Readers are stuck, too

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Theodore C. Sorensen died on Sunday at 82.

The featured piece on Page 1 today is a sob story about the thousands of homeowners who can't afford to live in North Jersey or leave. The headline declares: "Stuck with no exit." What about the tens of thousands of readers who are stuck with The Record of Woodland Park?

Where are readers going to turn when editors and reporters routinely ignore their concerns -- from the quality of local governments to the need for more mass transit to ease choking traffic congestion to a desire for a newspaper that doesn't depend almost completely on handouts, reports and surveys for story ideas.

Editor Francis Scandale, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and their lazy minions could have done a lot more with today's paper. 

The A-1 real estate story should have been honest with readers and acknowledged the factors that grossly inflated housing values before the recession let all the air out. And some of the sad stories are from homeowners who refuse to sell unless they make a killing. Who says the sale of a condo or home is supposed to make you rich?

The paper also should acknowledge the importance of real estate advertising to its bottom line and the special section Publisher Stephen A. "Greedy Stevie" Borg created -- largely to celebrate the industry and paint a rosy picture of home ownership, while hiding the shocking amount of interest banks charge over the 30 years of a mortgage.

$3.65M company mortgage

Thanks to a company mortgage, the young, arrogant Tarnished Silver Spoon lives in a $3.65 million dollar Tenafly mansion while many of his staffers can't afford even a modest home in Bergen County.

The death of Theodore C. Sorensen, the eloquent confidant of President John F. Kennedy, could have been a platform for one of The Record's political writers to note that what Republican and Tea Party candidates in Tuesday's election really are saying is:

"Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what you can do for yourself."

Today's Local section contains only three stories that could be considered municipal news, but nothing from Hackensack or Englewood or a lot of other towns.

Buried in the back of the section (L-6) is an inspiring vision of Great Falls National Park in Paterson, with a gorgeous photo by staffer Tyson Trish. Why isn't this story on the front of the section or even on Page 1 with this great photo blown up to a size readers can appreciate?

The likely reason is that Scandale and Sykes, who I'm guessing rarely visit Paterson, have spent years portraying the Silk City as a center of drugs and prostitution that have ruined many suburban lives, and as a murder capitol.

Clown loose in food store

What happens when you turn a clown loose in H Mart in Ridgefield, a large Korean supermarket that has one of the best selections of fresh fish, Asian greens and other produce in North Jersey? 

See the Better Living front, where Staff Writer Bill Ervolino chooses to buy and eat mystery pork and beef, and in the process makes fun of one of his Korean guides' English and parodies her diet, focusing on live octopus while ignoring all the healthy tofu and vegetables Koreans eat in main and side dishes.