Everything fell perfectly into place for the Steelers on Night One of the 2026 NFL Draft.
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NJ police eye absent parents after young mobs upend family-friendly vacation hot spots
A growing number of New Jersey mayors of beach towns are hoping the state will back away from a recent push to lessen penalties for youthful offenders as they take aim at bad parenting amid an influx of teen mobs wreaking havoc on vacation communities.
A false alarm about an active shooter in Seaside Heights sent throngs of kids running in a panic off the boardwalk Saturday night. In Ocean City, a famously dry town that bills itself “America’s greatest family resort,” video shows a group of young men and boys punching and kicking a teen pinned down on the boardwalk. A 15-year-old was also stabbed. Wildwood leaders quelled “civil unrest” by declaring a state of emergency and closing the boardwalk.
All three beach towns are summer vacation hot spots for families, graduating high schoolers planning after-prom parties and other seasonal visitors. But a huge influx of unsupervised young people is stressing local police, businesses and tourists.
In Seaside Heights, Mayor Anthony Vaz imposed summer-long curfews for juveniles and a ban on house rentals without an adult present.
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Raucous behavior flooded the beach towns of New Jersey over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
“We’re supposed to enforce no smoking and no cannabis smoking on the boardwalk, no kids drinking underage,” Vaz said. “Well, that’s well said and done. Give me thousands of cops to do this. Thousands. You could try your best. They cannot succeed without legislation that says you’re going to be penalized for this.”
“There is no respect for law enforcement.”
Vaz is urging other local leaders to team up and head to the state legislature to ask for stiffer penalties for the worst juvenile offenders and stricter repercussions for teens who get caught smoking pot or drinking alcohol in public.
WATCH: ‘Unruly, unparented children’ spark Wildwood state of emergency
In Wildwood, a 90-minute drive down the Garden State Parkway, Mayor Tony Troiano Jr. declared a state of emergency overnight from Sunday into Monday on Memorial Day weekend due to out-of-control teens.
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Troiano says Wildwood will not stand for rowdy behavior. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
He told FOX 29 Philadelphia his city “will not tolerate unruly, undisciplined, unparented children, nor will we stand by while the laws of the state tie the hands of the police”
“We want everyone to have a good experience. Simple as that,” he told Fox News Digital. “Pretend that you are home. If you act the fool at home, then stay home.”
In a notice to residents Monday, the city said police were inundated with calls about the “extremely large” mob, many of them teens and young adults without their parents. The department already has less than 50 officers this summer when it usually has closer to 100 and has run into trouble sending officers to respond to other emergencies.
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Troiano says unparented children need to steer clear of the beach resort town and that parents need to watch for unacceptable behavior. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
With help from neighboring law enforcement agencies, he later reopened the boardwalk and invited visitors back, asking them to behave.
“Come down enjoy what we have to offer,” he said. “Just obey the laws. No underage drinking and smoking dope.”
Troiano said he got a call from the governor after the emergency declaration and was hoping to see changes to state law that would “uncuff” his officers, who are working with a depleted roster and tasked with enforcing rules that repeat offenders continue to break due to the lack of consequences.
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Troiano says he’s diligently working to “uncuff” police officers to enforce strict rules against bad beach behavior. (Michael Bocchieri/Getty Images)
“Everything about this is bad,” he said. “You’re enabling these kids to break the law, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Ocean City Police arrested multiple teens and were quick to “restore order” on the boardwalk there, according to Mayor Jay Gillian.
“As in recent years and in other shore towns, Ocean City experienced a number of issues related to large crowds of teens on the boardwalk, fights, shoplifting and disorderly conduct during the start of Memorial Day weekend,” he said in a statement over the weekend. “I understand the impact that this behavior has on all of our residents, guests and business owners, and I want to assure everybody that Ocean City will not tolerate it.”
The worst offenders have always broken rules, according to Vaz in Seaside Heights. But he said he has repeatedly witnessed misbehaving minors exhibit no fear of repercussions whatsoever.
