We can't get a break from Christie 'news' on front page

The landmark Sears building in Hackensack on an overcast afternoon (and through a dirty windshield). The store, built in art-deco style in the early 1930s, was repaired and repainted in 2011.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Readers incensed over all the time Governor Christie is spending out of state find more so-called Page 1 news about his exploratory presidential campaign.

In fact, the GOP bully is a fixture on Editor Martin Gottlieb's front page, landing there on Thursday and Friday, as well, with other stories inside the paper.

No governor who has done so little for New Jersey has gotten such prominent play while in pursuit of a nomination few experts say he will get.

But, really, if Gottlieb is going to run columns from political writer Charles Stile and other staffers on Page 1, they should be labeled for what they are -- opinion or analysis or whatever -- they certainly aren't news.

And I guess readers can't expect Gottlieb to update those ancient thumbnail column photos -- from Mike Kelly's shit-eating grin (O-1) to Travel Editor Jill Schensul's glamorous puss, far from what the aging klutz looks like today (T-1).

Medical bills

Dominating Page 1 today is another chapter in medical writer Lindy Washburn's horror stories about out-of-control medical bills (A-1).

At least today's story discusses how families are negotiating lower payments or making monthly payments on the outrageous charges from out-of-network providers.

But missing from this and previous stories is how Christie stands on calls to reform the system.

Seat belts save lives

After the crash death of Nobel laureate John Nash and his wife, Road Warrior John Cichowski finally comes to his senses and reports on the life-saving value of passengers buckling up in the back (L-1).

In February,the clueless columnist argued rear curtain airbags would have saved CBS newsman Bob Simon, who wasn't wearing his seat belt when his speeding limo crashed in Manhattan.

That's nonsense, of course. 

A couple of weeks after Cichowski's column, The Record reported the unbelted Simon became "a back-seat bullet" when his limo crashed on Feb. 12. Simon died of his injuries.

Lazy cops?

Today, The Record again reports Broad Avenue and Fort Lee Road is Leonia's busiest intersection, because it "receives so much traffic from commuters who cut through the [borough] between Route 95 and the George Washington Bridge" (L-3).

But Staff Writer Nicholas Pugliese, reporting on a woman driver who knocked down a school crossing guard with her luxury SUV, never asks police why an officer isn't assigned to the intersection.

That is where Leyla Kan, 60, of Fort Lee was struck last August in the Broad Avenue crosswalk, and dragged to her death by a small school bus.

No criminal charges were filed against the bus driver.

Today's story calls Leonia a "borough" and a "township" in the same sentence. The story also notes the crossing guard was struck on "Wednesday" and on "May 27."

Let's hope a judge sets fire to the license of Bridgette Pursley, 49, the irresponsible motorist who has been charged with assault by auto and hindering apprehension, and orders confiscation of her Lexus RX 350 for use in undercover police work.

Sam Ciccone

Congratulations to the layout editor who decided to give better play to the obituary of Sam Ciccone, a former Fairview cop and gay activist, than the usual treatment of burying it among the paid death notices (L-1).

Saturday's paper

Kelly, the burned-out columnist, continues to excoriate U.S. officials for not prosecuting "terrorist" Joanne Chesimard, who was granted political asylum in Cuba 35 years ago (Saturday's A-1).

But in this and previous columns, Kelly has never mentioned Luis Posada Carriles, an anti-Castro exile living in Florida, who has been accused of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger flight, killing 73 people (Saturday's A-8).

Paterson coverage

Stories on Paterson continue to portray the city negatively (Saturday's L-1 and L-5).

On the Local front, reporter Joe Malinconico calls Paterson "a city notorious for negativity."

Couldn't the same be said for Malinconico?

On L-2 today, he reports on the city's 30th shooting of the year, but never asks police why they aren't doing more to control Silk City gangs and guns.

Local news?

Even if you don't drink beer, news of a microbrewery moving to Hackensack is welcome.

But why did Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza allow Staff Writer Todd South to go on and on about a business that still hasn't opened (Saturday's Local front)?

That's likely because those supremely lazy editors struggle daily to fill their section with municipal news, and have to rely on accident photos, police and fire news, and features to fill holes in their pages.