The vintage Gillian’s Wonderland Pier Canyon Falls Log Flume Bathing Guy is still up for grabs, with a $2,000 price tag.
So is the 12-by-6-foot fiberglass Haunted Dark Ride Skeleton head, including the top hat and the skeletal hands that once gripped the front of the ride, for $8,500.
Polito is hoping another Halloween season will tempt buyers for the skeleton and the other dark ride props for sale, including a pair of coffin speakers ($600), an animated man in a closet ($1,150), and a spider automaton ($750).
A pair of vintage Gillian’s Wonderland Pier Haunted Dark Ride Haunted House Mechanical Circus Clowns, priced at $1,750 for the pair at Obnoxious Antiques.Obnoxious Antiques
Polito said about half the sold objects were sold to out-of-state buyers, but the other half “went back to Ocean City,” including the Monkey Band, which is on display with other Wonderland artifacts in the Boardwalk food court as a “Wonderland Pier Museum.”
Some of the exterior figurines were bought by nearby Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township.
Polito says the $8,500 price tag for the skeleton and hands “is a steal,” and notes that they would be perfect for a committed Halloween house decorator.
He estimates it cost $20,000 to create.
“It’s heavy,” he said. “They would have to commit to it and they would have to really want it.”
Ed Frischkorn, 30, holding the log flume miner from the now-defunct Gillian’s Wonderland Pier he purchased at Obnoxious Antiques in Burlington, N.J.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff
Over objections from some nearby residents, Ocean City Council recently voted to designate the former Wonderland site at 600 Boardwalk in need of rehabilitation and will now negotiate with developer and owner Eustace Mita, who has proposed a seven-story luxury hotel on the site.
Mita bought the site from Mayor Jay Gillian, who made the decision to close the beloved amusement park his family had owned for 65 years in October 2024.
Mita’s original proposal called for restoring the Ferris wheel and historic carousel, and preserving several iconic kiddie rides from Wonderland.
John Polito of Obnoxious Antiques with one of the men in the tub from the log flume ride at the now-defunct Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, N.J. Polito purchased three truckloads of relics that are now for sale at his warehouse on Route 130 in Burlington N.J.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff
For the first time since, well, Tuesday, flood warnings have been posted in the Philly region and a flash flood watch remains until 11 p.m. Monday, with a potential for up to 5 inches of rain in and around the city.
The National Weather Service flood warnings were in effect until midafternoon for a broad area along the I-95 corridor where “slow-moving thunderstorms” had generated up to 4 inches of rain
The Pennypack Creek in Northeast Philly jumped 1.5 feet in just 15 minutes to go above flood stage, the weather service said. At least one water rescue occurred in Montgomery County, and flooding resulted in lane closures along Route 130 in Gloucester County, the weather service reported.
Strong storms remain possible during the day Monday, but Sarah Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, said “the bigger threat we are concerned about is heavy rain and flash flooding.“
While the weather service’s flood watch was in effect from 8 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday, she cautioned that with computer models having their differences, the forecast had elements of “uncertainty.” (And when was the last time that happened?)
Once again the atmosphere likely will be playing a version of rain roulette across the region, as it did on Tuesday, said Marc Chenard, senior branch forecaster at the federal Weather Prediction Center, in College Park, Md. Waterfall-like downpours turned the Delaware River into a shade of flowing mocha north of Philadelphia, while less than an inch fell upon the city.
Areas of heavy rain moved through the region Sunday nigh an Monday morning. And regardless of how it all plays out this time around, “it’s definitely going to affect the morning commute” said Bill Deger, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc., with rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches an hour possible. Even if it’s not raining, he said, significant road flooding is possible.
He said it’s likely that Philly and the surrounding area might be in the 2-to-4-inch bull’s-eye zone.
When is likely timing for rain in the Philly region?
“This is another setup where we have very moist air from the South,” said Deger.
More rains were likely Monday morning, and again later in the afternoon with the approach of a cold front.
That front could fire up strong thunderstorms, said Chenard, and it might take its good old time moving through the area.
He added that as so often happens, the downpours “won’t be all that widespread, but where they do happen you usually get a flash flood.”
The rains likely will shut off Monday night; however, the workweek is looking quite unsettled with shower chances every day.
Will this end the drought in the Philadelphia area?
