Yaxel Lendeborg went from playing one varsity season at Pennsauken High School to an NBA lottery pick.
The 23-year-old forward, who was the Big Ten Player of the Year this season at national champion Michiganwas picked No. 11 by Golden State in the first round on Tuesday night.
Expressing emotion when hearing his name called at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Lendeborg embraced his mother, Yissel, in tears.
He said on the ESPN telecast that “I don’t deserve to be here right now. I didn’t have the traditional path. … I can’t believe it.”
Lendeborg thought his basketball career was over in high school. He played in just 11 games his senior year after being academically ineligible to play for his sophomore and junior seasons.
That was until an opportunity arose — thanks to his mother — at the junior college level with Arizona Western College.
“That kid got here because of her,” Lendeborg said on the telecast. “She pushed a dream, forced me to go out there and become a man.”
He spent three seasons at Arizona Western, including a COVID-19 season, where he emerged in his third year, averaging 17.2 points and 13 rebounds. In 2023, he transferred to Alabama-Birmingham and played two seasons with the Blazers.
Yaxel Lendeborg celebrates with his family after being selected by the Golden State Warriors.
In his final season at UAB, he averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds. He also was named the American Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and an all-conference selection twice.
Lendeborg, who is 6-foot-9, graduated from UAB in 2025 and entered the transfer portal for his final year of eligibility, which brought him to Michigan. Lendeborg averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 40 games for the Wolverines.
Tuesday was the second time in Michigan program history that three players were drafted in the first round.
Center Aday Mara was picked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 12 after forward Morez Johnson Jr. went ninth overall to the Mavericks, reuniting with his college coach, Dusty May, who on Tuesday was named Dallas’ head coach.
After he was selected, Lendeborg said his mother told him, “We did it. All the sacrifice we made, we finally accomplished it — you did it.”
He’ll join a Golden State team that finished 10th in the Western Conference, with a 37-45 record this season.
While state and federal lawmakers have blasted the Trump administration for deplorable conditions at Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall, New Jersey’s prisons watchdog has issued a new report detailing overcrowding, intolerable heat, and other deficiencies at Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County.
Bayside, one of the state’s largest lockups, now houses almost 1,300 people, more than twice its capacity, according to the report released Tuesday by the state corrections ombudsperson’s office. The mixed-security prison, which opened in 1971 in Leesburg, was built to hold 504 people.
“Turning single-occupancy rooms into double-occupancy rooms … leaves each incarcerated person with significantly less storage and personal space,” the report says.
The crowding is compounded by the closure of Bayside’s dining hall, which is now used for storage, the report says. That closure forces prisoners to eat all three meals while perched on their beds or foot lockers in their cramped cells, which at 70 square feet are about the size of a parking space.
Inspectors from the ombudsperson’s office also found old, thin mattresses; birds in the kitchen and housing units; and dirty showers, among other problems.
The prison lacks air conditioning, so inspectors also encountered stifling heat during summer inspections, with temperatures reaching 94 degrees in cells and shared spaces and 116 degrees in the kitchen, according to the report.
State health inspectors, who last inspected Bayside in November 2023, also dinged the prison for a “repeat deficiency” for the presence of insects or rodents, the report says.
The ombudsperson’s office recommended that Department of Corrections officials allow people to eat meals outside their cells in a courtyard area or day rooms if they cannot reopen the dining hall, and to improve cleaning of kitchen equipment and showers, among other things.
Officials have tried to improve some problems, such as replacing mattresses and exhaust fans and vents in shower areas, as well as putting up barriers to keep out birds, the report says.
Reopening the dining hall, which has been closed since 1997, is “not logistically feasible” because of cost, staffing, and security concerns, the department said in a response to the report. They said they won’t move meals to common areas, also citing security reasons.
On Tuesday night, Yaxel Lendeborg will likely be a first-round pick in the NBA draft.
But the Pennsauken High graduate’s basketball career nearly ended after playing just 11 varsity games. If not for his mom, Yissel, Lendeborg might not ever have played Division I basketball, much less become a lottery pick.
“Seeing him, and seeing his mother, and how much she has [meant] to him, and how much work she’s done to be able to help guide him mentally, and obviously on the court, it’s been the honor of my coaching career,” Pennsauken coach Harrison Carsillo said.
Lendeborg wasn’t academically eligible to play basketball for a large portion of high school. He played on Pennsauken’s freshman team, but was held out for his sophomore and junior seasons, and most of senior year. He trained in the summer with coaches and friends from Pennsauken, but watched from the sidelines during the school year.
In a Players’ Tribune article, Lendeborg said that the turning point for him was during his senior year. One night, after staying out late with his friends playing video games, his mom confronted him and told him that he needed to focus to even graduate from Pennsauken, much less play basketball.
“This is no joke right now,” Lendeborg said in the article. “Nobody is smiling here. You have your mom up in this minivan crying her eyes out because you don’t know how to be a good son. Your own mom! Who does everything for you. Works two jobs. Shows you love no matter what. And this is how you’re being?!?!?!”
