Trump compared to Hitler, Joe McCarthy, segregationists

Monday morning rush-hour traffic in Englewood was tied up in knots when police closed Woodland Street for repaving. Detoured drivers encountered delays of 30 minutes or more.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Democrats are pointing to a report by veteran TV newsman Tom Brokaw on Donald J. Trump's promise to ban all Muslims from the United States, if he is elected president.

In the report, Brokaw compares such a step to the internment of Japanese citizens in the United States during World War II, Hitler's attempted extermination of the Jews, anti-communist Sen. Joe MaCarthy, and the brutal segregation of African-Americans in the South. 

See: Why every American should be terrified

And in an interview with People magazine in 1998, Trump called Republicans "the dumbest group of voters in the country.... I could lie and they would still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific."

Today's paper

Editor Deirdre Sykes of The Record publishes thousands upon thousands of words on Page 1 and inside the paper today on the opening of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland -- and the vast majority of the coverage will never be read.

WNYC-FM, on the other hand, needed only a few sentences: 

"The evening started off with a stirring rendition of the national anthem by a blind girl. What followed were three hours of rage, racially polarizing language, calls to put Hillary Clinton in jail, and Rudy Giuliani talking about Syrian refugees coming to kill us. Then Melania Trump took the stage and talked about saving the poor and taking care of women."

See: WNYC@RNC


Local news?

In another case of Sykes' poor news judgment, the death of Peter G. Banta, one of the most prominent First Amendment lawyers in North Jersey, is being upstaged today by a 24-year-old murder case and a high jumper on A-1, and three stories about animals in the so-called local news section (L-1 and L-3).

The paper's editor continues to mishandle local news, as she did for years when she was head assignment editor, and duck her responsibility to readers who want to know how well or how poorly their towns are being governed.

The obituary for Banta, who represented The Record for many years, is conveniently buried on an obit-local news page (L-5) -- just above a long Dean's List.

Editors are scraping bottom of the barrel for local news

Old and new architecture in lower Manhattan: The Municipal and Woolworth buildings, center left, and One World Trade Center.

Editor's note: Today's post has been updated and expanded.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If The Record ran a story and photos every time officers were promoted by one of the 86 police departments in Bergen and Passaic counties, there would be no room for other local news.

So, readers can only conclude the Fort Lee promotions and hirings reported on L-2 today are a desperate attempt to plug a hole in the sleepy summer local report.

This is the kind of news that belongs in a weekly newspaper, of which North Jersey Media Group has many, not in the publishing company's flagship.

Even the 10 thumbnail photos of the promoted officers and new hires are out of focus, something you'd see in a weekly.

Production Editor Liz Houlton must be on vacation, though she doesn't do much better when she is there, asleep at her computer.

Feel-good police news

You get the feeling local-news Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza run these police promotion and hiring stories as a way of making nice with the departments.

Many law-enforcement agencies refuse to release routine accident and crime news to the paper, judging from how often those reports have holes big enough to drive a tractor-trailer through.

This may be Sykes' and Sforza's way of getting the departments to be more forthcoming.

Below the Fort Lee story is the stupid DEAN'S LIST, a fixture on L-2 that for years has filled a hole in the thin local-news report. 

Botched project

On the opposite page in Local today is a long, tortured story about a street in Ramsey that has been closed since last Nov. 4, forcing 10 businesses to relocate or close, according to the Chamber of Commerce (L-3).

Did I miss the interviews with business owners, denouncing the incompetence of county officials and the contractor for wanting to keep the street closed to two-way traffic for an entire year to replace a "culvert"?

Now, Lake Street is scheduled to open on Aug. 14, as we learn in great detail today from Staff Writer Allison Pries. 

For other momentous local news, see "Emerson field is ready for its artificial turf" (L-3), which undoubtedly will be followed by "Emerson field face-lift is complete."

Poor play

The L-1 story on Paterson, Newark and Jersey City joining to combat violent crime should have gotten far better play on Page 1.

Conspicuously absent is any mention of assistance from Governor Christie, who allegedly has retaliated against Democratic mayors who won't endorse his mean-spirited politics.

When Christie visited Paterson to swear-in Democratic Mayor Joey Torres on July 1, he was greeted by loud boos from protesters, according to the web site of PolitickerNJ.

