Even if cleared in Bridgegate, Christie still is biggest loser

This front page ran in the Daily News in January 2014, and proved prophetic. The News, Star-Ledger and other newspapers have covered Governor Christie and his administration far more honestly than The Record of Woodland Park.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Since Governor Christie took office in early 2010, New Jersey has become a laughing stock.

And a couple of months ago, Christie's endorsement of fellow Muslim-hater Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination prompted the editorial boards of seven major New Jersey dailies to call for his resignation.

"He has answered every crisis with neglect during his disastrous second term," The Star-Ledger noted on March 3, calling on him to leave office for "New Jersey's sake."

The state's biggest newspaper listed the state's fiscal crisis as second worst in the nation, including Atlantic City on the brink of bankruptcy, a mass-transit system in disrepair and an infrastructure fund fast running out of money.

The Woodland Park daily was the only major New Jersey paper that continued to give Christie the benefit of the doubt, filling its column recently with upbeat assessments of his selection as Trump's transition chief -- in the unlikely event the billionaire racist is elected in November.

"Make America Hate Again" is one critic's take on Trump's message.

By his side

Today and Thursday, The Record ran self-serving statements from Christie that all but absolved him in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal less than two months before he was elected to a second term in 2013.

The Record has done exhaustive reporting on the scandal, and now takes credit for leading other media companies in getting federal prosecutors to release a list of "unindicted co-conspirators" that was kept secret after Christie's close aide and crony were charged with conspiracy.

Two of three access lanes to GWB upper-level tool booths were closed in the week of Sept. 9, 2013, as political retribution against Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, supposedly for not supporting the governor's reelection campaign.

A second list "is expected to offer the broadest portrait yet of who knew about the conspiracy but did not report it" (A-1).

Worst governor ever

Whether one or both lists are released today and whether Christie is on them is irrelevant in view of his mean-spirited rule of New Jersey, and his war on the middle and working classes.

For a hands-on governor to claim he didn't know what his closest aides and cronies were doing is preposterous, and he long ago was convicted in the court of public opinion.

No matter what happens in Bridgegate, Christie's reign has been disastrous for the state and its residents.

He is the biggest loser, and we are the victims of his personal ambition.

Today's paper

I've seen some terrific headlines in The Record recently, but the one over the GWB scandal today is just ridiculous:

"Seeking
clarity in
political
morass"

Readers have no clue from the main or sub-headline what "political morass" the headline writer is referring to, and it could very well be the deadlock in Congress or the State House.

Of course, a big problem is the huge story on GWB repairs that is displayed next to the scandal story, even though the project doesn't get under way until next year (A-1).

Infrastructure stories such as this are a poor choice for Page 1, but Editor Deirdre Sykes is desperate, because she can't inspire her transportation reporters -- Paul Berger, Christopher Maag and John Cichowski -- to cover the actual commuting crisis in North Jersey.

Rare victory

Another Page 1 story today marks a rare victory over the Christie administration's poor environmental policies (A-1).

The state is dropping plans to "bring large-scale development to Liberty State Park" in Jersey City.

Hackensack police Lt. James Prise, second from right, at the March 8 ceremony in City Council Chambers with his wife and children.

Hackensack news?

Staff Writer John Seasly has done a poor job of covering Hackensack, but he has been all over the embarrassing public ceremony in March to recognize the promotion of the city's first black police lieutenant to captain, another first for an African-American.

Less than a month later, Lt. James Prise was returned to his original rank after he learned he had failed part of his state civil service exam.

Now, Councilwoman Deborah Keeling-Geddis, who also is black, issued a public apology and said Prise "did not deserve to suffer this indignity" (L-1).

Today, Seasly reports her statement "angered the mayor and deputy mayor, who accused her of political maneuvering and of going against the lieutenant's wishes."

Poor coverage

Seasly disappointed Hackensack residents by not covering the issues in the April 19 school election or the Zisa family's attempted political comeback by backing three of the nine candidates.

The election deserved attention, because only about 1,300 of 20,000 registered voters usually cast ballots.

This year, only 895 of them approved a $79 million tax levy to support the $104 million school spending plan, bigger than the city's own budget.

School taxes make up 44% of the total bill in Hackensack.

Voter apathy, apparent in Hackensack's local elections, can be traced to The Record's irresponsibly poor coverage of the city it once called home.

