No longer Page 1 news, Christie vetoes are going uncounted

Two cars collided at Prospect Avenue and Clinton Place in Hackensack this morning, above and below. The car on the left smashed into the driver's side of a Honda sedan, pushing it onto the sidewalk.  Was one of the drivers speeding? Or did one of them run the stop sign? Tune in tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

More than six months ago, The Record's editors reluctantly disclosed how many vetoes Governor Christie had executed since he took office in early 2010:

Christie's dictatorial rule by veto

That story soon was outdated, and the number of Christie vetoes has soared past 450, surely setting a record for any New Jersey governor.

Today, the GOP bully's vetoes are no longer Page 1 news, even when they involve gender pay equity.

Nor does Staff Writer John C. Ensslin bother to update the tally (A-3).

Student slain

Today, the front page reports that for the second time in a month, a college student living in off-campus Newark housing was fatally shot:

"There is no getting around the fact that [Rutgers and the New Jersey Institute of Technology] are located in a transitional neighborhood in a crime-ridden city," Staff Writer Patricia Alex says.

Fatal shootings in Newark are an almost daily occurrence, so why is this one on Page 1 and the rest of them either buried or unmentioned?

Local news?

You know there is little news in Local today when the section leads with Bergen County freeholders holding budget meetings with 18 department heads (L-1).

Although The Record hasn't covered Hackensack schools for more than a year -- or is it two -- there is a detailed story on a repairs to a  parking lot at Pascack Valley High School on L-3 today.

Mother's Day

Clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River is urging women to eat as much unhealthy food as possible on Mother's Day.

Her brunch recipes include gelato, sugar, heavy cream, bacon, ham and full-fat cheeses (BL-1 and BL-2).

Second look

Travel Editor Jill Schensul must have been desperate when she accepted a proposal by Staff Writer Kara Yorio to write Sunday's cover story on the charms of the Jersey Shore.

Talk about damning the shore with faint praise. 

Few readers will stick with Yorio, who finally comes around to prizing her time at the shore after she lands a job at the Asbury Park Press in her mid-20s, but that isn't mentioned until deep on the continuation page.

Columnist Mike Kelly is wrong again on Christie, Obama

At Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, a photo of jazz legend John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was put up in a corner of the lobby where volunteer and paid musicians entertain visitors. The trumpet virtuoso, who lived in Englewood, died in the hospital on Jan. 6, 1993, from pancreatic cancer. A memorial fund in his name covers the care of uninsured jazz musicians without the ability to pay.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Part tedious history lesson, part fiction, another Mike Kelly column on Page 1 of The Record today couldn't be more wrong about Governor Christie and President Obama.

Kelly claims both Christie's State of the State speech and Obama's State of the Union address spoke of where "each man hopes to find himself ... in the future" (A-1).

But the veteran reporter must have missed or ignored what Obama said about the future of the country:

How he hoped for "better politics," including an end to divisive rhetoric and taking money out of the electoral process.

Obama also urged Republicans who control the House and Senate to "do the right thing" for the American people -- hardly a message about his future.

A selfish Christie, on the other hand, has changed his stand on gun control and numerous other issues to appeal to conservative voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and other states in his quixotic campaign for the White House.

In a recent column, Kelly also echoed Christie's racially inspired campaign attacks on Obama's leadership.

More numbers

Road Warror John Cichowski, another failed Record columnist, bombards readers with more statistics about bicycle fatalities and other traffic deaths, as he has done so many times in the past (A-1).

And if the past is any guide, many of his numbers and conclusions are flawed.

Cichowski has not only ignored the mission of the column to help commuters, but spends little time reporting on North Jersey's antiquated and poorly lit street and road system, and how they contribute to bicycle, pedestrian and other traffic deaths.

Take a major thoroughfare like Passaic Street in Hackensack, Maywood and Rochelle Park -- a narrow, two-way street with few turn lanes let alone bicycle lanes, and poorly lit crosswalks.

Profile of judge

Property tax payers in Hackensack, Englewood, Teaneck, Ridgewood and other towns welcomed the profile of Vito L. Bianco, a tax court judge who stripped Morristown Medical Center of its tax-exempt status (A-1).