There is apparently no truth to rumors the GOP bully threatened to dam the Passaic River and dry up the Great Falls, if Torres ever mentioned how the city had to lay off 125 police officers after Christie cut aid to the poor city.

The Record has been doing many strong follow-ups to the July 5 shooting of Genesis Rincon, a 12-year-old Paterson girl killed by a random gunshot as she was riding her scooter.

But the editors are not touching one touchy subject: The inability of Paterson police to protect citizens from drive-by shooting and other gun violence.

More casino news

The major Page 1 story today -- on a $1.5 billion hotel and casino proposed for Sterling Forest, north of the New Jersey border -- makes one reference to "a Malaysia-based hospitality company."

Can you trust a resort developer from a country whose civil aviation authority is in shambles?

This is the second speculative story on a casino in as many days, but how real is the threat to New Jersey's water supply?

On the continuation page, the story notes "the resort is one of 17 contenders for four casino licenses" (A-6). 

But there are no interviews with town officials and residents who would live near the behemoth and have to contend with traffic, noise and drunk gambling addicts.

Good soju news

Another touchy subject The Record's editors won't touch is how restaurants dramatically mark up beer, wine and liquor to boost their profits, even as they pay slave wages to servers and other staff.

Today, another front page story reports the "illegal serving of soju at BYOBs" in Palisades Park and other towns "has led to a 30 [percent] to 40 percent decline in sales at county restaurants that sell liquor," according to the Bergen County Korean Restaurant Association (A-4).

And in good news for restaurant goers, many restaurants with liquor licenses have slashed their price for a 375-milliliter bottle of the traditional alcoholic drink to $6.99 and $5.99 from $12.99.

Liquor stores sell the same bottle for $3.99.

An appreciation of soju by Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung fails to mention that some popular brands contain high fructose corn syrup, which is linked to the obesity epidemic (A-4).

Bridgegate probe moves one step closer to Christie

An Armed Forces Career Center, representing all of the services, has moved into the space on Main Street in Hackensack once occupied by Prozys Army-Navy Store. The space has been empty since Limon Fine Food Market Place closed in 2010.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Newly released e-mails and text messages show Governor Christie's campaign manager knew about the cover story for George Washington Bridge lane closures in Fort Lee as they were happening in early September, The Record reports today.

Christie fired Bill Stepien, his campaign strategist, and Bridget Anne Kelly, his deputy chief of staff, who sent the infamous e-mail to the governor's crony on the Port Authority, which runs the bridge:

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

The e-mails and messages bring the state Legislature's investigation one step closer to the GOP bully, who claims he was lied to by his inner circle during the political-retribution scandal now known as Bridgegate (A-1).

The Record's front pages today and Monday carry too much international news -- on Crimea and the missing Malaysian passenger jet -- for a local daily newspaper in North Jersey.

Tin men

On the first Business page today, the obituary for William "Wild Bill" Perretti recalls a North Jersey auto dealer who gave a bad name to the industry.

The Record's own investigation, by Bruce Locklin, found "a pattern of bait-and-switch ads, misrepresented prices and finance terms, and other deceptive practices" (L-8).

In Local, Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza manages to top previous accident photos that showed car doors had been removed to free victims.

Today, a vehicle involved in a Route 17 collision is shown with its roof peeled back like the top of a sardine can, but as usual, the caption is completely devoid of any real information (L-2). 

Sforza also needed a long Dean's List (L-2) and a truck crash photo (L-3) to fill out the thin local-news report.

Sloppy editing

The high level of editing continues.

A story on Monday's L-5 reported a section of Van Houten Street in Paterson had been renamed in recognition of the city's Bangladeshi community.

In the first paragraph, the street's original name is given as "Van Housten Street."

In Friday's Hackensack Chronicle, another North Jersey Media Group publication, the caption under a large photo of a man climbing over a snowbank in Hackensack said it was taken on "Main Avenue."

In (201) magazine's March 2014 issue, a community profile of Wyckoff lists a farm, a market and restaurants, but omits any mention of the Goffle Road Poultry Farm, which has been raising and selling antibiotic-free birds since 1948 (Page 44).