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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Today's paper ranges from the boring to the scandalous

What's the explanation for this complaining sign from riders of NJ Transit's No. 165 bus in view of a recent story in The Record, reporting that rush-hour delays have eased for commuters leaving the Port Authority Bus Terminal for Bergen County? I saw the sign on Tuesday afternoon on Platform 232, where I caught the 165 Turnpike Express back to Hackensack.

Earlier Tuesday, while I was waiting for the 165 Turnpike Express to the city, I saw this SUV leave the parking lot of the 7-Eleven on Main Street in Hackensack and drive through the red light. The intersection doesn't have a red-light camera.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The most important story on Page 1 of The Record today carries a headline that is an instant turn-off to many readers:

Assessing the damage

to Berry's Creek

How boring. The real news is in the smaller sub-headline: 

Chemical, oil and other companies "will be asked to pay" for restoration of habit and replacement of lost natural resources (A-1 and A-4).

Still, that's not very riveting for the front page, but the rest of the A-1 stories aren't much better.

The off-lead is about Medicare penalizing Hackensack University Medical Center and other hospitals "for hospital errors and infections" (A-1).

Shame on Staff Writer Lindy Washburn for using "Obamacare," which has become a conservative curse word for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Are readers worried about the free-speech implications of threats that prompted Sony to pull some goofy movie with a sinister message from theaters (A-1)?

And check out the story's bewildering introduction under the byline of Jim Beckerman. What is he trying to say, with a reference to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., and blah, blah, blah?

Cuba coverage

Everyone except Staff Writer John Petrick knows Cuban cigars, especially those made totally by hand, are the world standard.

So, what is the explanation for the scandalous story leading the Local front today, quoting a Ridgewood cigar salesman who offers mere imitations (L-1)?

Gary Kolesaire claims the only reason Cuban cigars are desirable is that they're illegal in the United States. That's just sour grapes.

Until 2004, when U.S. regulations changed, American journalists were among the privileged few who were allowed to bring home those forbidden Cuban cigars.

Little crime, drugs

A package of Cuba stories from the wire services appears on A-11 today as part of the follow-up to President Obama's announcement that the U.S. will resume diplomatic relations with the island.

"Some fear ... that crime and drugs, both rare in Cuba, will become common along with visitors from the United States," according to The Associated Press story from Havana.

What a condemnation of America's gun- and drug-loving society. 

For decades, Cuban music, food and art, along with mile after mile of beaches and the charms of Old Havana, have lured tens of thousands of tourists from Canada, Europe and Japan, without affecting crime and drug use.

Cuban restaurant

Better Living would seem to have a timely review of Rebecca's, a Cuban restaurant in Edgewater that has a new owner (BL-18).

But Staff Writer Elisa Ung makes absolutely no reference to the easing of relations with Cuba.

I ate at the original Rebecca's many years ago, but won't be returning for the privilege of paying $30 for a red snapper special that Ung liked.

Another dish she liked was guacamole, which is Mexican, with plantain chips!

I'll stick with Casual Habana Cafe on Main Street in Hackensack for Cuban fare, and if I want guacamole, I'll head for Rosa Mexicano.

Deceptive advertising

I rarely look at the Open House real estate advertising section that is inserted in The Record on Fridays, but the lead promotion on an Englewood development caught my eye today.

The headline:

Homebuyers drawn to city centers 

-- The M measures up in Englewood

The text and photo captions actually claim the condo building "borders" the small city's downtown or is located downtown.

But the buildings are only a couple of blocks from Route 4 and more than a half-mile from Palisade Avenue, the main shopping street.

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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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After shooting, Paterson officials won't talk to Mike Kelly

Traffic was tied into knots today at Main Street and Center Avenue in Fort Lee, where noisy utility work is driving people who live and work in the neighborhood crazy. Police positioned a patrol car to funnel motorists into a single Center Avenue lane. The engine was running, but the only occupant was a large teddy bear in the back seat.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Even the great Mike Kelly couldn't get Paterson Mayor Joey Torres and Police Director Jerry Speziale to comment on the apparent drive-by shooting that killed Nazareh Bugg, 14, a high school freshman, as she walked to a takeout restaurant.

Kelly's musings on breaking news usually appear on Page 1, but today, The Record leads the Local front with his column, including a factual error in the second sentence (L-1).