But reporter Abbott Koloff could have gone further and asked the Hackensack city attorney and his counterpart in every North Jersey town with a non-profit hospital why they aren't filing a suit like the Morristown action.

Sloppy editing on Page 1 trips up Koloff.

Koloff wrote the judge stripped the Morristown hospital of its "tax status," when he surely meant "tax-exempt status."

GWB conspirators

The far bigger story about Christie appears on A-3 today -- the attempt by the news media to get the names of officials who prosecutors believe were involved in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal, but who weren't charged.

Attorney Bruce Rosen, a onetime reporter at The Record, represents eight media companies, including North Jersey Media Group, publisher of the Woodland Park daily.

"The indictment presents allegations ... of significant abuse of power and violation of the public trust by appointed Port Authority ... and Christie Administration officials," Rosen wrote in his brief (A-3).

Municipal news?

Obama may want to take money out of politics, but The Record can't resist covering challengers to U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, solely on the size of their "war chest." 

What does Democrat Josh Gottheimer of Wyckoff stand for? Readers don't have a clue (L-1).

Today's Local section carries municipal news from Englewood, Rutherford and Teaneck, but nothing from Hackensack.

You'd never know Hackensack is remaking its downtown, selling itself as an important transit hub and trying to keep allies of the Zisa family political dynasty from returning to power.

Food coverage

Wednesday's Better Living cover -- "5 foods to eat more of in 2016" -- is the latest in series of stories on a healthier diet.

Yet, on the next page, clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River included two tablespoons of artery clogging butter in a cream-free Winter Vegetable Soup.

If readers, the majority of whom are older, waited for The Record to tell them which foods are heart- and brain-healthy, they'd be deader than door nails.

Editors help Uber keep secret how much drivers make

The Record and other news media haven't challenged Uber to make public exactly how much drivers make after expenses -- gasoline, insurance, oil changes, and wear and tear on their cars. This wildly exaggerated "Drive Uber" sign was on the back of a bus I saw on Madison Avenue in Manhattan on Sunday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Page 1 of The Record today carries another upbeat story on Uber, but not a word on exactly how much drivers make after such expenses as insurance, gasoline, and wear and tear on their own cars.

Staff Writer Richard Newman reports "car-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc. plans to recruit 3,000 drivers from low-income counties in New Jersey, including Passaic County" by the end of next year (A-1).

But later -- after telling readers Uber promises "self-employment with no investment required" -- the reporter finally comes clean and says applicants need a smart phone, checking account and "a car that is no more than 10 years old and seats at least four" (A-10).

A smart phone and a car are investments, aren't they?

Newman doesn't mention other expenses, such as insurance, gasoline and maintenance.

All in all, working for Uber sounds like a bad deal.

Syrian refugee

Another heart-warming story appears on the front page today, this one about a Syrian refugee who has been taken in by Ponds Reformed Church in Oakland (A-1).

The report on Sandy Khabbazeh, who is Christian, makes no reference to Governor Christie vowing to bar all Syrian refugees from New Jersey and the rest of the United States.

Local news?

Today's Local section again is filled with more police and court news than municipal news (L-1 to L-6).

Municipal stories from Oakland and Wayne appear on L-2 and L-3, but Hackensack apparently remains on the news blacklist.

The Woodland Park daily hasn't reported on the last two City Council meetings, and continues its boycott of school news.

Heart healthy?

Readers hoping to eat more heart-healthy food might be interested in a recipe in the Better Living section.

Unfortunately, clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River includes more artery clogging cheese than healthy smoked salmon (BL-2).

Hackensack to ban buses and limit parking on Main Street

Buses and 54-foot-long trucks will be banned after Main Street returns to a two-way traffic pattern. State Street also is expected to become a two-way street at the same time.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Traffic and parking on Main Street in Hackensack will be radically altered when the street returns to the two-way pattern of the past.

Before Tuesday night's City Council meeting, officials were briefed on changes to the 2012 Downtown Rehabilitation Plan by Francis A. Reiner of DMR Architects.

