Bridgegate editors bury an elaborate Christie cover-up

Today is a thoroughly miserable day to be driving around Bergen County.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If the miserable, sunless weather doesn't get you down, The Record's whitewash of a legislative panel's report on Governor Christie and Bridgegate is certain to do the trick.

"Cover-up" was the word used by some media outlets to describe the report's conclusions, including WNYC-FM.

But you would have to read far into today's upbeat Page 1 "ANALYSIS," a Charles Stile column and an editorial (A-9) to understand just how far Governor Christie, his aides and his cronies went to cover up the real purpose of the George Washington Bridge lane closures -- political payback.

When the Woodland Park daily's editors and reporters sound like the GOP bully's own spin doctors, you know journalistic principals have been compromised.

Wrong-way Boburg

Staff Writer Shawn Boburg claims in his first paragraph today that the Legislature's Bridgegate report concluded Governor Christie didn't know of the scheme (A-1), but that contradicts what he reported on Friday.

The state legislative committee investigating the September 2013 gridlock in Fort Lee said there was "no conclusive evidence" as to whether Christie "was or was not" aware of the closures or involved in directing them, according to Boburg's Page 1 story on Friday.

And Boburg's lead paragraph today mentions "two reports," a reference to the whitewash by Christie's own lawyers, including Randy Mastro, who soaked taxpayers by submitting a request for $7.2 million in legal fees.

Treating the credibility of the two reports equally completely violates the standards of objective journalism.

Indeed, a gullible Boburg quoted Mastro on Friday's Page 1 claiming that "with this [legislative] inquiry behind it [sic], the governor and his office can focus on what they do best -- serving the public interest."

At the moment Mastro's press release went out, Christie was thousands of miles away in Canada, pursing his White House dreams. 

So much for "serving the public interest."

Editorial trickery

Stile, one of the paper's biggest Christie boosters, claims in his first paragraph the latest report "may help [the governor] in his yearlong quest for rehabilitation" (A-1).

The headlines on today's editorial are even more bewildering (A-9):

No involvement

GWB panel implicates only Christie aides

Really? 

Today, none other than Boburg reports "the legislative report said Christie and an aide had deleted 12 text messages they exchanged during damaging testimony by Port Authority officials" (A-6).

And readers have to question the motives of Boburg and his editors to bury the lead in the last paragraph of his so-called Analysis, quoting a spokesman for the Democratic National Commitee:

"Some of Christie's closest aides and allies put safety at risk, seemingly to exact petty political revenge, and in the aftermath, they lied about it. That, in itself, is inexcusable conduct coming from the administration of someone who wants to be president of the United States" (A-6).

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Readers search in vain for opinion on Christie nastiness

Peace banners in downtown Teaneck are signed "Cedar Lane Management Group," an entity I haven't seen discussed in The Record's comprehensive Local news section. The longstanding eyesore at Cedar Lane and River Road -- an abandoned gas station joined recently by a shuttered diner -- could use some "management."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Does Husni Mubarak run an Egyptian grocery store in Paterson's Middle Eastern bazaar? 

If not, what is his photo doing on the front page of a North Jersey daily newspaper? 

Friction between President Obama and the Defense Department (A-1)? 

How does that explain why my taxes are so high in Hackensack, where hundreds of millions of dollars in property owned by non-profits generates nothing.

Even the seemingly local story on an "immigrant" involves a school in Lahore, Pakistan, and a wealthy supporter of Governor Christie's (A-1).

Welcome to the Sunday suburban edition of The New York Times, where onetime cub reporter Marty Gottlieb made his mark before returning to The Record as editor nearly three years ago.

Chief word pusher

At first glance, Mike Kelly's Page 1 piece today appears to promise a strong opinion on Christie's bluster and nasty behavior when confronted by critics -- the kind of opinion readers seek from a columnist (A-1).

But readers are disappointed, and many are wondering why this column is displayed so prominently, if it's nothing more than the usual he said/she said any reporter could assemble.

Today's column goes a long way toward explaining why Kelly has spent more than 20 years merely pushing words around.

He could have said the GOP bully's "Jersey style" and channeling Tony Soprano are two big negatives the Garden State tries to live down, not promote.

Kelly could have said Christie is far from presidential, and his attacks on Democrats and liberal use of vetoes give a lie to his claim of being a compromiser.

