th birthday party Tuesday at the Wynwood Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Cinnaminson.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
While Anderson said he expected some of the Wynwood staff might be up to something for his birthday, he said he was not anticipating the celebration that had formed around him.
Brought to New Jersey in the 60s “by Uncle Sam,” as he put it, Anderson spent many years living in Burlington and has long been a dedicated member of American Legion Local Post 39 based in Roebling, at one point serving as commander.
Looking back, he said one of the best parts of the job was simply getting to drive all over rural South Jersey.
“I kind of miss that, I used to travel all the back roads,” he said with a smile.
WWII U.S. Marine Corps (and U.S. Air Force) veteran Stephen Anderson is photographed with letters and proclamations following his 100th birthday party Tuesday at the Wynwood Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Cinnaminson.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Anderson has lived “a lifetime of service to the military, to the country, to the American Legion,” said longtime friend Chuck Robbins, a former national vice commander of the American Legion who worked with Anderson.
“You couldn’t ask for a more outstanding vice commander. Somebody who did their job to the fullest and always had my back — I will never forget the service you gave to me,” he said as he presented Anderson with a letter from the national commander of the Legion.
Looking at the flag in its shadow box, numerous framed commendations, piles of birthday cards and more laid out on the table before him, Anderson joked with Ward that they’d need to work out a plan to accommodate all of his gifts.
“You better get me a bigger room!” he said, laughing.
SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. — This is not the same old Sea Isle.
Jason and Kylie Kelce are mired in a four-year wait for membership to the Sea Isle City Yacht Club. They are currently No. 78 of 251, up from last year’s 149.
Neighbors are fighting over noise from the Oar House Pub, which expanded this year into two nearby buildings.
Prices in this Shore town have skyrocketed: The median home sale price for the three months ending in May 2026 was $1.8 million, according to Redfin, up 27% from the year before. For May alone, it was $2.2 million.
Blocks in Sea Isle are stuffed with new, side-by-side construction, multiple SUVs in pebbled front yards, with few trees or backyards. People sunbathe in their driveways. Silverados have near-collisions with Audis in the Acme parking lot, as golf carts idle out front.
Is it still pleasant on Pleasure Avenue?
People line the beach in Sea Isle City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Sea Isle City, NJ.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Depends on whom you ask. For some, the changes feel more like a maturing of Sea Isle, certainly an upscaling, from the beloved Shore town’s raucous old party days. Houses cost too much to risk renting to the rowdy Shore house crews of years past, homeowners say.
But for others, the town’s rash of new construction, the pricing out of old blue-collar regulars, the impossible parking, even the price of an entree at a restaurant all feel like a betrayal.
Workingman’s beach
Colin Ratner, 53, of Fairmount, global director of sales at a medical software company, raves about Sea Isle’s enduring charms, a place where his daughters have found a sense of freedom they don’t have in Philadelphia, riding their bikes barefoot and playing outdoor basketball games to cheering crowds.
“In Philly, they’re not leaving the street without us knowing where they’re going,” he said. “Here, it’s like ‘Come back before we go to sleep.’ I call Sea Isle Middle America.”
Colin Ratner and his wife, Cindi, of Center City, at their home in Sea Isle City for the summer think the town has matured in a good way, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
A rowhouse dweller in Philly, he is not bothered by the density or the parking crunch. “Our property[value] has more than doubled since 2018,” he said. “I’m seeing less renters, and more people using their property, less of the crazy house parties. It’s really kind of settled down.”
Jo Ferenchak bought in 2017 and rents out to cover costs. Her parents bought their Sea Isle house in 1977, she said, for $20,000.
“When my parents bought their house, it was called the Working Man’s Beach,” she said via Facebook message. “No more!”
In a sign of the times, she said her children and grandchildren love to go mini golfing, “but we go to Pirate Island in Avalon because it is so hard to find parking at Pirate Island in Sea Isle.”
