This will come back to haunt us

The inconsistent news treatment of the state's growing budget deficit in The Record of Woodland Park will haunt taxpayers in 2010, because editors desperate for more sensational coverage likely don't have readers' best interests at heart.

The lead headline in the former Hackensack daily today says, "More budget cuts on way" -- the first time in a while state finances have made the front page. The deepening deficit was apparent right after Chris Christie was elected in early November, but the story has jumped onto and off of Page 1 since then, usually displaced by crime news, pathos and endless stories about the new Meadowlands sports stadium.

Today, a good third of A-1 and two-thirds of an inside page are devoted to a 1973 murder case and the spot in a New York State park where the body of a 7-year-old girl was found. Earlier this year, there were a series of stories about the convicted murderer's latest parole bid. Isn't there any other "news" worthy of Page 1 today? Couldn't this story have been done with a single photograph inside the Local section? What's the point of revisiting this case?

The rest of A-1 is given to Paterson offering free gun locks to avoid a repeat of the slaying of a 5-year-old boy by a 6-year-old who found an illegal handgun in his home.

In the Local section, finally, there is a Hackensack story for a change by Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado, who now apparently  is free of  the nearly three-year, failed investigation of moonlighting by Michael Mordaga, the former chief of county detectives. It seems the city is buying a building for a new arts center. Hooray. Desperate for local news, an Englewood chimney fire that didn't cause any injuries gets big play. Don't the lazy, incompetent assignment editors know readers can see right through this?

Maybe John Cichowski is burnt out by having to write three columns a week, plus covering transportation news on occasion. What else can you conclude from his Road Warrior column today, chastising readers yet again over clearing snow from the roofs of their vehicles. John, you are a nice guy and journalist, but please get out of that Garret Mountain newsroom you have made your second home and ride some trains and buses to familiarize yourself with the woes of commuters who leave their cars at home, if they even own one.

I winced at the headline on Page F-3 in Better Living over a story about three veteran French chefs in Bergen County. I'm sure these accomplished seniors, who are in their 60s, love being called a "dying breed."