Page 1 mattress ad introduces journalism whores

A welcome vacation from The Record's Road Warrior ended today with the return of Staff Writer John Cichowski, one of the paper's journalism whores, who are desperate to fill their columns with any old nonsense. Today, the so-called commuting columnist reveals the startling news that low gas prices supposedly have people driving more, getting into more crashes and dying more. The column contains no data from New Jersey, and is based on the research of a professor in South Dakota who has never visited the Garden State. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's advertising executives knocked themselves out to make an ad wrapped around today's front page look like real news -- P.C. Richard is adding "mattress galleries" to its stores.

Readers who aren't racing out to the retailer's Wayne store won't find much to read in the Sunday edition besides unusually weak efforts from two of the paper's journalism whores, Columnists John Cichowski and Elisa Ung.

First, I defy anyone to make sense of Staff Writer Lindy Washburn's piece on penalties for people who didn't buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act -- the only story the ad doesn't obscure (A-1).

Or even understand why the story is running now on Page 1, because, as she notes in her fourth paragraph, "how many will pay penalties or be exempted from them, how many will see their tax refunds increased or decreased by ... April 15 remains to be seen."

Under the ad

One you remove the mattress ad, you're confronted with a large photo of the severely injured Daniel Breslin, a Bergen County police officer whose SUV was rear-ended by a drunk driver on April 19, 2014 (A-1).

Staff Writer Stefanie Dazio, a police reporter, doesn't dwell on details of the near-tragic accident nor question why Breslin, in his rush to help a fellow officer, violated common sense and his training by stopping his police vehicle in a travel lane on Route 46 in Lodi.

Kitchen sink

The Road Warrior column roams far and wide today, from the recent terrorism in Paris to 20 years of crash records from Minnesota, Alabama and Mississippi.

But the reporter, Cichowski, apparently was too lazy to gather data from New Jersey (L-1).

Cichowski is one of the paper's journalism whores, climbing into bed with any so-called expert, including a professor from China who has never observed drivers in the Garden State, but who is the focus of today's ridiculous column.

Did Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza act as Cichowski's pimp today or was it another one of the local editors?

Bottom feeding

The Corner Table column from Ung reports on vegetarian food at two crappy fast-food restaurants, White Castle and Burger King, and at Chipotle, which offers naturally raised poultry and organic items (BL-1).

But her column is silent on vegetarian fare at two upscale burger places, Zinburger and Shake Shack.

In her restaurant reviews and columns, Ung often climbs into bed with the wealthy owners who advertise in The Record.

Turkish at home?

I guess there is nothing wrong with filling nearly half of her Travel section with a Detroit Free Press report on "a foodie tour" of Turkey.

But for those who have no plans to go there, couldn't Editor Jill Schensul make an effort to list some of the many Turkish restaurants in North Jersey?

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Imagine sick kids wearing hospital gowns to a party

The 5,500-seat auditorium of Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan on Sunday afternoon as ticket holders were being seated for the 2014 Christmas Spectacular starring the high-kicking Rockettes, a huge orchestra, dancing Santa Clauses and much more.

The lobby of Radio City, an art-deco masterpiece that opened on Dec. 27,1932, and was restored in 1999, including the replacement of all seats, carpeting and wallpaper, and the restoration of murals, including "Men Without Women" in the lounge outside the lower-level men's bathroom, below.

After the 90-minute show, we walked less than a block to see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center and, frankly, we were underwhelmed. The tree is towering, as usual, but this year, they skimped on the lights. Even the smaller Christmas tree on Main Street in Hackensack makes a bigger splash. Imagine that.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

There are reporters at The Record who don't need editing, others who don't get editing and still others who should have their heads examined.

Veteran Jay Levin, who writes the local obituaries after many years of thankless duty on the night copy desk, is a reporter who doesn't need editing, as two of his pieces in today's Local section show (L-1 and L-6).

Levin is at the top of his game, in stark contrast to Road Warrior John Cichowski, a confused reporter who gets no editing and who has committed hundreds of errors, not to mention all the wrong advice he's given drivers, young and old.

Another veteran, Mike Kelly, also gets no editing, and the result is one long, rambling column after another as he pushes around thousands of words in search of a strong opinion, which the reporter doesn't seem to have.

