Image via WikipediaA funny thing happened to Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado on the way to the Woodland Park office or wherever it is she hangs out while ignoring basic coverage of River City, where The Record was founded in 1895. A parking garage on Prospect Street collapsed, forcing the evacuation of the attached luxury high-rise and forcing Alvarado and other staffers to cover Hackensack for a change.
Since the initial collapse on Friday, the story has been front-page news, including today, when Alvarado reports on city inspections of other parking garages. But the paper still has not given readers details of Hackensack's proposed budget and tax hike, or reported the naming of a new mayor.
For the past few years, Alvarado appears to be the kind of reporter who has to be told what to cover, and she has been taking her cues from head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes, who acts like a Mother Hen to her staff.
Editor Frank "Castrato" Scandale, meanwhile, doesn't appear to be much of a force in the newsroom, even after Publisher Stephen A. Borg stopped taking an active role in editorial decisions that rightfully were Scandale's.
Desperate for a big A-1 photo today, all the editors could come up with was the aftermath of a storm in Belmar. The lead story reports that despite the drastic cuts in the state budget, we face a deficit almost as large as before. So much for the property tax cuts promised by Governor Christie -- friend of the rich and enemy to just about everybody else.
Local has no Teaneck, Englewood or Hackensack news. A new feature, Brief Tributes, is a roundup of local obituaries (L-6).
In Better Living, Food Editor Bill Pitcher discusses one of his obsessions -- beef short ribs -- a perfect dish for the heat waves we've been having.
Don't believe that editorial runs editorial any more. Borg knows it all, don't you know?
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