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.

PA to commuters: Wait 20 years for better bus, rail service

This cartoon from Mike Lukovich equates GOP repeal of the Affordable Care Act with terrorism against the American people.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Staff Writer Paul Berger of The Record has been so busy chronicling the transportation war between New York and New Jersey he buried the lead today on funding of a new bus terminal in Manhattan.

Deep in his Page 1 report on Thursday's meeting of Port Authority commissioners, Berger quotes the board chairman as saying a new midtown bus terminal may take as long as 20 years to complete (6A).

Yikes! Does that mean the 230,000 bus commuters who pour into Manhattan every day, most of them from New Jersey, won't see any relief until then?

And does that also mean they'll be fighting over rush hour seats for another 20 years, because The Record isn't prodding Port Authority officials to expand service immediately by adding more exclusive bus lanes into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel?

The bi-state agency's capital plan also includes billions to double rail capacity between New Jersey and Manhattan, but Berger provides no estimate of when those tunnels will be finished.

And as I understand it, when the new Gateway tunnels are finished, the old ones, or at least one of them, will be shut down for repairs, so service might not "double" for another 20 years.

Food Editor Esther Davidowitz of The Record.

Food crawl

When Friday rolls around at the Gannett-owned Record, it's time for another "food crawl" (Better Living).

This one focuses on only four of the many great food businesses in Englewood, but the author is none other than Food Editor Esther Davidowitz, who warns readers "this is not your low-cal, low-carb, low-fat, sugar-free crawl" (10BL and 11BL). 

Well, it could have been, if Davidowitz didn't completely miss the restaurant-quality Meals To Go at Jerry's Gourmet & More, her fourth and last stop on the South Dean Street crawl.

These take-out dinners -- with seafood, chicken, pork or beef, plus pasta or potatoes and vegetables -- are at $7.99 a sane alternative to Jerry's $12-a-pound stuffed eggplant or $17 a pound poached salmon.

Fish, linguine with white clam sauce, and broccoli were just three of the items in one of Jerry's Meals To Go -- complete, restaurant-quality take-out dinners for $7.99, below.

If the freshly prepared store-made dinners aren't sold out at 4 p.m., they are marked down to $5.99.

Amen to today's editorial: 'Trump cannot trump' free speech

This cartoon from Rayma Suprani is a reminder U.S. news media have reported President-elect Donald J. Trump's frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but never reminded Americans that Putin's bombers are killing innocent civilians in Aleppo, Syria, and prolonging the civil war.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The negative reaction to an actor in "Hamilton" reading a prepared statement from the cast to Vice President-elect Mike Pence makes you wonder if we're still living in a country founded on free speech.

For example, among the letters to the editor of The Record today, Paul Ferrantino of Wanaque claims that "as a retired professional actor, I am embarrassed by the behavior" of the "Hamilton" cast (8A).

Though he doesn't name him, Ferrantino goes on to criticize actor Brandon Victor Dixon:

"Taking advantage of a captive audience, which included the vice president-elect of our United States, in this way was nothing more than a dirty trick, or at the least, an unfair way to espouse one's political views."

"Dirty trick" or "unfair"? No way.

Civics lesson

The Record's unsigned editorial on the brouhaha ends with the forty-five words in the First Amendment to the Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The First Amendment is a reminder that President-elect Donald J. Trump was wrong to tweet his demand for the actor to apologize.

Today's editorial puts it this way: 

"... No free pass is given on matters related to the First Amendment. The pun is intended. Trump cannot trump that. There is no [political] honeymoon for stomping on free speech" (8A).

Cast statement

The prepared statement from the hit show's cast "raised the concerns of people of color, of immigrants and of the LGBT community that the new administration may not do them right," as the editorial puts it.

"We truly hope," the actor told Pence, "that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us."

Good luck with that, given all the hate speech Trump indulged in during the campaign.

But who can blame the cast for seizing the opportunity to speak directly to the vice president-elect in the hope the message will be delivered to the Dictator-In-Chief?

What a paper!

The main element on Page 1 today demonstrates how U.S. Customs officials have bamboozled another reporter into writing a story on "banned foods" international visitors supposedly hide in their suitcases (1A).

"Hundreds of pounds" of contraband are destroyed each week at Newark Liberty International Airport, the story reports.

