Editors panic over 'exploding' trains in North Jersey

Amid a lavish display of flowers, photos of a beaming Leyla Kan, 60, the woman killed by a school bus in Leonia last week, appeared in the window of her pizza-and-pita restaurant in Palisades Park on Monday, above and below. Picnic Cafe, which was closed on Monday, is one of the few non-Korean businesses on Broad Avenue.

The bouquets turned the sidewalk fragrant. Some of the Korean-Americans who stopped to look at the memorial didn't know how Kan had died. The Record did one story on the fatal accident, which resulted in traffic summonses being issued to the school-bus driver, but no follow-ups to resolve unanswered questions.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Should I worry or is today's Page 1 account of exploding oil trains passing through neighboring Teaneck just a sensational attempt to sell The Record during a sleepy August?

As a resident of Hackensack, I'm trying to figure out whether I'm far enough away to be safe after derailment of  "aging" rail tanker cars that carry "millions" of gallons of "highly explosive crude oil" through North Jersey (A-1).

This appears to be a major piece of investigative journalism guided by Editor Martin Gottlieb.

Full story -- finally

The front of Local today fills in many of the details missing in Monday's hastily prepared story about a woman struck and dragged to her death at the Hawthorne farmers' market by a speeding pickup truck (L-1).

The victim, beautician Donna Marie Wine, 58, of Hawthorne lived near the suspect, James T. Woetzel, 48, the driver who was charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident on Sunday, but they didn't know each other, The Record says.

"Neither police not the county Prosecutor's Office would reveal details of the horrific incident," forcing Staff Writers Minjae Park, Andrew Wyrich and Jim Norman to wait for the next press release.

However, the reporters are sticking with the victim being dragged four blocks, even though other media accounts put the distance at a half-mile.

Robin Williams

Burned-out columnist Bill Ervolino again uses the death of a prominent entertainer to promote his own sorry ass (BL-1).

Why does this "appreciation" of Williams begin like others he's written, recapping an Ervolino interview from the dark ages, in this case 25 years ago?

You can read thousands of words about the comic genius on Page 1, the Better Living front and BL-2, and still not know how Williams died.

More questions

The cause of death was "suicide due to asphyxia" or suffocation, but does that mean Williams hung himself, put his head into the oven, was trying a weird sexual thing or killed himself in another way?

Unfortunately, you can't count on The Record for the answer, whether a death occurs as near as Leonia and Hawthorne or as far away as northern California.

Leyla Kan

In front of Picnic Cafe in Palisades Park on Monday, a woman recalled her 20-year friendship with the owner, Leyla Kan, who was killed last Thursday morning by a school bus in Leonia. 

Years ago, Kan had been severely injured in an automobile accident, and was so grateful to have survived, the friend said.

Now, the woman said, she can't believe her friend is gone. All she was doing was crossing the street.

More corrections

A correction today notes The Record can't even spell a former freeholder's name properly (A-2).

In his Sunday column, Road Warrior John Cichowski mistakenly said there are only six residential streets with direct access to Route 17 south, even though he reported previously there are seven.

Cichowski's sense of direction also is flawed in that he said a Bergen Avenue house is five blocks south of another resident, when it is, in fact, five blocks north.

Read about other flaws in the column:

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