Readers wonder what's next for market, their newspaper

Drivers lining up for gas at the Costco Wholesale station in Wayne, where regular was selling for $2.09.9 a gallon last week. Cheap gas has encouraged more speeding and aggressive driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and other highways.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you're going to devote all of Page 1 above the fold to the Wall Street "correction," does it make any sense to use the rest of the page to report on Governor Christie's "latest television ad" or even a rapper's free concert in Paterson?

Readers encounter more of Editor Martin Gottlieb's news judgement from hell today.

Christie lost ground after the first big debate among the GOP presidential hopefuls, yet his struggling campaign remains front-page news in the Woodland Park daily.

Columnist Charles Stile and Staff Writer Melissa Hayes have been doing masterful public relations for the GOP buffoon, who has spent more than half the year out of state on party business (A-1 and A-3).

Wait till next year

Are readers really paying that much attention nearly a year before the Republican National Convention on July 18-21, 2016, in Tampa, Fla., or are the media cranking up sensational coverage just to make the race seem close?

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for July 25, 2016, in Philadelphia.

On the Opinion page today, Columnist Catherine Rampell of The Washington Post calls all of the candidates from both parties "deadbeats."

Referring to Christie, Rampell noted "New Jersey has undergone nine credit-rating downgrades and ranked 44th in private sector growth" (A-9).

Yet, Christie is promising "blockbuster economic growth" when he is president.

I guess that is as credible as his campaign promise to cut property taxes after he became governor in 2010.

Motion practice

Gottlieb is so desperate today he is running a long story on motions filed in the corruption case against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (A-5).

Defense attorneys usually file a blur of motions for two reasons: It boosts their legal fees and hence their outrageous profits, and postpones the inevitable. 

A second story on legal maneuvering appears on the Local front, where the law firm Christie hired at public expense is fighting a subpoena for computer data in connection with the George Washington Bride lane closure sandal (L-1).

WNYC-FM's "The Christie Tracker" puts the total cost of Bridgegate -- billed to "taxpayers and tollpayers" -- at $11.1 million.

Local news?

A long story on a new principal for an elementary school in Woodland Park, not far from the newsroom, has readers wondering whether the local assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, lost the directions to Hackensack after they moved out in 2009 (L-3).

Media's obsession with political conflict cheats readers

Tulips blooming in Manhattan's Central Park last Sunday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Conflict. Controversy. Confusion.

The Record and other news media love conflict, and every issue is presented in such a way as to fan the flames of controversy and confuse issues.

A legislative proposal is never presented on its merits. 

For example, on Friday's first Business page, a Democrat proposes to suspend corporate tax breaks until the state Treasurer documents the cost to New Jersey.

That sounds reasonable, given the low level of job creation in return for hundred of millions of dollars in corporate incentives.

Instead, The Record's prints a vicious reaction from the spokesman for Governor Christie, a Republican.

"We don't respond to the political games of notorious, unashamed partisans," said Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts (Friday's B-2).

To confuse the matter further, the story by Staff Writer Hugh R. Morley completely omits any data on the state's unemployment rate, job creation or anything else that would allow readers to judge the merits of the proposal by Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union.

Political column

Since Christie took office in early 2010, Record Columnist Charles Stile has specialized in analyzing the GOP bully's every word, burp and fart in terms of their political impact, most of the time on Page 1.

You never see Stile discussing whether a Christie policy is good for the state. His job is to spin it and try to measure the impact on the governor's White House dreams.

Politics causes gridlock in Washington and Trenton, and it also is one of the most boring subjects one can imagine in a general interest newspaper.

The real story behind the politics -- the battle of the wealthy against the middle and working classes -- is never told.

Inside journalism

Would you believe that Stile has been honored by The Society of Silurians, a nationwide organization, for editorial writing and commentary?

That was the case even though his column is never labeled as "opinion" or "commentary" -- apparently to fool readers into thinking Political Stile is objective reporting.

The Silurians' awards aren't intended to gauge service to readers; that isn't even a factor in the judging.

In fact, Stile's fellow journalists cited him for "a yearlong series of riveting columns that chronicled in keen-eyed detail the political evolution of the embattled governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie" (Thursday's L-3).

Riveting? What about the uncounted thousands who are put to sleep by Stile and The Record's other veteran columnists, including Mike Kelly and Road Warrior John Cichowski?

Today's paper

We won't find out the truth about Christie's role in the September 2013 George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal until he and others testify under oath in federal court.