Yaxel Lendeborg averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 40 games for Michigan last season.
During that final year, Lendeborg improved his grades enough to play the final 11 games of the high school season, even competing in the NJSIAA playoffs. But he thought his basketball career was over, until his mom set him up to attend junior college at Arizona Western College. Lendeborg wrote that she planned the going-away party without even telling him he was going, because she knew he needed that push.
From there, Lendeborg had one of the most improbable rises to the draft, transferring to Alabama-Birmingham in 2023 and then Michigan before last season, where he won Big Ten Player of the Year and an NCAA title. Lendeborg, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 40 games for the Wolverines.
Lendeborg was always talented, Carsillo said. His biggest problem was not believing in himself. Carsillo and Lendeborg’s mom forced him to pick up the phone after Division I schools started calling him about transferring, because he wasn’t sure if that was the right fit for him.
“He didn’t answer the phone, and I said to him, ‘If you don’t answer that phone call, I’m going to take your phone, and I’m going to smash it, or rip your sneakers.’ I [was] going to be so upset, because he didn’t believe in himself that he could actually do what we knew he could do, if he put his mind to it,” Carsillo said.
“It was a really funny moment. I obviously wasn’t going to rip his sneakers or smash his phone, but I was very upset, because it was almost just a mental thing going into it, because he had so much potential that he didn’t even see himself.”
After two years at UAB, Lendeborg was a fringe first-round prospect. He could have ended his college career there, but instead spent another year in college to develop further, and prove to himself and to NBA draft scouts that he could succeed at that highest level. Carsillo said that Lendeborg’s year at Michigan has him more confident and aware of his sky-high potential.
But what’s stood out the most to Carsillo over the years is Lendeborg’s selflessness, on and off the court. In the Final Four, Lendeborg suffered an MCL and ankle sprain. Some advised him not to play to protect his draft stock, but Lendeborg insisted on helping his teammates see it through and vowed, “I’m playing no matter what.”
At halftime of the national championship game on April 6, he said he felt “awful,” but still gritted out a 13-point, 36-minute performance in the 69-63 win over UConn.
Yaxel Lendeborg spent two seasons at UAB after attending Arizona Western College.
“That’s him,” Carsillo said. “He could have easily just said, ‘No, I’m good.’ He knows he’s going to get drafted. He knows he’s changed his family’s life. It’s amazing. That’s exactly who he is, 100%, and he was like that at Pennsauken, just much lower stakes.”
Lendeborg even has a chance to reunite with his college coach, Dusty May, who reportedly accepted the Dallas Mavericks’ head coaching job on Monday. The Mavericks hold the No. 9 pick in the draft, slightly above where Lendeborg has been projected, but Lendeborg joked Monday that he’s “going to tell him he better pick me up. If he doesn’t, I’m going to be mad. I might block him.”
The forward has grown up a lot since high school. He’s one of the oldest prospects in the draft, but he’s played only about six seasons of organized basketball. He grew up playing baseball, and told ESPN that he first learned how to play basketball through the NBA 2K video game.
“He still has so much room to grow, and he’s still learning how to become a better basketball player; it’s remarkable,” Carsillo said. “He has a little bit of self doubt, but not much anymore. This whole process with the NBA and Michigan turned his eye and turned his mindset around to be able to prove to himself, like, ‘I can do what my mother has always told me I could do.’”
Lendeborg’s mom can’t attend as many games as she used to. She’s currently nearing the end of her treatment cycle for appendix cancer, which she initially kept hidden from Lendeborg to keep him focused on his season at Michigan. But planned to be in Brooklyn on Tuesday to watch her son’s NBA journey begin — a journey he’d never have come close to if not for her pushing him every step of the way.
Current and former military personnel can now receive free estate planning assistance in Camden County to help support their families’ futures.
The Camden County Board of Commissioners launched the new clinic last month, one of several no-cost legal services available to vulnerable South Jersey residents.
The clinic, currently scheduled monthly, gives active service members, veterans, and their spouses living in Camden County access to certain legal services at no charge. The county will provide a last will and testament, power of attorney, and an advance directive, which documents a person’s preferences for medical treatment in case they become unable to make their own healthcare decisions.
Sixteen veterans are signed up for the first Veterans Will Clinic on Wednesday at the Camden County One-Stop Career Center in Cherry Hill Township, said Morgan Callan, the county’s external communications manager. There is no current cap for how many veterans can participate.
The Camden County Office of Veterans Affairs is now accepting registrations for the second clinic, on July 29. Anyone interested should contact the office by calling 856-374-5801, or by visiting the office at 1 Collier Drive in Blackwood, part of the Camden County Lakeland Complex.
The Camden County Office of Veteran’s Affairs has partnered with Susan Purvin, an attorney from Gloucester County, to help provide the services. Louis Cappelli Jr., one of Camden County’s three commissioners, said in a statement that he hopes everyone eligible takes advantage of the program.