While the drought warnings continue in New Jersey and Chester County, conditions have improved measurably in areas around the city, which was no longer in “severe” or “moderate” drought, in the latest interagency U.S. Drought Monitor update.
Still, even in Philly conditions were listed as “abnormally dry” in the advisory issued Thursday, despite a July that was officially the wettest month in Philadelphia since March 2024.
Philadelphia’s total, 7.03 inches, was 2.65 inches above normal. Over 8 inches was measured in Wilmington. However, as a testament to the randomness of summer rains, precipitation totals were significantly below normal in Atlantic City and Allentown, the weather service reported.
And while downpours can trigger rapid rises on the local streams such as the Neshaminy Creek, in Bucks County, and the Frankford and Pennypack Creeks in Philly, they are less of a threat to the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, where water levels have remained relatively low.
Those levels are the result of the longer-term dryness: July broke a 16-month streak of below-normal rainfall in Philadelphia.
But Johnson said the region’s wetness trend has been showing some signs of staying power.
And every Democrat in the New Jersey congressional delegation collectively asked President Donald Trump to reverse his FEMA aid rejection for the deadly snowstorm earlier this year.
Plus, prosecutors filed a civil complaint to remove Willingboro council member Nathaniel Anderson, who has not resigned from his position despite being behind bars for mortgage fraud, and more news of the day.
There’s no such thing as too early for Halloween (in my opinion).
And I’m clearly not alone since about 3,000 people showed up to celebrate the annual grand opening of the flagship Spirit Halloween in Egg Harbor Township on Saturday.
Children and adults — some wearing shorts and T-shirts, others decked out in full costumes — were able to play outdoor games, enjoy food trucks, get their face painted, and of course, shop. Some life-size animatronics sold out within minutes.
The chain operates more than 1,500 stores in the U.S. and Canada from August through early November.
All of the Democrats in the New Jersey congressional delegation signed a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to reverse his rejection of disaster aid for February’s deadly snowstorm.
Their plea in the letter — first obtained by The Inquirer — is in support of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s appeal of the denial of the $84 million request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the blizzard from earlier this year.
U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim led the effort. All of the members of New Jersey were invited to join but only three Republicans did, according to Booker’s office.
Notably, South Jersey Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew opted out despite initially supporting the FEMA request in April that sought money in every county in his district for costs related to the storm.
A man was charged with first-degree murder in the July 17 death of another inmate at Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Chesterfield, Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw said Friday.
Prosecutors have a filed a civil complaint to remove the jailed Willingboro council member, Nathaniel Anderson, who has not resigned from his position.
The new CEO of the Pennsauken-based Bayada Home Care spoke with The Inquirer to discuss the importance of providing additional care at home as the country’s healthcare providers navigate financial strain.
Washington Township High School teacher Matthew Groark and fellow food influencer Maxwell McGibbon is competing on Food Network’s grilling competition show Pitmasters, Philly Voice reports.
Starting today, Camden County will begin the $2.5 million project to make infrastructure improvements to Collings Avenue Bridge over Newton Creek on the border of Gloucester City and Camden. The bridge will be closed for three months.
Back Alley Barbeque in Pennsauken is back after a deal for a seafood restaurant to take over the space fell through, according to South Jersey Food Scene.
🧠Trivia time
South Jersey singer Mara Justine came in what place when she competed on season 24 of The Voice?
🗳️ Considering: Columnist Daniel Pearson’s opinion piece, which reflects on his previous role when he investigated allegations of election fraud in light of New Jersey’s noncitizen voter disclosure.
⛳ Remembering: That time when Steph and Ayesha Curry’s Underrated Golf Tour stopped in South Jersey.
An early spring morning at the Franklin Parker Preserve.Richard Lewis
This submission was sent to us from Jess Fasano of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation who wrote:
New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s Franklin Parker Preserve encompasses 16 square miles in the heart of the Pine Barrens. It’s open to the public year-round and contains some of the region’s most beautiful wetlands and provides critical habitat to more than 50 rare, threatened, or endangered species.
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.
Clowns, grim reapers, witches, and vampires ventured down the Shore on Saturday morning to welcome spooky season a little early.
