Front page is dominated by day old, gee-whiz crime news

A half-dozen TV news trucks set up shop on Wednesday morning in Paramus, above and below, across from the Route 4 west strip mall where break-ins ended with a police officer shooting a suspect in a fleeing car. The story all over the front page of The Record today appears more than 24 hours after he died in a hospital.

All eyes were focused on crime-scene trucks from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and Sheriff's Department that were parked in the strip mall lot.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

As a property tax payer in Hackensack, I've been searching The Record for a story on what happened at the City Council meeting I wasn't able to attend on Tuesday night.

Staff Writer Todd South was at the meeting, but I couldn't find anything on Hackensack in the paper on Wednesday or today.

In today's Local section, there are reports about council meetings in Paramus and Teaneck (L-3).

I guess I forgot the advice of local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza:

They tell readers to get involved in town affairs, because the editors can't be counted on to report local news.

Look to blog

The editor of a local blog, Hackensack Scoop, did attend Tuesday's meeting and reports three property owners have filed a legal challenge to the city's major downtown redevelopment initiative.

The redevelopment plan, launched by the previous administration and the Upper Main Alliance, a property owners group, is designed to increase ratables, which the cash-strapped city desperately needs.

Hackensack has spent millions defending lawsuits filed against former Police Chief Ken Zisa, who is under house arrest after he was convicted of official misconduct and insurance fraud.

And the county seat is being denied tens of millions of dollars in property taxes by tax-exempt entities, including Hackensack University Medical Center, a non-profit, and Bergen County.

Suspect killed

Three of the four stories on Page 1 today are a complete waste of time.

Even though the incident dominated TV news on Wednesday night, The Record devotes most of Page 1 today to the police shooting of a fleeing suspect, who died in the hospital (A-1).

Gee whiz. Look at that great photo of bullet holes in the windshield of the suspect's car from the gun of a police officer he tried to run down, but who was thrown onto the hood of the car.

The story doesn't say when this happened, but suspect Miguel Reyes, 20, of Manhattan died in a hospital at 5:25 a.m. Wednesday, more than a day ago.

Waste of space

And The Record continues to crank out copy on the cheap white trash who call themselves Teresa and Joe Giudice nearly a week after they were sentenced to federal prison, but allowed to stay free for Christmas (A-1).

It's not a surprise or newsworthy that a woman who pleaded guilty to mortgage and bankruptcy fraud (did that include lying on forms?) now claims she was "shocked" the judge sentenced her to prison. 

And really, who cares that a Franklin Lakes golf course is closing? Does this story really belong on Page 1?

What a mockery.

Oust the GOP

All of this trash in the paper distracts readers from the awful job performed by our public officials, including Governor Christie and Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, a Tea Party icon.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the other day it was "a mistake" for Christie to kill the Hudson River rail tunnels in 2010 -- something that every North Jersey commuter knows as well.

In a letter to the editor today, Carl N. Oerke of River Edge figures Garrett's "votes and actions, especially in regards to shutting down the government, have cost this country almost $24.5 billion" (A-18).

"The only job Garrett is protecting is his own ...," he writes. "He is filling his campaign coffers while the middle class suffers."

Hey, there is an election on Nov. 4, and Garrett is seeking a seventh term in the 5th Congressional District, which includes Hackensack, Fair Lawn and most of Teaneck.

Disregard all the nonsense about mall crime, reality TV and golf courses for the wealthy The Record is peddling, and get out and vote.