The biggest offenses have come from Seaside Heights, N.J., a beach town that rose to worldwide prominence as a result of the MTV reality show “Jersey Shore.” (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
“And the young people know this, being younger than 18 and over 18,” he said. “I’ve seen with my own eyes, where a cop has stopped a young person for whatever, cannabis smoking, and the answer is, ‘You can’t do anything to me.’”
“They don’t believe in authority. They believe in entitlement.”
They refuse to cooperate and often give fake names, he said.
“That’s what the cop has to write down — ‘Joe Schmo’ — because that’s what the kid said his name was,” he said.
The mayor, a former superintendent of schools, said he’s worked with teens for decades and noticed a monumental shift in how they interact with not just police, but adults across the board.
Officials and residents of several New Jersey shore towns say the state’s law decriminalizing marijuana use is having an unintended effect by emboldening large groups of teenagers to run amok on beaches and boardwalks, knowing there is little chance of them getting in trouble for it. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
“When I was young, I wasn’t exactly an angel, but I feared repercussions if I did anything wrong, [and] that my parents, particularly my father, would take it into his own hands if I did something really bad,” he said. “We don’t have those parents today for the most part.”
What he sees are groups of kids, some as young as 14, arriving in town without any adult supervision and getting their hands on drugs or alcohol.
“Good kids become bad kids,” he said. “If you have no respect, that’s more than being disobedient.
“If I was a boy, 17, I had a beer, and I got caught by a cop, I would have been nervous as hell,” he said. “They’re not nervous. They don’t care.”
Vaz said he also considered a state of emergency when his department became overwhelmed by the sheer number of kids on the boardwalk. He credited neighboring law enforcement agencies for supplying backup that helped calm things down.
“Saturday was a cluster of kids, thousands,” Vaz said. “I’m here 58 years. This was the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen of young people.”
People walk and ride along the boardwalk the day before the Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, in the shore community of Wildwood, N.J. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Then someone yelled, “Shots fired!” Video shows the ensuing chaos, horrified teens running for cover.
Investigators later determined there were no actual gunshots, the mayor said. But if there had been, the whole situation would’ve been far worse.
Betsy Branter Smith, a former police sergeant and a spokesperson for the National Police Association, said many of the troubles begin with lax parenting, but they get worse in an environment where police can’t do their jobs due to state law or soft-on-crime prosecutors.
“This ultimately goes back to parenting, doesn’t it? But you can’t regulate that. You can’t legislate that,” she said. “So, the business owners and the tourists are the ones who are gonna pay.”
Jersey Shore mayors are hoping the governor will work with them to combat the new problem of unescorted juveniles going wild in their beachfront towns. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
But she pointed to several recent cities that ran into the same problem of unruly youths and fixed them — spring break locations including Miami and Fort Lauderdale in Florida and Gulf Shores in Alabama.
“What they have done is adopted an absolute zero-tolerance policy not just toward the mayhem, but toward alcohol use, things like that,” she said. “I think it would be great for these Jersey Shore mayors and police leaders to talk about it, advertise ‘we’re not gonna tolerate this,’ and they’re going to have to follow through on it.”
On the other hand, cities like Washington, D.C., and Chicago continue to embrace “woke” prosecutors and policies, she said.
“Look at the spikes in juvenile crimes, that’s serious crime,” Smith said. “Look at the teen takeovers in Chicago. The talk of Chicago right now is exactly what happened on the Jersey Shore this weekend, and they’re bracing for it as well, where they have these kids who are going to just wreak havoc knowing that nothing will happen.”
The Jersey Shore mayors have already begun their campaign. Troiano says he’s got his fingers crossed the state will let his officers do their jobs.
“For the governor to call you direct, apparently, we hit the right nerve,” he said. “But it’s all about safety and to make sure that our businesses thrive during the summer.”
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Only two receivers were selected in the top 15 picks, and a slew of offensive linemen followed with a very random Ty Simpson to the Rams pick sprinkled in for good luck.
With a league-leading 12 selections ahead of the first round, the Steelers had every tool in the belt to pull off exactly what they wanted to do – draft Makai Lemon. Yet instead of doing so, they remained stagnant, much like they’ve done as a franchise for the better part of a decade.
