Editors are scraping bottom of the barrel for local news

Old and new architecture in lower Manhattan: The Municipal and Woolworth buildings, center left, and One World Trade Center.

Editor's note: Today's post has been updated and expanded.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If The Record ran a story and photos every time officers were promoted by one of the 86 police departments in Bergen and Passaic counties, there would be no room for other local news.

So, readers can only conclude the Fort Lee promotions and hirings reported on L-2 today are a desperate attempt to plug a hole in the sleepy summer local report.

This is the kind of news that belongs in a weekly newspaper, of which North Jersey Media Group has many, not in the publishing company's flagship.

Even the 10 thumbnail photos of the promoted officers and new hires are out of focus, something you'd see in a weekly.

Production Editor Liz Houlton must be on vacation, though she doesn't do much better when she is there, asleep at her computer.

Feel-good police news

You get the feeling local-news Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza run these police promotion and hiring stories as a way of making nice with the departments.

Many law-enforcement agencies refuse to release routine accident and crime news to the paper, judging from how often those reports have holes big enough to drive a tractor-trailer through.

This may be Sykes' and Sforza's way of getting the departments to be more forthcoming.

Below the Fort Lee story is the stupid DEAN'S LIST, a fixture on L-2 that for years has filled a hole in the thin local-news report. 

Botched project

On the opposite page in Local today is a long, tortured story about a street in Ramsey that has been closed since last Nov. 4, forcing 10 businesses to relocate or close, according to the Chamber of Commerce (L-3).

Did I miss the interviews with business owners, denouncing the incompetence of county officials and the contractor for wanting to keep the street closed to two-way traffic for an entire year to replace a "culvert"?

Now, Lake Street is scheduled to open on Aug. 14, as we learn in great detail today from Staff Writer Allison Pries. 

For other momentous local news, see "Emerson field is ready for its artificial turf" (L-3), which undoubtedly will be followed by "Emerson field face-lift is complete."

Poor play

The L-1 story on Paterson, Newark and Jersey City joining to combat violent crime should have gotten far better play on Page 1.

Conspicuously absent is any mention of assistance from Governor Christie, who allegedly has retaliated against Democratic mayors who won't endorse his mean-spirited politics.

When Christie visited Paterson to swear-in Democratic Mayor Joey Torres on July 1, he was greeted by loud boos from protesters, according to the web site of PolitickerNJ.

There is apparently no truth to rumors the GOP bully threatened to dam the Passaic River and dry up the Great Falls, if Torres ever mentioned how the city had to lay off 125 police officers after Christie cut aid to the poor city.

The Record has been doing many strong follow-ups to the July 5 shooting of Genesis Rincon, a 12-year-old Paterson girl killed by a random gunshot as she was riding her scooter.

But the editors are not touching one touchy subject: The inability of Paterson police to protect citizens from drive-by shooting and other gun violence.

More casino news

The major Page 1 story today -- on a $1.5 billion hotel and casino proposed for Sterling Forest, north of the New Jersey border -- makes one reference to "a Malaysia-based hospitality company."

Can you trust a resort developer from a country whose civil aviation authority is in shambles?

This is the second speculative story on a casino in as many days, but how real is the threat to New Jersey's water supply?

On the continuation page, the story notes "the resort is one of 17 contenders for four casino licenses" (A-6). 

But there are no interviews with town officials and residents who would live near the behemoth and have to contend with traffic, noise and drunk gambling addicts.

Good soju news

Another touchy subject The Record's editors won't touch is how restaurants dramatically mark up beer, wine and liquor to boost their profits, even as they pay slave wages to servers and other staff.

Today, another front page story reports the "illegal serving of soju at BYOBs" in Palisades Park and other towns "has led to a 30 [percent] to 40 percent decline in sales at county restaurants that sell liquor," according to the Bergen County Korean Restaurant Association (A-4).

And in good news for restaurant goers, many restaurants with liquor licenses have slashed their price for a 375-milliliter bottle of the traditional alcoholic drink to $6.99 and $5.99 from $12.99.

Liquor stores sell the same bottle for $3.99.

An appreciation of soju by Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung fails to mention that some popular brands contain high fructose corn syrup, which is linked to the obesity epidemic (A-4).