Spirit Halloween, the retailer best known for its costumes, animatronics, and creepy dolls, hosted the annual grand opening of its 20,000-square-foot flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. Preregistration for the event was capped at 2,000 people, but a company spokesperson estimated that an additional 1,000 showed up for general admission.
By 9 a.m., the line snaked around Harbor Square Mall despite the heat. Seagulls circled. Food trucks, music, face-painting, outdoor games, and freebies awaited those who made it through. Children and adults alike varied in dress, from shorts and T-shirts to bloody character costumes.
Cesar and Adrianna Balmaceda, with son Cesar, were among the attendees who made it through. They gathered near the entrance as Jack the Reaper, Spirit’s mascot, parachuted out of a blimp overhead.
A skydiver jumps out of the Goodyear blimp wearing a Jack the Reaper costume for the newly opened Spirit Halloween flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
When Cesar Balmaceda, 31, asked the first person in line when they arrived and where they came from, he was not too surprised by the answer: 5 a.m., from Ohio.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as previously,” Cesar Balmaceda said. “People used to camp out for days.”
That obstacle had kept the Balmacedas, Atlantic City locals, from braving the line previously, even though 8-year-old Cesar makes YouTube videos featuring vintage Spirit animatronics. His favorite is Hugz the Clown, a discontinued 6-foot, purple-haired robot.
But this year, Spirit banned camping out and used the preregistration system instead, which allowed the Balmacedas to get free tickets after the deadline from a kind Facebook user. Young Cesar won a swag bag and quickly changed into themed Spirit gear.
Naoki Sanchez, 15, stood with her family nearby. They live in Atlantic City, too, and came to meet people with similar interests, since Sanchez also makes animatronic YouTube videos. On Saturday, she wore a zombie baby toy in a chest harness.
“It’s part of the Spirit Halloween community,” Sanchez said of gathering for the store opening. “We live here, basically.”
Jump scares and costumes galore
From bedazzled Michael Myers masks to dog costumes to a pop-up trash raccoon animatronic, visitors to the flagship store had no shortage of options.
When the doors opened at 10 a.m., employees called out numbers to welcome in small groups of customers one at a time. A life-size Freddy Fazbear animatronic, new to Spirit and sold only in person, sold out in 10 minutes.
But attendees outside awaited that news anxiously. Employees chatted that the first one was nabbed by a family from Canada, and they weren’t sure how they would get the 6-foot-6, $499.99 robot back home.
“Are there Freddys still?” a child shouted through the open doors.
Lori Tesoro, a Spirit spokesperson, said several other animatronics sold out, including a life-size Jason of Friday the 13th and Michael Myers of Halloween fame, along with a line of horror-themed teddy bears.
Nineteen staffers, including four from other stores, managed the frenzy.
A limit of one animatronic per person, from Art the Clown of Terrifier to Harmonica Hank (a skeleton scarecrow who can play your music via Bluetooth), kept things from getting too chaotic, as customers leaned on boxes to claim them. Staff wore “Camp Harbor Lake” T-shirts, the 2026 store theme, inspired by campground horror movies. One employee said the company spent about a year planning the celebration.
The chain, which operates more than 1,500 stores across the U.S. and Canada from August through early November, is headquartered in Egg Harbor in the same office as its parent company, Spencer’s.
The flagship location, which looks much like every other Spirit store, is owned by the chain year-round but is used for research and development during the offseason, Tesoro said.
About 400 Spirit stores opened on Aug. 1, while the rest will open in the coming weeks. Still, a company spokesperson said people came from hours away, including from California and the South, to get the earliest possible glimpse at Halloween.
‘Life’s too short’
Back in line, Anthony and Jessica Trabolse and their four kids, all under 8 years old, waited in the sun. They came to Jersey from Staten Island, N.Y., and already have their Halloween costumes planned out, which will likely include wardrobe changes.
During the Halloween season, Anthony Trabolse said, he works at Spirit to support his son Lucas and his horror obsession. They host an annual Summerween party, featuring years’ worth of Spirit animatronics. This year, Lucas, 7, said he hopes to expand his haunted collection with a 4-foot-10 evil clown, Wind-Up Wally, and meet his favorite Halloween YouTubers.
“‘Cause I really like Halloween,” Lucas said, sporting a Mohawk and a camera around his neck.