Is that really worthy of a front page that has only three stories on it?

Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado is no kid just out  of journalism school, but you won't find a word about any actual harm foreign pests or animal diseases have wrought in the United States.

Customs officers should concentrate on stopping illegal drugs and guns from entering the country, and not obsess over worms in Portuguese chestnuts.

Another big weakness in the story is Alvarado never explaining why visitors bother to stuff their luggage with foods that are widely available in supermarkets and specialty stores in ethnically diverse New Jersey.

Local news?

In Local today, Bergen County readers find stories from only seven of the 90 communities in The Record's circulation area, including three from Paterson and two from other Passaic County towns.

And many readers note with horror that error-prone Staff Writer John Cichowski -- aka Road Warrior or is it Road Worrier -- apparently decided not to follow the example of many other staffers his age who retired during last week's drastic Gannett downsizing (1L).

Monday's paper

If they read The Record, commuters who ride NJ Transit buses into the city don't know whether a new midtown bus terminal is on or off.

The latest episode in blow-by-blow coverage ran on The Record's front page on Monday, when Staff Writer Paul Berger reported on a "feud" between the Port Authority board chairman -- an appointee of Governor Christie -- and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (1A).

With actual construction of a new terminal many years away, wouldn't it be nice if Berger tried to explain why there are no rush-hour seats on NJ Transit buses and why officials don't add more exclusive bus lanes into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel.

Appeals could keep Bridgegate pair out of prison for 2 years

Bridgegate defendants Bridget Anne Kelly, left, and Bill Baroni, both former allies of Governor Christie, were found guilty on all counts today (Credit: Thomas Bryan/Getty Images).

Editor's note: This post has been revised and greatly expanded.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We're nowhere near having heard the last about Bridget Anne Kelly, Bill Baroni, Governor Christie and the infamous George Washington Bridge lane closures in 2013.

After a federal jury in Newark found Kelly and Baroni guilty of all charges this morning, sentencing was set for Feb. 21.

Appeals of the verdicts and sentences are certainties.

That means Christie's former deputy chief of staff, as well as his top executive appointee at the Port Authority, owner and operator of the bridge, may be able to stay out of prison for up to 2 years.

So, David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty and became the government's star witness against Kelly and Baroni, likely will be going to prison before them.

Damning email

Kelly, a divorced mother of four, testified in her own defense, but was never able to explain away the email she sent to Wildstein about a month before he put the lane closures into motion on Sept. 9, 2013, causing five mornings of gridlock:

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

"Got it," replied Wildstein, who was Baroni's deputy at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a notorious patronage mill for the governors of the two states.

What everyone referred to as a "traffic study" was actually a bizarre scheme designed to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for refusing to endorse Christie's re-election in November 2013.

The defendants were each charged with seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud, including misusing the resources of the bi-state transportation agency and violating the rights of the citizens of Fort Lee to travel without restriction.

The most serious charge is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Christie's role

Kelly and other witnesses testified that Christie knew about the lane closures as they were happening, despite his repeated denials.

Wildstein testified that his every official action at the Port Authority was designed to please only "one constituent" -- Christie.

Wildstein also said he told the governor about the scheme at a Sept. 11, 2013, memorial service. Kelly said she received the governor's approval before she sent the "Time for some traffic problems" email.

Unindicted?

The governor was never charged and wasn't called to testify under oath, although he was found guilty in the court of public opinion years ago.

And federal prosecutors never revealed the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the case.

"The lane-closing scandal was the biggest political corruption case in New Jersey in years, riveting a state that has a long history of official malfeasance," The New York Times is reporting.

"It crippled ... Christie's presidential candidacy this year and left him deeply unpopular among his constituents.

In the six-week trial in Newark federal court, "the prosecution and defense both portrayed the Christie administration as a relentlessly political operation in the service of a fiery-tempered and ambitious governor," according to The Times.

"Aides began using government resources to seek political endorsements" in 2010, the year the GOP bully took office, "with an eye to winning not just a broad re-election victory, but also the presidential race six years away."

Today's paper

The guilty verdicts were returned before noon today by federal jurors, who like so many of their predecessors didn't want to come back on Saturday to deliberate.

They started going over the evidence and the judge's instructions on the law that governed the charges on Monday.