The Steelers sat on their hands and stayed put with the No. 21 overall pick instead of moving up to ensure his selection in front of the record-breaking 320,000 fans in front of Acrisure Stadium. As the Dallas Cowboys were set to be on the clock at No. 20, the Steelers gave Lemon a call. Only they weren’t the only Pennsylvania area code to ring the USC star.
As the Steelers were getting ready to tell Lemon he would be calling Pittsburgh home, Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles made a trade with the Cowboys to jump in front of the Steelers to steal the star pass-catcher from their grasp. Clearly caught off guard, the Steelers had to pivot and selected Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheachanor, much to the chagrin of the large number of Steelers fans on hand who audibly groaned at Pittsburgh selecting its third first-round tackle in four years.
It’s almost poetic that it was the Eagles who jumped the Steelers, considering Pittsburgh so obviously wants to be Philadelphia from a team standpoint. Assistant general manager Andy Weidl came from the Eagles, and the way the Steelers have gone about roster building in the trenches is similar to what Philadelphia has done over the last 5-10 years.n Unfortunately, the Steelers lack the killer instinct that Roseman and the Eagles have.
When the Eagles see the potential to add a game-changer, they do it. Whether it’s trading for A.J. Brown, signing Saquon Barkley, or getting rid of players and coaches when they begin to fail, no matter how successful they’ve been before, the Eagles have always stayed ahead of the curve while the Steelers have perennially been behind it.
While the Eagles built a near-flawless roster that resulted in their second Super Bowl appearance under Nick Sirriani and Jalen Hurts and their first win (second in the last decade), the Steelers were bringing in re-run veteran quarterbacks hoping they would be just good enough for a good defense to carry, a project that has failed twice. And instead of moving in a new direction, the Steelers are letting a 42 year-old quarterback dictate their offseason for a second straight year.
Fumbling Lemon wasn’t just a massive mishandling of the first round by the Steelers, it was an embarrassment. To be metaphorically noogied like that in your home city when, again, you had every possible opportunity to trade up for the player you wanted is completely indefensible.
It’s also an unfortunate reminder that the Steelers are still a ways away from being among the elite teams in the NFL. Despite the addition of Michael Pittman, the receiver position continues to be largely neglected, as they have just two other receivers behind Pittman and DK Metcalf – those receivers combined for 16 catches in 2025. Sure, they can select a receiver on Day Two, but it’s hard to get excited for Day Two pass-catchers in a thin class for the position when they could have easily landed arguably the most talented player at said position if they had just gotten the least bit aggressive.
And while organizations like the Eagles are moving up and trying to build a roster that can get them to a third Super Bowl in five years, the Steelers kept their feet in the sand as they wait for a text back from the oldest active player in the NFL, hoping he can help them win their first playoff game in nine years.
It’d be funny if it weren’t so pathetic. But what the heck, I’ll laugh anyway.
Let us know what you think in the comments. Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more!
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — State and local leaders are urging lawmakers to expand a bill protecting renters.
The proposed legislation would expand the “Just Cause” bill, which protects residents over 62 years old and living with a disability, or in public housing, from eviction without cause.
The expansion would cover new tenants in five-unit buildings after the first year of moving in. They said the goal is to help stabilize housing for thousands of people.
“Your apartment is your home, your apartment is dignity, your apartment is respect, your apartment is access to a local school for your child, knowing where that’s going to be and knowing it’s not going to change on short notice,” Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said. “Knowing you have a little continuity and a little bit of respect. And this bill is about a little bit of respect for the folks who are playing by the rules.”
The Connecticut Apartment Association said in response:
“Connecticut needs more housing in more places, and legislators need to focus on bills that will grow more housing for all incomes. Our members will stay at the table with them to craft sustainable responses that ensure accountability and solve Connecticut’s housing crisis.”
By Ed Pierce
Democrat Joseph A. Campbell of Windham will try to unseat incumbent Republican Mark Cooper as State Representative for Maine House District 107 in the general election in November.
