Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis was running this week, but not for political office anymore.
Evelyn Lewis watched as her son took off for his to car following a press conference on the end of his New Jersey Senate campaign. The day before, a federal appeals court panel ordered the Democrat's name removed from the ballot, reversing a decision it made just last week. So he's done, with the Senate.
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
I covered the "ground breaking" back on a really hot day this past June when the mayor of Cherry Hill and NJ DOT officials stood in a parking lot as road graders cleared the median strip on township's unofficial Main Street, Marlton Pike - Route 70. They were about to plant a whole bunch of flowers on the congested four-lane stretch between Haddonfield Road and I-295.
I drive that very strip a couple times a week, so all summer I've watched the flowers grow and bloom. I started shooting video on them - a visual appreciation of sorts - after the August rains from hurricanes and tropical storms came along and they just exploded. Then South Jersey columnist Kevin Riordan wrote a story on the bipartisan political flower power that made it happen, and the video (below), along with the still photos, had a home. Click here, or on the photo above for the still image gallery.
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
UPDATE: Binh Tsan died on Saturday. Police are still looking for the hit-and-run driver and ask that anyone with information about the vehicle contact the Cherry Hill Police Department Traffic Safety Unit at (856) 488-7820.
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I had just photographed a new Dinosaur exhibit being set up at the Garden State Discovery Museum yesterday and was heading over to photograph and continue my work on a video appreciation (look for it next week) of the wildflowers NJDOT and Cherry Hill planted to beautify the median on Route 70.
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis is sporting sneakers during a press conference the morning after a federal appeals panel in Philadelphia overturned lower court rulings and allowed the New Jersey Democrat to be placed on the ballot for the state Senate.
The Republican Secretary of State and the Burlington County GOP have contended for months that the local track legend did not meet the state constitution's four-year residency requirement to run.
So, 56 days before the election and two days before the deadline to print ballots, he's back in the race.
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
NJ Gov. Chris Christie schools first graders; and then the media.
Christie and acting education commissioner, Chris Cerf, on tour of the state rolling out the governor's plan to give school districts more autonomy, stopped at Sharp Elementary School in Cherry Hill.
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
With the anniversary on a weekend this year, schools held their 9/11 remembrances on Friday. In Stratford, NJ, students at the Samuel Yellin and John Paul II schools joined together to honor their town's police, fire and ambulance departments.
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
The beginning of September means the end of summer at the Jersey Shore (the place, not the MTV show), back to school, hurricane season (and the anniversary of 9/11 - tomorrow's post topic). A busy week.
After vacationers were evacuated during Hurricane Irene, there was a lot of media attention to the Labor Day holiday. The Inquirer had stories all weekend, and I was there on Monday as everyone headed home again, this time leaving behind the year-round residents, and for a few days anyway, the international student workers here under the State Department's J-1 visa program. These guys are all from the Republic of Macedonia. Click on one of the shore photos, or here, for a gallery with more images.
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
On vacation last week enjoying my new grandson and a visit from my parents, I missed out on covering the earthquake and hurricane of the century (I did post a 5.8 Richter Scale joke Facebook photo - something I don't dare share here - of the fence in my suburban front yard shot with a slow shutter speed and the caption, "no white pickets were harmed during the photo re-creation of this event.")
Like most people, I watched the weather channel and local news stations to keep up on the approach and arrival of Irene. I also kept up on what my colleagues were up to - out in the eye of the storm - by checking their photos on philly.com.
As with other news events I've missed out on, I asked my co-workers about their coverage. Daily News staffer David Maialetti emailed me a terrific story, so I decided to share the whole thing here:
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
Two weeks ago US Army Ranger Sgt. Alessandro "Sandrino" Plutino telephoned home to Pitman, New Jersey from the Paktia province of Afghanistan. He knew his family would be worried when they heard 30 Americans and eight Afghans had been killed a day earlier when their Chinook helicopter was shot down while attempting to help a unit of Army Rangers who had come under fire against insurgents in Wardak province.
He assured his parents, and his fiancée, that he was fine, and even better, he said he'd be coming home to Pitman in 15 days. Less than 24 hours later he was killed by small-arms fire while leading an assault.
His funeral was yesterday.
Tom Gralish, Inquirer Staff Photographer
The downpour started just as I pulled into the driveway of Paulsdale, the Mt. Laurel birthplace of Quaker suffragist Alice Paul. I was early for NJ Gov. Chris Christie's scheduled signing of a funding bill for the New Jersey Historic Trust. It would have made a better photo if the governor were the one walking up to the porch, but you can't have everything. It was done raining by the time he arrived.
Since we all know what the governor looks like by now, I didn't feel the need to photograph him actually signing the bill, or speaking from the podiium. Besides, the room inside the 1880's farmhouse was packed - and probably really hot. So I stayed outside, looking in through the hundred-year-old glass.