The Record's front-page story on the trial today focuses not on the possibility of a verdict, but on Thursday's mistrial motions by hysterical attorneys who saw their defense cases sinking.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan D. Wigenton had ruled the jury could find the defendants guilty of conspiracy even if prosecutors didn't prove the motive was to punish Fort Lee's mayor.

Novice reporters

Sadly, the Gannett-owned Woodland Park daily put coverage of one of the biggest trials in decades in the hands Dustin Racioppi and Paul Berger, reporters who had little, if any, experience covering federal criminal cases.

That resulted in an unusually heavy focus on the two defense teams -- headed by Michael Critchley and Michael Baldassare -- which likely have bankrupted the defendants with their endless motions and delaying tactics.

Now, after the pair are sentenced, those same lawyers will be demanding even more money to bankroll appeals and keep Kelly and Baroni out of prison for as long as possible. 

Meanwhile, readers are questioning why Columnist Mike Kelly wrote such a long, flattering profile about Bridget Kelly during the trial, emphasizing her roots in Ramsey, her Catholicism and her four children.

The Record didn't give Baroni anywhere near the same sympathetic treatment.

Reporter admits error, columnist struggles for relevance

This morning, an FBI spokesman in Newark said agents executed court-authorized search warrants at 248 Fairmount Ave. in Hackensack on Tuesday as part of "an ongoing investigation." He wouldn't say if any arrests were made.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Bridgegate trial reporter Dustin Racioppi finally corrects his story from last Thursday, when he reported the judge instructed jurors on the law at a closed meeting with lawyers the day before.

In The Record today, Racioppi now acknowledges the judge instructed the jury on the law and read the charges "before it broke for deliberation[s]" on Monday.

The reporter also says that on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark "sided with the prosecution in removing language" that the George Washington Bridge lane closures in 2013 were designed to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Governor Christie's reelection.

Jurors had sent out a note asking whether the defendants can be found guilty of conspiracy "without the act being intentionally punitive toward Mayor Sokolich."

Racioppi's error on jury instructions was compounded when it was picked up by both Paul Berger, the other reporter covering the trial, and Carl Golden, a Sunday columnist.

And in his own column, Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin reported incorrectly the trial is taking place at the federal courthouse in Trenton.

Incoherent columnist

Staff Writer John Cichowski, The Record's sorry excuse for a commuting columnist, continues to struggle for relevance.

Today, the so-called Road Warrior links "getting a commuter to divulge his favorite shortcut" to "getting a presidential candidate to talk about the contents of her email server" (L-1).

The cheap shot at Democrat Hillary Clinton isn't lost on readers, who question what the presidential race has to do with anything in his column.

On Sunday's Local front, a desperate Cichowski linked Halloween's "annual parade of witches, ghosts and goblins" to the "ghoulish bit of news" about a nationwide study on "the habits of  of young people as they cross streets in school zones."

Jeurys who?

About a third of today's front page is wasted on a news story and column about a pro baseball player who was arrested at his Fort Lee home "in connection with an alleged domestic assault" (A-1).

The column by Bob Klapisch begins:

"It was about 11 a.m. on Tuesday when I spoke to a high-ranking Mets official with the unfortunate news of Jeurys Familia's arrest in Fort Lee."

Does Klapisch mean "about" the news of the athlete's arrest?

This isn't inside baseball; this is inside the mind of a burned-out sports columnist.

Hackensack, city attorney in showdown over $3M Zisa deal

Alexander H. Carver III, a former Superior Court judge, was appointed Hackensack city attorney on Sept. 30, 2015 (Credit: Harwood Lloyd law firm).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

This week, Hackensack's City Council is prepared to vote on a resolution terminating the services of City Attorney Alexander H. Carver III, a former judge who has had the job for only 13 months.

In a letter to the editor of The Record today, Mayor John Labrosse and Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino complained Carver agreed to pay nearly $3 million to former Police Chief Ken Zisa "without informing the mayor and council" (O-3).

"We knew the matter was being discussed -- but not decided," they say in the letter.

"Why did the city settle the case without insisting Zisa drop his $30 million tort claim against taxpayers?

"Why did the city settle before the deadline the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office had set for deciding whether to file administrative charges against Zisa, even though we specifically asked Carver to wait for that decision?

"Why did Carver agree to pay Zisa more than $1.2 million in legal fees without first reviewing the detailed invoices himself or have another attorney review them?