Democrat Joseph A. Campbell of Windham will try to unseat incumbent Republican Mark Cooper as State Representative for Maine House District 107 in the general election in November.
| Joseph A. Campbell of Windham, a Democrat, will be a candidate in November for State Representative in Maine House District 107, representing part of Windham. He is a long-term substitute teacher at Gray/New Gloucester High School and a graduate student at the University of Maine. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Campbell, a long-term Substitute at Gray/NewGloucester High School and a graduate student at the University of Maine, was a candidate for the Windham Town Council At Large position last fall, a seat eventually won by Katie Cook.
He says that he is running to represent House District 107, representing part of Windham, because he loves Maine and sees it as all our responsibility to make our voices heard in how the state is run.
“As someone navigating the difficult process of settling down, establishing a career, and pursuing higher education, I believe my perspective is representative of many Mainers who don’t normally see themselves in the legislature,” Campbell said. “When elected, I would feel accomplished once I could say that the common-sense goals of owning a home, starting a family, and maybe even retiring someday are more attainable than they were at the start of my term.”
The most significant issue in the race is the rising cost of housing, he said.
“Skyrocketing housing expenses are hurting the whole spectrum of Windham residents, from renters just trying to get by and save, to seniors struggling to afford their family home,” Campbell said. “We need to find a way to grease the wheels for first time buyers, responsibly build enough for supply to meet demand, and decouple critical services like schools from the local mil rate.”
Along with affordable housing, Campbell says ensuring a solid education system would be another of his priorities if elected.
“Schools, students, and teachers are all struggling, and we need to find a way to ensure kids are getting what they need to learn, while teachers and districts have the energy, professionalism, and resources they need to make that happen,” he said. “We expect a lot from teachers, as we should, and they deserve a proportional level of compensation and respect for the work they do. Additionally, academic excellence is only possible when we’re exposed to diverse thoughts and ideas. We need to give kids books and encourage literacy, banning books is never the right way forward.”
Currently finishing a master’s degree in international and political history at the University of Maine, Campbell says that as a historian, he thinks we have a responsibility as citizens of a democracy to do right by the system that people have fought and died for by making sure that we’re an educated electorate.
“Working with the kids at the high school is one small way I like to try and do my part,” he said. “It’s really refreshing to see young people working hard and getting ready to enter the adult world, and I think we owe it to them to make sure that that world is something good. As to why I study history, it’s because I believe that just like we learn from our own mistakes and find inspiration in how far we’ve come as individuals, we can do the same as communities. If you look back 90 years ago, Mainers were able to survive the Great Depression, reject fascism, and would go on to weather World War II. If we could make it through those times, we can figure out how to rein in property taxes, give kids a good education, and do something about folks’ CMP bills. This is all very doable, and I like to think that we can make it easier upon ourselves by paying attention to those who came before us.”
According to Campbell, he enjoys living in Windham and says the parks and trails in the town are great recreational opportunities, specifically Black Brook Preserve and Donnabeth Lippman Park.
“My wife Chelsea and I make sure to get outside for a quick picnic, walk, or hike at least a couple of times a week while we’re lucky enough to have some good weather,” he said. “It’s really heartening to see a place like Windham navigate growth and development, while making absolutely sure to carve out and preserve space for nature.”
If elected, Campbell says that he’d like to see if legislators could find a way to rely less on local property taxes to get the schools what they need.
“We should work toward more equitable state taxes, focusing on those with the ability to pay, while relieving working and middle-class Mainers who may own a home, but aren’t flush with cash,” Campbell said. “That revenue should go toward the school districts, with the added benefit of making sure that your school’s budget isn’t forever tied to the real estate in town. With a responsible budget, working class Mainers could see their mil rate go down, and wealthy Mainers can know that their tax dollars are going toward their children and grandchildren getting a good education.”
Along with Democrat State Senator incumbent Tim Nangle, Republican State Senate candidate Peter Violette and Republic House 107 incumbent Mark Cooper, Campbell’s campaign is funded by the Maine Clean Elections Act. To support any of these campaigns, nonpartisan $5 contributions may be made at maine.gov/ethics website.
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