‘Saturation point’
It has been more than a decade since a town survey found that 62% of responders said traffic was a problem. The survey, taken for a master plan, drew comments that included “Feeling of too much density and congestion,” “Seashore feeling is being lost,” and “We’ve reached a saturation point.”
Things are more overstuffed than ever, many residents, summer and year-round, say.
Sea Isle’s year-round population is 2,019, fairly stable despite some declines in the years after Hurricane Sandy and some increases after COVID-19. But it can swell to 70,000 on a busy summer weekend.
The change in the housing stock is more dramatic. Between 1990 and 2020, there were about 17% more units created, mostly for seasonal residents, according to the city’s data. Although some old bungalows remain, the town is essentially built out, city officials say.
Sea Isle even proposed partnering with a mainland town to essentially outsource its required share of affordable housing units as required by New Jersey law, but that was not allowed.
New construction off 57th Street, in Sea Isle City, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
In a town long known for its rowdy bar scene, there is less tolerance than ever for the spillover effects in dense neighborhoods.
In June, a dispute erupted between the Oar House Pub and its neighbors, including Mike’s Seafood owner Mike Monachetti, a prominent figure around town and a pal of the Kelces’.
Monachetti told the city council that the noise from the pub was regularly so loud “the water cups were vibrating on the tables” at his place.
“Think about what you’re doing,” he scolded the council. “My neighbors suffer from noise, loud noise, smoke going right up into their properties, and, yes, people out on the streets, beer cans on my property. Please, look at your own laws and ordinances. You are putting an alcohol license closer to a church, as well as underneath a residence that was never intended to be a bar.”
Council President Michael Jargowsky, 64, says with the town nearly entirely built out, there is not much to do in terms of stemming overdevelopment.
The city is always looking at adding parking, he said, though he notes that not everyone wants to cross the causeway and see a multistory parking garage.
“Our town has changed a lot physically,” said Jargowsky, a former city police officer who grew up in Sea Isle and paid $205,000 in 1995 for a century-old bungalow. “A lot of single-family bungalows and Victorian homes are now the side-by-sides: three bedrooms went to a combined 14 bedrooms in some places.”
The increase in property value has brought new revenue to the town, and a robust capital project agenda, including a new community center. Longtime residents who sold, or whose children sold, did very well, he noted.
Some things about the town have stayed the same.
“You still see a lot of banners for Delco,” he said.
The Oar House Pub, off 42nd Place, at right, would like to expand to the empty lot adjacent to it, and found itself in a controversy with neighbors over the noise, in Sea Isle City, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
‘Like a bad AI-generated image’
Rick Kane, who worked at a family friend’s business for eight years in Sea Isle and lives just on the mainland, said the town is a shell of its former self.
“Many of the affordable family restaurants and cheap bars are gone, replaced by high-dollar places,” Kane said. “Sea Isle has lost its charm and personality. It’s now like a bad AI-generated image of a ‘Shore town.’”
Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean signs autographs for fans as a celebrity bartender at former Eagle Jason Kelce’s annual Team 62 fundraising event for the Eagles Autism Foundation at the outdoor Paddy’s Green in Sea Isle City, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
Christopher Capuzzi, 42, a New York City capital markets attorney originally from Delaware County, said he bought on Long Beach Island even though his extended family gathers in Sea Isle and continues to own houses there.
Capuzzi said he paid $2.8 million in 2022 for a 3,500-square-foot house on LBI, one house from the ocean.
On LBI, he said, “My money’s stretched a lot further, and we actually have trees.”
“When it came time for me to buy, I just felt like Sea Isle has gotten so overdeveloped, the way they cram homes in, every home is basically a side-by-side. The garages don’t fit a single car in them. Parking has become a nightmare.”
Some things haven’t changed
For some diehards, like the 165 members of the extended Mannion family of West Chester and other Philly burbs that for a half-century has rented a half-dozen houses in Sea Isle for the last two weeks in June, the Sea Isle memories compound every year, albeit as the rents, along with all the new construction, go up.