“Our veterans and servicemembers have sacrificed so much in service to our nation, so have their families,” Cappelli Jr. said. “The least we can do is help them get their affairs in order, giving them the confidence that their last wishes will be protected.”
The cost to Camden County for the program is $50 per will, $25 per power of attorney, and $100 per hour for every legal information session, with the total cost varying based on how many people show up for the clinics, said Dan Keashen, the county’s public affairs director.
Other counties in South Jersey provide similar services. All active military personnel and veterans in Gloucester County can receive assistance with a simple will, a legal document for those not looking to involve complicated estates or trusts in their end-of-life plans.
You don’t have to be a veteran to find free legal services in Camden County.
The Camden County Bar Association hosts Wills for Heroes, a small, volunteer-led clinic that provides free wills and estate planning documents to firefighters, police officers, and paramedics, and their spouses annually. The 2026 clinic, which took place in March, was full at 21 participants.
Kara Edens Graser, the association’s executive director, said she hopes to run the same clinic next year.
Plus, about 300 attorneys volunteer on an as-needed basis for the Volunteer UP Legal Clinic, a Camden-based nonprofit that provides legal expertise to those who need it. The nonprofit spent more than $300,000 in 2024 to provide legal services for tenants, criminal record expungement, estate planning, and name changes, according to its 2024 tax filing.
Volunteer UP also provides same-day eviction defense for tenants in Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties, CEO Steven Salinger said via email.
Last week, just outside the Camden Waterfront walkway, stood a group of five men, ages 18 to 25. They were all decked out in embroidered hoodies with the words “Camden Bop” stitched on the front.
They were quiet at first before the sight of a camera and sound of an up-tempo beat grabbed their attention.They smiled and their motionless bodies kicked into action.
They shifted their hips from side to side, while their arms and heels bounced to the song’s drum kicks and chopped vocal sample. They added leg extensions and shifty pivots into the mix, creating a synchronized dance that flowed like water.
The words stitched across their hoodies took on new meaning.
This is the Camden bop. Viral TikTok videos and Instagram clips of the group, known as the Camden Bop Originators, have turned the move into a social media sensation.
Ethan Tarte, pictured at the center of the image, is the man behind the now-viral dance, the “Camden bop.”
The crew comprises Camden natives Ethan Tarte, Myles Thompson, Nafi Muhammad, Rodney Barge Jr., and Haleem Muhammad.
At 16, Tarte unintentionally created the Camden bop by trying to imagine what it would be like to circle the rink at Camden’s Millennium Skate World. Before he had skates, he practiced his moves barefoot in front of his mirror.
What emerged became the foundation of the Camden bop.
The influence of Jersey Club dances is present in the heel-toe slides, leg extensions, and quick pivots they add to the Camden bop over up-tempo club remixes of popular rap and R&B songs like Ryan Leslie’s “Addiction” and R. Kelly’s “Freaky in the Club.”
“We grew up Jersey Club dancing … back when dancing was allowed,” Tarte, now 25, joked, “so it definitely comes from that.”
‘We’re more than what everybody thinks we are’
When the dance didn’t yet have a name, Tarte flirted with the idea of calling it the E Boogie Bop, after a nickname he had earned for his quick moves on the basketball court at Camden High School. But he opted for the name of his hometown, hoping the dance would change people’s perception of a city that was once among the nation’s poorest and most dangerous.
“I hear how people talk about Camden, and people are genuinely afraid sometimes to come through here,” Tarte said. “I was excited it was the Camden bop, so that everyone knew that there was something good that came out of Camden. We’re more than what everybody thinks we are.”
Not long after, Tarte started posting Snapchat videos of him doing the dance with his friends Thompson, Barge, and Nafi Muhammad. Haleem Muhammad, 18, joined later. Some of their peers called them corny at first, but the bop eventually caught on with others at Camden High.
“It really started from us having fun, and wanting to be us,” Tarte said. “People used to make fun of us, but it really comes from the love [of dancing].”
The same people who called the dance corny are now tripping over their feet to learn it, said Tyray Green, who graduated from Camden High with Tarte.
“People are insecure with themselves,” he said. “The whole time, they could have minded their business.”
“I feel like they’re doing it worldwide now,” Green said.
A fan in 2Rare
The dance shared among high schoolers has now drawn the attention of artists, athletes, and content creators from around the country.
Among them is North Philly rapper 2Rare, best known for his viral TikTok songs and dance videos, who featured the Originators in the video for his single, “Camden Bop,” after seeing the group’s TikTok videos.
2Rare, born Naseem Young, reached out to the Originators so he could put a face and name to the dance that was taking over people’s social media feeds.
“I know how quickly people can steal a wave, and nobody will ever know who the dance was from, who started this or started that,” he said. “I’ve had it happen to me. People have stolen my dances and ran off with it, so reaching out to them was a big deal.”