"On another patch of cracked Paterson sidewalk, where another teenage girl had been murdered in another drive-by shooting, the mothers gathered on Monday," Kelly reports.

Genesis and Nazareh

Putting aside that Kelly has been churning out crap like this for more than 20 years, Genesis Rincon was only 12 when she was killed on July 5; she wasn't, as Kelly says, a "teenage girl."

The follow-up to Nazareh's shooting appears on Page 1 today, and an editorial is on A-10, but neither raises the question of what a 14-old-girl was doing on Paterson's violent streets a few minutes before midnight on Saturday.

Nor does Kelly take any notice. He's too busy documenting "cracked sidewalks" in Paterson.

And The Record just can't bring itself to call Torres and Speziale a pair of official disgraces for allowing the cold-blooded murder of another innocent minority young girl so soon after the first. 

Paper is last again

A short story on Governor Christie losing 85 pounds since having lap-band surgery in February 2013 is from The Philadelphia Inquirer, which, in turn, quotes The New York Times (A-6).

Unfortunately, anyone who lives in New Jersey and isn't a multimillionaire like Publisher Stephen A. Borg are big losers, too, since Christie took office in 2010.

Taxing hospital

Staff Writer Lindy Washburn again fails to report a big reason  for Hackensack University Medical Center's financial health.

HUMC rang up $1.4 billion in annual revenue (L-1), but as "a non-profit," it pays no taxes on more than $180 million in property it owns in Hackensack.

That gives city residents big headaches.

Two other big tax-exempt entities in the city are Bergen County and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Meanwhile, the Costco Wholesale in Hackensack will remain open after a new warehouse store is completed in Teterboro in November 2015, meaning no loss in property taxes to the hard-pressed city. 

See:

Good and bad news at Hackensack Costco Wholesale

Causes of death?

Local obituaries usually list a cause of death, but that information is missing in two of them today (L-6).

And Arthur "Bub" Tramontin, who died at 94, is called "part of a two-wheel dynasty," but a photo shows him sitting on a motorcycle with three wheels.

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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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Didn't Christie decision affect cost of Obamacare?

The vast majority of readers commute on NJ Transit buses and trains, not on jitneys, such as the one shown above, so why is The Record's John Cichowski spending so much time reporting on the so-called Spanish buses and so little effort addressing public transit problems that affect nearly all of us? See the Road Warrior column on L-1 today.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

I searched today's Page 1 story in The Record for Governor Christie' role in the cost of health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act, but couldn't find even a mention of him.

The Woodland Park daily already reported that Christie's refusal to set up health-care exchanges in New Jersey would limit the choices that are expected to reduce costs dramatically in New York and other states.

Today, The Record's Lindy Washburn reports New Jerseyans will have fewer plans to choose from than residents of most other states -- and save less money -- "largely because only three insurance companies chose to participate in the new marketplace."

But there is no mention that Christie's decision to allow the federal government to set up the state's exchanges led to that limited choice.

Christie booster

Is this another example of Editor Marty Gottlieb sanitizing stories during the gubernatorial campaign to put the GOP bully in the best light possible?

That's what a campaign manager or a defense attorney does. It's certainly not what newspapers should do.

Deceptive TV ad

Readers have to turn to A-6 today, and search the story for reporting on a deceptive Christie TV ad that accuses challenger Barbara Buono of voting to raise "taxes and fees on hardworking New Jersey families" and then raise her own salary.

It turns out "hardworking New Jersey families" is a reference to millionaires who aren't paying a tax surcharge thanks to Christie's repeated vetoes.

And the raise in legislative salaries to $49,000 from $35,000 occurred more than a decade ago, was sponsored by a Christie ally and signed into law by a Republican governor, and raised the state executive's salary to its current $175,000.

Media won't help

Sadly, Buono can't rely on The Record and other media to get her message across that Christie is hiding his record of economic failure and attacks on the middle and working classes.

On A-2 today, out of the thousands of errors in Road Warrior columns in recent years, the editors correct the spelling of a reader's name.

'Zisa' is dirty word

The lead story in the Local news section today reports a settlement in "the most extensive" civil lawsuit brought against Hackensack and its infamous police chief, Ken Zisa, alleging "corruption, intimidation and retaliation" in the Police Department (L-1).

Zisa was convicted last year of official misconduct and insurance fraud, and the department is now being run by Police Director Mike Mordaga.