It is a destination they wouldn’t change for anything, family members say.
Over at Trinity Community Church of Sea Isle City, pastor Chuck Swanson says his church has been a constant amid all the changes. A seasonal nondenominational place of worship, the church has been at 85th and Landis for 103 summers.
Chuck Swanson, pastor of the historic Trinity Community Church, off 85th Street and Landis Avenue, in Sea Isle City, says the resort town has significantly changed in that the old character of the town has been fundamentally altered, but the change is mostly good and the city is preparing for the future, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
“Sea Isle City has changed a lot of late,” Swanson said. “Lots of destruction of older homes and construction of new ones … the old character of the town has been fundamentally changed. Change is mostly good and the city is preparing for the future.
“One thing that hasn’t changed is our church.”
Jim Albright of Bordentown, whose family has owned a house in Sea Isle since 1998, said the town is no longer affordable for most people.
“My dad was an electrician for GM and my mom was an elementary school teacher in Trenton, and on their salaries they were able to buy this house,” he said. “They would absolutely be priced out now.”
Homes along Landis Avenue, here near 23rd Street, have grown higher as the summer bungalows are replaced with more elaborate, and expensive, contruction in Sea Isle City, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
The Kelces can still make Sea Isle the center of the party universe when they hold the Eagles Autism Foundation fundraising days every year in June, but Albright and others see a vibe shift.
“There’s been a massive influx of money. You can tell even by looking at the cars being driven around town,” Albright said.
Regina Lewallen lived full time in Sea Isle from 2020 to 2025. “We loved how friendly everyone was,” she said.
But in those five years, the town transformed, she said. “Many houses were torn down, more people bought homes, parking became scarce, and it was obvious that the powers that be didn’t have a specific plan for what Sea Isle City could be,” she said.
Former Eagle Jason Kelce draws large crowds when he hosts his annual Team 62 fundraising event for the Eagles Autism Foundation at the outdoor Paddy’s Green in Sea Isle City, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. The two-day event features celebrity bartending and a Beer Bowl, drawing thousands of fans and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cause.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
Jen DiMartino, 54, of West Chester, has been going down to Sea Isle for more than 50 years, to 36th and Pleasure Avenue, the third generation of her family to call Sea Isle its summer home.
She says she misses the “ma and pa shops and everyone knowing who you are,” but says there is still pleasure to be found.
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that New Jersey’s bans on assault firearms and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds are unconstitutional.
This is the first time a federal appeals court has struck down a state ban on such weapons, and it comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether bans on semiautomatic rifles violate the Second Amendment. Just last week, a different federal appeals court upheld Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons.
Friday’s appeals court ruling in the New Jersey case goes further than a July 2024 ruling from a federal judge, who said that the state’s ban on AR-15s specifically was unconstitutional but upheld the provision barring larger magazines. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday in its opinion that the state’s ban on all semiautomatic rifles it deems to be “assault firearms” and restriction on “large capacity ammunition magazines” were unconstitutional.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, a Democrat whose office defended the law, said in a statement that the decision is “as unfortunate as it is legally incorrect.”
“Every other federal circuit court to consider the issue has come out the other way,” Davenport said. “Assault weapons and large capacity magazines play a dangerous role in the modern epidemic of mass shootings, and New Jersey acted reasonably and lawfully in restricting them. We are considering our options.”
John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, called the ruling a “historic victory for the NRA, the Second Amendment, and law-abiding Americans.”
In addition to New Jersey, 10 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have laws that generally ban the manufacture, sale, and transfer of assault weapons, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The District of Columbia, New Jersey, and 11 other states cap magazine capacity at 10 rounds generally or for certain types of firearms.
Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that Friday’s ruling was surprising because federal courts of appeals have upheld assault weapons bans in the past. On the other hand, he added, the decision “may be foretelling the Supreme Court’s coming opinion on assault weapons bans.”
“What this Third Circuit opinion shows is that there are very few gun laws that are safe from being struck down right now,” Winkler said.