No backbone

Readers find a second Kelly column, this one on "the lessons" of Ferguson, that seems to be the reporter's subtle way of promoting a book he wrote on the shooting of a black teenager by a white Teaneck police officer "more than two decades ago" (O-1).

But this column is poorly edited, and I can't find the actual date on which then-Police Officer Gary S. Spath shot Phillip Pannell, or whether Spath was tried on a charge of reckless manslaughter mentioned in a photo caption.

Also, you'd expect Kelly to say little progress has been made on holding white police officers accountable for using lethal force against black teenagers.

But, again, he's just pushing words around, this time on the front of the Opinion section.

'Local' wedding

The Local front today devotes more space to Snooki's wedding than to demonstrations seeking justice in Ferguson (L-1).

There is also a really boring Road Warrior column on blocked intersections in Little Ferry that are easily avoid by using Grand Avenue to reach Ridgefield (L-1).

You won't find any stories about Hackensack, Teaneck or Englewood.

A house fire that killed two cats in Ridgewood has more information in it than did a photo caption on Jennifer Pechko, 43, a Kinnelon woman killed in a two-car accident on Thanksgiving (L-3).

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Christie's frequent hand jobs are the only 'job' he is doing

A smaller number of homes on Clinton Place in Hackensack have been decorated for Halloween than in past years. Does the addition of a lawn sign suggest that this candidate's campaign is dead or that he wants the dead to vote for him?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record keeps on quoting Governor Christie as saying he is doing his job, but his constituents are baffled by the claim.

On Wednesday, Christie bullied a former Asbury Park councilman who protested the glacial pace of Sandy recovery two years after the superstorm hit New Jersey.

On Thursday, the GOP bully said, "It's just another day at the ranch, the Rancho Christie, and so we'll keep doing our jobs" (A-3).

"Rancho Christie"? Is that the governor's way of trying to appeal to Hispanics in his quixotic bid for the White House?

Sloppy reporting

The Record's story on Thursday didn't mention that protester Jim Keady is a former councilman and part of a Sandy victims advocacy group called Finish the Job.

Nor did Staff Writer Melissa Hayes report how angry and unpresidential Christie was when Keady stood up and kept talking over the politician, as you could clearly see if you watched TV news on Thursday.

The Record's Christie-friendly filter is evident again today in an editorial noting that only half of the 8,800 homeowners approved for relief money have received it (A-20).

The editorial doesn't even come close to saying Christie bears some of the responsibility.

One of the trainers at 24 Hour Fitness in Paramus this morning.

How is Christie doing?

Shouldn't the taxpayers dock Christie for the more than 65 days he has spent out of state this year to raise funds as head of the Republican Governors Association?

He's visited 36 states and Washington, D.C., according to what reads like one of the governor's press releases on The Record's A-3 today.

Besides hand jobs, has Christie done the job of expanding mass transit in one of the nation's most traffic-choked regions or cleaning up the environment?

Christie can't even figure out how to fix the bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund for infrastructure and mass-transit improvements.

What else has he accomplished besides vetoing numerous initiatives from the Democratic-controlled state Legislature -- from raising the minimum wage to open space preservation? 

Election coverage

For the second day in a row, The Record questions the viability of a candidate based on how much he or she has raised in contributions (L-1).

The story makes no mention of the many Democrats who voted for Kathleen Donovan, a Republican who is seeking a second term as county executive on Nov. 4.

I am among those Democrats who split their vote and chose Donovan then and again on my mail-in ballot for this election, because I am repelled by the practices of the county and local Democratic organizations.

Are polls reliable?

Another story on the election appears on L-3, a poll that purports to show that Rep. Scott Garrett, the Tea Party icon from Wantage, is leading challenger Roy Cho by a wider margin than before.

With about 70 percent of the voters living in Bergen County, only widespread voter apathy could derail Cho's momentum in the 5th Congressional District.

Recall the polls that said the race between President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney was too close to call. 

If fact, the president's resounding victory embarrassed the candidate of the 1 percent.

The rest of Local today is filled with an inordinate amount of Law & Order news.

Too sheepish

Despite the poor preparation of entrees and a dessert, Staff Writer Elisa Ung gives a rave, 3-star review to The Plum & Pear in Wyckoff (BL-1).

She again touts the "quality of the ingredients" and praises the restaurant's global focus, but doesn't say why the owner chose domestic chops over naturally raised Australian lamb in a $34 special.

And she was bowled over by three desserts, which many health conscious customers never eat.