He first considered shooting the video in Philly, but thanks to advice from Gillie Da King, he recognized the significance of bringing the production to the birthplace of the dance.
“I had to make it happen,” 2Rare said. “I want to really shed light on them, and Gillie said, ‘They will never forget about you for doing something like that,’ and he was absolutely right.”
For Green, the recognition proves what he’s always known: Camden has more than just athletic talent. For him, it’s a city with both grit and style, deserving of its own recognition.
“We get overlooked a lot,” he said. “To see [2Rare] who has eyes on him, stick their arms out to give our city notoriety is big.”
‘There’s love all over the map’
In April, the dancers joined 2Rare outside of Camden High School to film the music video, now sitting at 2.8 million YouTube views since its May 7 premiere.
“It’s humbling,” Tarte said. “This all happened for a reason. It all fell into our lap.”
Earlier this month, their performance on a New York-based music radio show, On The Radar, with 2Rare shined a brighter light on the movement. The viral clips from that performance have reached more than 3 millions views on Instagram, with hundreds of commenters lauding their performance and the homage to their hometown.
“Keep [putting] on for the city @camdenboppers 🙌🏾🕺🏾,” one user commented.
Even Chance the Rapper followed the group’s Instagram page, and top streamer Tylil dropped a comment, giving 2Rare and the crew props for their performance.
Nafi Muhammad, 23, who started bopping as a junior at Camden High, said the reactions have been “overwhelming.”
“My nephew watched it on his tablet like a thousand times,” he said. “It’s been a lot of love.”
For years, Muhammad wondered where the group would be if they dedicated more time to promoting the dance back in high school. Now, with the millions of viewers they have reached, little is left to the imagination.
They are living it.
“If TikTok was jumping like it is now back in high school, we would have the dance in another stratosphere,” Muhammad said. “But we kept saying it, and then it happened.”
The “Camden bop,” originated by dancer Ethan Tarte, has become a viral sensation. Tarte’s group, the Camden Bop Originators, includes members Myles Thompson, Rodney Barge Jr., Haleem Muhammad, and Nafi Muhammad.
“There’s love all over the map, and it’s definitely only the beginning,” Tarte said.
The group has met criticism too, with online comments often ranging from “wild dance” to “horrible song.”
The criticism isn’t new territory for Tarte. “People used to call me weird in high school, and now I hear I’m too old to do the dance,” he said.
None of that has ever stopped him.
The “Camden bop,” originated by South Jersey-born dancers Myles Thompson, Ethan Tarte, Rodney Barge Jr., Nafi Muhammad, and Haleem Muhammad, has become a viral sensation.
“Camden is a small city, but we’re making big noise right now, and we’re trying to keep that going,” Barge said, adding that he’s grateful for the collaboration with 2Rare.
The love is not one-sided. 2Rare said the collaboration has elevated his career, too.
“They are part of the reason I’m hot right now, so I could never not acknowledge them,” the rapper said. “If it wasn’t for the dance, it would have still been difficult. I had a quiet moment, but I had to pop out and show out. That was a big jawn.”
The rapper is already planning for a remix of “Camden Bop,” and wants to bring the Originatorsto Atlanta for Streamer University, a multiday workshop for growing and aspiring content creators.
As for the Originators, they want to continue spreading the joy that dancing has afforded them, and encourage others to absorb it as well.
MARGATE, N.J. — Hillary Bor had had enough of running the acclaimed Pumpkin BYOB in Philly after two decades.
Around the time Pumpkin closed in 2024, she uprooted her life and moved to the Shore full time. Also around this time, she fell in love with Tim Nedzwecky, whom she met through their respective white pit bulls, Piggy and Loki.
They hadn’t planned to launch a food venture, but when Scott Bonar, of Scott’s Dock on the bay in Margate, talked about wanting a food option, the pieces fell together.
Dogs. The Shore. A view.
Thus was born Dock Dogs (hot dogs with a view), a permanent fixture next to Scott’s Dock, with a complimentary lovely sunset over the bay.
Tim Nedzwecky and Hillary Bor, the former owner of Pumpkin BYOB in Philadelphia, opened Dock Dogs on the bay in Margate.
“We wanted to do something together,” Bor said. “He asked us, ‘You guys want to do food?’”
Hot dog stands have a history in Margate. There’s Junior’s nearby and the old Lenny’s, famous for its pepper hash, which was set up back in the 1960s and 1970s near Lucy the Elephant. Now, Dock Dogs has started carrying — by popular demand — the pepper hash from the original Lenny’s outside Philadelphia.
But does running a hot dog cart, even one with a beautiful view, offer fulfillment after owning Pumpkin BYOB with its elevated cuisine and prime South Street Graduate Hospital location, for 20 years?
Bor does not hesitate to answer.
“This is so fulfilling,” said Bor, who rides a bike everywhere and still doesn’t own a car. Plus, “I get to be with my soulmate. I get to be with wonderful people to work with. We get to be on the water.”
“It’s a dream come true,” said Nedzwecky.
