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.

With Trump and his supporters, stupid is as stupid does

The world is laughing at us. This image of Donald J. Trump is from cartoonist Marian Kamensky of Vienna, Austria (Marian Kamensky Cartoons).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

It's no surprise Governor Christie gave reporters the silent treatment when they wanted to question him about wacko Donald J. Trump's vulgar boasts about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women.

"Christie was the first of Trump's former primary rivals to endorse him," and he's assembling "a potential White House staff" for the GOP presidential nominee, The Record reports on Page 1 today.

And even though Christie was passed over as Trump's running mate, he probably hopes he'll be the next attorney general of the United States.

Yet the Woodland Park daily continues to ignore the seven other New Jersey newspapers that called on Christie to resign after his Trump endorsement. 

Meanwhile, businessman Phil Murphy, the leading Democratic candidate for governor in 2017, is calling on Christie to withdraw his endorsement and quit as Trump's transition chairman.

"To remain with Trump now," Murphy said of Christie, "is nothing less than a tacit endorsement of his disgusting misogyny," according to NJ.com.

Vulgar language

Christie himself has repeatedly used vulgar language, according to testimony on Wednesday at the Bridgegate trial in Newark federal court.

"Who the fuck do you think you are calling me 'a fat fuck?' I'm the fucking Governor of this state," Christie told Freeholder John P. Curley.

"If you're not in Keansburg tomorrow, standing behind me on the podium, I will fucking destroy you. I will have a robo call sent out to every Republican before Election Day telling them not to vote for you."

Today, Columnist Mike Kelly coyly calls the F-bombs a "revelation about Christie's self-definition" (O-1), causing thousands of readers to roll their eyes and throw his column into the recycling bin. 

Plus, it's hard to understand why the Kelly column about Trump on A-10 today, as well as the Margulies cartoon in Opinion, aren't condemning the billionaire's vulgar bragging about his sexual conquests.

Ken Zisa

No jury or judge has ever said former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa was not guilty of official misconduct or insurance fraud -- the two 2012 convictions on which he was to serve a 5-year prison sentence.

Still, an editorial today claims Hackensack is obligated to pay Zisa nearly $3 million in back pay, legal fees and other compensation after the recent dismissal of the last criminal charge against him (O-2).

"The fallout from Zisa's tenure as chef likely contributed to the election" of Mayor John Labrosse and his slate of reformers in 2013 (The Record's editorial calls them "ticket mates").

The Record still hasn't reported that Zisa and other members of the family's political dynasty are attempting a political comeback under the banner of Team Hackensack.

They will likely try to take back the City Council in May's municipal election.

Trump, Zisa

Supporters of Trump and the Zisas have one thing in common: 

They are as stupid as the GOP's choice for president.

That could be seen in last April's Hackensack school election, when a small minority of the city's 20,000 registered voters elected two members of the Zisa-backed slate, and approved a school budget of more than $100 million (bigger than the city's own).

Even though school taxes make up 44% of the property tax bill for homeowners, Record Staff Writer John Seasly didn't write a word about the campaign of nine candidates on three slates who were seeking three board vacancies.

And the Zisas managed to freeze out the fourth-highest vote-getter, educator Lancelot Powell, and get their third candidate appointed to a sudden vacancy on the nine-member board.

Profiles in death

Unlike many newspapers, The Record does few profiles of prominent local residents, unless they are actors, singers or celebrities.

This weekend, Staff Writer Jay Levin profiled two North Jersey residents -- on the occasion of their deaths.

"In 1949, William Watt flew a DC-3 from San Francisco to New York on automatic pilot and landed in the record books," Levin wrote on Saturday's Local front.

"It was the first coast-to-coast hands-free flight."

"Two decades later, the World War II aviator helped change how corporate bigwigs travel by co-founding a business-jet leasing service based at Teterboro Airport."

Today's L-1 carries another profile from Levin, the local obituary writer:

"With his good looks and winning smile, Jim Noorigian was made for the movies.

"Alas, his 1933 Dodge got more screen time than he did."

"In semi-retirement ... Mr. Noorigian started taking his [vintage] cars to movie and television shoots in the metropolitan area."

We're stuck with cronies, corruption, patronage, home rule

This 2012 photo from NJ.com focuses on the natural beauty of the Meadowlands.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's front page today -- dominated by two articles on the 40th anniversary of the Meadowlands Sports Complex -- is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

A story on the pivotal role of young voters in the Nov. 8 presidential election completely ignores the real problem -- apathetic voters of all ages (A-1).

