Storm prevents delivery of print edition three days in a row

A Hackensack Parks Department truck and two men cleared my driveway this afternoon, above and below, after I called to complain plows had blocked it three times during Tuesday's snowstorm, and the barrier was frozen solid.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Gannett continues to slash the payroll at The Record of Woodland Park.

The latest exodus of 141 North Jersey Media Group employees has already begun, and the last of them will be gone by March 25.

They will be receiving one week's pay for every year of service, and can apply for unemployment.

For more news and views of The Record, see these and other posts at The Sasson Report:

After the storm, icy roads in Englwood

More low marks for Hackensack DPW

Readers hit 'corporate greed' at Gannett

Trump supporters attack paper as 'left wing'

For more, see: The Sasson Report

Editors finally acknowledge issues, not politics, matter most

Cartoons from John Cole on Meryl Streep's criticism of President-elect Donald J. Trump , above, and Rick McKee on President Obama's legacy, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Though many months too late, The Record deserves credit for launching a series on "15 issues important to North Jersey residents" that could be affected by the administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

No matter that "Trump Tracker" echoes "Christie Tracker." 

That was the Matt Katz series on our very own GOP bully, Governor Christie, that ran for a couple of years on WNYC-FM, the New York and New Jersey public radio station.

And readers also know that if the Woodland Park daily and all of the other news outlets across the country had been focusing on issues during the campaign, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election would have been far different.

Instead, the news media delighted in repeating every sensational, unsubstantiated charge against Democrat Hillary Clinton, and ignoring her decades-long service to families ad children.

Five-part series

Today's "Trump Tracker" installment focuses on immigration, train transportation and health care (1A, 8A and 9A).

Editor Rick Green doesn't explain why the transportation segment leaves hundreds of thousands of New Jersey bus commuters out in the cold (8A).

The other issues -- including homeland security, education, taxes, the environment, social-safety net and infrastructure -- are scheduled to run through Thursday, the day before the inauguration (8A).

Politics as usual

Sadly, it's politics as usual at the bottom of Page 1 today, with yet another Political Stile column on Christie:

"Christie leans left in N.J., 
but keeps door open on right"

Readers also are keeping their bathroom doors open, in case they get the sudden urge to throw up.

Local news?

On the Local front, Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski appears to be telling drivers they have two and a half months to "read, eat, drink, groom themselves and use hand-held devices to ... talk, text or find their way" before an April police crackdown (1L).

In Opinion, an editorial notes Paterson remains "among New Jersey's most violent places" despite an overall drop in crime (2O).

"Homicides held steady at 19, the same as in 2015, while the number of rapes increased" to 57 from 42, according to the editorial.  

The editorial is incorrect in saying rapes "increased from 42 to 57 percent." 

A year ago, another editorial on the overall drop in crime credited Police Director Jerry Speziale while letting him off the hook on curbing gun violence and the drug trade. 

Today's editorial doesn't even mention  Speziale or the undercover state police troopers who have been helping Paterson police.

Korean food crawl

The Better Living cover on a Korean food crawl in Palisades Park should have been labeled, "For carnivores only" (1BL and 3BL).

By using Robert Austin Cho, owner of a Korean barbecue restaurant, as her guide, Staff Writer Sophia Gottfried largely omitted all the great non-meat dishes -- heart-healthy seafood, tofu and vegetables -- served in Korean restaurant in Palisades Park and neighboring Fort Lee, which isn't even mentioned.

And with Cho in tow, Gottfried also managed to keep the secret of the vast majority of Korean restaurants -- they serve low-quality beef and pork raised on harmful antibiotics and growth hormones to boost their bottom lines.

Fewer stories?

Since the November redesign of The Record, many readers have complained there are fewer stories in the paper.

There was a good reason for that on Saturday, when an upbeat Page 1 story explained how teenagers are coping with life in crime-ridden Silk City:

"Paterson students
outsmart crime
through use of 
technology"

The story reported these geniuses developed "a cellphone application that would send an alert to school security staff if students diverted from their normal route home from school."