Tim Nedzwecky and Hillary Bor at their hot dog stand on the bay in Margate, Docks Dogs. Bor is the former owner of Pumpkin BYOB in Philadelphia, which closed in 2024.
Dock Dogs has a menu item in memory of Scott’s mother, Robin, a familiar face around the marina, who died in 2021: Robin’s Reuben with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing. ($12).
The Windy Dog with mustard, relish, onions, peppers, pickles, celery salt, tomatoes, and a side of Lenny’s pepper hash, at Dock Dogs in Margate, opened by Hillary Bor, the former owner of Pumpkin BYOB in Philadelphia, and partner Tim Nedzwecky.
All hot dogs are Hebrew National and served on Martin’s potato rolls with kettle chips, pickles, and coleslaw.
There’s chicken and egg salad options (no hot dog) as well, and the Keeper, a crab cake shaped like a hot dog ($22). The Captain’s Choice ($14) has bacon, barbecue sauce, and cheddar and a “simple sailor” hotdog with choice of ketchup, mustard, relish, sauerkraut, and sriracha is $10.
They’re hoping people come for the food as well as the vibe. Mondays are for families, with face painting and other kid-friendly activities out back, where picnic tables line the docks. You can come by boat. Wednesdays feature a house band.
There’s also a “Hook the hot dog” game that carries a prize.
The response has been enthusiastic.
“Saturday night, the vibe here, it was so special,” said Nedzwecky. “Everybody, the kids, were dancing.”
“We were looking at each other like, ‘Oh my God it’s amazing.’, ” said Bor.
“It makes us really happy,” said Nedzwecky. “People are saying this is exactly what this area needed.”
VENTNOR, N.J. — The e-bike revolution will not be coming to Ventnor’s famously chaotic boardwalk. The city banned motorized bicycles decades ago, and raised the penalties in 2023, citing dangers from the speeds and heavier bicycles.
Ocean City tried doing the same in 2024, but reversed course on the lowest speed e-bikes after an outcry, particularly from seniors who have grown to cherish the electric bikes that take them farther and faster, and against the wind without breaking a sweat.
Wildwood allows them but has a 10 mph speed limit for any vehicle. Atlantic City prohibits them.
But while boardwalk rules vary, the state’s e-bike law, passed in January with a grace period through July 19, requires New Jerseyans with e-bikes to register them and, in some cases, purchase insurance.
The law was adopted amid a sense of urgency after a 13-year-old Scotch Plains boy on an electric bike was killed in a collision with a landscaping truck. Earlier this month, Chase Sudano, 16, a rising wrestling star at St. Augustine Prep, was killed after he collided with a UPS delivery truck in Southhampton, Burlington County.
The law defines two classes of e-bikes: low-speed, where the motor assists only while pedaling and shuts off when the bicycles reaches 20 miles per hour, and a motorized bicycle that is throttle-capable of assisted speeds up to 28 miles per hour.
All users of both categories must have a permit or driver’s license and wear helmets. Nobody under 15 can ride one at all.
‘It’s a mess’
So far, there is no way to actually comply. The state’s own Motor Vehicle Commission website has no way to register an e-bike. The state now says it will begin taking appointments only after the grace period ends.
Scott Chambers, owner of Zippy’s Bikes in Wildwood, says the new e-bike law in New Jersey “is a mess,” with no way for people to comply with registration requirements, and confusion over other issues.
“It’s a mess,” said Scott Chambers, owner of Zippy’s Bikes in Wildwood. “It’s so overwhelming because they created this law, I don’t want to say haphazardly, but they rushed it.”
Crawford said his customers are reluctant to buy an e-bike until they know they can ride it in compliance with the law.
He says the law doesn’t mention e-tricycles, so it’s not clear where those might fall. (The state now says the law does not apply to e-tricycles.)
In Ventnor, there’s a big electronic sign on Atlantic Avenue alerting people to the new law’s helmet, insurance, and registration requirements. A new sign was added to the Boardwalk itself, highlighting two prohibited categories: e-bikes and dogs.
Ventnor police Lt. Bryan Gaviria says the department will have its hands full, educating and, at some point, enforcing the new e-bike law.
But first, he said, they need some answers themselves.
“We’re absolutely waiting for clarity all around,” he said, adding that the city’s bicycle officers are choosing to ride on non-electric bikes because they don’t want to be out of compliance themselves, and they don’t want to be on e-bikes while enforcing an e-bike ban.
Ventnor installed this sign on the Boardwalk warning that electric bikes were prohibited (as well as dogs). The state’s new e-bike law goes into effect July 19, but Pennsylvanians will not be required to register their e-bikes while in New Jersey, the state says.
Waiting on the state
The state recently clarified some of the issues that were causing confusion.
William Connolly, the press secretary for the N.J. Motor Vehicle Commission, says the MVC will begin offering appointments for e-bike licensing and registration in July. The law’s grace period ends July 19.
