Governor Christie as leader, his evil twin -- all in one place

In a photo by Mel Evans of The Associated Press, Governor Christie pauses during applause at his State of the State address to the Legislature on Wednesday. Evans is a former staff photographer at The Record.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I can't recall another front page of The Record that showed the two faces of Governor Christie so starkly -- a radical anti-tax politician who thinks nothing of destroying the middle class, and a compassionate leader against drug addiction.

Today's top story discloses a settlement that "exposed private meetings in which unnamed allies of ... Christie planned to divert almost $2 million" from a project to dig two new Hudson River rail tunnels so he could use the money to fix roads and bridges (1A).

That allowed Christie to avoid raising the gasoline tax in late 2010 or 2011 for those repairs, but set back the expansion of mass transit for middle class commuters more than a decade.

But the biggest element on Page 1 today is an upbeat report on Christie's pledge during his final year in office "to combat the plague of heroin and opiate abuse," and expand treatment (1A).

"Our friends are dying. Our neighbors are dying. Our co-worker are dying. Our children are dying. Every day. In numbers we can no longer endure" Christie said during his State of the State address on Wednesday.

Sloppy coverage

There is so much missing in today's news and Editorial Page coverage of the $400,000 settlement with the Port Authority, and Christie's seventh State of the State address (1A, 8A, 9A and 10A).

Nowhere do Record reporters or the paper's Editorial Board recognize that Christie's conservative war against tax hikes, including a surcharge on millionaires, while doling out billions to businesses and other special interests, have wrecked the state economy.

And he's balanced the state budget year after year only by grabbing leftover Hudson River rail tunnel money from both the Port Authority and NJ Transit, under-funding the state employee pension system and using other voodoo economics. 

In a preview of the State of the State speech on Tuesday, Dustin Racioppi buried key paragraphs:

"Christie possesses tremendous power over the budget, over appointments and with his veto pen," the State House Bureau reporter wrote.

But Racioppi long ago stopped counting Christie's more than 500 vetoes, which surely set a record for any New Jersey governor, or chronicling the damage they've caused to working and middle-class residents.

Also on Tuesday, he wrote:

"Property taxes in New Jersey remain the highest in the nation, despite a 2 percent cap," and "New Jersey's pension system is now the worst-funded in the country, with $135.7 billion in unfunded liabilities, according to Bloomberg."

None of those issues are raised in today's news story or political column, which is yet another Charles Stile rehash of Christie's "reputation" and "standing with voters" in the wake of damaging Bridgegate trial revelations (1A).

Christie, convicted ex-aides should be forced to guard GWB

In this photo from Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images, the label R13 showed a cheeky dress during New York Fashion Week in September, when Donald J. Trump was the GOP presidential nominee. What would the label say on a dress for Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration? How about, "We're f----d"?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Today's Page 1 expose in The Record suggests Governor Christie and three convicted former aides should be forced to guard the George Washington Bridge, and relieve themselves in empty water bottles.

The former associates -- David Wildstein, Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni -- were convicted in federal court of conspiring to close access lanes, triggering gridlock in Fort Lee on five mornings in September 2013.

The politically inspired Bridgegate scandal also put the kibosh on Christie's White House bid and a major post in the Trump administration.

The GOP thug, who knew about the lane closures as they were happening, was convicted in court of public opinion.

"One guard was almost hit by a suicide jumper falling from 200 feet above," Staff Writer Paul Berger says in the lead paragraph of a story on the harsh working conditions facing bridge security guards (1A, 8a and 9a).

So, community service as unarmed and unpaid security guards at the GWB would be fit punishment for Christie and the trio of former associates who triggered the lane closures.

In view of the governor's prodigious appetite for beer and pizza, he'd need a bucket or something larger in which to relieve himself.

More Christie

If Saturday's front page didn't give you enough of a political perspective on Christie's future, Columnist Charles Stile is back today with another column that will bore you to tears (1A).

Then, brace yourself for yet another column on Christie, this one by Mike Kelly, who goes on and on about "the rust of his battered political career" (Opinion front).