"Why did the city cut a $600,000-plus check to Zisa without a vote of the council or an appropriation?

"We have lost faith in Carver. If he won't resign before [this] Tuesday's [regular council] meeting, we will have to terminate his services."

Carver is not a city employee and doesn't have a signed contract. He is being paid $175,000 a year -- equal to Governor Christie's salary.

Zisa is a member of a family political dynasty that ruled Hackensack for decades. The city once was referred to mockingly as "Zisaville."

Mayor John Labrosse, seated, and other members of the City Council, including Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino, second from left.

Manager OK'd deal

As reported on Oct. 5 by Eye on The Record, Carver and David R. Troast, on his last day as city manager, agreed to a deal that would pay Zisa nearly $1,755,000 in back pay, vacation and sick days, and other job-related compensation.

Zisa, who was suspended in 2010 after 34 years in the Police Department, had been tried and convicted in 2012.

A Superior Court jury found him guilty of official misconduct and insurance fraud, and he was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

But he was placed under house arrest during appeals, and those charges were eventually dismissed.

Carver and Troast, who said he reviewed the "legal bills and invoices" submitted by Zisa's lawyer, also agreed to pay the former chief nearly $1,203,000 to cover fees through Sept. 30.

At a special meeting on Oct. 25, the City Council passed a resolution indicating officials hope to hire a new city attorney by Dec. 1.


Bridgegate trial

If you aren't already sick of The Record's wall-to-wall coverage of the Bridgegate trial, the Sunday edition should do the trick (A-1 and O-1).

The lead Page 1 story is by Paul Berger, the Port Authority reporter who need a navigation system to find the federal courthouse in Newark.

After six week of testimony from 34 witnesses, Berger declares, "several large questions remain unanswered."

Readers have their own questions, including why Berger and Dustin Racioppi, another court novice, was assigned to perhaps the most important federal criminal trial in decades.

On the Opinion front, the editors came up with a provocative headline for Carl Golden's take on the trial:

"AND THE VERDICT IS ..."

Golden is former press aide to Tom Kean and Christie Whitman, who were the worst New Jersey governors before GOP thug Chris Christie came along to claim the crown.

Below Golden's wordy column, Record Columnist Mike Kelly declares:

"Thanks to the Bridgegate trial, we now know that Christie's version of history is, at best, threadbare and highly questionable. At worst, it's a damnable lie" (O-1). 

Other stories

Page 1 has two other stories that could distract readers sick of all the repetitious Bridgegate trial stories and columns.

Retailing reporter Joan Verdon recalls Donald J. Trump's grandiose plans in 1989 for "the finest shopping center in New Jersey and beyond" at Routes 4 and 17 in Paramus (A-1).

Trump gave North Jersey residents "a preview of some of the talking points of his presidential campaign, including blustery claims about his building prowess and his ability to fix long-standing government problems, lawsuits and insults against the competition, and an allegation that the approval process might be stacked against him."

Trump hired Thomas Wells, a Paramus attorney. In July, Wells wrote a piece for The Huffington Post. Here are excerpts the reporter doesn't mention:

"After the initial interview, my client contact with Donald was actually not very much. One low point I do remember (actually will never forget) is a limousine ride to a meeting with the editorial board of a New Jersey newspaper in which my married client sought to regale me with the number and quality of eligible young women who in his words “want me.” I was just plain shocked and embarrassed, but I kept smiling. I wanted and needed this client happy. 

"While I was working for Donald, various press reports had Trump and his then-wife Ivanna living in a personal apartment in the Trump Tower of 8, 16 and even 20 or 30 rooms. Genuinely curious, I once asked him how many rooms the apartment actually had. I will never forget his response to me: “However many they will print.”

No trick-or-treat

Below the tortured Trump tale, local obituary writer Jay Levin reports no trick-or-treaters ever come to the door of the Kostka home, because "the house is inside a cemetery" (A-1).

Guy Kostka, superintendent of Valleau Cemetery in Ridgewood, has lived on the grounds with his family since 1982.