People gathering for the new Spirit Halloween flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Ashley Giordano, 23, and Aliah Roseman, 36, both work as special effects makeup artists for Reaper’s Revenge Haunted Hayride in Scranton. They drove more than four hours for the Egg Harbor event with Giordano’s son, Nico, to celebrate his birthday.
“He’s only 3, and he can name Spirit animatronics back to 2008,” Giordano said, fake blood spattered on her face. “That’s our Miss Rachel.”
Roseman said Saturday was their first time coming to Spirit’s annual flagship opening. After recent health issues and a cancer battle, Roseman said people should not deny themselves a good time, including a long Spirit Halloween road trip.
“Life’s too short to not do fun things,” Roseman said.
A 23-year-old New Jersey man was charged with first-degree murder in the July 17 death of another inmate at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Burlington County, Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw said Friday.
Trevor Banton, of East Orange, allegedly killed 24-year-old Yasin Sellers in the prison gym after a religious service attended by other inmates, Bradshaw said.
Correctional officers found Sellers unresponsive on the floor and he was pronounced dead at the scene, Bradshaw said.
Banton is awaiting his first court appearance in the case.
No other details about the fatal assault were released.
The juxtaposition of a flamingo and a honey bee may not have doubled you over in laughter, but it had me pause while walking into a South Jersey farm market. And it made me smile.
Then I started to overthink it. Am I missing a joke here? “Q: What’s the difference between a flamingo and a honey bee?” Or, “a bee and a flamingo walk into a bar.”
Nope. That doesn’t work either. Nor does a meme about having “the” birds and the bees “talk.”
All this to justify picking that picture to feature with this column. Some weeks it’s an easier choice, and this week’s got me thinking about what in the newspaper business is called a standalone photo.
A standalone photo made while my colleague was taking the escalator to his assignment at the International Congress of Mathematicians at the Convention Center on Monday.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Aka, a photo feature or wild art, a standalone is a picture published without an accompanying article. I talked about it in a previous column (click bonus: the photos there are from a cold, snowy January day. Maybe refreshing to look at now, as we’re here in the dog days of summer).
In the heyday of dead-tree, printed ink-on-paper analog versions of newspapers not every story had a picture, so standalones were used when editors wanted to add some visual variety to a page that was all gray. That is precisely the 1998 origin of this column: it broke up a text-heavy page containing community news, calendars, traffic reports, school information, and volunteer listings.
Online publishing changed everything, and digital design evolved toward image-heavy layouts. Since our brains process pictures much faster than words, photos make a story more likely to grab a reader’s attention while scrolling.
Suddenly every story on news websites had an image attached. Pictures became plentiful.
A standalone of two prominent Freemasons – Benjamin Franklin and George Washington – standing in bronze outside the Grand Lodge Masonic Library and Museum across the street from City Hall. (“The Bond” was created by sculptor Jim West in 2018.)Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
And that’s the paradox. Even though the internet is highly visual, it favors rapid consumption rather than contemplation. Lost in the mishmash array of thumbnails on a website, it is harder to appreciate a storytelling standalone photo, or enjoy the much slower experience of pacing through a dozen images and captions in lengthy photo essays.
And that brings me around to a photo I saw this week. A reader submitted a picture they’d snapped of a young man outside Reading Terminal Market dressed in a solid-color button-down shirt with trousers held up by suspenders instead of a belt and wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat closely examining a parked Uber Eats’ delivery bot.
I reacted to it just as I did with the flamingo/honey bee, with a smile.
For decades the old weekly LIFE magazine had a standing feature on the last page called Miscellany. It was mostly pictures of people and animals in unexpected or humorous situations. A standalone.
Even with an abundant canvas there really isn’t a place on our website for a standalone photo — like the bot — without an attached story.
Or maybe there is. I have this column where my unattached images are displayed every Saturday and I’m happy to share some of the space (means less writing for me). So readers, if you see and take a picture like those on LIFE’s back-of-the-book page, email it to me.
(By the way, even though it was taken in a public place we wouldn’t have used the Amish/bot photo anyway. The subject may belong to a community that doesn’t enjoy being photographed, and he was minor. The photographer needed to talk to him — and a parent — to provide more context. But then it would no longer be a standalone.)