Party for sick kids

Then, there is Linda Moss, a reporter who covers commercial real estate for The Record, according to her Twitter profile.

On Sunday, Moss was on weekend duty when she was assigned to cover the 30th annual holiday party of the Tomorrow's Children Fund for kids who have been treated at Hackensack University Medical Center for cancer and serious blood disorders.

There was so little real news in Monday's paper that I found myself reading Moss' story on the Local front all the way through.

I was shocked at a sentence on the continuation page (Monday's L-3)

A photo showed two of the cutest children you could imagine posing with Santa Claus at a Hasbrouck Heights hotel where the party was held:

"The girls and boys were dressed up in their nicest attire, not hospital gowns, for the party," Moss reported [italics added].

How many editors and copy editors saw that and allowed "not hospital gowns" to get in the paper? 

Where was Production Editor Liz Houlton, who supervises the news and copy desks and is paid six figures to keep such an inappropriate image out of the paper?

Did the children with cancer and blood disorders once attend the annual holiday party in hospital gowns? Why even mention them?

Covering advertisers

The Record's editors may be insensitive to children with cancer, but they bend over backwards to cover their biggest advertisers, such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Victoria's Secret and other retailers (Page 1 today and Monday).

The local assignment editors also seem to be ordering more coverage of wealthy communities.

Monday's Local front was dominated by an article and photos about schools districts in Tenafly, Ridgewood and Glen Rock, all of which are reexamining their homework polices.

When is the last time you read a story -- any story -- about Hackensack schools?

Upscale restaurants

The Better Living cover story on Monday recommended eight "great" restaurants, but five of them are expensive.

You have to turn the page to find three that are moderately priced.

The recommendations come from Elisa Ung, the paper's restaurant reviewer, who is lucky enough to have The Record pay for all of those artery clogging steaks and desserts she eats so obsessively.

Maybe she would appreciate value, if she had to pay for some of that food herself.

Today's paper

The Record's coverage of the Affordable Care Act has been largely negative, echoing the complaints of such conservative Republicans as Governor Christie.

Staff Writer Lindy Washburn and her assignment editor also continue to obscure how Christie and Republican governors in 35 other states tried to sabotage what they labeled "Obamacare," a derogatory term The Record and other media love to use.

In more than a year of covering the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act, Washburn and the paper's other medical writers have never actually interviewed the people who applied for health insurance.

Today, The Record's lead story reports that North Jersey residents who bought insurance "came from towns that are rich, poor and middle class, as well as municipalities where a majority vote Republican" (A-1).

Imagine what Record reporters could find out, if they actually interviewed readers and other residents of North Jersey instead of endlessly quoting experts, pollsters and spin doctors, and examining the politics of every issue under the sun.

Red-light cameras

In a letter to the editor, Keith Remland of Lincoln Park says of red-light cameras:

"Their biggest plus is safety" (A-10).

Remland said in a few words what two Road Warrior columns tried to hide from readers as Cichowski foamed at the mouth over "Big Brother," and quoted critics of the $85 fines, which many cash-strapped towns welcome.

Women's news?

Did a male editor lay out L-3 today, hoping to package stories on two different women?

In the bottom right corner, a story about a substitute teacher facing more sex charges appears next to one on Ridgewood's second woman firefighter.

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Bergen's executive-elect can't get any respect from editors

I had an uneventful trip into the city on Veterans Day, boarding NJ Transit's No. 165 Local in Hackensack, above, and arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan in under an hour.

The return trip on the 165 Turnpike Express to Hackensack and Westwood also went smoothly, but about 50 people lined up to board the bus, which left at 3:05 p.m., well before the rush hour started. The Record reported on Wednesday that lines at the antiquated terminal appear to be shorter.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's readers are witnessing a near-total breakdown in the checks and balances that produce an accurate and credible newspaper.

Today, Page A-2 carries the same correction it did on Tuesday -- a photo of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Lou Stellato was incorrectly identified as James Tedesco, the county's executive-elect.

This time, the photo of Stellato was a small thumbnail showing only his head -- apparently taken from the larger photo of the powerful pol that ran on Sunday -- but the double chin and glasses clearly set him apart from Tedesco.