Local news?

Stories about a small number of the 90 or so towns in the circulation area appear in today's Local section (1L to 8L).

Wayne, Hawthorne (two stories), Montclair, West Milford, Ridgewood and Ringwood are represented, but not the three biggest communities in Bergen County -- Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood.

John Cichowski's Road Warrior column on "misleading road signs" is probably the 20th he's written on the same subject since taking over the beat in late 2003 (1L).

The best read in the section is Jay Levin's obituary of Michael Smith, 53, of Waldwick, a quadriplegic who spent 35 years in a wheelchair working on behalf of the disabled (1L and 7L).

All in all, today's paper is just another thin Sunday edition from the payroll-slashing folks at Gannett.

AARP appeals to political editors, columnists and reporters

AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins, who in 1980 was a voter outreach worker for the Ronald Reagan campaign (photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins has a message for columnist Charles Stile and every other Record staffer obsessed with keeping political scorecards in Trenton and Washington.

"When policy is debated only in terms of political gains and defeats, the American people lose," Jenkins wrote in the AARP Bulletin.

Although her column didn't mention the media, her message could be aimed at The Record and other news outlets.

"Instead of solutions, we get stalemates," she noted, describing what has happened so many times on important issues since Governor Christie took office in early 2010. 

"Let's unite behind our shared goals," was one of the headlines on Jenkins' column in the December issue of the monthly publication from the former America Association of Retired Persons.

Practical solutions

"Regardless of whom you supported in November, we share many of the same concerns," she wrote.

"How can we get our leaders [and newspaper editors and reporters] to put political partisanship behind them and come together?

"How can we as a country bring civility and public discourse back to our democracy? How can we disagree and still find common ground around the big issues that matter so much in our country?"

"Bipartisanship does not mean that Republicans and Democrats must agree on every issue," Jenkins noted. "But it does mean that they must be able to work together to find [practical] solutions."

Political Stile Columnist Charles Stile of The Record.

"But partisanship has reached such an uncivil extreme [in Trenton and Washington] that it is dividing our nation and prohibiting leaders from both political parties from coming together to do the people's work," Jenkins said.

"Far too often the politician's goal is not practical solutions, but political advantage."

Politics and news

Think of all the columns Stile has written about who gained the upper hand politically in the recent debates over Christie's book deal and removing the requirement for legal notices to be printed in newspapers.

The latter bill was designed to "punish state newspapers," The Record claims once again in an editorial today (7A).

In fact, this is another attempt by Gannett and other wealthy publishers to distract readers from an unwarranted government subsidy of millions of dollars for public notices no one reads.

See the politically slanted headline on 3A today:

"Congress sees mandate
to undo Obama's agenda"

Of course, for years, headline writers for The Record and other newspapers politicized universal health care as "Obamacare."

And why did an AP reporter who covered the opening of the long-delayed Second Avenue subway (8A) report a speech was given by "Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo?"

When journalism and politics collide, readers are big losers

Cartoonist Dave Granlund speaks for tens of millions of people across the United States.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In a major disservice to readers, Columnists Charles Stile and Mike Kelly of The Record aren't giving up their focus on partisan politics.

Stile's front-page piece discusses the coming political battles over a number of issues in Trenton and Washington, ignoring which outcomes would be good for the state and the nation (1A).

On the Opinion front, Kelly tackles Governor Christie's declining popularity, and such compelling questions as "can the Democrats [who control the state Legislature] find their mojo?"

'One nation'

The Record is part of Gannett's USA Today network, which explains why a woman in far-off Virginia is the first "exceptional American" featured in a new series, "One Nation" (1A and 1O).

The series will focus on someone "who unites, rather than divides, our communities" -- an apparent reference to the hate speech that got President-in-Waiting Donald J. Trump elected on Nov. 8.

Past and present

Today and Saturday, editors and reporters looked at the past year in "Remembering North Jerseyans we mourned in 2016" and forward in "17 people to watch in 2017."