And remember, if a bee lands on you, freeze. Let it investigate and it will leave without stinging as long as it doesn’t detect a threat. If a flamingo lands on you, well, you’ve got a different problem.
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:
Federal prosecutors on Friday moved to drop a criminal charge filed against a former Olympian who had been accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool, suggesting that the damage was instead due to a “botched” and rushed installation.
Prosecutors said they would dismiss an indictment against David Hearn, an Olympic canoeist, whose arrest last month drew national attention amid questions about why the pool’s new blue liner was peeling. President Donald Trump — who had ordered that officials install the new liner and make other changes to the pool — repeatedly blamed vandals after pieces of the refurbished liner started drifting to the surface.
A Washington Post analysis earlier this month found that the basin’s peeling was likely due to application errors by workers, a conclusion challenged by Trump administration officials at the time but supported by experts in waterproofing materials.
According to Friday’s filing in D.C. Superior Court, internal Interior Department documents also chalked up the peeling of the pool liner to contractor errors made during the hurried effort to overhaul the pool ahead of celebrations to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary in July. Justice Department lawyers said the information they received showed that “the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented” by the Interior Department.
“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to the Justice Department’s filing.
The Justice Department also said that officials at the Interior Department initially did not provide sufficient information about contractor errors and turned it over only after “dozens and dozens” of requests from the office of the U.S. attorney for the nation’s capital.
“Had [the Interior Department] been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” the filing reads.
The Associated Press reported Saturday that Trump sharply criticized U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s assessment that damage to the pool was the result of shoddy construction and not the work of vandals.
Trump, in a posting on social media, acknowledged that there “may have been some contractor difficulty” in the installation of a new pool liner. But he continues to insist “the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”
“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool,” Trump added in his post.
Trump on Saturday also posted a nearly four-minute video that appears to have been taken from a security camera, in which three individuals can be seen with their hands in the pool, including one for an extended period.
The president claimed the video shows “material is being cut with a knife or a box cutter, for all to see!”
It’s not clear from the video, which appears to be shot from some distance, that any vandalism occurred. Workers can also be seen standing nearby and don’t appear to notice the people sticking their hands in the water.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond Friday night to questions about the administration’s past accusations against Hearn and others arrested for allegedly damaging the pool, or questions about the Justice Department’s decision to drop the case.
The contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement on its website dated June 21, the company defended its work, saying that while the U.S. Park Service had identified areas of the pool that required repairs, the areas “are a very small part of the massive 7 acre project, and do not indicate a failure of the liner.”
Hearn and three others charged with misdemeanors related to Reflecting Pool damage had a status hearing set for next Thursday. Court records show that at least one of those misdemeanor cases, against Justin Carreno, was dismissed Friday.
“While we are pleased with this result,” Carreno’s attorneys, David Benowitz and Rammy Barbari, said in a statement, “Mr. Carreno is innocent of the charge and should never have been prosecuted in the first place.”
Hearn’s lawyers and outside watchdog groups said Friday’s move to drop charges was insufficient, and accused the administration of seeking to punish innocent Americans rather than admit its own errors.
“The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” Hearn’s lawyers, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin, said in a statement. “Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”
Hearn told the Post last month that he was cycling past the pool and put his hand in the water only to touch a piece of liner that was already dislodged. Reached by phone on Friday night, he declined to comment.
The fight over the century-old Reflecting Pool — which sits at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial and has played host to famous speeches and events — has unexpectedly emerged as a major flash point in Trump’s second term.
Trump announced plans in April to abruptly overhaul the pool, saying that he had personally picked out a new color for the basin, “American Flag Blue,” and had recommended contractors based on his experience managing pools at his various resorts.
At the time, Trump said the pool renovations would cost less than $2 million and be completed within two weeks. The cost later swelled to more than $14 million, and historic preservationists and other experts repeatedly warned that the rapid renovations could backfire.
The job was completed within six weeks, with the president and his allies saying it was a symbol of his efforts to remake Washington.
“I’m very proud of it,” Trump said in the Oval Office as the pool prepared to reopen. “I’m very good at building things and constructing things.”
The celebrations were short-lived. Within days, the pool was beset by major algae outbreaks and the liner’s peeling. The president responded by alleging that vandals were to blame, accusing them of cutting parts of the pool but providing no evidence.