Reiner, the city's redevelopment consultant, said buses and 54-foot trucks would be banned, and UPS and other delivery services would have to use designated Main Street loading zones with restricted hours.

The city also will enforce "tandem parking" for cars and other passenger vehicles on Main Street, between Passaic and Essex streets, that would leave an 8-foot gap between spaces for two vehicles.

That will allow drivers to pull forward into the spaces, eliminating the the need to stop and reverse, which causes traffic jams, Reiner said during the public Committee of the Whole meeting.

Hackensack's plan to revitalize and redevelop the areas around its bus terminal and train stations will allow the city to apply for a Transit Village designation.

That would bring priority funding from some state agencies, and Department of Transportation grants to both the city and developers.

Reiner mentioned the possibility of a rubber-wheeled trolley linking Hackensack University Medical Center to the city's two NJ Transit rail stations.

The conversion of Main and State street to two-way traffic is at least two years away, city officials said.

Today's paper

Another Record front page dominated by baseball, state tests, politics and medical news doesn't offer much for the majority of local readers. 

On the Local front, the editors made sure to run an upbeat story on unanimous Hackensack City Council approval of a redevelopment plan for the former River Street headquarters of North Jersey Media Group and its flagship paper (L-1).

NJMG is expected to sell the 19.7 acres for $20 million or more.

Publisher Stephen A. Borg isn't expected to use any of that money to improve local-news coverage or even resume giving raises to the newsroom staff in Woodland Park.

Borg was responsible for moving printing of The Record to Rockaway Township from Hackensack in 2006, and then closing NJMG headquarters in 2009, hurting already struggling Main Street restaurants and other businesses.

Bear, fire news

Thousands of Record readers have been sitting on the edge of their seats, awaiting the reopening of Ramapo Valley Reservation and Ramapo State Forest, and today, their prayers are answered in a story leading the local-news section (L-1).

A Lodi fire that harmed no one dominates today's Local front, thanks to a gee-whiz photo from a freelancer (L-1).

Better eating?

The Record's editors continue to send mixed messages to readers with articles on breast cancer in both women and men (A-1 and BL-1), and recipes that mock heart health (BL-2).

Clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson specializes is artery clogging food, such as today's Chili Cheese Dip.

You'll need a half-pound of mystery ground beef and a full pound of Velveeta for this week's disgusting dish.

Touting bacon, editors ignore abuse of pigs, health issues

The W-brand of uncured bacon sold at Trader Joe's in Paramus comes from pigs raised without antibiotics that have proven harmful to humans. Today, The Record urges readers to eat as much bacon as possible, even if it is pumped full of additives and preservatives.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you're a big fan of the Mets or some of the unhealthiest food on the planet, you'll find a couple of alternatives to the 10th straight day of Pope Francis coverage on the front page of The Record.

Francis did accomplish a minor miracle:

Coverage of his Philadelphia appearances seems to have completely pushed mention of Governor Christie out of the paper today.

New bus depot

An editorial on A-12 today criticizes the Port Authority for delaying a decision on a new bus terminal in midtown Manhattan.

The editors continue to ignore a short- and long-term solution to delays at the antiquated depot, as outlined by commuter Richard Scala of River Edge:

"Unless the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey commits to dedicating an entire Lincoln Tunnel tube (not lane) for buses and installs a westbound exclusive bus lane in the evening rush hour ... future generations will endure the same commuter woes as their parents and grandparents," Scala said in a letter to the editor (Saturday's A-13).

Bacon obsession

The mistreatment of pigs on factory farms is well-known, but freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River could care less.

Today, on the Better Living cover, she is back with more unhealthy recipes, this time for artery clogging bacon, one of the foods blamed for sudden heart attacks (BL-1 and BL-2).

"I'm glad bacon is getting so much love and attention," the clueless Jackson says of pork industry promotions, "but as far as I am concerned, every day is bacon day."

Click on the following link to see a shocking video from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:

Bacon in 60 Seconds Flat

With Christie's support, Big Oil is ruling New Jersey, too

At the post office in Hackensack, employees used official Postal Service tape to hold together these signs.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

For decades, the noxious Bayway Refinery has given hundreds of thousands of visitors a negative impression of the state as they drive by on the New Jersey Turnpike.