And Staff Writer Pat Alex repeats a common theme in media coverage of the presidential race -- that wacko racist Donald J. Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton "are among the most unpopular candidates in the history of modern polling."

The media adore polls -- unreliable indicators that allow Alex and other reporters to portray the contest between Trump and Clinton as a horse race.

And such coverage surely contributes to apathy among readers and voters, because The Record and other media refuse to focus on such issues as gender equality, a higher minimum wage and taxing the wealthy.

Local news?

Law & Order coverage is dominating local news again, as readers can see from today's lead story on Paterson's 11th homicide in 2016 (L-1).

And in recent days, the local editors have needed a long Dean's List to fill holes in news coverage (L-3).

L-3 also carries the Monthly News Quiz, which asks readers, "How well do you know what happened in N.J. and beyond?"

That's a question readers want to ask the editors and reporters who put out the pathetically thin Sunday edition and its Local section.

Margulies

Let's hope Margulies' cartoon on O-2 today doesn't become reality, though you never know with Governor Christie.

"Have you heard about Christie's Motor Vehicle Commission efficiency plan," a wife asks her husband.

"To automatically get a gun license when you renew a driver's license?"

Saturday's paper

Staff Writer Jeff Pillets could have gone deeper in his review of more than a decade of "missed deadlines and broken budgets" on publicly financed projects (A-1 on Saturday).

He shows how Trenton has left "the public on the hook for helping to fund failed or stalled projects," but doesn't explore a system of local and state government that thrives on cronyism, political patronage and corruption.

So, the story played next to it was no surprise:

To help his campaign, Trump tapped Bill Stepien, a former Christie crony "whose ascent in Republican politics was shot down by the politically motivated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge."

Rudy Van Gelder

Editor Deirdre Sykes probably has run more animal stories on Page 1 then the obituaries of prominent local residents.

But below the fold on Friday, she ran a story about a starving pit bull from Paterson next to the obituary for Hackensack native Rudy Van Gelder, who died on Thursday at 91.

Staff Writer Jay Levin and Carla Baranauckas, an assignment editor, called him "perhaps the most influential recording engineer in the jazz genre, who brought to life the sounds of such legendary artists as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Freddie Hubbard."

The dog got better play, though.

And the Van Gelder obit erred on where he recorded Monk's "Hackensack" and other jazz classics.

The Van Gelder family home in Hackensack was on Prospect Avenue, not "Prospect Street." 

Schnitzel+

Kosher restaurants usually are more expensive, but do customers get food of higher quality than at non-kosher places?

In Friday's Informal Dining Review, Staff Writer Elisa Ung doesn't bother answering the question.

As is usually the case in her reviews, she doesn't say whether the kosher chicken and turkey served at Schnitzel+ in Teaneck are naturally raised.

And a photo of what she describes as a "huge platter" shows five falafel, a single pocket bread cut into four piece and some hummus. 

The price is an inflated $11.95.

Let's hope Wacko picks Fatso for the GOP presidential ticket

A statue of Alexander Hamilton, a founding father who developed Paterson as one of the first industrial centers in the United States. The statue faces the Great Falls.

On Main Street in Hackensack, a neglected historical plaque notes the street once was called King's Highway and later Front Street.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Wacko racist billionaire Donald J. Trump has little chance of beating Hillary Clinton in the November presidential election, and he'd definitely seal his fate if he selected Governor Christie as a running mate.

Today, Christie tracker Matt Katz of WNYC-FM News sent an unsolicited memo to Trump on why he should and definitely should not pick his fellow Muslim hater as his vice presidential candidate on the GOP ticket.

In the negative, Katz cites the continuing problem of Bridgegate, including David Samson and missing emails and texts; and Christie's weight, which raises legitimate questions about his health.

Then, Katz notes "New Jersey doesn't like Christie" and the state "is in political paralysis."

Katz's reporting on Christie, including a book he wrote on Bridgegate, has been so far ahead of The Record's fawning Charles Stile, former Staff Writer Melissa Hayes and too-long-fan Alfred P. Doblin, editor of the editorial page.

Thumbs down on Kean

What a terrible civics lesson The Record splashed across Page 1 today in the form of a column from the clueless Mike Kelly.

