For North Jersey readers, another dull front page

The 24 Hour Fitness gym off Route 4 east in Paramus was closed this morning. Firefighters said they were investigating a natural gas or electrical "odor."

Ex-New York Timesman Marty Gottlieb, editor of The Record, roamed all over the world to bring North Jersey readers an exciting front page today, but he falls flat on his face again.

And what is this, the fourth or fifth day in a row, with a Page 1 story about a new athletics brouhaha at Rutgers University? Give us a break, Marty.

It doesn't get much better inside.

A Star-Ledger story about what Governor Christie does or does not eat equates enjoying many kinds of vegetables to being "a health nut" (A-7).

Utility pole news

Every page in head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section is filled with Law & Order or minor accident news.

Sykes advances utility pole and DWI news with an L-2 photo.

Another driver who rented a patch of front lawn in Ridgewood as a parking space failed a sobriety test, according to the photo caption on L-6.

Wrong-way John

Now, readers don't have to read several Road Warrior columns to find contradictions from Staff Writer John Cichowski, who can't seem to remember what he reported a few days or weeks ago. 

He contradicted himself in his May 26 column, according to a concerned reader, who sent another e-mail to management: 

"The Road Warrior is unable to make coherent, mistake-free statements in his May 26 column about traffic enforcement and road fatalities.

"The Road Warrior continues to pull his made-up conclusions and figures out of thin air, even though they contradict well-known facts or what he reported in the very same column.

 
"He indicated that New Jersey State Police reported LESS traffic enforcement this year since they were still focused on Sandy recovery efforts. I am sure the same was true for local police.

"He then indicated that the reduction in road fatalities this year was due to MORE traffic enforcement. 

"He continues to make up fictional numbers based on fictional calculations that he expects will NOT be checked by anyone at The Record. 

"He continues to be unable to read reports and provide any sensible analysis or correct data.

"North Jersey readers are not content with the Road Warrior scourge, which continues unabated,  to mislead them and waste their time."

To read the full, bad-news e-mail, go to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers at The Record:

What did I just say?

Grinding axes for the rich and powerful

Image via Wikipedia

The Record has run so much coverage of the battle over Pascack Valley Hospital, you'd think North Jersey is turning red with blood.

Three huge hospitals are battling over the reopening of Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood -- and the potential profits -- so why are the arguments of two of them presented in an elaborate story on Page 1 of The Record today? 

Should Editors Francis Scandale and Deirdre Sykes, and Staff Writer Mary Jo Layton be grinding axes for The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Englewood Medical Hospital and Medical Center?

The bottom of A-1 has the second story recently about a North Jersey rabbi who risked death in the early 1960s to end racial segregation in the South.

But where is the story about Orthodox Jews trying to end segregation in Englewood's elementary and middle schools today?

More ax-grinding

Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin grinds more axes for Governor Christie, who has made a deal with a Democrat, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, to slash public-employee benefits (A-11).

But next to the editorial, Margulies' cartoon pulls no punches on this attempt to crush union rights under the guise of fiscal responsibility.

Local yokels

The hot news in Sykes' Local section concerns the revival of a well -- a single well -- in Garfield (L-1). 

Also on the Local front, two major stories focus on Tenafly, where Publisher Stephen A. Borg lives in a $3.65 million McMansion, but the section has no news from Englewood, Hackensack, Teaneck and many other towns.

Sunday's paper

Rep. Anthony Weiner's weiner is front page news, but readers want to know if newsroom workers are gossiping about Frank Scandale's frank.

Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski rewrites a study by the Tri State Transportation Campaign on the number of senior pedestrians who were killed from 2007-09 (L-1).

Cichowski cites the statistics to his editor when he refuses to leave the office and cover a story.

Your Money's Worth Columnist Kevin DeMarrais writes about ways to prevent scamming of the elderly (B-1). 

Where are the columns and stories on the challenges facing older drivers, who are killing themselves and others in large numbers?

The Greek way

On the Better Living front, Corner Table Columnist Elisa Ung discovers Greek restaurants serve a lot of vegetables -- nearly four years after she became the restaurant reviewer.

On O-2, Margulies' cartoon exposes Governor Christie's business-friendly environmental policies -- while the assignment editors keep soft-pedaling them.