Image via WikipediaThere is more -- a lot more -- about the state makeover of the Meadowlands and Atlantic City all over the front page and inside The Record of Woodland Park today. In fact, the only other Page 1 story is about the first bear hunt in five years.
"Christie details bold plans," the subhead tells readers, putting the newspaper firmly in the corner of Governor Christie. That support is reinforced in an unusually long editorial (A-18).
The edtorial calls Xanadu "arguably the ugliest structure in the state." Readers of The Record reserve that description for 150 River St., the paper's ghostly former headquarters in Hackensack -- once at the center of Publisher Stephen A. Borg's get-rich-quick scheme in the face of declining readership and ad revenue.
But nothing in today's coverage tells readers whether there is a relationship between Jon F. Hanson, the real estate mogul who headed the state advisory panel on gaming, sports and entertainment, and the Borgs, owner of North Jersey Media Group. Hanson is an ex-sports authority chairman who served as Governor Christie's chief fund-raiser.
I also question the wisdom of following the recommendations of the balding Hanson, who doesn't have the good sense to wear a Panama hat under the broiling sun (see A-1 photo).
A second day of major coverage and it's still hard to tell when anything may happen to change the Meadowlands and Atlantic City. But what became clear today is that a number of North Jersey groups would likely lose casino revenue-sharing funds.
Local leads with a story on late tax bills by Staff Writer Erik Shilling. The penultimate paragraph on L-6 reports incorrectly that Hackensack passed its budget "in June." I called the City Clerk's Office and was told the budget was adopted on July 13. The budget probably was introduced in June.
Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado apparently ignored passage of the budget, and I didn't see a story by her or anyone else in the paper on July 14, July 15 or any day since, although passage of budgets in Tenafly and other towns have been reported regularly.
Alvarado does have a story today on Hackensack high-rise residents being able to return to their apartments briefly (L-6), the sixth straight day of coverage of the parking-garage collapse. The previous record was five straight days of Hackensack coverage in April and May after Police Chief Ken Zisa was charged with fraud.
Since June 2009, Alvarado and head Assignment Editor Deirdre "Mother Hen" Sykes have allowed 28 days or more to pass on four occasions without a story of any kind about Hackensack. But not reporting adoption of the city budget and tax levy is a new low for the pair in a long series of journalistic lows they have been responsible for.
On the seventh day of the latest heat wave, Local breaks its silence on the high temperatures this summer.
(Photo: Flag of Atlantic City.)
I rarely read the Record anymore but am able to follow its coverage and other local news through Eye on the Record and the Cliffview Pilot. If half of what you say is accurate, and I believe it is, the Record is one rudderless ship. Bigtime.
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