If readers turned to the continuation page (Saturday's 4A) and read the story to the end, they found the entire story was repeated -- all 23 paragraphs.

How's that?

On Saturday's Local front, this headline puzzled many readers:

"Hospital
manager
gets 6 
months"

But the story had nothing to do with the sentencing of a human to jail or prison.

"Manager" referred to a company that manages Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, and the "6 months" is how long its contract has been extended.

This is high-school level journalism, plain and simple.

For that, you can thank the payroll-slashing Gannett Co. -- owner of seven New Jersey dailies -- and the morons employed in a centralized Neptune design center.

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.

Editors somehow miss plan to fell 100 trees in parking lot

In 2009, North Jersey Media Group and The Record newsroom moved to 1 Garret Mountain Plaza in Woodland Park, above, from 150 River Street in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Gannett Co. executives were so busy redesigning The Record's print edition and website, as well as laying off staff, they missed a controversial story unfolding in the parking lot.

According to Page 1 of The Record today, editors failed to report that Mountain Development Co. applied for a permit to cut down more than 100 trees in the parking lots of their building, 1 Garret Mountain Plaza, and two other office towers in Woodland Park. 

That means the public and environmental groups didn't have a chance to comment on a plan to remove the trees to make way for solar panels to power two of the three buildings.

A photo caption on 1A today shows a tree service worker removing a tree "last week."

The story also reports the building operators paid $3o,000 so Woodland Park can plant 100 trees elsewhere in the borough.

Bruce Springsteen

Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen's comments on President-elect Donald J. Trump should have been on Page 1 today (3A).

"I mean, they're lies, they can't occur," Springsteen said of building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and other "Trump exaggerations," as the USA Today story puts it.

The story doesn't mention Springsteen refused to perform at the 2010 inauguration of one of his biggest fans, Governor Christie.

Food reporting

The Record appears to have given up all pretense of critical reporting on restaurants, food and nutrition.

The weekly restaurant review ended with the departure of Elisa Ung in November, more than nine years after she was hired.

Since then, editors have published "food crawl" stories that read like advertising.

Today's Better Living front focuses on "the best fireplace restaurants in North Jersey" or what the article calls "cozy local spots" (1BL).

"Baby, it's cold outside," writes Joanna Prisco, a freelancer who also owns a culinary business. "But inside these restaurants, the fire is blazing and fine food is cookin'."

Cheesy promotion

Most of Monday's Better Living front was devoted to Lisa Dosch, who has won "Best Cheesecake" at the New Jersey State Fair five years in a row.

Her cheesecakes, which happen to be served at her family's restaurant in Nyack, N.Y., cost $35 to $1,200 (with gold flake).

The enormous headline declared her, "Queen of Cheesecake."  

From a nutrition standpoint, that should have been, "Queen of Cholesterol."

Tens of thousands of readers watching their weight, cholesterol and sugar intake likely stared dumbfound at this promotion.

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.

Who lied more during nasty campaign, Trump or Conway?

"Puppies for Putin" is from cartoonist Stacey Fairrington. You can see more political cartoons on Cagle.com. I guess the cartoonist thought better of showing President-elect Donald J. Trump and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex W. Tillerson kissing the Russian dictator's ass.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

During the nastiest presidential campaign in memory, the news media rarely challenged Donald J. Trump or GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway as the streets ran red with their lies.

Now, the president-elect has named his former campaign manager as White House counselor, according to a Page 1 story in The Record.

Trenton reporter Salvador Rizzo, whose byline misspells his first name, calls Conway "the first woman to manage a winning campaign" (1A).

The appointment suggests voters are so gullible they will elect the presidential candidate who lies the most, lies about those lies and puts his campaign in the hands of another enormous liar.

Christie and press

After a lull in a war of words, Governor Christie again lashed out at New Jersey newspapers for lobbying against a bill that would cut into their revenue (4A).

"Just another special interest feeding like pigs at the government trough" is how Christie described newspapers on his monthly radio show.

The GOP bully should know all about special interests, as Rizzo reported in a front-page story last Sunday.