Today, Stile reports Christie defended cheating quarterback Tom Brady, and Staff Writer Melissa Hayes says the governor repeated the same I-knew-nothing answer to a Bridgegate questioner in New Hampshire (A-1).

Meanwhile, the Christie lawyers who whitewashed his role in the lane closings have billed the state $311,000 more, bringing their total fees to $7.8 million (A-4).

Hackensack news

The Record is reporting a $4.5 million tax-appeal settlement with Hackensack University Medical Center from the viewpoint of the City Council's political opponents (L-1).

That's pretty much the way almost every story on City Council actions and policies has been reported since a reform slate took over in 2013, defeating allies of the Zisa family.

Even though the election was "non-partisan," we are still talking Democrats (losers) v. Republicans (winners).

Readers don't have any way of judging the arguments presented in today's he said/she said story by Staff Writer Todd South, who is reporting what happened at Tuesday night's council meeting.

At one point, school board attorney Richard Salkin is actually quoted as predicting how a court would rule on the hospital's challenge to a 2008 air-rights agreement he "authored" (L-5).

Nowhere does South report Salkin was totally unconcerned about a $1 million loss to the city when it was discovered the school board had never been billed for a high school resource officer.

According to press reports at the time, Salkin advised the board not to pay the city.

In GWB case, editors' knowledge of legal system is a joke

The YMCA at Main and Passaic streets in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Despite the hundreds of hours his ass has been planted on a courtroom bench, Columnist Mike Kelly of The Record is no expert on federal criminal prosecutions.

In fact, only one of the three bylines on today's continuing front-page coverage of the George Washington Bridge lane-closure indictments carries with it any credibility (A-1).

Staff Writer Peter J. Sampson, who is assigned to cover the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Courthouse in Newark, is a former wire-service reporter who likely has covered hundreds of federal indictments and trails.

Still, today's banner headline isn't news to anyone familiar with federal prosecutions:

"Defense team may call Christie"

That was clear four long days ago, when Christie ally David Wildstein pleaded guilty to conspiring with the governor's aide and another Port Authority executive to close bridge access lanes in 2013 as part of a political vendetta against Fort Lee's Democratic mayor.

Defense lawyers for Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni would be fools not to call Christie, himself a former U.S. attorney, who continues to insist he had no knowledge of the scheme.

Otherwise, Kelly and Baroni, along with Wildstein, would have to take the fall for a fraud scheme that was the nastiest political dirty trick since Watergate.

'Oh, shit' moment

I am sure that Christie said "Oh, shit" to himself and called his high-priced lawyer on Friday as soon as he heard Wildstein repeat his January 2014 statement that "evidence exists" the GOP bully knew of the lane closings as they were happening.

Instead of pursuing the potential of a sitting governor and GOP presidential candidate being called as a witness at a Bridgegate fraud trial, Editor Martin Gottlieb jumped immediately to the governor's defense.

That was clear from Monday's idiotic banner headline:

"Sharp contrasts in GWB probe"

Gottlieb actually compared the federal criminal charges filed against the Bridgegate defendants after a 16-month investigation to a March 2014 report that exonerated Christie at a cost to the taxpayers of $7.5 million.

That report -- from lawyer Randy Mastro -- was never even credible in the court of public opinion, but Christie could count on a clueless media to waste precious front page space and treat it as if were evidence.

'Fading' hopes

In one of the most negative Christie editorials I've seen, The Record notes the governor will be out of state again today and asks:

"When is Christie going to consistently show up at his day job, the one some people were so focused on his retaining in 2013 that they allegedly broke the law" (A-8)?

The edtorial also refers to the Mastro report as "a multimillion-dollar whitewash on the GWB scandal," making you wonder why it was regurgitated at such great length on Monday's Page 1.

Playing media

Christie continues to manage Gottlieb and other editors in the wake of the federal charges, just as the GOP  bully has since he took office in early 2010 and started waging war against the middle class.

NJ.com reports the governor has cancelled the weekly New Jersey town hall meetings he said he was going to attend.

And WNYC-FM, a New Jersey Public Radio station, puts Bridgegate legal costs to taxpayers and toll payers at nearly $10.7 million, if state, legislative, Port Authority and Fort Lee expenses are included.

Finally, a new Bridgegate poll released today found more than two in three New Jerseyans (69%) feel Christie has not been completely honest about what he knew.

And a majority of Garden State Republicans (52%) now believe he hasn't been completely honest.