Why didn't she report on the taste of the house-made whole wheat linguine or a popular "greens and grains" salad? 

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Editors in no hurry to know what causes voter apathy

The First Reformed Church in Hackensack also is referred to as Church on the Green. The plaque notes, "Early records of this pioneer Dutch church, dated 1686, mark it as the second oldest in New Jersey."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The front page today marks a new low in The Record's we-don't-know-what-else-to-write-about coverage of New Jersey.

Three years and a month before the next election for governor, Columnist Charles Stiles does his best to bore Sunday readers with speculation on who will run to replace Chris Christie.

But, as far as I can tell, The Record has ignored the contest for the 5th District seat in Congress that will be decided on Nov. 4.

Last November, according to NJ.com, the GOP bully won a second term "in a landslide, but the election drew the lowest voter turnout ever for a governor's race: 39.6 percent." 

The special election that sent Cory Booker to Washington "recorded the lowest voter turnout of any statewide election, at 25.4 percent," according to the Web site.

Local apathy

In Hackensack, City Council elections draw less than a fifth of the 19,000-plus registered voters, and school board elections are decided by even fewer residents.

Fairview Mayor Vincent Bellucci Jr., a veteran, wrote a letter to the editor to express his concern "over low voter turnout election after election."

The letter, which appeared on Saturday's A-13, said:

"This Election Day, rather than being apathetic, or lazy, wouldn't it be great to show our veterans that we truly appreciate their service and that the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives is not forgotten by exercising our right to vote?"

Editorial apathy

Bellucci doesn't explore the cause of voter apathy, but just one look at the front pages of Saturday's and Sunday's papers show the editors of The Record are far from blameless.

Page 1 on Saturday was dominated by the NFL domestic violence "scandal," and two other major elements explored a surplus of deer and the sentencing of an ex-diner manager who tried to hire a hit man (A-1).

Today's front page has an equally ridiculous mix of stories -- football, parking meters, White House security and spanking -- just seven weeks or so before the next election (A-1).

Meanwhile, Stile and other members of The Record's Trenton staff, have written endlessly about the political impact of Christie's war on the middle and working classes in New Jersey.

Most editorials discuss the dying New Jersey economy without mentioning Christie policies or even his name.

Scott free

Has The Record covered the second attempt in recent years to unseat Rep. Scott Garrett, the deeply conservative Republican in the 5th District, which includes Hackensack, Fair Lawn and parts of Teaneck, among other towns?

The last challenger, then-Teaneck Mayor Adam Gussen, had a hard time getting his photo in the paper, let alone a profile.

In 2012, The Record's Herb Jackson decided the winner in a story reporting that Garrett, a Tea Party sympathizer who has helped bring Congress to a standstill, raised the most campaign cash.

Now, I can't recall a recent story about Roy Cho, a Democratic lawyer from Hackensack, who is Garrett's opponent in the Nov. 4 election.

What does Garrett stand for? How about Cho? What are the issues in the campaign, and how will New Jersey be affected?

Lazy, bored editors

Do The Record editors even know their proper role in an election?

In the last couple of decades, the lazy assignment editors have reduced coverage of local and school board elections.

If seats are not contested, The Record ignores the race, not even bothering to discuss the issues at stake.

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Either way, Christie will leave New Jersey in shambles

This nondescript patch of asphalt -- three local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge -- was quiet on Monday afternoon, but Fort Lee police responded in force to the Washington Bridge Plaza shopping center nearby and arrested a robbery suspect.

At the intersection of traffic and the Christie administration's political retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee. Closure of two of the three access lanes to upper level tollbooths occurred one year ago Tuesday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie, his aides and his cronies on the Port Authority managed to cover up their involvement in the massive traffic jams at the Fort Lee end of the George Washington Bridge for a good four months, well past the November election that gave the GOP bully a second term.

There was no hint in the media the Christie administration had anything to do with closure of bridge access lanes on Sept. 9-13, 2013, until January, when this e-mail from the governor's deputy chief of staff was uncovered:

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

Endless speculation

Today, the front and editorial pages of The Record carry two more attempts to measure the damage to Christie's presidential ambitions, but what difference does it make (A-1 and A-11)?

Whether Christie leaves office to run for president in 2016 or at the end of his term in 2017, New Jersey will still be in shambles.