"At a time when New Jersey lawmakers are rushing a bill to end what they call 'corporate welfare' for the news media, Gov. Chris Christie's administration this month surpassed $7.4 billion in tax subsides awarded to hand-picked businesses and nonprofits."

Who is right?

Still, isn't Christie on the right side of the issue?

A requirement that towns, banks, law firms and even homeowners facing foreclosure publish notices in newspapers amounts to a subsidy of millions of dollars to publishers who are supposed to remain independent.

The New Jersey Press Association portrayed the proposal to drop that requirement as a "free press issue."

But the legal notices, published in type so small few people read them, are in no stretch of the imagination a public service or a free-speech issue.

Anyway, the bill didn't come up for a vote, but isn't dead, and is expected to be proposed again in the new year. 

So, we can look forward to Christie once again bashing what he calls the "billionaire bosses" at Gannett, the payroll-slashing owner of The Record and six other dailies in New Jersey.

Where to eat

Better Living readers in search of a restaurant review find instead a list of restaurants, bars and even a dinner cruise that will serve "a sumptuous holiday repast" on New Year's Eve (12BL-13BL).

Freelancer Joanna Prisco, who also owns a "pop-up" culinary business, suggests spending up to $280 per person at venues in Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties.

Her reporting sounds more like promotion or advertising. Here are examples:

"Ring in 2017 with style at Esty Street, "stay up late with the fun folks at Chakra," "the sexy, Asiatic restaurant will offer two seatings" and "the same Neapolitan-style pies that put Asbury Park back on the culinary map are being slung at ... Porta."

Gag me with a spoon.

Christie trashes Gannett's 'billionaire bosses' on Twitter

Governor Christie's Twitter page, above and below, has been filled with criticism of "billionaire newspaper owners" demanding a government subsidy in the form of payments to publish legal notices. This week, the state Legislature deferred action on a bill to remove that requirement, which Christie claims would save taxpayers $80 million a year.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

@GovChristie has been flailing away on Twitter at "billionaire newspaper owners" who "demand Gov't subsidy from taxpayers but refuse to open their books to show how much tax $ they already take."

The GOP bully just suffered an embarrassing defeat when he tried to get the state Legislature to enact what he calls "a commonsense piece of legislation" to "reform an archaic practice requiring taxpayers and private businesses to pay for costly legal notices" in newspapers.

But the bill isn't dead; action was deferred until the next session in the new year.

Hidden revenue

The Record of Woodland Park, now owned by Gannett, disputed the $80 million in savings Christie cited, if the new law offered the option of posting public notices online.

But nowhere in the week-long blitz of news stories, columns and editorials attacking Christie did The Record mention that, according to a message from the governor posted on Twitter:

"In the case of foreclosure, every family going through that trauma is charged an average of $910 just for the legally required newspaper notice.

"That is unconscionable, and in response to the advancing legislation the New Jersey Press Association proposes to increase those charges.

"As a result, required legal notices earned newspapers approximately $14 million for the 12-month period ending in October 2016," Christie says.

"Today, there are more than 65,000 foreclosures currently pending in New Jersey. That's $59 million in potential revenue going to private media outlets that can instead be saved by citizens experiencing foreclosure.

"For government entities, hundreds of millions of dollars of future resources to be spent on legal notices could now be made available ... for municipal and county services...."

One of Christie's Tweets refers directly to the layoffs at North Jersey Media Group after the publisher of The Record and other newspapers was purchased in July by Gannett Co., which now owns seven dailies in New Jersey.

Attacks Gannett

"Reporters blindly defend their billionaire bosses and their $80m subsidy while Gannett lays off their colleagues in Bergen," the governor tweeted, in an apparent reference to The Record, once known as The Bergen Record.

Of course, the paper's Hackensack headquarters were shut down in 2009, and the newsroom moved to Woodland Park.

The Record and Herald News have been printed in Rockaway Township for about a decade.

