Christie is losing weight along with credibility

Road Warrior John Cichowski continues to hang up on commuters, with another column on today's Local front that shows he can't get his mind out of the gutter and off of potholes. He gives a big plug to Jack Tewani, owner of a sportswear business, who blames "craters" for ruining his tires.

Many readers didn't think there was another politician who could make Chris Christie look good, but a  photo in The Record today proves them wrong.

Paterson City Council President Anthony Davis appears to the African-American version of what Christie looked like before he had lap-band surgery and lost weight (A-3).

But under all that body fat, Davis is really an Uncle Tom, a black Democrat endorsing Christie's bid for a second term, despite all of the GOP bully's anti-minority policies.

Who could forget Christie's recent veto of a hike in the minimum wage? 

Or, how about cutting state aide to Paterson, forcing the layoff of 125 cops in one of New Jersey's most crime-ridden communities?

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes, from the State House Bureau, does a masterful job of avoiding those issues, lest it darken her upbeat, Christie-is-great story.

And like the editors she works for, Hayes writes off the challenge from state Sen. Barbara Buono, the likely Democratic nominee, denying her campaign equal time and a separate story.

Page 1 news

After watching extended coverage of the devastation in Oklahoma on Tuesday night's local and national TV news shows, readers pick up the paper today, only to find the front page dominated by the same image (A-1).

The lead Page 1 story is about the Rev. Michael Fugee, who is getting more coverage than the new pope (A-1).

Editorial page

For the third day in a row, the editorial cartoon is about the Bengazi, IRS or AP "scandals" (A-8).

Where is Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin, and what happened to the cartoons'  New Jersey focus?

Get out of jail

On the front of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Syke's Local section, the lead story is about the manager of the Tick Tock Diner finally making bail, six weeks after he was charged with plotting to kill his wife's uncle (L-1).

There is more Law & Order coverage on L-3 and L-6, but no municipal news from Hackensack or many other communities.

Christie's 'Jersey Comeback' is really 'Jersey Come'

A "YES WE CAN TAX THE RICH" bumper sticker on a Toyota Prius, photographed on May 13 in Hackensack, the day before a slate of reformers triumphed in the municipal election. The state's financial problems are caused in part by Governor Christie's refusal to impose a tax surcharge on millionaires that could raise as much as $1 billion in new revenue.

You'd think $132 million in desperate "budget cuts and other spending adjustments" to balance Governor Christie's budget plan would be front-page news in The Record.

No. The editors of the Woodland Park daily see their job as promoting his "Jersey Comeback" reelection campaign, so the story is on A-3, the page for routine state news.

Today's piece by Staff Writer John Reitmeyer is filled with politics -- the biggest reader turnoff, by far -- and doesn't even list the $132 million in new budget cuts and "adjustments," whatever those are.

But residents know the cuts likely will be more bad news for them, as Christie's "Jersey Come" administration continues to royally screw the middle and working classes.

One of the many empty storefronts on Main Street in Hackensack.

Hackensack surprise

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, left the River Street newsroom and Hackensack news behind in 2009, when North Jersey Media Group moved to Woodland Park and Rockaway Township.

Despite scores of stories about then-Police Chief Ken Zisa's legal problems, those editors largely ignored city life and the decline of Main Street.

So, the victory of a slate of reformers and defeat of the Zisa political machine in the election last Tuesday took the editors and the rest of the media by surprise.

On Monday, a front-page column by Mike Kelly played catch-up, reporting the reformers parlayed discontent over declining city services into victory at the polls.

If it wasn't for Kelly's outdated column photo, complete with shit-eating grin, the piece was indistinguishable from a news story or analysis.

And it's stale news:

On Feb. 15, the Hackensack Chronicle published a letter from independent City Council hopeful Victor E. Sasson, editor of Eye on The Record:

"I joke I am running for Hackensack City Council to get my street paved.

"But the sad truth is that as property taxes have risen, the quality of life in Hackensack has declined dramatically."

Sasson's platform to improve city services, including street paving, eventually was adopted by the other candidates, including the victorious Citizens for Change.

Burned-out columnist

Kelly is a burned-out word-pusher who thinks of himself as a columnist who parachutes in to provide context for readers.

It's been a little more than a year since he last visited Hackensack, and put in many hours of ass time at Zisa's trial, which ended when the ex-police chief and former state assemblyman was convicted of official misconduct and insurance fraud.

Now, instead of peddling old election news, he should be looking into whether Superior Court Judge Joseph S. Conte erred in allowing Zisa to remain free while he appeals his conviction and 5-year prison sentence.

Blogger, North Jersey Media Group settle lawsuit

Former headquarters of North Jersey Media Group and The Record in Hackensack.

In the face of mounting legal fees, Victor E. Sasson has settled a federal copyright-infringement lawsuit filed against him by North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record and the North Jersey.com Web site.

Sasson signed a confidential settlement agreement on Thursday, and admitted no wrongdoing.

The suit alleged Sasson violated several copyrights when Eye on The Record published NJMG photographs and a news story.

So far, Sasson has paid more than $16,000 in legal fees in connection with the suit.