Kelly reports that former Gov. Thomas Kean is so "disillusioned with Trump and ... Hillary Clinton that he might not vote for president" (A-1).

"As politicians," Kelly quotes Kean as saying, "he finds both lacking."

But that is why Kelly's and Editor Deirdre Sykes' relentless focus on politics is so wrong.

When they go to the polls, readers should judge Trump and Clinton on their plans for Social Security, health care, immigration and a host of other crucial issues, not on their politics.

And everyone should vote. 

Look at the unusually low turnout for municipal and school elections in Hackensack, and how apathetic residents have allowed one self-interested family to dominate the city for decades and to continue to run the schools.

In recent week, the Hackensack Board of Education picked Johanna Calle to fill a vacancy.

She was the only member of the Team Hackensack slate -- backed by former Mayor Jack Zisa and disgraced former Police Chief Ken Zisa -- to lose in April's school board election.

More politics

Besides Kelly's column on Kean, two other major elements on A-1 are devoted to partisan politics.

The only local human-interest story on Page 1 today is a gripping account of the July 13, 1895, hurricane that hit Cherry Hill, a section of what is now River Edge, killing three.

"In mere minutes, every house was splintered, tipped over or swept away," says Staff Writer Jay Levin, who is the local obituary writer.

Older drivers

A story from USA Today notes New Jersey ranks as the eighth-most dangerous state for older drivers (A-4).

Let's hope that rouses Staff Writer John Cichowski out of his deep sleep, and that the problem gets a lot more attention in his Road Warrior column, which has been devoted far too many times to the trials and tribulations of teen drivers.

Lincoln School

On the Local front today, a story notes the demolished Lincoln School in Englewood was "at the center of the school district's struggles with desegregation in the early 1960s" (L-1).

But Staff Writer Matthew McGrath neglects to report that many former and current residents who sent their kids to the Lincoln School are glad to see it go, because by the time it closed in 2008, it was segregated once again, and had only a few white students.

In recent years, Sykes has focused her reporting on desegregation efforts at Dwight Morrow High School, ignoring the city's segregated elementary and middle schools. 

Despite controversies, editors stop covering Hackensack

On Tuesday morning, the crosswalk and curb at Main and Berry streets in Hackensack were clear, but the NJ Transit bus stop was buried under a snowbank, testament to a sloppy job by snowplows throughout the 4.4-square-mile city. One resident complained snow was cleared with "no regard for pedestrians."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

No reporter from The Record covered Tuesday night's City Council meeting, where Hackensack residents again complained about haphazard snow clearing that endangered drivers and pedestrians.

Staff Writer Todd South, who had been assigned to Hackensack and Maywood, has been promoted, and no reporter has taken his place to cover the most populous town in Bergen County.

Only Hackensack police news has appeared in the Woodland Park daily for several weeks. 

South's last Hackensack byline was on Dec. 12, when he wrote about a dispute over a marriage license involving Richard Salkin, the Board of Education attorney.

The Record seems to have stopped covering Hackensack, where the Borg publishing family prospered for more than 110 years before abandoning the city in 2009 for Woodland Park.

Hospital, downtown

Yet, the county seat is embroiled in a controversy with the tax-exempt Hackensack University Medical Center, and residents have questioned concessions to developers during the biggest downtown rehabilitation in North Jersey, if not the entire state.

The Record also hasn't reported who stands to profit most from redevelopment.

On Tuesday night, four residents appeared before council officials, meeting as a Committee of the Whole, to complain about snow clearing after the blizzard of 2016, and to urge officials to draw up a plan for future storms.

Irrelevant columns

Instead of municipal news, Editors Martin Gottlieb, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza continue to choke readers with hundreds of inches of type from Columnists Charles Stile and John Cichowski (A-1 and L-1) -- the editorial equivalent of fiddling while North Jersey burns.

Stile and another reporter filed 50 inches to 60 inches of type on A-1 and A-10 analyzing Governor Christie's response to criticism that he left New Jersey too soon after the snowstorm to return to his doomed New Hampshire campaign:

"I don't know what you want me to do , you want me to go down there with a mop?"

Meanwhile, Cichowski continues to distance himself from the pathetically inadequate advice he gave car owners on how to cope with the blizzard.