By any measure, the Garden State is far worse off in the first year of his second term than it was when he took office in January 2010 -- tax revenue, job creation, roads, mass transit, the shore, Atlantic City and, most important, pride.

Under Christie, the Jersey jokes have returned with a vengeance.

Just look at the photo from late March news conference the governor called to unveil his legal team's cover-up, which has already cost taxpayers more than $7 million (A-6).

The sheepish look on Christie's face screams, Get me out of here!

Law breakers

More than 1,000 motorcyclists broke every local anti-noise ordinance on the books, and still managed to land a glowing story on the Local front today (L-1).

Some of the Fort Lee police officers who responded to the Washington Bridge Plaza shopping center in Fort Lee on Monday afternoon, above and below.

A couple having lunch at the Binghamton Bagel & Deli reported a white man in a hoody with his pants worn low on his buttocks walked in and asked, "Who has the money?" They called police.

North Jersey Syrians

A rare story about Syrian exiles also appears on the Local front today, where Staff Writer Hannan Adely reports on the support they are receiving from the long-established community in Paterson and other towns  (L-1).

On L-3, the skeleton newsroom staff in Woodland Park made no attempt to find out if "a person" who jumped "from the Terrace Avenue Bridge onto southbound Route 17 [in Hasbrouck Heights] on Sunday morning" was killed.

But the caption does tell readers who are blind "the investigation caused traffic to be diverted."

Corrupting corn

Leave it to one of The Record's clueless freelancers to take wonderfully sweet Jersey corn -- which needs little more than steaming and a sprinkle of salt -- and recommend two ways you can prepare it and clog your arteries (BL-1 and BL-2).

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Editors finally discover 'Little Mexico' under their noses

Hackensack's Salem Street, between River and Moore streets, was closed Friday, disrupting traffic. How many of the people in this photo are actually working? Three blocks of Salem, from River to State streets, have been torn up for weeks to perform underground work.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In a single front-page story today, The Record's editors try to play catch-up on nearly three decades of Mexican migration to a city not far from their ivory tower newsroom.

Spurred by Governor Christie's visit to Mexico,  the reporter who covers immigrants for the Woodland Park daily traces the growth of Passaic city's Poblanos or people who hail from the state and city of Puebla (A-1).

The Record's local-news editors have largely ignored Passaic's Mexican-Americans until now, even though the onetime Food section wrote extensively about North Jersey's Little Mexico in 2003.

On Friday, Christie visited Puebla, citing the big percentage of Mexican immigrants in New Jersey who come from there (38.75%). 

Previously, the GOP bully slashed tax credits for Mexican-Americans and other working poor, and cut aid to Passaic and five other impoverished cities.

In her story about Passaic's Poblanos, Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado undercounts "taquerias, Mexican bakeries, restaurants and stores," and makes no mention of the wholesale Mexican food warehouses that are open to the public (A-4). 


Christie's revenge

Another rating agency has condemned Christie's fiscal policies in New Jersey, citing, among other things, a state economy that "continues to lag that of the nation" (A-1).

The A-4 story by Melissa Hayes on Christie's visit to Puebla says the governor "came to the state nearly 90 miles from Mexico City," but didn't he meet Puebla Gov. Rafael Moreno Valle in the capital city, also called Puebla?

Tips immigration hand

At one point, Christie seems to be saying the unaccompanied children crossing the Mexican border illegally should respect and recognize the laws of the United States.

Then, he is quoted gushing about "an endless line of one child more adorable than the next" -- presumably, as long as they stay in Mexico.

Friday was the last day of what Christie called a trade mission, but The Record hasn't reported whether any new deals or contracts were signed between New Jersey and Mexican businesses.

Indeed, the gushing coverage seems designed only to boost Christie's prospects as a Republican presidential contender in 2016.

Police blotter

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, did a great job filling today's Local section with police and court news (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Second look

In last Sunday's Road Warrior column, confused Staff Writer John Cichowski again provided "wrong, unsafe and illegal advice" to teenagers and their parents, according to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

"The Road Warrior [Cichowski] reported that an official stated that about 800 teens were killed in car crashes in New Jersey over the last 10 years.

"Actually, there were only about 400 teenage deaths for drivers and passengers in the last 10 years, according to New Jersey State Police road fatality annual statistics, which the Road Warrior frequently references, but misstates."