A federal judge dismissed the NJMG lawsuit without prejudice in January, allowing the publishing company to file it again.

Jennifer A. Borg, NJMG vice president and general counsel, was listed as attorney for the plaintiff. 

Borg also hired an expensive New York law firm, Dunnegan & Scileppi, to handle the suit.

Click on the following links to earlier posts:

Judge dismisses NJMG lawsuit

NJMG harasses 'Eye on The Record'

'Great pride ... in responsible journalism'

Today's paper

The thin Sunday edition features four of The Record's burned-out columnists, and more from pundits who are playing catch-up to the victory of the reformers' slate in the Hackensack municipal election.

The upbeat "Shore's ready to roll" takeout on Page 1 plays into the hands of Chris Christie, who hopes voters forget what a terrible governor he was before Superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey last Oct. 29 (A-1).

Hospital profits

The opening of Bergen County's first for-profit hospital in Westwood -- under the Hackensack University Medical Center name -- raises anew questions about HUMC's $130 million in untaxed property in Hackensack, and whether the medical center will give back to the city (A-1).

The best story in the Local news section today is the obituary of Betty Ersalesi, a Rutherford school teacher, whose death appears to be the making of a medical-malpractice suit (L-1).

The worst piece is the Road Warrior column on whether seat belts are "your thing" (L-1).

Self-promoting reporter

On the Business front, Your Money's Worth Columnist Kevin DeMarrais gives himself a huge pat on the back for 19-plus years of consumer reporting in a paper that long ago sold out to commercial interests (B-1).

Of course, DeMarrais' 1,000 columns virtually ignored the rise of organic and naturally raised food, which aren't listed in his monthly survey of supermarket prices.

And sadly, The Record's business editors still have to rely on a 4-page insert from The Wall Street Journal to make their Sunday section amount to anything (B-3 to B-6).

Kelly sells out again

On the Opinion front, Columnist Mike Kelly continues to fawn over Christie, calling the GOP bully "the political equivalent of the Kardashians" (O-1).

Have you ever read anything so ridiculously hilarious?

Playing catch-up

Brigid Callahan Harrison, a political science professor who writes a Sunday opinion column for The Record, and the newspaper's editors ignored the 3-month campaign of Citizens for Change, which won last week's Hackensack City Council election.

So did Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, who refused to "get involved" in the battle to decide whether reformers or the Zisa family political machine would prevail.

To the great surprise of everyone -- including apathetic voters -- the reformers swept the election for 5 seats on the City Council, unleashing a series of reaction stories and columns.

So, here is Harrison today taking Newark Mayor Cory Booker to task for forgetting his reform roots, and backing establishment candidates in Hackensack and Jersey City, where all of them went down to defeat (O-1).

Tea Party, Associated Press deserve what they get

A small parking lot and walkway on South River Street in Hackensack, above and below, will provide access to the Hackensack River.The new walkway, next to a large solar farm, was closed when I visited this past Monday.

I believe in the principle of certain groups being tax exempt, but not the Tea Party's radical, no-tax Republicans, who have sowed so much divisiveness in Washington (See Page 1 of The Record today).

Remember how the Tea Party compared President Obama's health care reform to the Holocaust?

The Associated Mess

I also believe in the principal of an unfettered press, but can't really get upset by the Justice Department issuing subpoenas for The Associated Press' telephone records (See Thursday's A-4).

The wire service's irresponsibly hysterical stories are used on the front page of The Record and hundreds of newspapers, and they form the basis of TV and radio news reports.

Look at Page 1 of The Record on Wednesday, when The AP reported "President Obama seemed to lose control of his second-term agenda."

Is that the same as losing control of your journalistic bowels?

On Thursday's A-1, the wire service reported the president "was hurrying to check a growing controversy."

Is it growing as fast as Governor Christie's waistline before he had lap-band surgery?

GOP plays The AP

All of these "scandals" and "controversies" are based on complaints from Republicans, who have set back America's middle class more than any other group.

Recall how bored wire service reporters caused panic among Obama supporters last year -- with daily reporting of polls and surveys that allegedly showed a real horse race in the presidential contest.

But the election wasn't close at all: Obama beat Mitt Romney handily in both the popular vote and in the Electoral College.

The story is politics

Yet, The AP continues to politicize every bill and every vote in Washington as a battle between Obama and Republicans, and rarely discusses issues -- just as The Record politicizes every story out of Trenton.

Today, political Columnist Charles Stile can't bring himself to criticize Christie for breaking his 2009 campaign promise to cut property taxes in New Jersey or to label re-election ads as deceptive (A-1).

Hackensack election

On the front of Local, Staff Writer Hannan Adely finally addresses voter apathy, which was a factor in the Hackensack City Council elections in 2009 and 2005 (L-1).

This week's historic victory of a reform slate, Citizens for Change, showed candidates were able to target discontent, despite low voter turnout.

The winning slate hopes to move the municipal election to November. It's about time.

Now, what about Hackensack's school board election in April, when turnout was less than half of the municipal election's?

Francis W. Albolino and two other candidates backed by the Zisa family political machine won.

That's a powerful argument for moving that election to November, as well.