Sadly, a 23-year-old woman and her 1-year-old son died on Saturday from carbon-monoxide poisoning in an idling car with a snow-blocked exhaust, a hazard that Cichowski didn't mention (L-1).

Abe Vigoda

Staff Writer Bill Ervolino's obituary for actor Abe Vigoda demonstrates once again why The Record's columnists -- including Stile, Cichowski and Mike Kelly -- fail readers day after day (BL-1).

I can't make any sense of the so-called humor columnist's first paragraph that "if you don't have an uncle who looked a whole lot like Abe Vigoda, then you probably aren't Italian," followed by news that Vigoda was a first-generation Russian Jew.

Readers would do better with a sidebar from local obituary writer Jay Levin, who interviewed Vigoda's daughter after the 94-year-old died in his sleep on Tuesday in her Woodland Park park home (BL-3).

The best lines: 

"This is a man who was never sick a day in his life," Carol Vigoda Fuchs told Levin. "He could've waited for his birthday" (Feb. 24).

'Superfoods'

It isn't enough for Staff Writer Sophia F. Gottfried to quote dietitians on hidden sugar, sodium and fat in foods and products many people consider healthy (BL-1).

Her article doesn't name alternatives, making the advice useless, unless readers embark on their own investigations.

And if they are going to do that, what's the point of her article?

Memorable stories no substitute for memorable journalism

A driver leaving a gas station in Teaneck saw nothing wrong with crossing the double-yellow line on Cedar Lane near River Road, blocking a turn lane and trying to find a hole in traffic stopped at the light.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's first Sunday edition of 2016 is chock full of "nuts" to readers:

There's the 2015 local news in review (L-1), more speculation on what the future holds for New Jersey (A-1), and only mild criticism of Governor Christie, who has put his personal ambitions above the welfare of residents (O-1).

Editor Martin Gottlieb, a New York Times veteran who is retiring at the end of the month, has started the year off with a whimper, not a bang.

Cranky Stile?

The danger of leading the Sunday paper with another Charles Stile column is that readers will simply turn the page to avoid more of the same old political drivel from one of Christie's chief apologists (A-1).

Surprise. Stile sounds cranky today, but still tempers his criticism, refusing to call Christie what he is, the worst governor in state history.

Ditto for Columnists Carl Golden and Mike Kelly on today's Opinion front.

Here's Stile:

"Without a fully engaged governor setting the agenda from his State House office, the deep-seated issues affecting the lives of average New Jersey residents ... are largely unresolved" (A-1).

Can you hear readers snoring?

Other columns

On the Opinion front, Golden comments on a near-bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund, a public pension system sinking further into debt; rising property taxes, still highest in the nation; and the disaster of casino gambling.

Say it, Carl: We are mired in deep doo-doo, all of Christie's making.

But what can you expect of Golden, a former Record staffer and onetime flack for two previous Republican governors?

Kelly's long-winded column says the day before Christie formally announced he was running for president, he created a panel to look into ways of making it easier for residents to buy and own guns, but you have to plow through six paragraphs to figure that out (O-1).

Outrage, please

The three columnists show once again why newspapers are becoming obsolete:

Stile, Golden and Kelly don't seem to have strong opinions about anything. Their columns sound like the kind of news analysis papers have been running for years.

From their pulpit, these so-called journalists should channel the outrage of the public over some of Christie's dastardly acts. 

Instead, they merely push words around into reasoned arguments.

Indeed. The strongest criticism of Christie comes from Columnist Brigid Harrison, a political science and law professor (O-2). 

Hey, Marty. Why isn't her column on Page 1 today?

Local news?

On the Local front today, a roundup of the "memorable stories of 2015" runs nearly two-and-half pages (L-1, L-2 and L-3).

But did local staffers, who brought up the rears of Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, produce any memorable journalism?

I was moved more than once by the local obituary writer, Jay Levin, who does a masterful job of summing up the lives of notable North Jersey residents.

Can you recall any other memorable local journalism?

Downsized

News of Hackensack, the biggest Bergen County community and once the paper's home, continues to wither and die.

Three areas of neglect were Hackensack's corrosive party politics, the impact of Hackensack University Medical Center and other non-profits on rising property taxes, and school and school board news.

In Englewood, The Record completely ignored segregated elementary and middle schools, and empty storefronts downtown.

Teaneck officials should get poor marks for Cedar Lane, one of the most congested downtown streets in North Jersey, and their refusal to install more turn lanes or even have cops directing traffic instead of setting speed traps.