See: Take away John Cichowski's license to write 

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Corrective Hackensack story fails to identify council critics

Today is the deadline for paying third-quarter property taxes in Hackensack. If your payment is not in before the Tax Collector's Office closes for the day, you might have to pay interest. I put my check into the City Hall lock box a few days ago, above. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Today, The Record publishes a second story on David R. Troast, the Hackensack City Council's choice for city manager, that fills in many of the blanks in the initial report and puts critics' "hysteria" in perspective.

But Staff Writer Todd South, who covered Tuesday night's council meeting, again fails to identify most of Troast's critics as being affiliated with the city's Board of Education and local Democratic Chairwoman Lynne Hurwitz, the power behind the Zisa family.

And he didn't tell readers two of those board members were on the council slate that was defeated in the May 2013 municipal election.

In fact, what has become clear since the Citizens for Change slate took office in July 2013 is a nasty battle among Republicans in power and Democrats who are still seething over being thrown out of office after decades of rule, cronyism and patronage.

Daniel Carola speaking to the Hackensack City Council on Tuesday night. The Record quotes him by name today (L-6), but doesn't identify his as a member of the Board of Education.

South and Troast

Today, South, who worked previously at the Times Free Press in Chattanooga, Tenn., fills in details of Troast's professional and personal background that didn't appear in his story on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, without that background critics' complaints seemed more credible.

Troast, 54, was seated in the first row of the council chambers on Tuesday night, as was South, but they apparently didn't speak then or the reporter didn't use anything he might have learned in an interview.

Today, he reports Troast, who grew up in Wyckoff, "is a longtime Hawthorne resident who worked as a planner and township manager in Sparta from 1996 to 2013."

As for a Sparta employee's lawsuit, which was mentioned Tuesday night, Troast is not named as a defendant.

No criminal charges resulted from a complaint that Troast had an antique rifle in the trunk of his car on township property about the time he resigned from his township manager position in Sparta in August 2013.

South mistakenly identifies Troast's former position as "city manager" in Sparta (L-6).

Critics cited Sparta's lack of diversity, but Troast says he has a diverse family through marriage and adoption, "with nieces and nephews of Asian, Hispanic and African-American descent."

And Troast is now working as "a confidential assistant on development projects for the city of Passaic," where thousands of Mexican-Americans live, at a part-time salary of $25,000.

Troast also holds graduate degrees in public administration and urban planning, and would be the first city manager in recent memory who didn't commute in a city owned car.

Old and depressed

Angelo Talignani of Hasbrouck Heights was 85 and could no longer drive. 

He showed signs of depression and "expressed regret that he was still alive," according to the prosecutor (A-8).

Is it so hard to understand why he might want to kill his close friend and his bedridden wife and then commit suicide?

But at The Record, a copy editor with no concept of what it means to grow old and depressed or to lose your freedom wrote a ridiculous headline over today's front-page story:

"Inexplicable tragedy"

Boost for wealthy

On Governor Christie's first full day in Mexico on Wednesday, he made clear in a speech his only interest is in helping wealthy business owners get even richer at the expense of the environment (A-1).

The GOP bully was the wrong choice for governor of New Jersey and he certainly isn't fit to run the United States.

Christie and his 16-member delegation are living high on the hog in Mexico City thanks to Choose New Jersey, a corporate-backed non-profit "that aims to bolster business relations in the state" (A-8).

But who is paying the way for Staff Writer Melissa Hayes -- one of the governor's chief boosters -- who is in Mexico for the Woodland Park daily, hanging on Christie's every word, burp and fart?

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Editors make readers work hard for pension reform 'facts'

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey acquired the PATH commuter rail line, above and below, in a 1962 deal that allowed the bi-state agency to build the original World Trade Center on land occupied by the railroad's terminal in lower Manhattan.

PATH, originally known as the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, hasn't been expanded since 1938, when a new 33rd Street station in Manhattan opened to the public. The Record's coverage of the Port Authority's bus and rail transit operations has been extremely thin, especially when compared to endless pieces on motorists, tolls and patronage.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record today tries to separate fact from fiction in Governor Christie's statements on the state pension system for teachers, police officers, firefighters and government workers (A-1).

But why do it in a political column, and why does Staff Writer Charles Stile front-load the piece on Page 1 with the same Christie misstatements the paper has been publishing forever?

Readers really have to work hard to find "the whole story" promised in the sub-headline, a testament to the sad state of editing and the Christie idolatry at the Woodland Park daily.