And it helped fortify the "Cancer Alley" reputation of the Garden State, which had the nation's highest incidence of the disease in the 1970s.

Who knew that Exxon was at the same time contaminating 1,800 acres of wetlands at the oil giant's former refineries in Linden (Bayway) and Bayonne, according to a lawsuit the state filed 11 years ago?

Now, The Record says, a Superior Court judge has OK'd a settlement of the case for a mere $225 million, most of which will go to balance Governor Christie's voodoo state budget and to pay legal fees (A-1). 

The state had sought $9 billion in damages when the case was filed in 2004 by the James McGreevey administration (A-6).

Koch brothers

Is it any coincidence the Koch brothers, who made their fortune from the refining and distribution of petroleum, are putting hundreds of millions of dollars behind conservative Republicans like Christie in the 2016 presidential race?

Big Oil and the nation's automakers also have worked hand in hand to fight the production of more efficient cars and trucks, and to delay implementation of higher gas-mileage standards.

That only aggravates air pollution and hastens climate change -- two environmental issues that aren't mentioned in a wire-service story on increasing traffic congestion (A-1 and A-4).

Today's front page

With not one but two silly sports-related stories on Page 1 today, the Exxon ruling is the only news of any real relevance to North Jersey residents whose property taxes continue to climb as the state's economy sours under Christie.

In Ridgewood, it seems, desperate residents are stealing street signs and even poles, and selling the scrap metal as they struggle to pay property tax bills inflated by the wasteful system of home-rule government (L-1).

Look at the hysterical reaction of New Milford officials, who are opposing a plan by Fresh & Fancy Farms to hold healthy farm-to-table dinners, cooking classes and festivals at River Road and Stockton Street (L-1).

Officials cite traffic "congestion" and "parking shortages" in the neighborhood.

Tea Party news

Also on L-1 today, the editors run a rare story on Rep. Scott Garrett, the Tea Party idol who represents part of Bergen County. 

As usual, the story doesn't report on what Garrett is doing to improve life in New Jersey and the nation, only what he is doing to block President Obama's every action and initiative.

Instead of pandering to a regressive like Garrett, local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza should use their Local front to celebrate the lives of people like Deborah Hubsmith, a Woodcliff Lake native.

Hubsmith, who died on Aug. 18 at 46, is founder of Safe Routes to School Partnership, which encourages children to bike or walk to school and spurs government to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety (L-6). 

Tracy Morgan

Today's Business page story doesn't say whether comedian Tracy Morgan used any of the settlement money from a 2014 turnpike crash to purchase a 22-room brick "manor" in Alpine for $13.9 million.

Instead, the Business editors' focus is on how the transaction is "the priciest so far this year in Bergen County," promoting the health of the real estate industry (L-7).

The settlement was probably reduced because Morgan wasn't wearing a seat belt when a speeding Walmart tractor-trailer slammed into his limo van on June 7, 2014.

The comedian's lawyer said he suffered a traumatic brain injury in the crash. 

This past June, NBC News reported Morgan still walks with a cane, gets headaches and has memory problems.

After the turnpike crash, The Record and other media ignored major safety questions surrounding the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter passenger van like the one Morgan and fellow comedian James McNair were riding in. 

McNair died from his injuries.

See the original Eye on The Record post from June 8, 2014:

Gravely injured comedian
rode in van prone to rollover

Ode to heart disease

Clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River is back today with another recipe that seems healthy, but includes a half-cup of artery clogging heavy cream and chicken breasts pumped up by harmful antibiotics (BL-2).

The headline claims "Summer Chicken Pasta" is an "ode to summer," but given the heavy cream, a more accurate heading would be "ode to heart disease."

"Eat it outside for maximum happiness," Jackson suggests.

Like when you are waiting for the ambulance.
  