“Many additional people have been arrested having to do with the disgraceful Vandalism of our beautiful Reflecting Pool,” the president wrote on Truth Social in June.
“It was slashed with a knife, or box cutter, high grade colored waterproofing liner — it was VANDALISM!,” Trump wrote in another post this month, criticizing an ABC News report that suggested the liner was peeling.
A recent visual inspection found damage in the middle of the pool — “where a vandal would not likely attempt to peel the lining” — further indicating that the damage stemmed from mistakes during installation, DOJ lawyers wrote in their filing.
The administration drained the pool after the July Fourth celebrations on the Mall, with officials saying further renovations would be necessary. In a Justice Department filing Thursday, the administration said the pool would be closed through Aug. 10.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, an education and advocacy organization, is suing to block the administration’s continued work on the pool, saying Trump has disregarded long-established processes and federal requirements intended to protect historic sites.
“Today, the iconic pool sits empty, covered in peeling epoxy after a botched job,” the organization’s lawyers wrote in a court filing Friday, asking a federal judge to halt further changes to the pool until they can go through a formal review process.
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.
Every Democrat in the New Jersey congressional delegation signed a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to reverse his rejection of disaster aid for a deadly blizzard earlier this year.
The lawmakers sent the letter, which was first obtained by The Inquirer, to the White House on Friday in support of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s appeal of the president’s rejection. Their plea comes after Trump denied an $84 million request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for relief for a late February blizzard earlier this month.
“Severe blizzard conditions led to widespread damage—overwhelming State and local capacity,” the lawmakers wrote.“Tragically, this fatal event resulted in 12 confirmed weather-related fatalities across nine counties, the most out of any impacted state.”
The letter was led by U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, both Democrats. All members of the New Jersey delegation were invited to join, Booker’s office said, but all three of the state’s Republican members opted out. Even U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a South Jersey Republican, sat out of the effort despite initially backing the request in April.
Van Drew joined Booker, Kim, and six Democratic House members in an April letter of support for the request in which they said the public assistance and hazard mitigation funds “are crucial to the recovery of the communities” impacted by the storm.
President Donald Trump smiles while Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) stands next to him at a Keep America Great campaign rally in Wildwood, NJ on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.HEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
The request sought money for every county in Van Drew’s district for costs related to the snowstorm, including damage from moderate coastal flooding in Atlantic County and his home county of Cape May.Van Drew, a Trump ally and former Democrat, faces a challenge from Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock for his reelection in November.
Van Drew did not respond to a request for comment.
The request included assistance for the vast majority of the state’s counties – including all of South Jersey – as well as hazard mitigation funding statewide, according to the Friday letter. Preliminary damage assessments across those 19 counties documented “extensive emergency work” such as snow and debris removal and “damage to critical infrastructure and public facilities.”
The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management estimates that disaster costs will exceed $100 million, which is more than five times more than the state’s threshold of about $18 million to qualify for federal disaster assistance.
Covered Bridge Road in Cherry Hill is Monday Feb. 23, 2026 after a power line was knocked down by the Sunday night snorwstorm.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
“The extent of the damage, the operational burden throughout the State, and the cumulative impacts of recent and related extreme weather all provide overwhelming evidence that New Jersey’s request must be granted,” they wrote. “While we commend the actions of the State and local governments to respond thus far, full recovery will require your approval of federal resources.”
The lawmakers cite National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration data that found approximately 24 inches of snow fell in less than 24 hours across central and eastern parts of the state, and eight of the state’s 21 counties recorded record or near-record snowfalls.
Power outages during the storm impacted more than 127,000 customers in the state and there were 544 motor vehicle accidents and 1,518 motor vehicle-related assists, according to the letter.
They also argued that Trump should consider that the state already had a “strained capacity to respond” because of another severe snow and ice storm weeks earlier, as well as six open federal disaster declarations — in reference to prior disasters for which the state is still working on recovery projects.
“We look forward to working with you to ensure all Americans receive protection and support from the federal government in the aftermath of a serious disaster,” they wrote.
On Thursday, Sherrill spokesperson Sean Higgins noted in a statement that the costs of the February snowstorm “didn’t care about political boundaries” and that the governor will fight for funding “regardless of political party,” in a nod to the accusations Trump is putting his thumb on the scale based on partisan favoritism.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement Thursday, before receiving the letter, that the president “provides a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any Administration has before him” and that he responds to FEMA requests “with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement—not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.”
