East Camden

The sepia-tone photographs, some dating from the early 1900s, tell the story of another era, when Camden had a close-knit Jewish community, when residents along Kaighns and Haddon Avenues knew each other for generations and showed up to land a hand when someone was sick. Through most of the 20th century, Jewish shopkeepers, judges, lawyers, and doctors helped build the city, and developed institutions and agencies to care for others in the community. For Ruth Bogutz, the images she has collected evoke warm memories of a golden age in Camden - from about 1920 to 1970 - before its Jewish residents dispersed to the suburbs.

The sepia-tone photographs, some dating from the early 1900s, tell the story of another era, when Camden had a close-knit Jewish community, when residents along Kaighns and Haddon Avenues knew each other for generations and showed up to land a hand when someone was sick. Through most of the 20th century, Jewish shopkeepers, judges, lawyers, and doctors helped build the city, and developed institutions and agencies to care for others in the community. For Ruth Bogutz, the images she has collected evoke warm memories of a golden age in Camden - from about 1920 to 1970 - before its Jewish residents dispersed to the suburbs.

When 18-year-old twins Jordan and Brandon Tabb walk into Latino Barbershop II in East Camden, they are greeted with a smile - and responsibilities. The brothers help barber Jorge Maldonado mop the floors and wipe the windows between clients, or sometimes before or after business hours. Cleaning is part of working at a small business, Maldonado, 24, tells them, stressing to his young friends that running a business is hard work. Since January, Maldonado has been mentoring the twins as part of a citywide program through the Center for Family Services, a nonprofit that runs more than 40 social-services programs in South Jersey.

The Fresh Grocer chain of Drexel Hill signed a letter of intent Monday to open a store in a planned Camden transit village, pending a state decision on Thursday whether to approve $50 million in tax credits for the entire village project. The Fresh Grocer would be part of the long-delayed Haddon Avenue Transit Village project, which has been in the works since 2008 but has yet to put a shovel in the ground. One of the main issues was finding a supermarket to anchor the planned mixed-use development in a city that has only one supermarket for its 77,000 residents.

High noon, downtown Camden. The young blond woman staggering along Broadway in ultrashort shorts makes it clear she doesn't want any help. But a block away, Maxine Bennett eagerly waves to the Covenant House van I'm riding in. The privately funded nonprofit agency "really got me what I needed," says Bennett, 22, who on this occasion needs a ride to her Fairview home with daughter, Paris, 1. "Things are getting better," Maxine says as...

A 52-year-old man was shot and killed while walking from an East Camden 7-Eleven with his wife around 10:15 p.m. Sunday. James Glover, who lived near the Federal Street store, was struck by a bullet that went through his arm and into his chest. He was pronounced dead at Cooper University Hospital. It was the second homicide of the day in the neighborhood. Garland Banks, 25, also of East Camden, was shot multiple times Sunday morning while in the entrance to the Wash Clean Laundromat on 27th Street.

A 52-year-old man was shot and killed late Sunday while walking home from a convenience store with his wife in East Camden, police said today. James Glover's wife told investigators she heard gunfire and saw a muzzle flash before her husband fell to the ground on Federal Street at 34th Street. Glover was hit in the right arm and chest and died at the scene, officials said. Glover and his wife were walking from a 7-Eleven on the 3600 block of Federal Street to their home on 32nd Street when the gunfire rang out about 10:15 p.m., police said.

On the drive into East Camden after work, Sean Mancini says, he is a popular mark for the neighborhood's drug dealers. But the 20-year-old from Cinnaminson waves them off, instead heading for Stockton Station Park, where crowds of fellow skateboarders gather on summer afternoons to launch themselves off ramps and execute exotically named spins and grabs. Adjacent to what only a decade ago was one of Camden's most violence-plagued housing projects are scenes familiar to skate spots the world over - the hollow rattle of polyurethane on metal and a shirtless skateboarder picking himself up off the concrete.

Accused of exchanging gunfire that resulted in the July 14 death of a man they knew, two Camden men were being held Friday on $1 million bail each. Jancarlos Marrero, 22, and Adam Sosa, 29, were arrested in connection with the killing of Franklin Morales. Marrero was arraigned Thursday and Sosa on Friday. Authorities said Morales, 39, of East Camden, was caught in crossfire between the two as he tried to mediate their dispute over an ATV. Sosa shot at Marrero, who returned fire from behind a car, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said.