Christie vows to return country to 'despair and status quo'

The long-awaited, long-delayed repaving of Prospect Avenue in Hackensack -- a street lined with high-rises -- has been completed between Essex and Passaic streets, but other crudely patched blocks between Passaic and Ross Avenue weren't touched. Residents who use NJ Transit buses complained that during the work, a police officer stood by and provided little assistance in helping them cross the street and keep away from heavy equipment and other construction hazards.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Readers of The Record took one look at another front page from journalism hell -- dominated by Governor Christie, Medicare payments to hospitals and baseball -- and dove into the paper, looking for something relevant to their lives.

If you glance at the headlines and text on Page 1, you'll see that Christie spoke to supporters of his presidential bid and promised to "kick 'hope and change' out" in 2016.

"We're going to bring a little Jersey to the White House," said the GOP bully, who is ninth in a Fox News debate field of 10 clowns on Thursday (A-1).

That's great. Christie would replace "hope and change" with "despair and the status quo," and export the hell he's created in New Jersey to the rest of the country.

And Christie's statement that he has used birth control with his wife is at odds with all of the years he has spent screwing the middle class in New Jersey (A-8).

When did he have the time or the energy to have sex with first lady Mary Pat Christie?

Hackensack news

Jason Nunnermacker, a lawyer who is president of the Board of Education, has announced his second bid for a seat on the Hackensack City Council.

Nunnermacker, an ally of the Zisa family political machine that ran the city for decades, headed a slate that lost the 2013 municipal election.

Now, he's filed a nominating petition for the special Nov. 3 council election to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Rose Greenman.

Nunnermacker has appeared at council meetings for the last two years to criticize Greenman, Mayor John Labrosse and other city officials.

But he's never discussed why the school budget has continued to increase to the point where it now exceeds the city budget.

Nor has he addressed allegations that a teacher stole two laptops from a school and a supervisor falsified time cards of a subordinate.

As head of the school board, he also has ignored about $58,000 in overbilling by board attorney Richard Salkin in 2014. 

That's over Salkin's contract limit of $95,000 a year.

The Record's Hackensack reporter, Todd South, also is aware of the theft and time-card allegations, but he hasn't bothered to report them.

Local news?

Editors Deidre Sykes and Dan Sforza managed to keep Law & Order filler news to a minimum in today's Local section.

By they did find room for a photo of an SUV that ran into a utility pole in Englewood (L-3).

However, the caption, based on information supplied by the photographer, tells readers nothing about the possible cause.

And here's breaking news:

"An ambulance was observed leaving the area and heading toward Englewood Hospital and Medical Center."

Racial motive?

A story on opposition to a proposal for 24o apartments in Upper Saddle River doesn't explore whether homeowners are trying to keep out black and Hispanic renters (L-9).

The editors frequently portray seniors as confused residents of nursing homes or so addled they mistake the accelerator for the brake pedal, smashing their cars into other people or storefronts.

But on L-1 today, a photo shows an engaged group of seniors picketing a Wayne zoning board meeting in opposition to a proposed 422-unit Avalon Bay apartment complex.

Cheap wood construction was one of the factors cited in the fast-spreading inferno that destroyed the 308-unit Avalon at Edgewater complex on Jan.21.

Healthy eating?

The headlines on the Better Living front promise "simple" and "healthy" recipes for college students (BL-1).

But the recipe on BL-4 calls for two teaspoons plus three tablespoons of artery clogging butter for a pound of flounder fillets.

And Staff Writer Elyse Torbio and the culinary expert she quotes, Jim Edwards of Chef Central in Paramus, don't bother teaching students one of the most valuable lessons of all:

Avoid meat and poultry with antibiotics, growth hormones and other harmful additives.

Meanwhile, clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson advises readers to hold the mayo in a potato salad, but to make sure they include four slices of fatty bacon (BL-2).

In Hackensack, high medical bills, higher property taxes

Drivers in Hackensack on Wednesday morning encountered road work on River Street, above, and Main Street, below, aggravating traffic congestion on our already narrow, antiquated streets.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Doctors and hospitals have blocked "a measure meant to protect patients from surprise medical bills and rein in exorbitant charges to insurance companies," The Record's lead Page 1 story reports today.

Opponents are "motivated by personal and corporate greed" and "consumers were left out of the equation," said the state senator who was the bill's prime sponsor (A-1).