Editors start screaming only after Christie threatens profits

Before-and-after photos of Aleppo by Hannah Karim show the ravages of the Syrian civil war. Despite Syrian immigration to North Jersey dating to the early 1900s, The Record of Woodland Park continues to downplay the death of civilians and Russia's role in the destruction of the country's largest city.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Chris Christie lied repeatedly during his 2009 election campaign about providing more tax relief to homeowners than his Democratic opponent, Gov. Jon Corzine.

And after he took office in January 2010, he began to wage a war against New Jersey's middle and working classes that continues to this day.

Yet, only now are The Record's editors screaming bloody murder because the governor wants to end the requirement for the publication of legal notices in newspapers -- cutting into the profits of Gannett Co. and other publishers.

Chutzah and profits

The story has been on the front page of the Woodland Park daily since Sunday, and an editorial today savages Christie for "a punitive hit on state newspapers," as well as his bid to profit from a book deal while in office:

"The governor's chutzpah is remarkable.... The most unpopular governor in recent memory should not be in a bargaining position for anything -- let alone a deal that benefits not the people of New Jersey, but only the singular constituency of Chris Christie" (18A).

Wednesday's editorial, referring to ending the publication of public notices, said:

"The absence of this revenue stream will deeply affect the bottom line of some -- if not all -- of the publications, including The Record, The Herald News and [Gannett-owned] North Jersey Media Group's portfolio of 30 community publications.

"Stripping hundreds of thousands of revenue dollars from print media companies assuredly affects jobs."

But Gannett and the Borgs, who sold NJMG to the nation's biggest newspaper publisher in July, started downsizing their staffs and reducing local news coverage years ago.

Just last month, Gannett executed plans to cut more than 200 jobs at NJMG, and reduce the number of its weeklies to 30 from 50. 

Promoting HUMC

Also on Page 1 today is another story promoting Hackensack University Medical Center -- a tradition dating to when former NJMG General Counsel Jennifer A. Borg sat on the hospital's board (1A).

HUMC claims to be a non-profit, thus skipping out on $10 million in property taxes in Hackensack, and shifting the burden to home and business owners -- a story The Record has long ignored.

The photo with the hospital story shows a smiling Robert C. Garrett, a co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health Network.

In 2012, Garrett was paid $2.72 million, according to NJBIZ.com.

Diabetes special

Today, the Better Living front is calling all diabetics and readers watching their cholesterol.

Food Editor Esther Davidowitz reports a coffee shop and bakery in Rutherford uses "high-quality ingredients," including Valrhona chocolate and Cabot's butter.

Davidowitz doesn't mention how much sugar is used in the "baked treats" at Erie Coffeeshop and Bakery, but I'm sure many readers -- whether they're watching their weight, cholesterol or sugar intake -- won't go near the place.

'Aleppo's destroyers'

A story about Aleppo, Syria, appears on Page 13 of The Record's A-section today, but I can't recall the editorial page condemning Russia's role in the death of innocent civilians during the civil war.

An editorial in The New York Times today appears under this heading:

"Aleppo's Destroyers: 
Assad, Putin, Iran"

"In 2011, President Bashar al-Assad ignored the demands of peaceful protesters and unleashed a terrifying war against his people.

"More than 400,000 Syrians have been killed while millions more have fled.... Mr. Assad could have never prevailed without the support of President Vladimir Putin of Russia.... 

"That is a truth that President-elect Donald Trump, a Putin apologist who is surrounding himself with top aides who are also Kremlin sympathizers, cannot ignore.

"During the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump praised Mr. Putin for being 'a better leader' than President Obama.

"This would be a good time for him to persuade Mr. Putin to end the slaughter.

"Mr. Putin's bloody actions -- the bombing of civilian neighborhoods, the destruction of hospitals, the refusal to allow non-combatants to receive food, fuel and medical supplies -- are all in violation of international law."

The Record's readers blast Gannett redesign, staff changes as a 'disgrace,' 'horrendous' and 'a sad day' for local paper

Readers have posted many negative reviews of Gannett Co.'s redesign of The Record of Woodland Park, as well as staff changes, on the Facebook page of NorthJersey.com, the website of North Jersey Media Group.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The unannounced redesign of The Record of Woodland Park in November has upset many readers, leading some to sound off on Facebook and cancel subscriptions.