Only the recent hit-run death of a homeless man at Cedar Lane and Garrison Avenue moved the editors to pay any attention to the street.

Funny business

Downtown economies were completely ignored by the business editors in 2015, as in previous years, and today's cover story doesn't bode well for them (B-1).

Readers are ill-served by the four staff-written profiles that read like public relations for the New Jersey and Business Industry Association, Valley National Bank, New Jersey Retail Merchants Association and Cushman & Wakefield.

Of course, business, food and some news coverage follows the money -- all of the advertising revenue that flows into North Jersey Media Group from banks, malls, real estate offices, commercial customers, restaurants, automakers and car dealers.

This year won't be any different.

Pope's visit won't change poverty, immigration and politics

Construction workers adding hundreds of apartments overlooking traffic on Route 4 east in Englewood. Meanwhile, the city's downtown merchants haven't been helped much by the thousands of people who already live in buildings on both sides of the highway.

This storefront on North Dean Street, near Palisade Avenue, Englewood's main business street, has been vacant for months.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With Governor Christie running New Jersey and other uncharitable Republicans controlling Congress, Pope Francis' message of hope and unity will fall on deaf ears.

You have to wonder why The Record and other media have been publishing hundreds of thousands of words and images for a full week now on Francis' first visit to the United States (A-1, A-6, L-7).

A big break in that coverage is the death of Yogi Berra, but you won't find the best story about the Yankees legend on the front page or in the Sports section today (A-1 and S-1).

On Page 1, sports Columnist Bob Klapisch's first line is an instant turnoff:

"This was way back in the early 2000s...."

On the Sports front, Columnist Tara Sullivan can't wait to tell readers about "my few, if memorable, intersections with Yogi...."

For the most moving story about Yogi, see Jay Levin's piece on his Montclair neighbors, who recall Berra as a regular guy.

The story is on the front of the Local section under a great headline:

"His home field since 1958"

Other news

Also on Page 1 today, Staff Writer Shawn Boburg is telling NJ Transit bus riders a new Manhattan terminal one block west of the current hub will take 13 years to build and cost $9 billion (A-1).

But there's not a single word in his long account about the easiest way to ease delays at the antiquated terminal now -- running two express bus lanes into the Lincoln Tunnel during the morning and afternoon rush hours. 

In the years Boburg has been covering the Port Authority, he has written little about the bi-state agency's rail and bus operations. 

Ken Zisa

On the Local front, Staff Writer Todd South is reporting a judge is giving the lawyer for Ken Zisa and an assistant prosecutor four months to prepare for a motion to dismiss the remaining charge of official misconduct against the former Hackensack police chief and state assemblyman (L-1).

Four months?

Our glacial legal system is a national disgrace that seems designed to line the pockets of defense attorneys, impoverish defendants and deny many others access to the courts.

Will prosecutor appeal ruling overturning Zisa convictions?

Waiting on Railroad Avenue in Hackensack for an NJ Transit train to pass on the way to the Anderson Street station.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa was sentenced to prison in late 2012, but remained under house arrest while he appealed his convictions.

Today, a state appeals court overturned those guilty verdicts on official misconduct and insurance fraud charges surrounding his actions after his girlfriend was involved in a one-vehicle Hackensack accident.

But the Bergen County prosecutor could appeal that ruling, extending the legal saga involving Zisa.

I scanned the 38-page decision, which you can read in full by clicking on following link:

State of New Jersey v. Charles K. Zisa

Today's paper

On the Record's front page today, you'll find only one story worth reading, from Staff Writer Jay Levin.

Agnes Fenton of Englewood will celebrate her 110th birthday today (A-1).

That's unless you want to be bored to tears by another long, tedious 9/11 column from Staff Writer Mike Kelly.

Here is Kelly's scene-setting first paragraph:

"His grave lies just inside the cemetery gates, a few feet from a chain-link fence and the rattle and swoosh of cars, trucks and buses on Totowa's Union Boulevard" (A-1).

The "rattle and swoosh of cars, trucks and buses"? Readers' eyes are rolling. No motorcycles?

Local news?

Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza continue to rely heavily on Law & Order news to fill their thin section today (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Menendez front page is a wink and nod at insider deals

The 7:40 a.m. NY Waterway Ferry took about 10 minutes to reach midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, but driving to the Weehawken terminal from Hackensack during rush hour ate up 45 minutes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The defendant is supposed to come out swinging, not the editors of The Record.