The error likely was made by a lowly layout editor who was completely oblivious of the earlier embarrassing error with the larger Stellato photo in Sunday's Opinion section.

If you add these errors to the hundreds of uncorrected screw-ups in the Road Warrior column in recent years, it's a sad commentary on the editors' seeming inability to produce a reliable newspaper.

Forced busing

For example, on Wednesday, the front page carried a long story from transportation reporter Christopher Maag, heralding small changes that have eased afternoon rush-hour delays at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan.

For years, The Record's lazy transportation editor and reporters ignored those delays, but they were finally roused by angry letters from bus commuters at the end of last year.

Maag chose to observe at 5:30 p.m. Monday -- "the height of the rush hour" -- when, he says, "a few short lines formed and disappeared almost immediately into waiting buses."

Later in the story, he concedes "this week was an anomaly," given that some commuters may have stayed home for a four-day weekend that included Veterans Day on Tuesday.

So, can we rely on the story as an accurate reflection of improving bus terminal conditions?

The line for an express bus I took back to Hackensack on Tuesday at 3:05 p.m. had at least 50 people on it -- more passengers than seats. That's hardly "short."

Protecting Christie

In a front-page story today on the federal health insurance marketplace, there is absolutely no mention of how Governor Christie tried to sabotage the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (A-1).

Instead of reporting Christie refused to set up a state exchange, as New York and Connecticut did, Staff Writer Lindy Washburn makes a vague reference to the "few state resources" that "are spent to encourage Obamacare signups" in New Jersey.

The GOP bully joined conservative governors in 35 other states in refusing to set up their own exchanges, overwhelming the federal exchange with millions of unanticipated applicants.

Genesis Rincon

A story on Paterson narcotics detectives confiscating 4,500 packets of heroin from two drug dealers reports they "were operating less than 200 feet from where 12-year-old Genesis Rincon was fatally shot riding her scooter last summer" (L-3).

Is there a connection?

Or is Police Director Jerry Speziale saying city police are doing a far better job confiscating heroin packets than they are preventing the murder of innocent young girls?

Why bother?

How many readers are going to try and get a reservation at Sergio's Missione, a shrine to Italian-American food in Lodi?

Today's lukewarm, 2-star review makes you wonder why The Record and Staff Writer Elisa Ung don't just cut their losses, and publish a few cautionary paragraphs?

The data box mentions a three-course early bird special for $15.95 that might be worth the detour, but there is nothing about it on the restaurant's Web site.

Ung, the paper's chief restaurant reviewer, doesn't say she sampled the meal, likely because the restaurant refused to serve her three dessert courses.

Second look

Last Sunday, Road Warrior John Cichowski tried to write a column correcting a previous report on the Graduated Driving License law (GDL), which requires red decals on the license plates of drivers 21 and younger.

But the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers says the befuddled reporter just made more mistakes:

"The Road Warrior continues to misreport that the estimated reductions in crashes were mainly due to red decal provisions.

"The study repeatedly indicated that while red decals could be an important component, the reductions were mainly due to multiple provisions in the 2010 GDL law, which also included the red decals.

"The Road Warrior reported the study indicated that the red decals yielded more safety advantages than disadvantages. This implies that the study mentioned a number of disadvantages.

"However, the study indicated there were no reported disadvantages due to the red decals."

See: Road Warrior's IQ continues to drop 

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Political columnist is feeding Obama critics' racial animus

The Record today tries to assess President Obama's popularity in New Jersey while ignoring incompetent officials running the 70 towns in Bergen County. Why not report on the sad state of affairs in Englewood, above, where officials are standing by as the downtown holds a permanent going-out-of-business sale? 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm not sure what point political Columnist Charles Stile is trying to make on Page 1 today -- unless he's channeling all of the racists who still cannot get over the election of our first black president.

President Obama doesn't draw New Jersey crowds at a fundraiser?

So what?

His Affordable Care Act is drawing crowds of people without health insurance, despite Governor Christie's attempts to derail the federal law and The Record looking the other way.

Obama made billions available for Sandy relief only to see the incompetent Christie administration bungle the distribution and allegedly discriminate against minority homeowners.