Birthdays are a funny thing. When you’re young, they are all about getting older. You can hardly wait for the next one.
Then, somewhere along the way, they’re not. Suddenly, big league baseball players, your doctors, and bosses are all younger than you.
Eventually, getting older becomes key again. You want to see more birthdays.
This week I celebrated a birthday of my own, and also photographed a World War II veteran celebrating his 100th. I also photographed church services for an upcoming story on a South Jersey town a century after it was incorporated as the first Black self-governing municipality north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
President Donald Trump is seen on a monitor as he appears at a Defense and Innovation Summit hosted by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick at the US Army War College in Carlisle Wednesday, July 15, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
And I photographed a president, who unlike most of my coworkers and the folks I usually photograph, grew up before the internet and listened to music as it transitioned from Tony Bennett and Perry Como to Bill Haley & His Comets and Elvis.
Technicans prepare the lighting and microphones before President Trump appears at the Summit.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
One of the ways I marked by birthday was by visiting the Main Line Camera Club as their guest speaker. Meeting people who appreciate photography is one of the things that keeps me young. That along with the joy I get from making and sharing photos.
They had many good images but one that stood out for a “different” photo that Jeffrey Benne took during the recent visit by Union Pacific’s famed Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive. My colleague Monica Herndon also photographed the big engine that could, but until I saw she was headed to Reading, I had no knowledge of it.
After Googling, my social feed exploded with videos and photos of the train along its historic coast-to-coast tour to celebrate America’s 250th. I even heard traffic reports on KYW radio as it approached Philadelphia that weekend begging drivers to quit being foolish by stopping on the Schuylkill Expressway and getting out of their cars to photograph it passing by, being a bunch of train “foamers” (a term I just learned this week).
Benne arrived in Bridgeport, Pa. 45 minutes before Big Boy’s arrival, staking his claim “on a piece of ground then played with the settings on my gear to get a good shot,” with just about 45 seconds to get it passing by.
Afterward, he said he noticed the crowd searching the tracks and realized they were looking for smooshed coins, having set regular coins on the track minutes before. “I should have done that myself,” he said.
Growing up, my friends and I did that, and usually had little luck finding our own “smooshed” pennies.
Cupcakes – including one with a topping depicting the iconic Joe Rosenthal photo of U.S. Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima – at a 100th birthday party for WWII Marine veteran Stephen Anderson.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Pat Dailey, setting up the birthday party in the photo at the top, founded the Tun Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit that supports veteran causes, Masonic charities, and educational scholarships. They are also rebuilding and reestablishing an authentic reproduction of the original Tun Tavern building in Philadelphia. The Tun, constructed in 1693, was the first documented lodge in North America and the birthplace of the U.S. Marine Corps in (1775).
Photographing workers setting up for the Red Carpet on Independence Hall was my only contribution to our coverage of Philly’s hosting the MLB All-Star Game for the first time in 30 years (I did cover THAT game).
Preparations are underway on the Mall at Independence National Historical Park Monday, for the All-Star Red Carpet Show on Tuesday.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
I made the Independence Mall prep photo during an early morning check-in on the President’s House site, something I have been doing for months.
There was nothing new on the site that morning, since I had found National Park Service employees a week earlier taking photos and measurements, and looking under, behind, and above the panels. They told me they were “just looking around” and not there to install the new Trump administration panels after a federal appeals court gave the go-ahead just before the Fourth of July weekend.
A National Park Service employee along with a NPS ranger and NPS police officer visit the President’s House site Wednesday, July 8, 2026. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
But unlike the original January removal and the subsequent court-ordered return months later, they did it in the middle of the night, avoiding public scrutiny.
A U.S. Parks police officer and a visitor at the President’s House site Wednesday, July 15, 2026 after new panels were installed.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
Impacts from Canadian wildfire smoke increased throughout the Philadelphia region Friday, degrading air quality enough to prompt a code purple alert, and force the closure or suspension of some city amenities and services.