More errors

On Sunday, The Record reported incorrectly that Pompton Lakes had already adopted its school budget (A-2).

A bigger error occurred in Brigid Harrison's Sunday opinion column, which referred to Richard Nixon as a former governor (Sunday's O-2).

An Eye on The Record reader noted Nixon ran for governor of California in 1962 and lost.

On Christie's lack of concern in reacting to the GWB charges, the political science and law professor said:

"The connection to the [Christie] administration is problematical for a presidential contender because it demonstrates either corruption and lying or an inability to manage staff -- not what voters are looking for in a president."

Why wasn't Harrison's column played on Page 1 -- instead of an endless stream of drivel from Charles Stile, Mike Kelly and other burned-out reporters?

McDonald's

An upbeat Business page story on McDonald's slumping sales reports the company "intends to stop buying chicken treated with antibiotics" (L-8).

The clueless Washington Port reporter says nothing about the low-quality, additive-filled beef on which McDonald's made its reputation.

Anyone foolish enough to eat at McDonald's would be happy with a guarantee the hamburgers don't contain cow feces.

More too-little, too-late coverage of GWB scandal, A.C.

A third story of residential units has been added to the State Street redevelopment project in Hackensack, a building that is expected to have 222 units above a parking garage when it is completed in 2015.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The major takeouts on The Record's front page today raise a lot of unanswered questions about the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal and Atlantic City (A-1).

The so-called Analysis by Staff Writer Shawn Boburg doesn't address the chief question on readers' minds -- why is the federal grand jury investigation of the politically inspired traffic jams in Fort Lee (Sept. 9-13, 2013) taking so long?

Professor Brigid Harrison is quoted as saying the GOP bully's administration no longer controls "the narrative" (A-7).

If that's so, why does The Record persist in flattering coverage, such as the gushing stories on Governor Christie's purely political visit to Mexico last week?

Reporters love quoting Harrison, but shouldn't The Record acknowledge when it does so that she is one of its Sunday columnists? 

Maybe, it's time for the lazy newsroom editors to cast a wider net for experts.

I'm not going to bother with the The GWB Files interactive presentation at NorthJersey.com, but wonder why the nefarious motives for the lane closures weren't discovered before the November election, when Christie won a second term.

Is the photo caption on A-7 correct in saying the lane closures lasted "five days," not four?

Behind 8 ball

Is 36 years after Atlantic City's first casino opened really the right time to report on what the shore resort can learn from Las Vegas (A-1)?

Staff Writer John Brennan, a brain-damaged former sports reporter, doesn't even mention Vegas' $3.99 buffets and all the ridiculously cheap hotel rooms that lure millions to the desert.

Revel, the $2.9-billion boondoggle that just bit the dust, opened with $400-a-night rooms and the smallest casino in Atlantic City, dooming it to failure.

Sending Brennan to Las Vegas is a huge waste of money, and a waste of readers' time.

If you think his report is laughable, check out Mike Kelly's silly, shit-eating-grin perspective on Atlantic City (O-1).

Rich districts

Do school districts in wealthy towns like Tenafly and Fort Lee get more coverage in The Record (L-1 and L-3)?

Publisher Stephen A. Borg lives in Tenafly, but when is the last time the Woodland Park daily covered the Hackensack district, which spends more money per pupil than Ridgewood?

Editors get high

The Business editors couldn't find a North Jersey company that was as interesting as a Denver marijuana store (B-1).

The 4-page section supplied by The Wall Street Journal every Sunday is a testament to how hard the local business staff works to bring readers North Jersey news. 

Readers looking for a discussion of restaurant issues, such as tipping or high liquor prices, will be disappointed in The Corner Table column from Elisa Ung today (BL-1).

Traveling music

The Record's already thin Travel section is devoting less and less space to reporting on the high cost of vacations (T-1).

For years, Travel Editor Jill Schensul has reduced her workload by running a full page of readers' vacation photos on T-2.

Today, the Travel cover is filled with reader selfies (three of the five on T-1 are from Venice, Italy). More appear on T-4.

In the biggest selfie on T-1, Adam Nolte of Wyckoff doesn't look too happy. Did he pay the gondolier?

Didn't any of The Record's black and Hispanic readers send in selfies? 

Evonne Coutros

The byline of Evonne Coutros last appeared in The Record on March 3, 2014, over a story about Wyckoff, one of the towns she covered, according to NorthJersey.com.