Page turner

Don't bother with the set up on the front page; go right to the continuation page (A-6) to learn Christie is blowing smoke on the health of the pension system and the need for benefit cuts, as the GOP bully has done on nearly every issue since he took office in 2010.

The 10th paragraph of Stile's rehash appears on A-6:

"And like most political campaigns from time immemorial, Christie's salesmanship will rely on fair doses of hyperbole and revisionism."

That should have been the burned-out reporter's lead paragraph, followed by specifics and, on the continuation page, the background that now appears on Page 1.

Here are more facts that Stile tries to bury:

• New Jersey has enough to cover the costs of retirees for the next 30 years.
• The Garden State also can't go bankrupt, because it is a sovereign state with the power to levy taxes as necessary.
• Christie is as guilty as his predecessors for shortchanging the pension system to the tune of $3 billion in 2011, $900 million in the last fiscal year and $1.6 billion in the current fiscal year.
• A reduction in benefits isn't the only option, if Christie raised taxes on affluent residents and corporations. He's vetoed the former four times.

Crashes, crime, tripe

Two crashes and one hit-run accident, involving an SUV hitting a bicyclist, help fill the pages of Local today, along with court and police news, a zoning hearing and a November referendum on open-space funding (L-1 to L-6).

The lead story on the front of the local-news section reports Superior Court Assignment Judge Peter E. Doyne is addressing a shortage of judges in Bergen County (L-1).

Of course, the story ignores the tremendous impact of delays and postponements on the legal fees paid by plaintiffs and defendants.

If it takes a civil case two years to drag through the courts, those fees multiply, enriching lawyers, some of whom go on to be judges.

Is that a Toyota?

The story on a woman driver losing control on Route 208 and hitting two police cruisers carries a photo caption that reads:

"The driver of the Toyota had serious injuries" (L-1).

But the two-door vehicle with a rear spoiler that is shown in the photo looks like a Pontiac, not a Toyota.

And in a departure from the ordinary, an Old Tappan man who drove his car through the front of one store and into another wasn't a senior citizen who mistook the accelerator for the brake pedal (L-6).

Kelly is a fool

Two days after Columnist Mike Kelly blamed unions for opposing money saving consolidation, a story reports Paterson's police union is supporting an initiative to team up with other departments to fight crime in the state's three largest cities (L-3). 

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You won't find any news in boring Page 1 'process' stories

Attractive storefronts are available on Cedar Lane, above and below, which doesn't seem to be doing as well as Teaneck's other major shopping street, Queen Anne Road, in the township's West Englewood section. Expensive kosher restaurants seem to predominate in both areas.

Few downtown merchants advertise in The Record, and the Woodland Park daily repays the favor by writing very little about their struggles. "Pay to play" is alive and well at North Jersey Media Group's flagship newspaper, too.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The major element on Page 1 of The Record today promises a "new round of debate" on state liquor licenses in mid-September.

NJ/DC -- the column from Washington correspondent Herb Jackson -- focuses on a cockamamie conservative scheme by Rep. Scott Garret, R-Wantage, to cheat New Jersey out of federal highway funds (A-1).

The two "process" pieces set up readers for what may or may not happen in the future, but they are deadly dull and have no place on the front page.

Consumer ignored

The one on updating the state's liquor license laws completely ignores the consumer, and the possible reduction in the number of BYO restaurants, one of the appeals of living and dining out in North Jersey.

Restaurants with liquor licenses rely on them as a major profit center, and they can charge $10 for a glass of wine from a bottle that cost $6.

A 750 milliliter bottle of wine yields six 4-ounce glasses. 

The shuttered Madre's Cuban Cuisine on Cedar Lane in Teaneck.

State trust fund?

Jackson's column and a recent editorial on the federal highway trust fund make no mention of the mess Governor Christie has made of the state Transportation Trust Fund, which is bankrupt.

The GOP bully refuses to raise the fund's main funding source -- the state's low gasoline tax -- just another aspect of a conservative no-tax stance that has hobbled the New Jersey Treasury.

The dumb headline on Jackson's column is inaccurate and misleading:

Garret

gas tax

bill stuck

in neutral

You can be stuck in gear, but not in "neutral."

And if the headline makes readers think Garret wants to raise the federal "gas tax," they are fools.

Slow local news

What's the point of yet another feature story on the Oritani Field Club, a Hackensack landmark that was bought by a developer in 2010, but won't close until the end of 2015 (L-1)?