It was the latest bad weather event in Philadelphia’s run of tough luck in July, which has so far resulted in record-setting heat and destructive storms that have marred back-to-back weekends. Smoky conditions arrived Thursday, and were bad enough Friday to prompt the closure of city pools and spraygrounds, and temporarily stop trash pickup.
“Our worsening air quality is a dangerous development,” Palak Raval-Nelson, commissioner of the city Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “I strongly encourage all residents to take action to protect themselves by staying indoors, unless they need to be outdoors.”
Likewise, the Philadelphia Zoo remained closed Friday, saying in a statement that its animals were being “closely monitored.” The city, however, stopped short of recommending the cancellation of outdoor events, and large productions like comedian Shane Gillis’ performance at Lincoln Financial Field and a Death Cab for Cutie performance at the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts were still set to go on as of late afternoon.
Officials said that venue owners had been advised of the conditions, and were able to make their own decisions as to whether those events would happen.
Trash collection in the city was expected to cautiously resume Saturday, officials said. Resumption of services was contingent upon improvement in air quality conditions, which vacillated between code purple and the comparatively less severe code red Friday.
“We will make judgment decisions as to when we will resume collections in terms of a start time tomorrow,” said Carlton Williams, director of the Philadelphia Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. “But we do plan on working all day Saturday and Sunday to ensure that last week’s trash and recycling is collected in time for our services to be on a regular schedule starting Monday.”
Pools would reopen Saturday if air conditions were code red or below, said Susan Slawson, commissioner for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said the Philadelphia region would be under a code orange air quality alert Saturday, marking a decrease in smoke pollution. That alert level, described as “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” is the lowest it has been since the wildfire smoke arrived this week.
Air quality conditions in the area were poor Friday morning. The city’s air quality index stood at about 267 as of 7 a.m. Friday — a figure that put it solidly in the “very unhealthy” range, meaning the general public was at risk for serious health effects. It later moved into the code red — or “unhealthy” — range, but stood to potentially again become more severe as the day wore on, Raval-Nelson said.
The city of Chester, however, recorded an air quality index of 312 early Friday, putting it in the “hazardous” range — the highest on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s scale. It later dipped into the “very unhealthy” range.
The region’s smoky conditions were expected to last at least until Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly said. The sky’s hazy appearance, according to meteorologists, came from northwest winds that blanketed the region with particulate-filled air that was expected to stick around through the start of the weekend.
However, by Saturday, an anticipated storm system should clear the smoke out — though that development would likely come with its own risks. That system, said weather service meteorologist Joe DeSilva, could also bring “multiple rounds” of showers and thunderstorms, as well as the potential for flash flooding and possibly damaging winds — as well as a potential tornado.
“It definitely looks like damaging winds will be the primary hazard type,” he said.
City officials warned residents to prepare for potential flooding due to heavy rainfall Saturday. A flood watch will be in effect from 10 a.m. Saturday through 2 a.m. Sunday, the city’s Office of Emergency Management said, as storms could produce up to 2 or 3 inches of rain per hour.
Philadelphia is not the only area at risk this weekend. Berks, Carbon, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Lehigh, Bucks, Monroe, and Northampton Counties also face dangers from the storm, as do portions of northern Delaware and parts of New Jersey including Camden and Gloucester Counties.
“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” the city said. “Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.”
The risk of storm damage Saturday comes a week after high winds and four “microburst” storms downed nearly 300 trees in the city, and left tens of thousands of residents without electricity. As a result of that storm, Philadelphia still remains under a disaster emergency declaration amid its ongoing recovery.
On Friday, officials encouraged city residents to “do what you have been doing since last week’s storm” in the face of renewed threats.
“As Mayor Parker constantly reminds us, we are one Philly,” said Adam Thiel, managing director of the city of Philadelphia. “We are a united city, as our entire city workforce, along with our residents, our neighbors, our communities, continue to move us forward through this unprecedented year.”
Staff writers Rob Tornoe and Emily Bloch contributed to this article.