And how many hundreds of millions in federal mass-transit funds did the GOP bully convert to road and bridge repairs after he killed the sorely needed Hudson River rail tunnels in 2010?

Editor Martin Gottlieb puts Stile on the front page frequently, but still doesn't get that the reporter's relentless focus on "politics" is a huge turn-off for readers.

Update

LOL.

Stile's column became another exercise in masturbatory journalism when Obama cancelled his New Jersey campaign appearance today to stay in Washington and discuss the Ebola outbreak with Cabinet members.

Lawyers always win

Two other stories on Page 1 today have bar associations cheering over the extra legal fees that are being generated by Bergen County's judge shortage, and the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal (A-1).

Letter writer Patricia Pures of River Vale, reacting to all of the front-page sports stories championed by Gottlieb, urges the editor to "please place this news where it belongs," in Sports.

"Or do not have a section for sports," she says (A-8).

Another stupid column

The befuddled Road Warrior still can't find his way to relevant journalism.

Today's column by Staff Writer John Cichowski isn't even about driving, let along commuting (L-1).

Also on L-1 today, a large photo shows one lane of a three-lane section of Route 4 east in Teaneck closed for a minor three-car accident.

Readers can see two cops bullshitting with two firefighters, but no fire and no injured motorists.

The photo over line overstates the effects of the crash:

CRASH TIES UP HIGHWAY

The photo and exaggerated over line are another example of the desperation of the lazy assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, to fill their local-news section.

Breaking bacon news

Better Living continues to publish unhealthy recipes from clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upple Saddle River (BL-2).

Her Pasta with Tomato Bacon Sauce recommends well-salted pasta water, added sugar and eight strips of bacon for 8 ounces of pasta.

Jackson doesn't even recommend uncured bacon without harmful preservatives. Any old crap will do.

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More bad news for procrastinators, speeders

Sharp stones I assembled and other debris thrown off when potholes aren't repaired can damage tires, above and below. These photos were taken on Euclid Avenue in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The Record's front page today brings us another tale of woe on how the federal health-care Web site crashed as thousands of procrastinators rushed to meet Monday's enrollment deadline.

The Woodland Park daily continues to hide the role of Governor Christie and conservative governors in 35 other states who refused to set up state Web sites, ensuring failure of the overburdened federal site (A-1).

How many of the people who waited until Monday to enroll for coverage under the Affordable Care Act
believed Republican propaganda about expensive policies? Today's story doesn't say.

Bad caption

The big photo on Page 1 today includes a poorly written caption.

The photo shows "a full waiting room of the Englewood Recreation Center" and as you'd expect in a waiting room, people were "waiting to sign up" for health care, according to the caption.

Waste of space

Why does Editor Marty Gottlieb think Staff Writer Charles Stile has to write a column to interpret Christie's every statement or action, as if readers can't see through the GOP bully's mean-spirited politics?

Today's piece channels Christie's alleged desire to reform the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (A-1).

Commuters don't need separate transportation agencies in each state. They need one agency to run and expand mass transit, and another to operate and maintain the crossings that collect tolls from drivers.

Bad news for speeders

The Local front today delivers bad news for speeders caught by red-light cameras and good news for property taxpayers who are hoping their towns get lots of revenue from violators (L-1).

In an interim report, state transportation officials continue to endorse the use of red-light cameras to cut down on intersection crashes, deaths and injuries.

Without explanation, Road Warrior John Cichowski says the report was given to Christie's office "last spring" and was released on Friday -- a year later (L-1).

New Jersey is years behind New York City, which has had red-light cameras for years and is installing speeding cameras near schools.

More bad writing 

Another badly written photo caption appears on L-1 today under a photo of cars in a Hackensack tow lot.

Staff Writer Hannan Adely reports the city is evicting Polifly Towing for not paying rent on city owned land for more than a decade -- apparently in an arrangement with the Zisa-allied City Council that was thrown out of office last year.

The caption says Polifly Towing has been using a Green Street lot "across the street from their business [italics added]" (L-1). 

Is six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton, who is supposed to catch this and other stupid errors, on vacation again?