On Friday's front page, an article discussed the medical basis for concluding that Debbie Reynolds died of a broken heart one day after the death of her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher.

But when Teaneck Mayor Lizette Parker died at 44 in 2016, as noted on Saturday's front page, The Record never attempted to explain in medical terms why she and so many other African-Americans die in their 40s and 50s.

'Oh shoot!'

In November, when Gannett launched an unannounced redesign of The Record, production of the paper was shifted to Neptune from Woodland Park.

As a result, errors have soared to a new level, especially in photo captions.

On Saturday, probably because of the enormous amount of space devoted to a fire in a garbage compactor chute in Paterson, one error jumped out.

"Chute" was spelled "shoot" in the caption for an enormous photo showing firefighters in front of a high-rise on Presidential Boulevard (3L on Saturday).

A second photo caption that day, this one on 6L, apparently was taken from NorthJersey.com, because it is in the present tense: 

"A wrong-way accident is causing traffic problems on Route 21 ....[italics added]." 

Also, the day of the accident is given as "Friday morning on Dec. 30, 2016."  

Group of the day

The editors continue to run Page 1 stories on groups:

On Thursday, a so-called Analysis declared environmentalists are "optimistic" about 2017. 

On Friday, adoptees were said to be looking forward to Jan. 1 and a new state law calling for the release of their birth certificates, which could identify their mothers.

Food crawl

Ridgewood and Englewood are two Bergen County towns known for their restaurants, but Friday's "food crawl" in the Better Living section suggested readers jump into their cars for a much longer trip to Nyack, N.Y.

The article carries the byline of Liz Johnson, and guess what, she is the former food editor at a Gannett newspaper who lives in Nyack, and helped conduct a similar food crawl in the town last summer.

How convenient for her, and how inconvenient for Bergen County readers.

Another problem is that Johnson provides no prices for any of the dishes she sampled at four restaurants.

Legislature stops Christie, gunman avenges Syrian slaughter

Moments after pumping several bullets into the back of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov on Monday, a Turkish police officer shouted, "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria!" This photo and others from Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici, who was covering the event at an arts center, are certain to be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie is down but not out after the state Legislature killed a bill that would have allowed him to cash in on a book-publishing deal while giving hefty raises to his Cabinet officers, judges and legislative aides.

But a separate bill -- to drop the requirement that public notices be published in newspapers -- survived, and will be debated again next year  (1A and 6A).

For the biggest piece of fiction in today's paper, see the third paragraph of the Page 1 news story:

"It was a stunning turn of events for Christie, who was once regarded as a master of cutting deals with New Jersey's Democratic political bosses and muscling the bills through the Legislature" (1A).

Christie hasn't made deals for years; instead, he's unleashed more than 500 vetoes to get his way with the majority Democrats -- vetoes that have hurt the working and middle classes in New Jersey.

And shame on Charles Stile for yet another front-page column on what Christie once was and what he is now -- amounting to a rewrite of every piece under the byline of the burned-out Trenton reporter since the GOP bully abandoned his White House dreams last February (1A).

Defending profits

The Record and other newspapers, as well as the New Jersey Press Association, portrayed the battle over legal notices as a "free press" issue.

The NJPA ran a full-page ad on the back of The Record's Local section claiming Christie is trying to "hide ... vital information" from the public, including "government contract bids, air and water pollution emergencies, and meetings of legislative bodies" (8L on Sunday).

But the substantial revenue generated by publication of the notices amounts to a questionable subsidy to newspapers, which are supposed to be independent.

Finally, the notices are of little use to taxpayers, because they are printed in small type and poorly organized. 

In Hackensack, the City Clerk's Office spends about $1,000 a month on publishing the legal notices, an official said on Monday.

The city's Board of Education also publishes its own meeting schedule and budget, but spends less than the City Clerk's Office.

Christie apparently exaggerated the savings to government and business as $80 million a year, if the notices were put online.

'Don't forget Aleppo'

Every time the news media reported Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Tump's praise for Vladimir Putin, few editors reminded readers of the Russian bombers that were pulverizing Aleppo to keep a dictator in power.

