The right to bear arms claims another innocent victim

Did anyone go to work today? This is Summit Avenue in Hackensack at about 8:15 this morning, usually the height of the rush hour.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORA 29-year-old mother of four died in a Walmart when her 2-year-old son reached into her purse "and her concealed gun fired," The Record reports today.You'd think this story -- not just a brief -- would appear on Page 1.But it got pushed aside by dry "process" stories -- one on the Affordable Care...

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In cop's death, driver cites oldest excuse in the book

Bergen County residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, but they are stuck with an antiquated street system, including Teaneck's Cedar Lane, above, one of many in the township with a limited number of turn lanes, frustrating motorists and wasting precious gasoline. On Hackensack's River Street, drivers routinely cut each other off to avoid waiting behind a turning vehicle.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORThe Record's front-page account...

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Editors miraculously transform vetoes into PA 'reforms'

In Hackensack, North Jersey Media Group turned The Record's old River Street parking lot into a cash cow. Parking costs a flat fee of $5, but the first 50 minutes are free. Parking for the disabled also costs $5 with the first 90 minutes free. Jurors park free.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORThe Record's Page 1 headline on Sunday tried to hide how Governors Christie and Cuomo killed any hope of real reform at the mammoth Port Authority of New York and New...

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Christie's chances of a White House win are fading fast

In Hackensack on Saturday, construction continued on a new Bergen County Justice Center and parking deck, above, across Court Street from Church on the Green, below. Has pile driving, heavy equipment and other work knocked loose plaster in the historic building, which dates to 1791?By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITOR"With Governor Christie again considering a run for president, his constituents appear to be tiring of the whole routine."Polls taken over the...

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Upbeat story on Hackensack development ignores profits

Despite continued business failures in Englewood, above and below, where hundreds of luxury apartments were built downtown and on Route 4, Hackensack is pressing on with its plan to encourage apartment development on or near Main Street as a way of reviving the bigger city's struggling downtown.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORJerome J. Lombardo, CEO of C.J. Lombardo Real Estate Co. of Hackensack, certainly seems to have the ears of The Record's editors.Today's...

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When events don't live up to the relentless media hype

Tourists posing for their close-up in Manhattan's Times Square, below.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORThat stupid movie about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jung Un opened in Clifton and other movie theaters, and none of the cinemas were blown up, according to Page 1 of The Record today.Tuesday's front page quoted "experts," who predicted heavy rain may "lead to big backups" for holiday travelers.Two days later, the Local front declared, "Travel...

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Bah humbug to racial stereotypes, sloppy reporting

On Tuesday afternoon, parents and children waited on a long line at Bergen Town Center in Paramus to pose for photos with Santa Claus, above and below.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORYou can add the war of words to the war between police and hardened criminals, such as the crazed gunman who murdered two police officers in Brooklyn on Saturday.If you managed to get past all of Mike Kelly's cliches on Page 1 of The Record on Wednesday, his column repeats...

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Christie is wrong for New Jersey, wrong for the nation

The Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan, above and below, was a source of frustration for North Jersey commuters years before The Record's editors took notice. Only angry letters to the editor roused the paper's transportation writers out of their deep slumber and distracted them from their driver-oriented coverage. Now, the editors are ignoring the problems of NJ Transit rail commuters, who scramble to find rush-hour seats on crowded...

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Gun-control foes have dead cops' blood on their hands

In Englewood, a condominium development called The M is sandwiched between Route 4, above, and an industrial section, photos below, more than a half-mile as the crow flies from Palisade Avenue, the main shopping street.Residents of The M have a view of gas stations, traffic, industrial buildings and parking lots. A real estate advertising section in The Record tried to convince potential condo owners their homes border Englewood's downtown.Some of...

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Killings of police are rare compared to minority deaths

Traffic is funneled into one lane in each direction during reconstruction of the Route 46 bridge over the Hackensack River, above. Last week, President Obama said as many as 1 million jobs would be created, if Congress authorized the rebuilding of the nation's roads and bridges, compared to a fraction of that number for completion of the Keystone Pipeline.I was 11th on the line of commuters waiting for NJ Transit's 165 Turnpike Express to Hackensack...

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