Stomach turning

The Record's mindless promotion of food trucks offering low-quality fare has landed a hot-dog vendor in hot water with the city of Englewood (L-6).

From Staff Writer Elisa Ung's rave Sunday column, readers might think Rosario D'Rivera was selling grass-fed filet mignon, not Sabrett beef hot dogs pumped full of harmful additives.

After the article appeared, Englewood ordered D'Rivera to move her Rosie's Weenie Wagon from a corner in the city's industrial section.

The real loser

"I lost an incredible amount of business, D'Rivera is quoted as saying, claiming she has only $20 in her pocket.

For that, she can thank Ung.

The overweight restaurant reviewer uses The Record's money to stuff her face and promote unhealthy food, and the merchant takes the heat and a big hit to her income. 

Don't you love newspapers?

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Where life and death are highly profitable

A congressional proposal to end door-to-door mail delivery -- reported on Page 1 of The Record today -- would intensify the war over the four metered parking spaces in front of the Hackensack Post Office on State Street, above.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

The owners of the for-profit Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center laughed all the way to the bank while stiffing nurses and the IRS, The Record reports today (A-1).

In less than three years, the 230-bed Secaucus hospital paid its owners $14.4 million, Staff Writer Lindy Washburn says.

Her shocking report identifies principals of investment syndicate MHA LLC as Woodcliff Lake anesthesiologist Richard Lipsky, Tamara Dunaev, Pavel Pogodin and Anastasia Burlyuk.

From the sound of their names, people entering the country illegally to compete for low-wage jobs that Americans refuse to do aren't the country's real immigration problem, as the media would have us think.

I'd also like to see Washburn report on salaries and profits at another hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center, whose tax-exempt status is a crushing burden for city homeowners and other property tax payers.

More partisanship

What is achieved by The Record and other media reporting every speech by President Obama as if he is still campaigning for a second term, as the Woodland Park daily does in today's A-1 photo caption?

By continuing to report on the partisan pissing matches paralyzing government, The Record cheats readers and neglects its responsibility to report on the issues they are most interested in.

Local schmooze

Another correction from the disoriented Local news editors appears on A-2 today. They can't get names right and don't know what town they're in.

Today's Local front is strong, for a change, but why focus on speeders on one Teaneck street when they are everywhere and enforcement is at an historic low (L-1)?

And why allow Road Warrior John Cichowski to encourage speeders, as he did in recent, negative columns about red-light cameras and so-called road hogs, who obey the speed limit?

Another copy desk screw-up appears in the photo caption with the East Cedar Lane speeding story. The caption calls speeding "reckless driving" (L-1).
 
Doing their jobs

Pages L-2 and L-3 resemble a Law & Order insert today, complete with a filler photo of a minor accident in place of legitimate news (L-3).

The copy desk came up with another stunning over line:

RESCUE WORKERS AID ACCIDENT VICTIM

It could just as well say:

RESCUE WORKERS DO THEIR JOBS

Why is this photo in the paper? 

Thanks, Bon Jovi

The Better Living cover story on the massive Buick Electra being used on Bon Jovi's concert stage only reminds some older readers of the unsafe cars produced by the Big Three in the 1950s, despite their size and weight (BL-1).

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That's titillating, but how does it affect me?

This sign, seen across the roof of a van, is a touch of civility at a Manhattan entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. Fortunately or unfortunately, congestion usually slows drivers to a crawl, giving them time to read the sign and yield to other drivers -- in marked contrast to what happens on New Jersey highways.

By Victor E. Sasson

Editor

An extra-marital affair, an angry husband, pay-to-play and a prominent Republican who has grown fat on his New Jersey connections.

You'd think today's Page 1 expose in The Record has everything a reader could want. But you'd be wrong.

The avalanche of words and titillating e-mails never explain why any of this is relevant to my life or the lives of thousands of other readers.

'Me news'?

Will the split between Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan and public relations guru Alan C. Marcus slow or end the reforms Donovan is known for?

Are my property taxes going up? Will this brouhaha lessen or increase the crushing burden of the county's tax-exempt property on Hackensack residents?

As far as I know, county sherriff's officers will continue to help Hackensack police officers fight crime under an initiative started by Police Director Michael Mordaga.