On Monday, a Turkish cop fatally wounded Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, avenging all of the deaths of innocent civilians during the civil war struggle for Syria's biggest city.

Impeachment would be too good for evil Christie, Trump

"Twitter tirades" from cartoonist Adam Zyglis lampoons President-elect Donald J. Trump's 3 a.m. tweets.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie is trying to buy off the Democrats who control the state Legislature so he can profit from a book deal before he leaves office in 2018, according to the front page of The Record's Sunday edition.

Don't expect a cut for taxpayers who were fleeced by a law firm that got more than $10 million to whitewash the GOP bully's role in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures.

Since Christie took office in January 2010, he's executed more than 500 vetoes to thwart the will of the Democratic majority in Trenton.

Christie vetoed a phased-in hike in the minimum wage to $15 (1O), a tax surcharge on millionaires, stronger gun control and hundreds of other bills.

When the Bridgegate scandal derailed his White House campaign last February, Christie threw his support behind wacko racist Donald J. Trump.

That led The Star-Ledger and six Gannett-owned dailies in New Jersey to call for his resignation, but The Record of Woodland Park was the exception.

Now, even impeachment would be too good for the GOP bully, who somehow escaped being charged in the Bridgegate scandal.

Three of his former aides or associates were convicted.

Trump election

The same could be said for Trump, whose Electoral College victory sparked unprecedented protests after Nov. 8, and set the stage for a Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21, the day after the billionaire businessman is to be inaugurated.

California, Massachusetts and other states, as well as such big cities as New York and Chicago, are expected to file numerous lawsuits to stop Trump from changing policies on such issues as immigration, health care, climate change, abortion rights and gun control (11A).

Commentary

The Record hasn't commented on what many are calling Trump's illegitimate election, with Democrat Hillary Clinton receiving about 2.5 million more votes nationwide.

Two of the paper's columnists also have shifted gear:

Veteran Trenton reporter Charles Stile, one of Christie's biggest apologists before revelations in the Bridgegate trial, is now focusing on the November 2017 gubernatorial election (1A).

Staff Writer Mike Kelly wrote columns during the presidential campaign filled with interviews of laid-off factory workers, who were said to be among Trump's biggest supporters.

Kelly also continued to take pot shots at President Obama, even though he saved hundreds of thousands of auto industry jobs and brought the country back from the brink of a second Great Depression.

Today, Kelly inexplicably devotes his Sunday Opinion front column to David Wildstein, the Christie crony who was the chief government witness at the Bridgegate trial (1O).

Twitter, on the other hand, is filled day after day with attacks on Trump being unfit to take office:

"Trump hasn't drained the swamp," says filmmaker Michael Moore. "He IS the swamp."

"The Strongman" from cartoonist Adam Bagley.

Growing diversity

The major Page 1 story on North Jersey's growing diversity is saddled with an incomplete, hard-to-understand graphic (1A).

Looking at the front page, readers might be puzzled about why the graphic shows Bergen and Passaic counties, but the huge photo with the piece was taken in a Hudson County town, Secaucus.

Only when they turn to the continuation page (6A), do they see another graphic for Hudson and Morris counties.

Local news?

Gannett editors continue to trivialize local news, putting town coverage largely in the hands of reporters for North Jersey Media Group's weekly newspapers.

They are younger, less experienced and get lower pay than staffers for NJMG's dailies. Here are a few headlines from today's Local section:

"Developments to add students in Upper Saddle River"

"Carlstadt wants to limit
kitten and puppy sales"

"New assistant principal to join Cresskill district"

Best restaurants?

The Better Living cover story -- "Best Restaurants of 2016" -- reprints appraisals under the byline of Food Editor Esther Davidowitz.

But I don't see any credit given former critic Elisa Ung, who left the paper last month after nine years as a food writer and weekly restaurant reviewer (1BL).

The idiotic sub-headline: 

"This was a good year for eating out"

As you can tell from reading Ung's reviews, her twin obsessions with meat and dessert often blinded her to whether the food she recommended was naturally raised or grown, which might justify in part the outrageous prices many fine-dining restaurants charge.