Today's story by Staff Writer Lindy Washburn is the latest in a series she has done on surprise medical bills from out-of-network doctors, but she doesn't state the position of many hospitals, including Hackensack University Medical Center.

Jazz me blues

HUMC fundamentally changed the residential character of its Hackensack neighborhood, including the demolition of the Van Gelder home on Prospect Avenue that served as a premier jazz recording studio for most of the 1950s.

In 1954, jazz pianist Thelonious Monk recorded "Hackensack," an instrumental, in that studio, which later relocated to Englewood Cliffs.

Thanks to HUMC, residents of the city will continue to receive high medical bills and pay even higher property taxes, because the non-profit pays no taxes on more than $130 million in property it owns in Hackensack.

Profits before taxes

The highly profitable HUMC, which continues to affiliate and merge with other hospitals; Bergen County and Fairleigh Dickinson University are the three big Hackensack non-profits responsible for a dramatic shift of the tax burden onto long-suffering residents and businesses.

Now, city officials have announced an agreement to settle the hospital's tax appeals, which, if successful, would have forced the city to repay the hospital $4 million.

Last month, The Record reported HUMC will pay the city $4.5 million to settle the appeals, and to address other issues, including an annual payment for air rights, payment for ambulance services and crossing guards.

But Richard Salkin, the attorney who negotiated the city's 2008 agreement with the hospital, has sued to stop the new deal.

Salkin, now the Board of Education attorney, also has spoken at City Council meetings to defend the old pact.

'08 controversy

But the deal he now defends was highly controversial at the time, and was viewed by many as a giveaway to the hospital.

Although the city received $1 million for air rights, the deal approved by the council in Hackensack -- or "Zisaville," as it was known then -- meant the loss of the Fire Department Ambulance Service.

Under the new agreement, residents will continue to be served by HUMC's ambulances at no cost to them, city officials say.

Governor Christie

Now, most stories in The Record about Governor Christie usually include this phrase in the lead or second paragraph:

"... as he weighs a run for the Republican presidential nomination" (A-3).

But given the shambles the GOP bully has made of governing and the state economy, shouldn't the Woodland Park daily spend all of its time and resources on reporting what is happening in New Jersey or in Christie's case, not happening?

The newspaper has no obligation to report anything more than a few sentences from the out-of-town appearances by Christie, one of the least popular potential candidates.

And maybe it would be a good idea to take away Christie "campaign" stories from three reporters who do a good imitation of being sycophants:

Melissa Hayes, who is assigned to cover Christie; and political Columnists Charles Stile and Herb Jackson.

Bus, truck crashes

The local assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, have elevated coverage of accidents to an art form as they seek to fill the yawning holes in their local-news section.

But they don't employ common sense in the editing of the stories, such as today's L-1 coverage of an NJ Transit bus hitting a charter bus in the Lincoln Tunnel.

If one vehicle hits another from behind, it's likely because the driver who caused the accident was following too closely, but there isn't even a hint that reporters asked the question.

In the story on a fatal truck accident on a Route 287 ramp, the reporter doesn't bother to ask state police if speed or a shifting load or both were factors (L-6).

More road kill

What was the point of Road Warrior John Cichowski's Wednesday column on the Route 17 bottleneck in Maywood, Rochelle Park and Paramus, except to print the names of complaining motorists?

As he finally says on the continuation page, any widening "remains little more than an unfunded pipe dream."

Now, I guess we can expect another column on the Route 4 bottleneck in Teaneck, followed by hand-wringing over the Forest Avenue Route 4 west ramp bottleneck, etc. etc.

Wednesday's Business page (L-7) was true to form, reporting on a conference on the future of malls and once again ignoring struggling downtowns.

Granola lover?

Once readers got over the shock of dessert-obsessed Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung praising granola on Wednesday's Better Living front, they were in for a dose of really unhealthy food.

On BL-2, Food Editor Esther Davidowitz celebrated bone marrow, which, she explained, is "97 percent fat."