I have a lot of respect for the reporters who worked on the expose, but this is the kind of  story Editors Marty Gottlieb and Deirdre Sykes love to waste time and money chasing to bring a little excitement into their dull, newsroom-centered lives.

Stephen Borg speaks

Turn to A-7 for comment from Publisher Stephen A. Borg, who claims staffers "teach" at Bergen Community College.

Borg is referring to "In The Record," a class given by the college's Institute for Learning in Retirement for seniors citizens.

Road Warrior John Cichowski, Staff Writer Lindy Washburn and other staffers speak to the class about their jobs and their beats, and answer questions.

Calling it teaching, as Borg does, is a stretch. 

The front-page has another political "thriller" from Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson, who again fails to explain why readers should care about anything he reports in his column (A-1).

Downplaying protests

The outrage over the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case is demoted to A-3 to make room for all the tripe about politics.

I have yet to see an explanation from any media why the corrupt state of Florida allows 6-member juries to hear criminal cases.

In most states, including New Jersey, 12 people hear criminal cases and 6-member juries are reserved for civil lawsuits.

Local yokels

Today's Local section has Sykes' stamp on it: 

Two more filler accident photos without a word in the captions about what might have caused them (L-1 and L-3).

Was the SUV driver who ran off a curve of the Garden State Parkway speeding or texting? 

Did the 77-year-old man killed in a one-car crash on Route 46 in Lodi have a heart attack or some other health-related problem?

Readers don't have a clue.

More road noise

The Road Warrior column makes more noise about gaps in noise walls, but as in a previous highly exaggerated column, never explains why anyone would buy a house next to a highway and why readers should care when they do (L-1).

In his column on Friday, Cichowski answered readers' questions with a mixture of "clueless, unsafe, and false information" that conflicts with state statutes, according to a concerned reader.

See the full e-mail to management on the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers: 

90th column with reporting problems 

The obituary of athlete, accountant and actor Dick Wieczezak of Wallington is good reading, but I'd like to see more of these local deaths on Page 1 in place of endlessly boring politics (L-1).

Not much else

The Sunday paper has 4 more sections, but I couldn't find much in them.

Today's consumer column from Staff Writer Kevin DeMarrais is a silly comparison of flying and driving to Disney World in Orlando, Fla. (B-1).

I really was on the edge of my seat reading about Jackie Zeman, a soap actress I've never heard of, and her problems sleeping anywhere but in her sister's house in Upper Saddle River (BL-1).

I kept wondering if she is related to John Zeaman, a former Record staffer and author of "Dog Walks Man."

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Editors continue to swallow Christie P.R. and B.S.

The Church On The Green spire in Hackensack.

Two Page 1 stories, an editorial and an editorial cartoon today continue the editors' romance with Governor Christie.

The Record treats the GOP bully like a mighty chief executive who single-handedly brought back New Jersey from the ravages of Superstorm Sandy, and who will somehow make his foolish no-tax policies work. 

The editors -- from Marty Gottlieb to Alfred P. Doblin -- continue to promote Christie's massive public relations/reelection campaign despite his dismal record since he took office in January 2010.

Missing the story

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski continues to miss the biggest development affecting  road deaths -- the dramatic decline in enforcement by the New Jersey State Police (L-1).

Hundreds of troopers have left in the past 25 years and were never replaced. The force once had 3,000 members.

No longer, as any driver can tell from all of the speeding, tail-gating and weaving maniacs on the parkway and turnpike.

Thanks to Governor Christie's anti-mass transit policies, the one constant in North Jersey is traffic, as seen near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee.

Mental paralysis

Cichowski reminds readers of all those seemingly able-bodied people they see using handicapped parking spaces -- especially at the gym. They must be mentally disabled.

In another e-mail to the reporter and managers, a  concerned reader points out Cichowski's crippled reasoning in his previous column. 

Click on the following link to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers at The Record:

Exposing the Road Warrior handicap

From hunger

I looked at the Better Living section today to see if there is any interesting food coverage or if Publisher Stephen A. Borg had named a new food editor.

All I found was a piece on grilling artery clogging sausages on BL-5.

However, a bonus today was Staff Writer Lindy Washburn's heart-stopping cover story on the dramatic operation that saved Englewood cardioligist Jeffrey Mitchel (BL-1).

Talk about Gottlieb burying a Page 1 story to make room for more Christie B.S. The circle is complete.

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