Ung started a monthly review of informal, less expensive restaurants in 2015, but that likely was driven by then-Publisher Stephen A. Borg trying to cut her expense account, and disguising it as a service to readers. 

Her last weekly restaurant review ran in November, and she hasn't been replaced by another critic.

The Record has been running a series of "food crawl" pieces in place of weekly reviews. 

On Friday, Staff Writer Sophia F. Gottfried also took a look at fine dining and other options at Newark Liberty International Airport. 

Editors claim main Bridgegate defendant is angel, not devil

A splash of fall color on Passaic Street and Poplar Avenue in Maywood, where this tree was sculpted by passing buses and trucks.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A Record columnist has done more than anyone outside of her defense team to portray Bridget Anne Kelly as a victim instead of as the central Christie administration figure in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures.

Veteran reporter Mike Kelly was granted unprecedented access to the defendant's lawyers, close friends and former associates -- as readers saw last Thursday in his flattering Page 1 profile of Governor Christie's former deputy chief of staff.

As a result, much of his coverage of Kelly's role in the Bridgegate scandal sounds like it was written by a publicist, not a veteran reporter:

We've learned Bridget Kelly, 44, grew up in Ramsey and attended Catholic schools and a Catholic university; and that she is a divorced mother of four with joint custody.

On Tuesday's front page, the editors even ran a photo showing Bridget Kelly wearing a blouse that looked like it was part of a maternity outfit.

That photo ran under a banner headline:

"Kelly feared she was being set up"

Under the banner, a sub-headline over Charles Stile's column said:

"At trial, Christie portrayed as

 something worse than a bully" 

Shed tear in court

"She's a Catholic kind of orderly person," one of her friends told Mike Kelly for his Thursday profile. "That's why I've always found it absolutely incredible that she would have cooked up this scheme to cause traffic problems in Fort Lee."

The reporter even noted in his lead paragraph for the profile that as she listened to prosecution witnesses testify in the Newark courtroom, she shed a "solitary tear."

In his column today, the reporter says "the other day," Kelly's lawyer, Michael Critchley, "asked her if she knew what a 'scapegoat' was," and before she could answer prosecutors objected "and the judge agreed" (A-1).

That echoed what the columnist had been told by her friends for his extraordinarily long Thursday piece, which appeared a day before she took the stand in her own defense for the first time:

"Kelly's friends say she is the target for unfair punishment," and that star prosecution witness and former Port Authority official David Wildstein "had set her up as a scapegoat" (Thursday's A-6).

Cross-examination

Today, the editors run a front page news story on cross-examination of Bridget Kelly, and yet another Mike Kelly column boosting her defense and again portraying her as a victim (A-1).

The prosecutor challenged the defendant's portrayal of herself as "a bit player in the administration," and tried to show the jury she ordered two of three access lanes closed for five mornings to punish Mark Sokolich, the Democratic mayor, for not endorsing Christie's reelection (A-1).

Of course, what the columnist or The Record's editors believe won't mean anything when federal prosecutors sum up and the case goes to the jury.

Bridget Kelly still has not been able to explain away her email to Wildstein, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," which she sent about a month before he put the lane closures into motion as part of a so-called traffic study.  

She told the jury the email wasn't "an order."

Commentary, lack of editing are two of paper's biggest flaws

Hundreds, if not thousands, of New Jersey residents have already received mail-in ballots for the Nov. 8 election; and made their choices for president, 5th District congressman and county offices, as well as voted "yes" or "no" on two ballot questions. Meanwhile, an editorial in The Record today endorses Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

As usual, readers are having a hard time telling what point Columnist Herb Jackson is trying to make on Page 1 today.

Do ads paid for by "the super PAC of the National Association of Realtors" -- saying that Democratic congressional candidate Josh Gottheimer would "protect the 30-year mortgage" -- mean the businessman is in the pocket of special interests (A-1)?