Bridgegate trial editors forgot to read U.S. Courts handbook

In summing up the government's case at the Bridgegate trial on Friday, a prosecutor called defendants Bridget Anne Kelly, left, and Bill Baroni "loyal lieutenants" of Governor Christie (Credit: Bryan Thomas/Getty Images).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's flawed coverage of the Bridgegate trial in Newark is lurching toward its conclusion next week, when federal jurors are expected to begin their secret deliberations and deliver a verdict.

In reporting on Friday's closing arguments, the main Page 1 headline today presents the defense case first, and is missing a question mark:

"Political
dupes
or loyal
soldiers"

In fact, a federal prosecutor went first, and spent four hours laying out evidence the defendants "shared an intense commitment to the political success of Governor Christie."

"They saw themselves as his loyal lieutenants who were free to use their government jobs to launch political attacks ...," notably the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September 2013, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes said (A-1).

Defendants Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the governor's former top executive appointee at the Port Authority, "never attempted to separate politics from their jobs in public service," Cortes told the jury.

Defense attorney Michael Baldassare called Baroni's accuser and former subordinate David Wildstein "a serial liar." Kelly's attorney is set to sum up on Monday.

Uncorrected error

In today's Bridgegate trial story, Staff Writer Paul Berger steers clear of a major error on Friday, when The Record reported the judge has already instructed the jury on the law, even though that is the last step before they start their deliberations.

And no correction appears on A-2 today.

The two reporters who have been covering the trial, Berger and Dustin Racioppi, and their editors apparently forgot to read the "Handbook for Trial Jurors Serving in the United States District Courts," which lays out how a federal criminal trial proceeds.

Page 8 notes the judge's instructions or "the charge to the jury" comes after closing arguments, not before.

"The charge ... is much more than a statement of the rules of law. Sometimes it may contain a summary of the facts or some of the facts.

"The judge may point out and may also explain basic facts in dispute, and facts that do not actually matter in the case."

Bad news for Christie

At least three witnesses testified under oath that Christie knew about the lane closures in Fort Lee, despite his repeated denials.

But that's not why he looks so unhappy in a Page 1 photo today from a Seaside Heights bar, where people who are not back in their homes four years after Superstorm Sandy rained on his progress report.

3-star crap

Staff Writer Elisa Ung continues to lose credibility as a restaurant critic with her rave review of the low-quality smoked pork and artery clogging desserts served at an out-of-state restaurant, Fink's BBQ and Cheesesteak Roadhouse (BL-14 on Friday).

Absent any information to the contrary, readers can only assume the worst, that the pork, meat and poultry served there are raised under horrific conditions and pumped full of antibiotics, which are harmful to humans.

Editors always ask, 'When will the jury reach a verdict?'

Working for The Record on Sept. 11, 2001, Photographer Thomas E. Franklin captured this iconic image of three firefighters raising an American flag above the rubble of the Twin Towers. But the photo didn't appear on the Sept. 12, 2001, front page of The Record, then headquartered in Hackensack. However, Franklin's photo did show up on the cover of the New York Post on Sept. 13, 2001, missing any credit to him or The Record.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you're a reporter covering state or federal courts, you soon get used to stupid questions from the editors directing coverage in the newsroom.

"When is the jury coming back?" is an especially annoying question courthouse reporters hear -- in view of the jurors' secret deliberations.

You can bet editors asking stupid questions led to Page 1 stories today and Tuesday trying to predict what will happen at the federal trial of two former allies of Governor Christie in the George Washington Bridge lane closures three years ago.

On Tuesday, Staff Writer Paul Berger, who covers the Port Authority, weighed the chances of Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, the former aides and confidants, being convicted -- like the 190 other men and women facing "federal charges in New Jersey in the past six years."

Today, Berger and Peter J. Sampson, who covers federal court in Newark for The Record, provide readers with another tutorial -- Jury Selection 101 (A-1).

The headlines are especially ridiculous, because the jurors are the triers of facts, and will decide the guilt or innocence of the defendants:

"Bridgegate
trial could 
hinge on
jury picks

"Judge's first challenge
is finding unbiased panel"

And on the continuation page:

"JURY: May swing GWB trial"

No. They definitely will "swing" the trial.

Bridgegate whitewash

A Bridgegate editorial appears on A-8, noting Christie once joked he moved the traffic cones himself to close access lanes to the bridge, triggering five mornings of gridlock in Fort Lee.

"Little would surprise New Jersey residents ... even if Christie's jest turned out to have been the truth."

