Local news boycott continues

 Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood residents will search in vain for municipal news in The Record today. Even the two restaurants featured prominently in Better Living are in Passaic County, seemingly a reflection of the paper's move to Woodland Park.

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Although it was clear last month that legalization of same-sex marriage didn't have a chance, the former Hackensack daily kept the issue alive and today, devotes most of the front page and one inside page to its defeat. The other "big story" on Page 1 is the Cablevision-Scripps battle over the Food Network -- a non-story to tens of thousands of readers with other television services.

In the Local section, the paper assigns three reporters to the murder of a Garfield businessman and runs two large photos of law enforcement officials announcing an arrest.

For Hackensack news, you'll have to look to the weekly Hackensack Chronicle, which is also owned by North Jersey Media Group and which is delivered with The Record on Fridays. The weekly paper reports the city manager asked union workers to forgo their scheduled raises in 2010 -- a hike of about 3%.

Thumbs up to Columnist Kevin DeMarrais for acknowledging on Page L-8 that The Record is profiting from the cable TV dispute by selling full-age ads outlining each side's spin, but shame on him for gratuitously plugging Bobby Flay's hamburger restaurant in Paramus, where the chef chooses to serve lower-quality beef to fatten his bottom line.