Her byline also appeared in The Hellenic Times as far back as 1989, when she also was employed at The Record.

Coutros had a knack of landing interviews with the biggest celebrities, but The Record's editors usually assigned her to cover news from Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Ho-Ho-Kus, Franklin Lakes and other small towns.

A reader of Eye on The Record recently asked if Coutros died. I don't know.

She was 57 and lived in Closter, I believe.

Top Christie aide completes stone wall against GWB probe

Getting stuck in traffic on North Dean Street in downtown Englewood, where city officials have refused to install turn lanes at Palisade Avenue, the main shopping street, lest they lose revenue from the handful of parking meters that would have to be removed. Could the small city's big-city traffic problems and lack of free parking be hurting downtown restaurants and merchants?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Kevin O'Dowd -- Governor Christie's chief of staff during the George Washington Bridge lane closures last September -- demonstrated his brick-laying skills for legislative investigators on Monday.

O'Dowd completed the stone wall Christie, his closest aides and his cronies on the Port Authority put up after the political retribution scandal caused four days of gridlock in Democratic Fort Lee, and unleashed multiple investigations.

Knows nothing

The Record reports on A-1 today O'Dowd said he played no role in and had no knowledge of the lane closures, but he exposed a big Christie lie to the media last December.

O'Dowd testified that he gave Christie a copy of an e-mail that showed Bridget Anne Kelly, the deputy chief of staff, had knowledge of the lane closures as they occurred.

That was on the same day in December that Christie told the media that "no one on his staff had 'any knowledge' of the closures" (A-6).

In January, Kelly's infamous August e-mail came out: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

Not suspicious

O'Dowd was Kelly's supervisor, but he showed a shocking lack of curiosity or suspicion when the woman showed him an e-mail related to the lane closures.

Christie has rewarded O'Dowd's loyalty by nominating him to be the next attorney general, and he gave his staff average raises of 23%.

Who would want such a legal lightweight as the next attorney general?

O'Dowd's testimony on Monday was so lackluster, The Record led today's front page account by reporting "the Christie administration has spent more than $3 million responding to the ... controversy" (A-1).

Hackensack news

In the process of reporting on the proposed Hackensack budget, Staff Writer Christopher Maag corrected an earlier story calling former Municipal Prosecutor Richard E. Salkin the former city attorney (L-3).

Maag reports that a 4.37 percent property tax hike is "significant." The average homeowner would pay $161.79 more a year, according to the story.

The fiscal 2015 budget calls for the city to spend $94.4 million -- a 2.73 percent increase.

Englewood in denial

Englewood's downtown shopping and dining district is pockmarked with empty storefronts, and its streets are choked with traffic, but offer little if no free parking.

Yet, city officials apparently think all visitors want is free Wi-Fi (L-3).

More corrections

A-2 today carries two more corrections: the misspelling of a Paterson NAACP official's name, and two major errors in Monday's Page 1 story on payouts to police chiefs.

Monday's A-2 carried a correction that had me laughing out loud over the incredibly inept job being performed by six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton:

"The first paragraphs of the My Hometown profile on Alpine resident and CNBC anchor Sue Herera did not appear on BL-1 Sunday," according to the correction.

Mutual masturbation

Gee. Couldn't the hard-working Better Living editors find anyone besides another member of the arrogant media to profile?

The correction also said "the full article can be found today on L-6," meaning there was little local news in the section.

I am looking at Better Living's Sunday cover now, and the entire middle part of the page is covered by the My Hometown profile of Herera, an overweight woman who wears tons of makeup.

The Kara Yorio byline is nowhere to be seen, nor does any of Yorio's story appear on BL-1, just a map showing Bergen County from Englewood Cliffs to Alpine.

On BL-3, the continuation page, the profile picks up in mid-sentence.

Why run this profile in full? It certainly wasn't very interesting or hard-hitting. The theme is that the newscaster "relishes" the hometown feel of Alpine.

The headline over the full story on Monday's L-6 refers to Herera as an "anchor" in her community, an apparent reference to her weight.

More screw-ups

Unacknowledged errors are a way of life for Houlton, whose staff appears to have stopped fact-checking stories or proofreading pages before they go to press.

I didn't see any corrections of the June 3 Road Warrior column on New Jersey license plates.

Confused Staff Writer John Cichowski got it wrong when he said license plates are made of tin, even though they have been made of steel and aluminum for about 100 years, according to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

The reporter also was wrong claiming plates introduced in the 1970s were blue with tan lettering. The lettering was yellow.