“We will be making an announcement later this month about when appointments will become available, along with offering newly updated resources and step-by-step guidance for e-bike licensing and registration,” he said.
He said the delay was due to the “extensive IT upgrades” required for new licensing and registration systems, educational resources and testing procedures, not to mention buying new materials such as “specialized license plate stickers,” that will have to be displayed on the registered bikes.
“We are establishing a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive process for e-bikes,” he said.
Ventnor installed this electronic sign on Atlantic Avenue to educate people about the state’s new e-bike law. Pennsylvanians will not be required to register their e-bikes while in New Jersey, the state says.
Connolly said there is one category of e-bikes that will not require insurance, though they will still require registration: the lowest speed e-bikes.
“These are the low-speed e-bikes with a motor that provide pedal assist only when the rider is pedaling and cease to provide assistance when the e-bike reaches 20 mph,” he said.
So what if you’re visiting the Shore and bring an e-bike?
Connolly said: “E-bike registration through the New Jersey MVC is only available to New Jersey residents.” Meaning, Pennsylvanians can bring their bikes and use them without registering them.
But bicycle advocates say the law is confusing, because it also states that any bike must display a sticker showing that it is registered.
While the law was prompted by a series of crashes, and particularly by the ubiquitous use by teenagers, it has been seniors that have taken to the e-bikes and urged towns to let them ride on their boardwalks.
Annamarie, 70, and Mike Carr, 71, of Ventnor are best known for the Jagielky’s candy shops they own, but it’s e-bikes that have become their passion.
Loading their bikes back onto their truck in Ocean City, where they began and ended a bike ride around various bridges, Mike Carr said he’d be sure to wear a helmet, because he believes that will be the thing that officers will focus in on in the beginning.
Annamarie said, “Sure we’re upset,” about not being able to ride on Ventnor’s boardwalk, but they recognize the risks from people going too fast, particularly on electric scooters.
E-bikes have allowed the couple to go on numerous bike rides a week, for upward of 30 or more miles. They’d never do that on a regular bike.
“We parked here, we went the whole length of the boardwalk, we went down to 29th Street, we went back to Haven Avenue, came back and went over the bridge to go see the birds,” Mike said, describing the couple’s route that day.
With the e-bikes, they don’t have to worry about the wind, he said. The couple will typically go 13 miles an hour.
They are hooked on the freedom, distance, and exhilaration that e-bikes have given them, even as they passed 70. They ride all over the bridges of the barrier islands.
Mike’s got some of his regular routes timed so that he can get over the bridge without getting a red light and without automobile traffic catching him from behind. “When we’re going into Longport, you turn around, you look at the light. When it’s red, you have four minutes to get over. You hit the throttle and you go as fast as you can.”
He said they’ll try to register the bicycles and comply with the law, once they’re able to:
“I’ll have to wear a helmet because I’m guessing they’ll look for the guys with no helmet, pull them over.”
E-bike riders can sign up for direct updates from MVC here.
As a U.S. Army soldier in Afghanistan in 2013, Dan Kovalik got used to the adrenaline rush of bullets whizzing by while on patrol. Risking his life was part of his job as he radioed in Apache helicopters to protect other soldiers.
But by the time he retired from the Army in 2018, his 23 years of military service had taken their toll. He had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was rated 80% disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Kovalik moved back to his hometown of Johnstown, Pa., where he struggled to find the sense of purpose and camaraderie that had come so easily in the military.
“I was looking for ways to be part of the community,” Kovalik said. “Church. The VFW. Then I tried jiujitsu.”
Kovalik, 49, shared his story Saturday from the deck of the USS New Jersey, the decommissioned Navy battleship in Camden. The battleship was host to dozens of fans of and participants in Brazilian jiujitsu — a martial art that uses grappling and leverage to subdue opponents — for a day of competition.
It was part of a two-day jiujitsu seminar and fundraiser put on by the We Defy Foundation, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides qualified combat veterans with free local jiujitsu classes and mentors who help them reintegrate into civilian life. Veterans must have been honorably discharged and have a VA disability rating of at least 80%.
“The physical execution and mental chess game helps me to focus,” Kovalik said. “That, and just going out for a beer or dinner with friends afterwards.”
Omar Feliciano, a 33-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Brooklyn, wins his match against Matthew Castillo, with Prodigy BJJ, at the We Defy Foundation jiujitsu event at the USS New Jersey in Camden on Saturday, June 20, 2026.
The program has over 500 veterans currently enrolled, We Defy Foundation executive director Kevin Linderman said. About 70% of those who enroll complete the one-year program.
“What makes it so different is, you have to do it with someone else,” Linderman said of jiujitsu. “When you’re grappling, you’re connecting with someone deeply. You’re both getting better through the process. It’s physical, and you’re learning how to operate under stress.”
It’s also one more way to fight an ongoing crisis, Linderman said. Though military veterans made up 7.6% of the U.S. population in 2020, they accounted for 14% of suicides, according to research published in the National Library of Medicine. The suicide rate among veterans is 1.5 times higher than that of the overall population, after adjusting for age and sex, researchers noted.