John Piliouras, the chef who is charging $22 for three bones that probably cost him $2, urges diners at his restaurant to "live on the edge a bit," acknowledgement they're consuming a heart-attack on a plate.

Also on BL-2, clueless Upper Saddle River freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson's recipe for Chicken Noodle Salad contains 6 ounces of linguine and 6 tablespoons of artery clogging butter.

As an antidote, see: 

Marry eggs and pasta in the morning

Our slow justice system: Zisa is free years after conviction

In Hackensack on Tuesday, fewer than 1,000 of the city's 20,000 registered voters approved the $74.8 million tax levy to support the school budget, and returned three incumbents to their seats on the Board of Education. The board keeps the election in April to exploit voter apathy and ensure the status quo year after year. At the Fairmount School, above, poll workers far outnumbered voters on Tuesday evening.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

An appeals court will decide whether "prejudicial comments by a prosecutor" are enough to overturn the official misconduct and insurance fraud convictions against former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa, The Record reports today.

But thanks to our glacially slow justice system and a well-paid lawyer, the man who destroyed his family's reputation in a city they ruled for decades remains out of prison -- nearly three years later (L-1).

On May 16, 2012, a jury convicted the chief of Bergen County's largest police force of three counts of official misconduct, one count of a pattern of official misconduct and one count of insurance fraud.

Staff Writer Todd South, who covered an appeals-court hearing in New Brunswick, appears unfamiliar with trial reporting, and no editor seemed to notice.

On L-3, South reports in the same sentence "Zisa was convicted on charges of insurance fraud and official misconduct in May 2012 on allegations he tried to cover up a 2008 car crash involving his girlfriend, Kathleen Tiernan" [italics added].

Besides the redundancy, they stopped being "charges" and "allegations" when a jury found Zisa guilty.

School election

How does the Hackensack Board of Education ensure the status quo and exploit voter apathy?

Members have kept their election in April, rather than shifting it to the general balloting in November, and the polls don't open until 2 in the afternoon, meaning residents can't even cast ballots on the way to work or when dropping off their children at school.

Two challengers faced three incumbents in Hackensack, and the incumbents kept their seats. No surprise there.

The incumbents are so sure of success they don't even mail campaign material to residents or offer to debate the challengers.

Such issues as the low-quality of food service and lofty administrators' salaries in the high school aren't even addressed.

Mass transit

An editorial today is so unequivocal about Governor Christie's poor mass-transit policies and voodoo budget balancing readers are wondering why the editors and reporters who fill the news columns are so far behind (A-10).

"No way," the editorial states in reaction to an NJ Transit proposal to raise fares 9 percent and cut service.

The editorial notes Christie slashed dedicated state funding to NJ Transit to $34 million in 2013 from $309.4 million in 2012.

The editorial also notes Christie is "averse" to raising the low gas tax to fund road and bridge repairs, but The Record says a 9 percent fare hike "is just a tax by another name."

A letter to the editor on the same page notes mass transit isn't one of Christie's "favorite things."

"I guess he's more partial to helicopter rides," writes Jack Bell of New Milford.

But Michael DellaFave of Emerson, who bought a home "along the Pascack Valley line of the NJ Transit system," tries to garner sympathy for what he calls the "nightmare" of frequent weekend and holiday rail service in the past six years (A-10).

Of course, DellaFave's letter doesn't explain what exactly he was thinking when he made the naive decision to buy a house next to NJ Transit railroad tracks. 

More Christie lies

The New Jersey Education Association is joining other unions to challenge the GOP bully's decision to significantly cut the state's pension contributions (A-1).

NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer said a "memo describing concepts" the union signed "was misrepresented by the governor" as an "unprecedented" accord.

Photo captions

Two photo captions on L-3 today describe "fire crews working to control a two-alarm fire" and "an emergency crew working on one of seven people" led to safety from another fire.

But in the foreground of the first photo, a half-dozen backup firefighters are standing at the ready, and in the second photo, no one is working on the woman on the stretcher.

Nutrition advice

Clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson advises readers to eat their veggies, but to make sure they top them with ham and poached eggs (BL-2).

Maybe Jackson is just trying to drum up business for cardiac surgeons.