As Jackson reports, Gottheimer's opponent, Rep. Scott Garrett, a Republican from Wantage in Sussex County, "crossed the Realtors group by pushing a bill in 2013 that would have scaled back the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed companies that buy mortgages from lenders."

Readers of the front page still don't know what all of this means until Jackson quotes "an outspoken critic of federal housing policy" saying that Garrett, in effect, was trying to stop "more government subsidies for housing."

It gets worse. If you stick with Jackson (few readers will get beyond A-1), you find out the bill pushed by Garrett would mean "thousands of people in New Jersey would have to pay more or not get a mortgage at all," according to New Jersey Citizens Action (A-6).

Then, the column goes on and on, giving the impression that Jackson and other columnists at The Record are encouraged to write long, convoluted pieces that violate the cardinal rule of daily journalism:

Telling the reader in the first or first few paragraphs exactly what you're trying to say.

And for opinion columnists like Jackson, Mike Kelly and Charles Stile, the lack of opinions in their work is even more alarming.

This trio of columnists rarely express opinions; they usually only quote so-called experts on each side of an issue in a tedious he said/she said account that resembles a news story or analysis.

Lack of editing

In his front-page column on Monday, Stile reports that as hundreds of Republicans across the country are abandoning GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, "Governor Christie strode right into the vortex" (A-1).

"There's a simple reason why: He has no other place to go [italics added]."

Another Christie column appeared on Monday's Editorial Page (A-11), written by Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin:

"Republicans are lining up in disgust [over Trump boasting about kissing and groping women]. Not Christie.

"He's all in with Trump, probably because he has nowhere else to go" [italics added].

Kelly column

Kelly's Sunday column on the Opinion front cried out for editing, because only readers who slogged through the veteran reporter's awkward phrases, such as "Christie's self-definition," got to see him throw the strongest punches ever at the GOP thug and Trump sidekick (O-1).

His column begins with a tedious recap of testimony in the Bridgegate trial that Christie unleashed a series of F-bombs against a Monmouth County freeholder who criticized him and called him fat.

Christie reminded him he is "the fucking Governor of this state."

Kelly also spends a few paragraphs recounting the governor's tough-guy act during his nearly seven years in office.

It's only on the continuation page -- in his last four or five paragraphs -- that Kelly gets to the F-ing point:

Kelly uses "[expletive]" for the word Christie used in his tirade against the freeholder, "fucking" or "fuck" (Sunday's O-4):

"Our [expletive] governor actually believed he had the intellectual depth and temperament to be president of the entire nation ....

"... Bridgegate has reminded us that Chris Christie's bully act has grown old -- that this man has the quick-trigger temperament of a teenager.

"Yes, Christie is definitely a governor defined by expletives, In these expletives, he has made himself fragile and forlorn and forsaken.

"Soon, he will be forgotten -- finally."

A second mail-in ballot asks voters to say "yes" or "no" on allowing casinos to operate in North Jersey, and whether they want the state constitution amended so that all gas-tax revenue goes toward road and rail repairs and improvements.

Clinton endorsement

Today's editorial on the presidential race and an "Open letter to Trump" are laid out across A-8 with portraits of Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald J. Trump by Staff Artist R.L. Rebach.

"The choice is clear: Hillary Clinton. She is qualified, prepared and capable," according to the editorial endorsing her for president.

"Donald Trump will fight with Americans; Hillary Clinton will fight for America."

The open letter to Trump concludes:

"America needs a president, Mr. Trump, not a predator.

"Abandon this race."

Is Christie's chief booster finally having a change of heart?

Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon, above and below, lampooned the first presidential debate when "Saturday Night Live" kicked off its 42nd season this weekend. The New York Times calls the show "the NBC sketch-comedy institution."

Baldwin's Donald J. Trump pronounced "China" as "Gina," "Big Gina," and said "all the blacks live on one street in Chicago." McKinnon's Hillary Clinton looks as if she can see the White House from Rockefeller Center.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The biggest laugh line in the Sunday edition of The Record comes from Columnist Charles Stile, who has been polishing Governor Christie's image for nearly 6 years.

