First Record pink slips reportedly will be issued on Oct. 15

The Record is reporting a proposal to move the USS Ling to Paterson presents cost and engineering challenges, but not that the World War II-era sub is stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River and listing, as this photo from April shows.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Gannett, which has owned The Record for less than two months, will be issuing pink slips to copy editors, page designers and other so-called production workers on Oct. 15, a New York tabloid says.

Those employees were summoned to an Aug. 22 meeting and told production would be moved from Woodland Park to Neptune, where six other Gannett dailies are put out, Keith J. Kelly of the New York Post reported.

Gannett paid the Borg family "an estimated $40 million for the 121-year-old paper and sister titles and websites," says Kelly, the first reporter to disclose the selling price.

The Borgs held onto about 20 acres along River Street in Hackensack, where The Record was headquartered until 2009, and the land may fetch $20 million to $30 million when sold to an apartment developer.

Kelly says Gannett executives told copy editors, designers and other production workers they would have to apply for new jobs -- the same process former Publisher Stephen A. Borg used during a major newsroom downsizing in 2008.

"They will learn on Oct. 15 if they have jobs," Kelly reported on Saturday. "No word on how many will be getting pink slips."

One of those who is expected to go is six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton, who earned the title of "Queen of Errors" when she ran the features copy desk.

Kelly's story has reporters and other newsroom staffers anxiously wondering when the Gannett ax will fall on them.

The Record lost four veteran copy editors in the 2008 downsizing, as well as the co-supervisor of the copy desk who single-handedly upheld standards of accuracy, grammar and news writing.

See: Borgs take money and run

Today's paper

For the second day in a row, Governor Christie's conservative policies dominate Page 1 -- this time his explanation for why he vetoed, as expected, raising New Jersey's minimum wage to $15 by 2021 (A-1).

And for the second day in a row, State House Bureau reporter Dustin Racioppi turns out another slanted report, calling the proposal "a Democratic effort to join the nascent but politically divisive effort to mandate increased pay for entry and lower-level workers."

(Yes. The clunky, wordy first paragraph actually includes the word "effort" twice.)

Why is Racioppi politicizing the minimum-wage hike rather than reporting Christie's veto is a rebuke to tens of thousands low-wage workers in the state, including Walmart employees who are paid so little they have to apply for food stamps to feed their families?

More politics

And an editorial criticizing Democrats also supports Christie (A-8).

The editorial notes Democrats plan to put a constitutional amendment on the 2017 ballot, but urges them to try to override the veto instead.

But amending the constitution worked in 2013, when the minimum wage was raised to $8.25 an hour and tied to inflation, and will likely work again -- most voters are in favor of a higher minimum wage, and two other states already have enacted it.

Stuck with Christie?

Despite Gannett's purchase of The Record, reporters, columnists and editorial writers continue to side with the GOP bully, despite his more than 500 vetoes and his endorsement of wacko racist Donald J. Trump for president.

Yet months ago, six other New Jersey dailies owned by Gannett, as well as The Star-Ledger, called on him to resign.

The Record is alone is refusing to do so, and hasn't even reported those calls for Christie's resignation. 

USS Ling

"The Ling is looking to move from its location beside the Hackensack River on property slated for redevelopment by the former owner[s] of The Record," according to today's Local front.

But Paterson Press reporter Joe Malinconico forgot to call the Borgs, the former owners, and ask them why they don't help finance the move (L-1).

After all, they are cash rich after reaping $40 million from the sale of The Record, and are expecting another huge windfall from sale of the land along River Street in Hackensack where the sub is stuck in the mud.

Wacko Trump labeled a racist by everyone but news media

Hackensack officials have agreed to store artifacts and other items from the New Jersey Naval Museum until the USS Ling is relocated. Now, the museum's artifacts are displayed on North Jersey Media Group property at the old River Street headquarters of The Record, where the World War II sub is tied up.

The gangway to the submarine, and other artifacts. The museum is closed and tours of the sub are suspended. The Ling is stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump's tirades against Mexicans and Muslims made it clear the billionaire was just another white racist.

Yet, the news media likes to say Trump represents millions of "angry white men."

Of course, we know his supporters are racists who blame their problems on hard-working immigrants instead of the greedy corporations who have sent millions of their jobs overseas. 

Why have the news media -- including The Record of Woodland Park -- generally avoided calling him a racist even as Hispanic cooks in Manhattan's best restaurants are spitting in his food? 

'Novice' or racist?

On Wednesday's front page, the first paragraph of an Associated Press story identified Trump as a "political novice," and that was echoed Thursday night on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley. 

A Record editorial on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee ran down in great detail his insults to Mexicans, and his pledges to deport 11 million illegal immigrants and ban all Muslims from entering the country ("GOP at the abyss" on Thursday's A-12).