The Big Turkey awards from 'Eye on The Record'

Construction or reconstruction continued on Tuesday in front of Starbucks Coffee in Hackensack, which is on the ground floor of the Alfred N. Sazari Medical Arts Building at 360 Essex St. Let's hope the doctors in the building have a better record than the company that built the sidewalks and parking lot, which seem to need repair every couple of years. The garage in another Sanzari medical building across Summit Avenue was closed for more than a year while repairs were made.

Editor's note: My copy of The Record was delivered about three hours late this morning, and weighed more than 4 pounds. Most of that was advertising, and the news, features and sports sections weighed only about 7 ounces. Today, I present Big Turkey awards to the paper's staff. Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The first Big Turkey award goes to the biggest tom in the newsroom, Editor Marty Gottlieb, who seems intent on putting out a suburban edition of The New York Times, where he had a long, successful career.

That can be seen almost every day in front pages that mix soft and hard news; and international, national, state and local stories.

Page 1 stories and columns also have gotten longer in the style of The Times -- way too long, in many cases -- but the quality of the editing has declined dramatically

Gottlieb gets a second Big Turkey award for not cleaning house after he took over in January 2012 nor taking away column-writing duties from burned-out Staff Writers Mike Kelly, John Cichowski, Charles Stile, Bill Ervolino and other toms, each of whom get their own award.

Haggard hen

Production Editor Liz Houlton also gets a Big Turkey award for all of the serious errors that routinely appear in Cichowski's Road Warrior column -- and are never corrected -- as well as all of the corrections published on Page A-2.

The news editors, copy editors and page proofers under her supervision miss too many screw-ups to be taken seriously, and the paper's credibility suffers as a result.

Houlton also can be faulted for continuing to use outdated thumbnail photos for some of the columnists, including Kelly, whose unflattering shit-eating grin can be seen on Page 1 today.

Assignment turkeys

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, get Big Turkey awards for using the police blotter, court news and non-fatal accident and fire photos as crutches to fill pages that should have more local news on them.

The Record of Woodland Park is doing a better job of covering Hackensack, but not in identifying many critics of the current City Council as those who were thrown out of power and lost patronage in 2013.

Trenton turkeys

Stile, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes and other members of the Trenton staff each get Big Turkey awards for channeling Governor Christie, including his Reform Agenda, Jersey Comeback and Stronger Than the Storm public relations campaigns.

How many stories and columns on Christie's politics and his chances to win the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 are readers expected to stomach? 

In the process, these reporters and their editors have irresponsibly ignored how Christie rules by vetoes and bullying, not by the compromise he claims, and how he has wrecked the state economy. 

Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin also gets a Big Turkey award for using mass transit, but not blasting Christie for policies that have increased traffic congestion and tolls, and hurt train and bus service. 

Plump food hen

Staff Writer Elisa Ung gets a Big Turkey award -- this one pumped full of the harmful animal antibiotics she routinely ignores -- for her split personality.

As chief restaurant reviewer, her Friday columns are supposed to critically evaluate restaurants, but she devotes too many of her Sunday columns to promote wealthy owners and chefs who advertise in the paper.

(The Record's 2015 Dine Out Guide to local restaurants was produced by the advertising department, and the 72 glossy pages included only advertisers.)

The Corner Table column Ung writes should be renamed, if she isn't going to get serious about fighting for consumers on such issues as tipping, low food quality and high wine markup. 

Food Editor Esther Davidowitz and freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson each get a Big Turkey award for unhealthy weekly recipes that recommend large quantities of artery clogging butter and heavy cream.

Stephen A. Borg

Publisher Stephen A. Borg gets a Big Turkey award for allowing news coverage that promotes the fortunes of his biggest advertisers, including mall and highway retailers.

In the process, North Jersey Media Group and The Record abandoned Hackensack in 2009 and virutally ended coverage of that city's downtown, as well as other struggling Main Streets in Teaneck and Englewood.

The year before, Borg also enriched himself at the expense of employees, who were hit by the biggest downsizing in company history only months after he used an NJMG mortgage to buy a $3.65 million McMansion in Tenafly.