Law & Order edition is nothing special

Which judge and sheriff's officer slipped on water in the century old Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack and fell -- to the delight of Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes?

If you're a fan of the police blotter, today's Law & Order edition of The Record might fool you into thinking you're holding a sensational tabloid in your hands.

Besides two major police stories on Page 1, municipal news is almost completely displaced in Local by cop or court news -- there's a total of 13 such stories or stand-alone photos in the six-page section.

The main element on L-1 today is the slapstick account of a judge and a sheriff's officer who slipped on water flooding the 100-year-old Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, and presumably fell on their asses.

No names, please

Three reporters worked on the story, but failed to get the identity of the judge or sheriff's officer or the name of the hospital that treated the jurist.

That's expected on the lazy assignment desk under Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza. 

The former could be heard shrieking in the Woodland Park newsroom, "Hey, the copy desk should use 'Laughter in the court' as a headline on this. It's hilarious."

Taxing views

Also on Page 1 today, a so-called ANALYSIS comparing the tax positions of Governor Christie and President Obama fails to mention the GOP bully's proposed state income-tax cut would benefit the wealthy most of all.

Monday's paper

Another so-called ANALYSIS on Monday's Page 1 concludes New Jersey won't be able to build or widen enough roads to end massive traffic congestion.

But the story mentions NJ Transit only once, and doesn't blame Christie for killing a major expansion of rail capacity.

A rare story on Hackensack schools also appeared on A-1 on Monday -- a welcome profile of Detective Kenneth Martin, the state's first school resource officer.

More age bias

Monday's Local section includes an unusual amount of news about the elderly, the disabled and the incontinent (L-1 and L-6).

Columnist Mike Kelly had another long piece on Susanna Reinhardt, the Rochelle Park "battle ax" he wrote about at length on Jan. 24, 2010 (L-1). 

Is there really that much more to say about the 86-year-old woman?

Major omission

On Monday's L-6, a story on a Latino festival mentions Teaneck has a "thriving" Hispanic community, "as do ... Bergenfield, Hackensack, Leonia and Ridgefield Park."

What about all the Latinos who live in neighboring Englewood? Are they just so much picadillo?