But today's front page -- nearly all of which is devoted to Bob Menendez's legal problems -- calls into question The Record's objectivity in reporting a 14-count federal bribery indictment against the state's senior U.S. senator (A-1).

In a sidebar, Staff Writer Mary Jo Layton, quoting "several white-collar defense experts," claims "federal prosecutors face many hurdles in making their corruption case" against the Democrat (A-1).

This is a virtual rewrite of Herb Jackson's front-page story a few weeks ago, after CNN reported top Justice Department lawyers had "signed off on the charges" (A-8).

What else would defense lawyers say? 

They have to justify the huge retainer they demand from defendants like Menendez, and the hundreds of thousands in legal fees that follow when the cases go to trial.

A bad taste

A U.S. senator enjoying a lavish, jet-setting lifestyle courtesy of a friend -- allegedly for promoting the friend's "business and personal interests" -- leaves a bad taste in the mouth of taxpayers and certainly appears to be improper, if not illegal (A-1).

The Borg family, which owns North Jersey Media Group, publisher of the Woodland Park daily, also treats their business associates and friends favorably.

In recent years, The Record has run at least two stories promoting business associates of the Borgs without disclosing those ties.

And in January, Publisher Stephen A. Borg announced a sale-leaseback deal with a close family friend involving the company's printing plant on 16.67 acres in Rockaway Township.

Borg said the agreement was with a fund sponsored by the Hampshire Cos. of Morristown, but didn't mention that Jon F. Hanson is its chairman and founder or that his father, Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, and Hanson had jointly purchased a private jet in 2011.

Hanson is a major fund-raiser for Governor Christie, and advises him on sports and entertainment policy.

The Rockaway Township deal is worth about $30 million.

Branching out?

The byline of Jay Levin, The Record's local obituary writer, appears today on a front-page story about bunnies that just about the only relief  from the Menendez saga.

Levin's second byline is on the Better Living front feature called "The Name-Dropper" (BL-1).

Family dynasties

The upbeat story on the nearly 40-year reign of the Parisi family in Englewood Cliffs makes such dynasties sound like a good thing instead of one of the worst aspects of home rule (L-1).

Staff Writer Kim Lueddeke even mentions how the Zisa family "once dominated Hackensack so thoroughly that some called the city 'Zisaville'" (L-5).

But Lueddeke shouldn't have stopped there, because Hackensack still is haunted by Ken "I Am The Law" Zisa, its corrupt police chief, and the millions of dollars it took to fight all the lawsuits filed against him.

Today, Staff Writer Todd South reports on a lawsuit filed against Hackensack Police Director Mike Mordaga by Capt. Thomas Salcedo (L-3).

Wednesday's paper

On Wednesday, South reported the Union County Prosecutor's Office is handling the investigation of a March 9 pedestrian fatality in Hackensack that involved a detective from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

South's story on Wednesday's L-2 quotes Mordaga as saying "that it's quite common practice to have outside agencies review such incidents."

Avoiding any conflict of interest also is cited in the story.

Blogger's role

Of course, The Record doesn't acknowledge that Eye on The Record looked into the death of Hue D. Dang, 64, of Hackensack, and questioned the decision not to charge Detective Sgt. John C. Straniero, whose unmarked car knocked down and fatally injured the woman.

Eye on The Record also questioned Hackensack police saying they didn't know where the woman was standing, even though their own report and other evidence strongly indicated she was in or near the Jackson Avenue crosswalk when she was hit -- a crosswalk they never mentioned to The Record.

I called the state police and emailed the state Attorney General's Office about those concerns, leading to the case being given to the Union County Prosecutor's Office on Monday.

Wedesday's L-1 carries another story about a pedestrian in North Bergen who was fatally injured by the car of a West New York police officer.

This story, like the March 11 account about Dang's death, doesn't mention whether any charges will be filed. 

More Christie B.S.

Wednesday's front page gives Christie a soap box to justify his withholding $1.8 billion from state pension funds.

But the editors shoved back to A-3 complaints from Democrats that Christie is being far from honest about the fiscal health of the Transportation Trust Fund.

Wednesday's A-2 carried an embarrassing correction of a front-page story on the effort to recall Mahwah's mayor.