The club, which is near the library, likely will be replaced by apartments and a parking garage as city officials chase tax ratables to dig themselves out of the financial hole created by Zisa family rule.

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Speeding kills, but please don't disturb the editors

NJ Transit's electric-powered Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, seen here in Jersey City, will be extended to Englewood, but the Neanderthals who rule the wealthy borough of Tenafly have rejected the service, citing their heavy investment in SUVs and luxury vehicles that run on fossil fuel. Stephen A. Borg, publisher of The Record and a Tenafly resident, has lent editorial support to that short-sighted decision.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With nearly a day to work on a crash that killed a Waldwick cop who was lying in wait to catch speeders, The Record's inept newsroom staff is unable to report today whether the tractor-trailer driver charged in the death was himself speeding.

Today's front-page photo -- showing the demolished police cruiser and the jackknifed truck on the edge of Route 17 -- is worth a thousand words, especially in view of how those words, with details of what caused the accident, are missing (A-1).

Why was the photo supplied by "NBC New York" and not the Woodland Park daily's own staff?

Unanswered questions

To hit Waldwick Police Officer Christopher Goodell's cruiser on the side of Route 17 south and propel the vehicle into a retaining wall, couldn't the paper say with certainty the truck was out of control?

And couldn't anyone find a source in Bergen County's fatal accident unit for an educated guess on how fast trucker Ryon Cumberbatch of Brooklyn was driving before he lost control or fell asleep?

If Goodell was using radar to catch speeders, did the truck's speed register on the device or was it destroyed?

Instead, the paper today runs separate stories about the cop and Iraq war veteran, and the immigrant charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, referring inappropriately to the trucker as "Ryon" at one point.

Speed-camera shy

To rub salt in readers' wounds, Road Warrior John Cichowski rouses himself from his usual stupor to declare in a column on the Local front Goodell "was using radar equipment to control chronic speeding" on Route 17 (L-1).

In more than a decade of writing the so-called commuting column, Cichowski has completely ignored a rise in speeding and aggressive driving amid what many believe is declining enforcement.

Governor Christie has contributed to the problem by not replacing hundreds of state troopers who have retired, leading to fewer anti-speeding patrols on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.

Speed still kills

More than 13,000 people die every year in crashes involving speed, according to the National Safety Council.

Cichowski also has written a number of shrill columns demonizing red-light cameras, which catch speeders and cut down fatal intersection collisions.

Today's column on speeding cameras quotes the "chief opponent" of red-light cameras, the idiotic National Motorists Association, which argues driving is a right, not a privilege.

Members likely are speed-addicted lead-foots who assert their right to terrorize other drivers by speeding, tailgating and other aggressive behavior.

Did cop die in vain?

Let's hope Goodell didn't die in vain, and New Jersey's fractious law enforcers can get their act together and demand more red-light cameras and the installation of speeding cameras everywhere.

The extra revenue will be welcome, given the mess Christie has made of the New Jersey economy.

And why are a number of homes along Route 17 south completely exposed to traffic, unprotected by guardrails or sound walls, measures that could have protected Goodell, too?

More boring politics

The fatal collision on Page 1 today completely overshadows Christie's appearance in Iowa, in what one of The Record's columnists calls the GOP bully's "unofficial coming-out party for the 2016 presidential race" (A-1).

The Record carried a front-page story on Thursday, reporting on the supposed significance of the Iowa trip. 

Unfortunately, The New York Times story on Christie's trip to Iowa appeared on Wednesday.

How long has The Record been covering a presidential election that is still more than two years away?

Clinton v. Christie?

Former first lady and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton looks radiant in a photo on the Local front today (L-1).

I can't wait for her to declare and beat the crap out of Christie or any other GOP candidate for the White House.

More corrections

The reporting and editing staffs continue to struggle with getting things right, and they seemed to have caught a flu from Cichowski, who likely has set a record for inaccuracies by a single reporter.

Thursday's A-2 had an elaborate correction and a detailed clarification. Today's A-2 carries another correction.

Tuesday's paper had two corrections and Wednesday's single correction was even longer.

Liz Houlton, the six-figure production editor, apparently isn't doing her job. Why is she still employed there?

For carnivores

Non-meat eaters can only hope they'll find vegetarian dishes at Sapphire Thai Food Express in Teaneck (BL-14).

There is no mention of them in Elisa Ung's favorable review today, even though Thai menus usually list many salads, tofu, vegetable and other non-meat dishes.

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