Cichowski also wildly exaggerated the problem of "faded, peeling plates."

Road Warrior has tin ear for facts

This "Conserve Wildlife" license plate has been in use since the late 1990s.

On Christie's GWB excuses, why did it take this long?

On a two-hour visit Friday to Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus -- where a gunman fired random shots and committed suicide last Nov. 4 -- I didn't see a single security guard inside the mall. A man wearing a safety vest and a shirt with a patch on his shirt helped shoppers cross the busy road near this unguarded entrance.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Did it really take nearly five months for The Record's editors to make a detailed case against what Governor Christie said he knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closures ordered by his aides, and how little he dug into it?

And why is this exhaustive examination of the "evidence" presented by Staff Writer Charles Stile, whose boring political columns are chiefly responsible for voter apathy in North Jersey (A-1 and A-6)?

Out of Stile

This should have been published as a news investigation, not as an opinion column by a writer who has been one of the biggest boosters of Christie's White House ambitions. 

No other credit is given for the column, so it isn't known whether Port Authority reporter Shawn Boburg or Staff Writer Melissa Hayes, who is assigned to follow the governor, worked on the project.

The bridge scandal broke open on Jan. 8, when The Record reported Bridget Anne Kelly, then Christie's deputy chief of staff, e-mailed David Wildstein, a Port Authority executive:

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

Wildstein, one of Christie's cronies on the bi-state agency that operates the bridge, responded to the Aug. 18 message: "Got it."

The result was four days of early September gridlock in Fort Lee, where Democratic Mayor Mark Sokolich had refused to endorse the GOP bully for reelection.

We're in a jam

Since then, all the key figures, including Christie, have stymied investigators by lawyering up, taking the Fifth, stonewalling or saying they don't remember anything.

And they are sticking you and me with their legal bills, which could total $2 million.

In return for their loyalty, Press Secretary Michael Drewniak and other members of Christie's staff got raises averaging 23%.

Isn't that hush money?

Afterthoughts

The Christie piece and another front-page story on the "resegregation" of Teaneck schools seem like afterthoughts amid all the coverage of a POW released in Afghanistan, and a bunch of foul-mouthed and foul-smelling pro hockey players (A-1).

The number of errors in the last two Sunday editions has declined dramatically in the absence of columns by Road Warrior John Cichowski.

The best story in today's Local section is the obituary for Jewish-Chinese community theater actor Edward B. Thom, formerly of Englewood (L-1).

Self-driving hype

On the Opinion front, a column by Edward Niedermeyer, an auto-industry consultant, oversells the significance of Google's self-driving car (O-1).

Like millions of hybrid and all-electric cars before it, the driverless car will make only small inroads into sales of gas-guzzling SUVs and ever-more-powerful performance and sports sedans.

In a masterful rewrite of previous columns, Staff Writer Mike Kelly bluffs his way through another piece on another disturbed gunman, who killed six and wounded 22 in California (O-1).

'Worst governor'

Letter writer Stephen Gigante of Hackensack hits the bull's-eye on Christie, who has proven such an elusive target for the editors (O-3):

"From the George Washington Bridge scandal, to violations of OPRA, to diverting Port Authority ... funds to the Pulaski Skyway, to the failure to make pension payments and to putting himself in commercials hyping Sandy relief [before last November's election], Governor Christie is ... becoming a footnote for the term 'worst Governor New Jersey has ever had.'"

Greed is good

The upbeat Business section cover story on the expansion of North Jersey hospitals outside their main campuses doesn't explore the impact of their tax-exempt status on municipal property taxes (R-1).

Most of Hackensack University Medical Center's 2.5 million square feet "on its main campus" in Hackensack is tax exempt, raising the levy paid by city residents.

HUMC has fundamentally altered the character of the neighborhood and makes a big demand on services, but gives little back to the city. 

If the hospital buys a building in another town, will that property be tax exempt as well? The story is silent on that angle. 

Flip side of news

Given The Record's superficial coverage of all of the foreclosures in New Jersey, today's Real Estate cover on Kevin Errico -- a Re/Max agent in Saddle River who "flips" empty homes for profit -- is really in bad taste (R-1).

But it is no surprise. 

Real Estate and The Record's Business section reflect the Borg family's enduring philosophy of putting profit ahead of journalism.