And for the first time, The Record is calling the publicly funded $8 million report from a law firm that exonerated Christie "a whitewash."

New York skyline

The star of today's front page is the story on the renewal of the Manhattan skyline, part of The Record's coverage of the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America (A-1).

Don't miss the centerfold by Staff Writer James M. O'Neill -- "REACHING NEW HEIGHTS" -- which amounts to a love letter from North Jersey residents who have watched the transformation of the skyline since the Twin Towers were leveled (A-4 and A-5). 

9/11 flag recovered

The story on recovery of the flag raised over the rubble of the World Trade Center recalls one of the darkest days in The Record's Hackensack newsroom, which was in use until 2009 (L-1).

The events had nothing to do with the terrorist attack itself or the column of black smoke rising from the rubble -- clearly visible through the big windows of the fourth-floor newsroom, where the staff had just put out an extra and were working on the morning edition of Sept. 12, 2001.

When the flag-raising photo captured by Staff Photographer Thomas E. Franklin was transmitted to the newsroom, the front page had already been made up with a photo showing pretty much what every other paper had -- an image of the smoking towers or a plane flying into one of them.

Photo Director Rich Gigli couldn't persuade Editor Frank Scandale and the woman he succeeded, Vivian Waixel, to put Franklin's photo on Page 1, because bean counters decided remaking the front page would be too expensive.

Franklin's photo ended up on a back page in the paper of Sept. 12, 2001, and that likely destroyed his chances of winning a Pulitzer Prize for Photography.

That same business mentality was used when The Record reprinted thousands of copies of the Sept. 11, 2001, extra without correcting a front-page photo caption that misidentified the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center.

Franklin's photo

In the years that followed, Jennifer A. Borg, then vice president and general counsel of The Record, jealously guarded the copyright of Franklin's iconic photo.

But that didn't stop the advertising department from inserting a glossy 8-inch-by-11-inch copy of the 9/11 flag-raising image into the paper one day.

On the flip side was an ad for All American Ford in Hackensack.

Editors bury the lead in trying to predict Bridgegate verdicts

This morning, in an annual municipal ritual, a pothole-patching crew proceeded slowly up Euclid Avenue, between Prospect and Summit avenues, in Hackensack -- a block that hasn't been paved in more than three decades, according to longtime residents.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Front and center on Page 1 of The Record today is a preview of the long-anticipated Bridgegate trial, but the biggest question in this political who-done-it isn't even addressed until deep into the continuation page.

Most readers likely won't ever see the paragraph that should have led all the rest:

"Although Christie is not on trial, the specter of the 55th governor of the state of New Jersey will loom over the courtroom" (A-4).

In the court of public opinion, Christie long ago was found guilty of orchestrating the September 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures to retaliate against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, who refused to support his reelection.

Fingering Christie

Staff Writer Paul Berger doesn't spend much time exploring the possibility of damaging testimony about Christie by his former aides, who will be on trial.

Nor does Berger know the testimony of ex-Port Authority official David Wildstein, a Christie crony who has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors who have jealously guarded the identity of several unindicted co-conspirators are expected to name them during the Newark trial.

Readers are losers

Readers lose when The Record and other media spend less time reporting what happened and more time trying to predict the future -- whether it's a national election or a sensational federal trial.

The Berger story is another blow to the credibility of the Woodland Park daily, which stands alone in not calling for Christie's resignation after he endorsed wacko racist Donald J. Trump.

Labor Day

The Local front today provides a fresh perspective on Labor Day today with a long story about low-wage workers who couldn't afford to take the day off (L-1).

A second story describes a Labor Day Mass for janitors held at a Paterson church.

These sympathetic accounts clash with The Record's editorial on Monday, when we celebrated Labor Day.

The editorial criticized Christie for pushing a formula for school aid that would favor rich districts over poor ones.

But the editorial doesn't mention the GOP bully's veto of a hike in the minimum wage to $15 by 2021, the second time he's turned his back on the working class.

News Media Alliance

On Wednesday, the Newspaper Association of America, "the trade group that has represented the interests of major newspaper publishers in one form or another since 1887, is going to drop from its name the very word that defined it: 'Newspaper'," The New York Times reports.

The group will be known as the News Media Alliance.

The Times says the number of newspapers has fallen to about 2,000 from 2,700 in 2008.