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Today's edition lists more things Christie opposes

At Tuesday night's Hackensack City Council meeting, the audience included two members of the losing slate in last May's election; fired Municipal Prosecutor Richard Salkin; and sitting next to him, Lynne Hurwitz, who is said to have been the power behind the throne when the Zisa family ran the city that was derided as "Zisaville." Their presence and an occasional attack on the current administration is what is known as sour grapes with a vengeance.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Page 1 of The Record today reports a scramble to enroll for new insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act that Governor Christie did his best to sabotage in New Jersey. 

On A-3, Christie blasted the public employees union for disrupting the dog-and-pony show he put on in hard-hit Union Beach to hide how badly he bungled Sandy aid.

But Rutgers students wanted to know why $4.8 million in federal Sandy aid is going to the developer of a 240-unit high rise in New Brunswick, in exchange for providing 48 affordable units (A-3).

Christie opposes all other affordable housing in New Jersey.

SUV lover

And an editorial today reports the breaking news that "Governor Christie has shown little or no interest in promoting mass transit" (A-12).

That has been evident since the GOP bully took office in January 2010, but this is likely the first time the Woodland Park daily has actually stated it. 

Why is The Record showing such lukewarm support for finding the money to extend electrified light-rail service to Bergen County?

It appears to be part of a pattern of promoting commuting by car and ignoring all of the service problems encountered by NJ Transit bus and rail users.

Today's editorial notes "the crush at many gates inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal during the evening rush is unbearable" (A-12). 

But those strong words are based on angry letters from commuters, not on reporting by the lazy transportation editor and reporter or the clueless, car-centric Road Warrior.

Gridlock at Main and Anderson streets in Hackensack on Tuesday morning.

Anti-light rail stories

In fact, several years ago, Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza guided then-reporter Tom Davis when he wrote at least two anti-light rail takeouts for The Record.

And in 2012 and 2013, The Record reported the exaggerated claims of Tenafly officials who opposed extension of light rail to their town, without bothering to seek rebuttal from NJ Transit.

More road kill

On the front of Local today, the addled Road Warrior foams at the mouth about dark highways.

Of course, the column he should be writing is one condemning poorly lit local streets, such as River Road in North Arlington, where a 74-year-old waitress was struck and killed by a car.

"The driver never saw her," a police captain told The Record (L-1).

When Jerome S. Some was killed crossing Prospect Avenue in Hackensack last October, a sister of the 87-year-old businessman told a reporter a street light was out.

That driver also said she didn't see Some, founder of a uniform company on Main Street.

Today's story about the death of Barbara Gangi, who worked the early shift at the Arlington Diner, says nothing about street lighting or whether River Road and other antiquated local streets in North Jersey are adequately lit.

Seeing red

For another view of Cichowski's  confusing, mistake-ridden Sunday column on red-light cameras, see the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Stopping the facts dead in their tracks

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Medical writer echoes anti-Obama conservatives

Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Medical writer Lindy Washburn is a highly respected reporter at The Record of Woodland Park.

But she continues to portray the roll-out of the federal Affordable Care Act in wholly negative terms, playing into the hands of such anti-Obama conservatives as Governor Christie (A-1). 

Today, as she has done in past stories, readers can find only one positive paragraph deep in the text of the continuation page (A-8).

"To be sure, tens of thousands of New Jersey residents have successfully obtained insurance coverage."

Success stories?

But I can't recall Washburn reporting on applicants like me and a friend who not only bought policies, but who are saving money for coverage that is as good or better than they had before.

I'm saving $150 a month on policies for my wife and son, compared to what I paid North Jersey Media Group, my former employer.

And Washburn continues to omit important background information on how Christie and the governors of 35 other states refused to set up state exchanges, throwing tens of millions of applicants onto the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov, and in some cases, crashing it.

Christie also refused to spend $7.6 million in federal money to help New Jersey residents enroll in marketplace plans. 

In fact, Christie's sabotage of the Affordable Care Act and his administration's bungling of federal Sandy aid (A-1) can be seen as the same kind of political retribution the GOP bully is accused of in such Democratic strongholds as Jersey City, Hoboken and Fort Lee.

That borough was hit by four days of gridlock last September after members of Christie's inner circle shut down two of three local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge for a "traffic study."

But investigators believe the Democratic mayors of Fort Lee and other communities were the targets of retribution for not endorsing Christie for a second term.

