Why didn't they let Dick Cheney die?

Schematic of a transplanted heart with native lungs and the great vessels. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Page 1 brief in The Record today refers readers to an inside story on a heart transplant for former Vice President Dick Cheney, but there is no discussion of whether a man with such a poor reputation deserves to live beyond 71 (A-8).


The story says more than 3,100 Americans are on a national waiting list for a heart transplant, so I'm sure there are plenty of other ordinary Americans who deserve a new lease on life more than Cheney, who is infamous for aiding the two Bush presidencies and profiting mightily from the Iraq war.


North Jersey news


The Cheney story distracts from a strong front page of North Jersey news, ruined by a sports column at the bottom of the page.


Editor Marty Gottlieb seems to be as jock-like as former Editor Francis "Frank" Scandale, who often used sports on A-1 so aggressively it overshadowed or displaced more serious news.


Raw deal on taxes


The lead A-1 story by Staff Writer David Sheingold documents the raw deal homeowners are getting when they appeal the assessments that have led to rising property taxes amid falling home values.


Another important story -- on Syrian-Americans in North Jersey aiding the uprising against the Assad family -- is one of the few times  in the past year head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes has localized the conflict. 


Mass smoking 


The front of Sykes' Local section is dominated by the funeral Mass for the Rev. James F. Reilly of St. Michael Church in Palisades Park, but there is no mention he died of injuries from a fire that started when he fell asleep while smoking -- an unintended suicide (L-1).


The main headline, "Simple parish priest," probably should have read, "Simple smoking priest."


Commuting news


Readers are doing a double-take at the second Road Warrior column on commuting problems since March 16 -- after enduring innumerable pieces on potholes, roof snow, MVC lines and all the other driving minutiae John Cichowski has mustered in the past 11 years.


There is no Hackensack news in the Sunday edition, but Sykes found room on L-3 for an accident photo (car crashes into home) and a house burglary in Tenafly, where Publisher Stephen A. Borg lives in fear of a break-in at his $3.65 million McMansion.


Poultry on drugs


In Better Living today, a column on what "two prominent chef's could do to help home cooks spice up their boneless, skinless [chicken] dinners" makes no mention of all the harmful antibiotics used to raise the vast majority of chicken sold in supermarkets and served in restaurants (F-1).


In Real Estate, the cover story provides a lot of terrific information for homeowners who want to challenge their tax assessments (R-1).