Gannett Co. hasn't published any negative letters to the editor of The Record, but invites readers to "review" the print edition on NorthJersey.com's Facebook page.

Of course, many loyal readers are older and don't use computers or smartphones, so that likely has limited the number of negative reviews.

On Nov. 19, reader Hank Hahn said:

"You new format of providing less news in all areas is a disgrace. After over 40 years of home delivery, I will not renew my subscription unless it improves in a very short time."

Don't hold your breath, Hank.

On Nov. 20, Ann Marie Cooke declared: 

"Have been a loyal and devoted reader of your newspaper for over 30 years. The new format of your print paper is horrendous. Sad to say, we've bought our last copy of The Record today."

Reader Joseph Dugan said:

"The Bergen Record needs to stop looking like The Rockland Journal News NOW!!!!!"

Another reader, Barbara McDermott, agreed. 

One woman complained Charlie McGill's portraits no longer graces the Sports section:

"I can't believe Charlie McGill is gone. What are you thinking? My "Record" went south a long time ago but this is just the last straw. Such a sad day. Why did you ruin such a great hometown publication. Sigh."

Check out this YouTube video of McGill talking about his "Athletes of the Week"  feature.

Today's paper 

Along with allowing Governor Christie to profit from writing a book while in office, a separate bill would end a legal requirement that municipalities and counties publish official notices in newspapers (1A).

"That would hurt their revenue streams," Staff Writer Salvador Rizzo says, avoiding the word "profits." 

Rizzo goes on, "One legislative source says the bill was meant as punishment for New Jersey's newspapers."

This is the second time The Record has reported the measure is designed to punish newspapers, but the Woodland Park daily doesn't say why.

Does it have anything to do with Christie ending his presidential campaign in February and immediately throwing his support behind Donald J. Trump?

That prompted The Star-Ledger and six other New Jersey dailies to call for the governor's resignation.

The Record was the only exception, and has never even reported what their editorials demanded.

Trump transition

As the Trump transition becomes more bizarre day after day, The Record generally has avoided reporting about it on Page 1.

Today's story on cyber attacks during the presidential campaign is an exception -- "GOP leaders join outrage at Russia" -- but recall the front-page takeout on Manhattan carriage horses on Sunday. 

Most of Monday's front page was devoted to one of the most boring topics under the sun: state politics.

Day after day, Gannett editors keep readers' eyes rolling

"Barbarians" is the title of this cartoon by Arend van Dam, who has Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bombing residents of Aleppo, Syria, as the civil war drags on.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Recovering addicts helping overdose patients into treatment programs surely is an important story, but does it really belong on Page 1 of The Record today?

There isn't much else on the front page for readers of the redesigned Woodland Park daily, which is struggling after another major downsizing.

Staff Writer Hannan Adely is reprising the eight-year-old case against Imam Mohammad Qatanani, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County (1A).

And so-called Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson is following the difficult last days of Scott Garrett, the Tea Party radical who lost his seat in Congress on Nov. 8 (1A).

Trump and Syria

Where are the stories and commentary about President-elect Donald J. Trump's praise and support for Russian thug Vladimir Putin, whose bombers are pulverizing Aleppo, Syria?

Paterson and other towns in Passaic County are called home by thousands of Syrian Christians and Muslims, including refugees from the civil war who are worried about their future with Trump in office.

On A-2, the editors run two corrections about a Sunday advertising section called Tribute to Nurses, but there is no explanation why staffers at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center were omitted. 

Local news?

Just as drug addiction is the big news on Page 1 today, homelessness is the major element on the Local front (1L).

The focus is on "Grandma's House" in Clifton, one of several Passaic County stories delivered to Bergen County readers today (1L, 2L and 6L).

In fact, there are more stories from towns like Clifton, Paterson and Haledon than from Bergen communities, including Hackensack.