Hackensack news

Hackensack residents find two stories on the front of Local today, including a report on the Bergen County prosecutor serving subpoenas on the three employers of Thom Ammirato, the city's chief spokesman (L-1).

Ammirato -- who is paid $78,000 a year for his Hackensack public relations work -- also is a full-time employee of Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan, who pays him $35,000 and benefits; and a part-time spokesman for North Arlington, where he is paid $21,600 a year.

North Arlington also has hired Stephen Lo Iacono, Hackensack's former city manager.

In the second Hackensack story, Kathleen Gehm, 63, of River Vale has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the death of Jerome Some, 87, who was struck and killed by her car as he crossed Prospect Avenue on Oct. 8 around 7:30 p.m.

Some, founder of Some's Uniforms on Main Street, left his building and was crossing the street to attend a meeting at Bel Posto Restaurant, because the meeting room in his high-rise was being renovated.

There is no crosswalk between his building and the restaurant, and Some's daughter said the street is poorly lighted. 

After the accident, firefighters were sent out to wash off Some's blood from the pavement, but no safety improvements were made on Prospect Avenue.

City's potholes

Prospect Avenue is lined with high-rises and is considered one of Hackensack's premier streets, but it is also lined with some of the city's worst potholes.

See previous post: Will Hackensack's DPW ever fill these potholes?

A city official I spoke with today said Hackensack doesn't have the money needed to repair Prospect Avenue, because of the fiscal mismanagement of the previous City Council, which was allied with the Zisa family.

He also noted the previous administration's practice of not paving streets in such higher income neighborhoods as Fairmount.

Important photo

Deputy Assignment Editor managed to squeeze in a gee-whiz photo of a sheered-off utility pole on Route 17 in Paramus, but as usual, the caption is devoid of any information about the cause or whether the driver received a summons (L-3).

What local news was held to get this photo into the paper? 

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Editing out Christie's role in health-care problems

If you take the train, count yourself lucky to get one of NJ Transit's comfortable double-deckers, but find a seat on the lower level, above, to avoid cracking your skull on the upper level's low, poorly designed luggage rack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

As one of The Record's top reporters, veteran Lindy Washburn should know better.

In stories dating to at least July, Washburn and her unnamed assignment editor have been reporting on the lack of choice and the higher premiums facing New Jersey residents under Affordable Care Act reforms.

On the front page July 17, Washburn reported:

"In New Jersey, only four companies have announced plans to offer coverage through the federally run exchange. New York, by contrast, has 17 companies providing room for more competition."

But on July 17, the editors were reluctant to tell readers the reason was Governor Christie's refusal to set up a New Jersey exchange, in contrast to his Democratic counterpart in New York.

So, they politicized the blame by putting the words into the mouth of one of New Jersey's Democratic congressman, who was quoted on the continuation page:

"The absence of information was a frustration to U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews, a Haddon Heights Democrat, who blamed it on Governor Christie’s 'regrettable decision' to opt out of a state-run exchange."

Since then, stories on the problem-plagued roll-out of the Affordable Care Act in New Jersey have completely omitted Christie's attempt to sabotage federal reforms, such as the Washburn story on A-3 today.

Where is background?

In July, the GOP bully was running for a second term and it's understandable why The Record's adoring staff tried to sanitize the front-page story.

But now that he won the election and has set his sights on the White House, why don't The Record's editors and reporters level with readers?

What's missing on A-3 today is an essential ingredient in every newspaper story from time immemorial: background. 

Hyping the mess 

On Page 1 today, the inconvenience of closing Fort Lee access lanes to upper level tollbooths on the George Washington Bridge in September has been exaggerated into "a four-day ... traffic nightmare."

The truth is drivers using the lower-level on those days saw no delays, and a Fort Lee access lane to that level's tollbooths remained open.

Can't touch Borgs

The front-page story on incomes in Bergen and Passaic counties remaining well below the levels of 2000 doesn't include the Borg publishing family, whose great wealth has likely increased (A-1).

Another A-1 story on a $120,000 settlement for each of the three boys who filed suit after they were locked in a Fort Lee police van overnight doesn't mention that about $40,000 from each check will go to the plaintiffs' lawyers.