Though prevention efforts have shown some success, nearly 6,400 veterans died by suicide in 2023 — the most recent year for which data were available — according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Omar Feliciano of Brooklyn, N.Y., said he found Brazilian jiujitsu after struggling to process a traumatic event he witnessed while in the Marines.
“It really affected my sleep, my relationships with people,” Feliciano said. “I was irritable for no particular reason.”
After another Marine recommended the We Defy Foundation, Feliciano applied. Now, Feliciano benefits from the structure of attending jiujitsu class twice a week, keeping him physically active and building camaraderie with other people in his community.
The 33-year-old mechanical engineer said jiujitsu is helping him be a better father. He fought — and won — a jiujitsu match Saturday.
“We’ve seen that it has a significant impact in reducing PTSD, depression, and anxiety,” said Linderman, 52, who came to the sport in 2015 while dealing with multiple deaths among his family and friends. Much like the veterans he helps, Linderman said, he was caught in a “rumination cycle,” and he quickly learned that an evening of grappling with opponents was a great way to break that cycle.
Ethan Wanner, 21, of Williamsport, Pa. and Tried and True Gym, celebrates after winning his match against Josh Newhart, with 10P Bethlehem, at the We Defy Foundation jiujitsu event at the USS New Jersey in Camden on Saturday, June 20, 2026.
The foundation was formed in 2015 by Army veterans Alan Shebaro and Joey Bozik. Though Bozik lost part of one arm and both legs from the blast of a roadside bomb in Iraq, he learned how to adapt his body to the martial art. In the process, Bozik regained much of the community he had been missing, Linderman said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic waned, interest in the group accelerated, Linderman said. The organization has gotten $250,000 a year in financial backing from Facebook head Tom Alison. With 2,000 people moving through the program so far, interest is only growing. Linderman estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of Iraq or Afghanistan veterans who qualify for the program — including some who are struggling to find connection in civilian life.
“I think that a way for people to stay connected to each other is one of the most important things right now,” Linderman said.
Following the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX win, Deptford High School students Hunter Thomas and Dominic Alia made an Instagram fan page for then-rookie edge rusher Jalyx Hunt, who played a key role in wrecking Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ night.
Just over a year later, Hunt showed up to the high school graduation of the “Jalyx Hunt enthusiasts.”
On Thursday, while waiting to receive his diploma, Thomas received a text from his mother. Hunt, whom Thomas invited, was sitting in the away stands of Deptford’s football stadium. He waved to the Eagle, who signaled right back at Thomas and his friend, Antoine Sims.
“After that, my head starts spinning,” Thomas told The Inquirer. “There’s no freaking way that he actually came.”
Thomas first met Hunt at last year’s Eagles Autism Challenge. There, he showed the edge rusher the fan page called @jalyxhunt_enthusiast. Hunt loved it and followed the account back. Since then, Thomas and Alia have exchanged direct messages with Hunt, wishing him happy birthday and sending him messages throughout the season.
Before the Eagles’ final regular-season game this past season, a 24-17 loss to the Washington Commanders, Hunt met Thomas and Alia above the tunnel to sign Thomas’ jersey. “Always love,” Hunt, who recognized the pair, signed. “Go birds!”
When graduation came around, Thomas had an extra ticket, so he thought to text his favorite player first. To his surprise, Hunt responded that he would be able to come. Immediately, Thomas employed his sister to decorate his graduation cap, complete with Hunt’s No. 58 and a throwback Eagles logo.
In a post to his Instagram story on Thursday, Hunt shared a photo of his view from the Deptford stands. “I’m locked,” he wrote, tagging the fan account which now sits at roughly 1,000 followers.
“I get my diploma, and my mom, because she’s a teacher, she gives it to me,” Thomas said. “I hug her, and when I walk back to my seat, I point out to Jalyx. He points back. When I did it, I was just thinking, ‘I got to show him some love.’”
Jalyx Hunt with Hunter Thomas at Thomas’ high school graduation.
After all his classmates’ names were called and his cap was thrown, Thomas made his way over to Hunt, who was now sitting with Thomas’ father. Hunt caught up with Thomas, telling him that he was cheering loudly when Thomas received his diploma. Eventually, Thomas found Alia on the field and the three posed for photographs.
“There’s a lot of NFL players with all this clout, and their heads are so big, and then he’s just the most down-to-earth [person],” Thomas said. “He’s like, ‘Yes I play football, but I’m still a normal guy at the end of the day.’
“He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. Me and Dom said, after we were like, ‘This is like a memory that we’re going to have forever.’”
Vineland’s public school teachers are having an easier timewith the question of what to wear to work — at least for the final days of the school year.
In a move to boost morale in the South Jersey school system and make teachers’ lives easier this spring during a hectic testing period, the district eased its dress policy to allow denim jeans until the end of the school year on June 25.