She also said the Trump administration is committed “to empowering and working with State and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.” The Trump administration previously tried to cut disaster prevention funding because it was too “focused on ‘climate change” before a group of states including New Jersey sued.
Kim,the ranking Democrat on the committee that oversees FEMA, said in an interview Thursday that he is concerned that politics were involved in the latest rejection but couldn’t say for sure.
The New Jersey e-bike law that went into full effect earlier this month has a new update.
And after President Donald Trump denied the state’s request for federal disaster aid, South Jersey Democrat Andy Kim has concerns about the possible politics behind the decision.
Plus, several Camden County towns could owe more than a half a million dollars as part of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit, and more news of the day.
New Jersey’s new e-bike law was passed in January and went into full enforcement on July 19.
The state’s Motor Vehicle Commission has already made a policy change that impacts non-Jersey residents.
Here’s what you need to know before you’re ready to ride:
🚲 Everyone — including people from outside of the state — needs to register their e-bike. Out-of-state riders will need to make an appointment at the MVC and fill out a registration form.
🚲 Properly registered e-bikes will get a sticker from the MVC to display.
🚲 The law requires all riders to wear helmets and prohibits riders under the age of 15.
Back in February, New Jersey was hit with a record-breaking blizzard that resulted in thousands of power outages, school closures, and transit disruptions.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, via President Trump, earlier this month rejected the state’s request for $84 million in disaster aid after the agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already determined that Jersey met the required levels to receive the help.
Sen. Kim said he’s worried the rejection may be partisan, but can’t say for certain. The White House has been consistent in saying Trump’s rejections for other disaster aid requests from states have not been politically motivated.
Five Camden County municipalities agreed to a settlement in a class-action lawsuit over vacant property fees. If approved in court, Barrington, Bellmawr, Runnemede, Voorhees, and Gloucester Township would collectively owe more than $500,000.
An Atlantic City lifeguard has been charged with trying to lure an underage girl who turned out to be an undercover detective, the Camden County Prosecutors Office said Thursday. The man from Egg Harbor Townshipwas arrested in Cherry Hill.
A woman was arrested and charged after fatally shooting her boyfriend in Winslow Township while in a parked vehicle, according to local authorities. The investigation is ongoing.
Gloucester County officials are reminding residents to ensure their pets are up to date on rabies vaccinations and to avoid wildlife after a report of a rabid raccoon biting a Glassboro resident last weekend.
Thieves recently targeted two trading card shops, one in Washington Township and another in Gloucester Township, and stole thousands of dollars worth of Pokémon cards, 6abc reports. Earlier this month, a man was charged for allegedly stealing a Pokémon card worth $24,000 using fake cryptocurrency in Marlton.
Olympic figure skater Isabeau Levito, who grew up in Mount Holly and now lives in Mount Laurel, teased her upcoming programs for the 2026-27 season, including a Pirates of the Caribbeantheme for her free skate.
🦘 Remembering: That time when Rex, a three-year-old wallaby, went missing for about a day from Lots of Love farm in Williamstown and then was found safe at a Walmart.
Two weeks ago, a reader asked Amy about the dress code and she responded that most people fall into the “throw stuff in a suitcase” camp. Well, we posed the question to the Shore Line text group. Below are a few recent submissions:
“‘Down the Shore everything’s alright.’ Sure it’s OK to wear beach attire (not sandy though, and do brush ur hair 😉)”
“I don’t care how much money you have. Make an effort, for the sake of the restaurant staff and other guests, to put on clean shorts and a polo for men and a cute cover up/sundress for women. If you can’t do that, then there’s always takeout.”
“Some people, when they come to the beach, lose or abandon their sense of propriety. Decent, casual attire respects the restaurant and other diners.”
There’s still time to weigh in. Is there a baseline for what’s acceptable? Or does anything go when you’re on vacation? Email Rosenberg your thoughts at downtheshore@inquirer.com.
📸 Photo of the week
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts posed for a photo with Gisele Maldonado, of Princeton, N.J., during the first day of Training Camp at the Jefferson Health Training Complex on Wednesday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
TGIF. Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you on Monday. ☀️
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