After a tedious Page 1 refresher course on the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September 2013, Stile says with a straight face, referring to the Christie administration:

"In the first two weeks of the [Bridgegate] trial, there was little testimony or evidence presented of decisions driven by a commitment to public service" (A-8).

"The trial so far has produced a counter-narrative to the meticulously managed image of Christie as a bold, bipartisan leader determined to restore New Jersey's reputation and finances."

Stile has got to be kidding. When has anyone ever said "Christie" and "public service" in the same breath?

In fact, he is one of those journalists who turned his back on readers, and used his column, often played on A-1, to do his own meticulous managing of the GOP thug's image.

The veteran Trenton reporter has consistently ignored Christie's more than 500 vetoes, his unilateral cancellation of the first large-scale expansion of rail transit in decades; and his cuts in state aid to NJ Transit that may have led to Thursday morning's fatal crash in Hoboken.

Need I mention Christie's battle against affordable housing, his repeated veto of a hike in the minimum wage or his looting of state public employees' pension system?

Baldwin's Trump referred to moderator Lester Holt, portrayed by Michael Che, as "Jazzman" and "Coltrane."

Bergen light rail

Also on Page 1 today is a report on elected leaders cheering news that the long-delayed extension of NJ Transit's light-rail service to Ridgefield, Palisades Park and Englewood may finally happen (A-1).

Light rail will offer commuters a direct ride to PATH service into Manhattan.

Today's story mentions many more hurdles, including the need to complete an environmental study and the cost, around $1 billion.

But Staff Writer Christopher Maag doesn't even mention the air-quality benefits of an electrified train line that promises to take cars off of the road and reduce the need for more diesel transit buses. 

The big losers will be commuters who live in Tenafly, where residents voted against the plan.

It isn't known whether they were influenced by The Record, which ran two long stories that demonized the extension of light-rail service.

Those articles were edited by Dan Sforza, now the managing editor.

Paterson history

A Page 1 story about Paterson's once-vibrant Jewish community of 30,000 and a dozen synagogues is one of two in today's paper describing happier times.

The Business front waxes nostalgic over the Paterson Men's Shop, which will close Oct. 15 after an 81-year run on Main Street (B-1).

But the Local front carries a report on Silk City's 8th gunshot death in two months (L-1).

The Record's editorial board hasn't bothered asking why Christie has failed to bring to Paterson the same changes in policing he put into effect to fight violent crime in less-populous Camden.

Local news?

Staff Writer Deena Yellin has a glowing report on new businesses and restaurants opening in downtown Tenafly (L-3).

This while The Record's local editors continue to ignore the causes for all of the empty storefronts in neighboring Englewood.

But there is a follow-up to large-scale fraud in Englewood school cafeterias.

"Privacy concerns" are being cited over the district's decision to install finger scanners to prevent students from swiping for others, who then received a free lunch even though their parents haven't paid for the meal (L-1).

This contrasts to The Record's Hackensack reporter completely ignoring the city's Board of Education, its schools and the poor quality of food served at the high school, where hundreds of students rely on a nearby pizzeria and fast-food options for lunch.

Opinion

Page O-2 in Opinion  is worth looking at for Brigid Harrison's column, "All woman were onstage with Clinton," in which she discusses how men treat women in power.

During the debate, Harrison reports, an unnamed Republican member of the House of Representatives tweeted, "She [Hillary Clinton] just comes across as my bitchy/wife mother."

GOP strategist Frank Luntz replied, "I'm sorry, congressman, but tonight Hillary is coming across as presidential."

Says Harrison: "Whether that guy likes it or not."

Food addictions

If I didn't know better, I'd think today's Better Living cover -- "Addicted to food" -- was a report on chief Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung.

That piece of chocolate layer cake in the illustration is just the kind of dessert Ung obsesses over in nearly ever one of the appraisals she has written in the past decade.

And she's an unapologetic carnivore, swooning over the "funk" of aged beef and ignoring how the animal might have been raised on harmful antibiotics to speed it to market.