Editor or hack?

But Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin never calls Trump what everyone else knows he is -- a racist and white supremacist.

Even in his opinion column on A-13 today, Doblin refuses to label Trump a racist for his Cinco de Mayo posts on Twitter and Facebook.

A news story today reports the Latino Victory Fund released a statement that said:

"Donald Trump is doubling down on his racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Latino and anti-Mexican rhetoric."

But hacks at The Associated Press made sure to undercut the validity of that statement by describing the Latino fund as "a left-leaning political group" (A-4).

Donald Trump with big sister Maryanne Trump Barry, a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. She was nominated as a federal district judge in Newark by President Reagen in 1983, and appointed to the appeals court in 1999 by President Clinton.

Media made Trump

Much of Trump's support is rooted in the slavish media reporting every one of his hateful words in a presidential campaign we grew tired of months ago.

The editors of The Record only seem interested in stirring up controversy, not exploring issues and reporting on what would be good for New Jersey and the nation.

In covering Governor Christie since he took office in early 2010, editors and columnists have focused relentlessly on politics -- instead of issues and policies.

So, it's no surprise The Record remains the only major New Jersey daily that hasn't called on Christie to resign after he dropped out of the race and threw his support to Trump.

Today's paper

On the last workday of one of the dreariest weeks in memory, Editor Deirdre Sykes finally produces a Page 1 weather story (A-1).

And why is "vaping" dominating the front page instead of an environmental story on New York City imposing a 5-cent charge for using a disposable plastic grocery bag -- a fee that New Jersey certainly could use (A-3)?

Senior citizens

On the Local front today, Staff Writer Colleen Diskin has a rare report on senior citizens who aren't institutionalized (L-1).

Sykes and other newsroom staffers have been treating seniors like shit for decades -- stories on autism have been far more numerous than those on Alzheimer's disease.

Road Warrior John Cichowski continues to ignore the challenges facing older drivers like himself -- even as "pedal confusion" leads them to plow into pedestrians and storefronts, often with fatal consequences.

And the food editors promote mystery meat and artery clogging desserts as if they expect their older readers to live forever.

Hackensack news?

Staff Writer John Seasly covered Tuesday night's meeting of the Hackensack City Council, but wrote only one story -- yet another report on who is leading the Police Department.

Seasly didn't mention the council approved a resolution to store artifacts from the New Jersey Naval Museum until the USS Ling is relocated from North Jersey Media Group property at the old headquarters of The Record in Hackensack.

The Record hasn't reported whether the newspaper's owners, the Borg family, will pay for the relocation of the World War II submarine, which is stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River.

The Borgs, NJMG and The Record abandoned Hackensack in 2009 after prospering there for more than 110 years -- dealing a death blow to many Main Street merchants.

Now, with the blessing of the City Council, the Borgs plan to sell their 19.7 acres aong River Street to an apartment developer, and laugh all the way to the bank.

Lead in fountains

Saddle Brook is the latest district to turn off school drinking fountains where "unacceptably high levels of lead" were found (L-6).

Hackensack residents haven't seen a similar story reporting on lead levels in drinking fountains used by their children in what is the biggest school district in Bergen County. 

Mystery BBQ

Staff Writer Elisa Ung raves about a glazed doughnut stuffed with barbecued beef, bacon and cheese, but doesn't tell readers whether the meat is the cheap, low-quality stuff of unknown origin usually found in Korean restaurants.

Her 3-star Informal Dining review of Kimchi Smoke BBQ Shack in Bergenfield is long on mindless promotion and short on the information readers need to stay healthy (BL-16). 

Medical freak doesn't tell readers heart disease is No. 1 killer

UNEVEN KEEL: At low tide this morning, the USS Ling was stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River and listing. The New Jersey Naval Museum is closed and not conducting tours of the World War II submarine, which is tied up to North Jersey Media Group property at The Record's old headquarters in Hackensack. According to rumors, Publisher Stephen A. Borg and NJMG Vice President/General Counsel Jennifer A. Borg can't agree on the company's role in saving the sub.

The Borgs, owners of NJMG, are planing to sell land along River Street in Hackesack to an apartment developer, including parking lots. It isn't known whether the family also will sell Borg Park, where the sub and museum are, and land where a diner now operates.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You'd never know heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States from medical coverage in The Record.

The Sunday edition's Page 1 takeout on a medical freak who is awaiting a second heart transplant in 20 years certainly doesn't hammer home that message.

Frank Bordino, 70, is atypical, and has little in common with the hundreds of North Jersey residents who get new heart valves or have as many as five coronary bypasses every month.

Despite the tens of thousands of words devoted to him, readers are no closer to understanding the genetic, dietary and other factors that cause heart attacks.