Teachers love it and hope it will continue in September.
“It’s one small way to make the world of work a little friendlier,” said Vineland Education Association president Louis Russo, a social studies teacher. “It’s one small thing off of their shoulders.”
Teachers Andrea Ruiz (left) and Elaine Petrini (right) at Rossi Elementary in Vineland on June 9. The teachers are allowed to wear jeans until the end of the school year.
School board president Cedric Holmes said the Cumberland County district notified employees when they returned from spring break in April that they could wear jeans any day of the week under a pilot program.
Holmes said there had been rumblings among staff because the district — the largest in Cumberland County, with 11,000 students — had to extend the school year to make up snow days. Vineland‘s June 25 last day of school isamong the latest in the region.
The months following spring break are among the toughest with students undergoing standardized state testing, Holmes said. There are also end-of-the year field trips and outings when it makes sense to allow more relaxed clothing, he said.
“It was important to the board that staff felt that we saw the stress of all of that of this as a practical way to give a morale boost for the end of the year,” Holmes said.
Teachers typically dress a bit more formally for school.According to Vineland’s policy, female teachers must wear skirts, slacks, skorts, or dresses with blouses or sweaters, or school uniform. The skirt, skort, or dress should not exceed three inches above the knee.
Male staffers can wear suits or slacks with jackets and ties, sweaters, school uniform, or sports or dress shirts. Deemed unacceptable for both are sneakers, flip-flops, bedroom slippers, combat boots, and work boots. There are exceptions for teachers attending field trips or who work in specialized areas such as health and physical education or arts.
The district also has a uniform policy for students, but Holmes said that has been relaxed and the board also plans to reexamine that policy.
New Jersey’s 600 school districts set their own policies for staff and students.
Steve Baker, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Education Association, which represents 200,000 teachers and support staff, said the union supports the efforts in Vineland “to develop policies that help create a positive learning and working environment for students and staff.“
On a busy morning last week at Anthony Rossi Elementary in Vineland, third-grade teacher Jeffrey Martine stood in front of the class dressed in khaki shorts, a button-down blue dress shirt, and slip-on loafers. As an added bonus, it was a dress-down day, which allowed teachers to wear casual attire beyond jeans.
Jeffrey Martine, a teacher at Rossi Elementary in Vineland, greets a student at the school last week.
“If you do your job well, you have to be able to move,” Martine said. “I’m all about comfort.”
Students in Martine’s gifted and talented class were spread around the room working on a project in small groups. Some sat at desks making posters, while others were stretched out on the floor.
“I don’t think professionalism and comfort are mutually exclusive,” Martine said. “Teachers should be judged more on how they interact with their students than the pants they select.”
Holmes acknowledged the dress code was outdated and revisions are needed. The board plans to review the changes implemented this spring and may allow teachers to wear jeans during the new school year, he said.
“It was time for a change,” said Kaitlynn Rossi, a long-term substitute teacher. “People don’t dress like that.”
Teacher dress codes have evolved nationally over the years, especially during the pandemic, when more casual attire was the norm.
Based on responses from teachers around the world, the website We are Teachers in 2024 compiled a list of “16 Ridiculous Dress Code Rules for Teachers You Won’t Believe Are Real.” The list included prohibiting hats, capri pants, pants with pockets, UGGs, hoodies, or dark underwear.
In Philadelphia, where classes ended last week, there is no system-wide dress code for staff. Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which represents about 14,000 teachers, counselors, nurses, secretaries, and other workers, said employee dress typically does not come up as an issue.
School board president Cedric Holmes at Rossi Elementary in Vineland last week. Holmes said the teacher dress code policy was relaxed in an effort to improve morale at the end of the school year.
Holmes said teachers have responded well to the changes in Vineland and there have been few infractions, like torn or ripped jeans.
Before Vineland implemented the pilot dress code, teachers were allowed to wear jeans only for special days. The schools sponsor fundraisers that allow teachers to pay $2 to wear jeans. Students are allowed to wear jeans on dress-down days determined by their school principal, and they do not have to pay.
Fourth-grade teacher Andrea Ruiz said dressing more casually helps her students see her differently. A sign in her classroom says: “Be the best version of you.” She enjoys sitting with students on the carpet in her classroom or playing kickball on the playground.
“We’re meeting them where they are,” said Ruiz, who was wearing a gray T-shirt and striped pants. “It’s definitely something different for us.”
Teacher Kaitlynn Rossi with students at Rossi Elementary in Vineland last week.
Timothy Purnell, executive director of the New Jersey School Boards Association, said a decision as simple as allowing jeans can have an impact on the learning environment.
“If jeans support a positive environment during testing, that’s a local call we respect,” Purnell said.
Russo believes a less-stringent dress code will help attract and retain younger teachers amid a national teacher shortage. He wants them to still dress in a manner that gets respect from students.
“We just have to find the right balance,” Russo said.
Staff writer Kristen A. Graham contributed to this article.