Police and court news

Three of the five stories on the Local front today make the page look like a police blotter (L-1).

On L-6, the obituary for Edward Oldziey, 90, of Wyckoff -- an architect who survived both terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center -- doesn't name the president who was the object of his anger in a letter published in The New York Times 13 days after 9/11.

Have a heart

The Record's Better Living section continues to use recipes from clueless food blogger Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River.

Today, Jackson describes the surest way to turn heart-healthy sea scallops into an artery clogging, preservative-filled nightmare (BL-2).

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Playing doctor, greedy homeowners, bad journalism

The George Washington Bridge as photographed through a tinted windshield.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Today's Page 1 story about an anesthesiologist who performed spine surgery goes on and on in the tradition of Editor Marty Gottlieb, who brought to The Record his former paper's practice of writing incredibly long stories.

Here, more than two full pages of the paper are devoted to Dr. Richard Kaul and the cases of 11 North Jersey patients he operated on (A-1, A-10 and A-11).

24/7 phone line

Maybe medical writer Lindy Washburn should be exploring whether the 24/7 phone number for getting insurance under the Affordable Care Act (1-800-318-2596) is working better than the federal Web site.

Instead, Gottlieb is running another negative story about President Obama's "legacy" -- this one from McClatchy Newspapers (A-1).

In a couple of years, when tens of millions of uninsured Americans are covered for the first time -- easing the burden of emergency room care on taxpayers -- no one will remember all of these roll-out glitches.

Football greed

If you lose interest in the "pain doctor" story -- as I did after just a few paragraphs and a glance at the continuation pages, wondering what relevance it has to me -- you can shake your head over greedy homeowners who are charging out-of-town football fans as much as $10,000 a night during the Super Toilet Bowl in February.

Let's hope that Bobby Adamo's North Arlington home, which will cost $30,000 for a week, is trashed by the bunch of slobs he will be exploiting (A-1).

Is The Record trying to say there are no municipal regulations that bar renting out your house to people you aren't related to?

And what about the liability homeowners face, if one of the fans consumes too much alcohol at dinner and mows down a neighbor?

And that's it for Page 1 of  the Woodland Park daily. Another disappointing Sunday edition. But there's more.

Despite all of  the errors in Saturday's Record, no corrections appear on A-2 today.

Seeing red

On the Local front today, the Road Warrior column is the latest attempt to demonize red-light cameras (L-1).

Staff Writer John Cichowski, aka The Addled Commuter, doesn't tell readers the cameras are the last line of defense against speeders -- those lead-footed drivers who believe they have a constitutional right to go as fast as they want to and, in the process, maim or kill pedestrians and other drivers.

But driving is a privilege, not a right, and the cameras surely will proliferate amid a dramatic decline in traffic enforcement, bringing towns sorely needed revenue as property taxes continue to climb.

We'll all be safer when hundreds of red-light cameras are in use around North Jersey.

Top of his game

A far better read is Staff Writer Jay Levin's masterful portrayal of Michael Oprihory, a former Elmwood Park police lieutenant who died on Nov. 3 at 89 (L-1).

Read that first paragraph, and ask yourself why the drivel from Cichowski and The Record's other columnists, most of whom can't put together a coherent sentence, get so much better play than Levin's local obituaries.

Word pusher

Wow. Mike Kelly attended President John F. Kennedy's funeral 50 years ago, and here he is today, complete with his dated column photo and shit-eating grin, to bore readers with his recollections (O-1).

Zisa family

An editorial endorses Governor Christie attempt to end payouts for unused sick and vacation time, including the $4.7 million Hackensack had to fork over to public workers in 2010 (O-2).

A photo of the city's famously corrupt former police chief and state assemblyman, Ken "I Am The Law" Zisa, appears with the editorial.

Imagine if the sports-obsessed Record paid as much attention to Hackensack during the many years the Zisa family ran the city and sucked it dry.

From hunger

In Travel, a story about Vancouver's natural splendors ignores its reputation for culinary splendors and dining out, one of the joys of exploring the world (T-1).

And the 2014 Dine Out Guide is mislabeled "a reader's guide," when it should be called an "advertiser's guide."

Dozens of North Jersey restaurants are missing, presumably in retaliation for not advertising in the guide.

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