That's a colossal waste of space.

And there isn't much else to engage readers today.

Boring politics

The front page offers two boring pieces on New Jersey and national politics, including another story on a presidential campaign we're sick of reading about (A-1).

Staff Writer Christopher Maag is no longer assigned to cover NJ Transit, judging by his Page 1 stories today and Saturday on "portable churches," and New Jersey's high suicide rate, respectively.

Still, Maag's suicide story is incomplete, failing to explore whether the hike in suicides is tied to Governor Christie's continuing war on the middle class.

Local news?

Today's local-news section leads with a story from Hackensack, where Prospect Avenue high-rise residents have declared victory over a plan for a medical-waste disposal plant near them (L-1).

Those Hackensack residents are mostly seniors, and today, Road Warrior John Cichowski continues to ignore the challenges facing them and other older drivers (L-1).

They are probably wondering what Cichowski's coverage of the driving test for teens has to do his column's commuting mission or anything else relevant to their lives.

June candidates

Today, the editors list candidates in the June 7 primaries for county and municipal offices (L-3).

Let's hope that unlike a similar listing of April school board candidates, we'll be seeing stories on the issues involved before we have to vote.

New Yorkers?

On the Opinion front, Mike Kelly offers another boring column on the battle for the hearts and minds of New Yorkers in last week's Democratic presidential primary (O-1).

Hey, Mike, you're working for a major New Jersey paper. Why are you covering New York?

Bergen County readers aren't interested in New Yorkers or even the Atlantic City residents you also wrote about recently.

They want you to explore local issues, including colossal voter apathy, and the attempted political comeback of the Zisa family in Hackensack.

Two Hackensack stories for a change

In The Record today, North Jersey Media Group says its 20 acres in Hackensack are "for sale." A construction trailer was set up recently at the newspaper's old headquarters, above.

Staff Writer Hannan Adely appears to have been working overtime -- her byline is on three stories today, two about Hackensack, her main assignment.

In a story on the Local front about the New Jersey Naval Museum and the USS Ling -- which are on North Jersey Media Group property in Hackensack -- an NJMG official is quoted as saying the land is "for sale."

This apparently is the first time NJMG has discussed what will happen to its 20 acres since The Record abandoned Hackensack in 2009.

"We are evaluating several options for our property," said CFO Tom Heffernan, without addressing rumors a Walmart might replace the landmark newspaper building at 150 River St. (L-6).

The second Hackensack story today is about the $148,000 retirement payout for Tomas Padilla, the interim police chief, that was approved on Tuesday night by the City Council, a meeting The Record didn't cover (L-7).

The front page

The long, front-page story on an aging Hamburg Turnpike in Wayne is woefully incomplete when it discusses state funding (A-1).

Editor Marty Gottlieb, a New Yorker, apparently never heard of the state's bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund, which is used to rebuild roads and bridges.

Gottlieb also appears to be ignorant of the controversy over Governor Christie's refusal since 2010 to raise the state's low gasoline tax to refill the fund.

And the story doesn't explain why no mass-transit alternatives were put in place during the glacial reconstruction of the road.

Road Warrior John Cichowski writes so rarely about mass transit readers wonder why he did a second column on the Teterboro train station (L-1).

Face stuffers

It's bad enough the restaurant review in Better Living has been put on a diet and covers only half a tabloid page (BL-16).

Why waste it on the mediocre Limoncello in Waldwick? A few paragraphs of warning would suffice.

Free-lancer Jeffrey Page, who struggled with his weight for most of his career at The Record, actually ordered dessert at Yasou Mykonos, the Greek restaurant in Demarest he chose for Eating Out on $50 (BL-18).

The Record is cutting back in so many areas, including staff, so it's a mystery why it continues to throw money away on these useless reviews.

There are literally hundreds of restaurants in North Jersey where two people can eat out for $50. Readers don't need the paper to do these monthly appraisals.

More road kill

A concerned reader believes Staff Writer John Cichowski is defending -- not condemning -- red-light cameras in his column this past Wednesday:

"The Road Warrior's column, as did his previous column on Feb. 15, is clearly promoting red light cameras and their supposed benefits and not opposing them.

"The Road Warrior is opposed to many of the proposed reforms of the red light camera law.

"Most of his column is devoted to quoting a supposed traffic safety expert, who is a paid consultant to red light camera companies, about the supposed, but baseless, justifications for red light cameras.

"The NorthJersey.com headline for the column is:

"'Care Needed in Altering Red Light Cameras'"

"That headlines implies support for cameras.

"He does not quote any traffic safety experts  who are opposed to the N.J. red light camera laws and are working with the Assembly Transportation committee, which  is debating this camera law."

The reader's full e-mail to management can be found on the Facebook Page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Does he or doesn't he like red-light cameras?