On 23-cents gas-tax hike, editors are in the pocket of Big Oil

An FBI agent using the trunk lid of an unmarked car as a desk this morning as other agents and law enforcement officers entered a house at 248 Fairmount Ave. in Hackensack, above and below.

One agent is carrying a folding table into the house. The large, expensive Mercedes-Benz sedan in the driveway has a Pennsylvania plate. A call to an FBI spokesman about the nature of the investigation wasn't returned immediately.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Staff Writer Christopher Maag of The Record normally covers NJ Transit, the state mass-transit agency bus and rail commuters love to hate.

But his reporting today on the 23-cents-a-gallon hike in the state gas tax shows he really is in the pocket of Big Oil and the auto dealers who advertise in the Woodland Park daily.

Instead of leading his Page 1 report with a gas-pump jockey who is saddled with an 11-mpg Mustang, he should have used the River Vale man who says that at $2 or $3 more per fill-up, the first gas-tax hike since 1988 is no big deal (A-1).

At Costco Wholesale in Teterboro today, a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.08.9, compared to the $2.30.9 shown in the photo on A-1 today.

Plus Costco members get 4% cash back on gas purchases worldwide.

Ballot question

If voters approve a constitutional amendment next Tuesday, all of the revenue from the motor fuels tax, which now totals 37.5 cents a gallon, will go to road and rail improvements, instead of being siphoned out of the Transportation Trust Fund to balance the state budget.

When gas prices dipped below $2 a gallon, auto dealers saw the sales of big, high-profit SUVs rise dramatically.

Nissan and other manufacturers are marketing big SUVs and pickups to take advantage of low gasoline prices. Ford is actually shifting small-car production to SUVs and trucks for the same reason.

Those gas-guzzling vehicles only aggravate air pollution and climate change, and contribute to the death of 53,000 people a year from auto emissions.

Today's hike also is a victory for rail commuters, especially if the extra revenue pays for NJ Transit safety improvements, including an automatic braking system that could have prevented the fatal train wreck in Hoboken on Sept. 29.

And which New Jersey motorist doesn't relish the prospect of less traffic when all those New York motorists who came here for cheap gas just stay home?

I won't miss those New Yorkers, many of whom drive like maniacs.

Bridgegate trial

No one knows whether federal-court jurors in Newark will convict two former associates in the politically motivated George Washington Bridge lane closures, which created five mornings of gridlock in Fort Lee in 2013.

But readers can only hope a verdict will finally end all of these Charles Stile columns that begin, "For nearly seven years, Chris Christie" said this or did that or portrayed himself as this or that -- only to be unmasked by testimony in the trial (A-1).

Stile, the paper's biggest apologist for the GOP bully since he took office in early 2010, and the paper's other Trenton reporters have done a poor job of covering the Christie administration.

Follow the vetoes

They should have been following the more than 500 vetoes and the other unilateral actions Governor Christie employed to thwart the majority Democrats in the state Legislature.

They should have been pestering the governor whenever he vetoed a hike in the minimum wage or a tax surcharge on millionaires -- not just chalking it up to politics.

The cancellation of the Hudson River rail tunnels in late 2010 should have set off alarm bells in the Woodland Park newsroom, but it didn't, and that allowed Christie to stave off the gas-tax hike, and use mass-transit money to fix roads and bridges.

Local news

On L-1 today, two stories on animal abuse get better play than a Black Lives Matter protest over a Paterson police officer who shot and wounded a man outside the municipal safety complex.

Sloppy reporting, editing again shake readers' confidence

The round-trip fare on NJ Transit's No. 165 Turnpike Express from Hackensack to midtown Manhattan is $9, but only $4.10 for seniors. The Record's front-page photo caption on a bus collision in Newark doesn't mention one of the drivers may have run a red light, according to officials.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Sloppy reporting and editing in The Record's Page 1 account of a fatal bus collision in Newark is bad enough (A-1 and A-3).

But how do you explain the lack of proofreading on the Local front that led the paper to report the lawyer representing two women appeared to call for dismissal of their suit against a Catholic school (L-1)?

That's right.

The caption under a photo of Kate Drumgoole and wife Jaclyn Vanore actually says their lawyer, Larry Kleiner "argued at a hearing at the Bergen County Courthouse seeking to dismiss Drumgoole's discrimination suit against Paramus Catholic High School."

Obviously, the word "against" is missing. 

The lawyer argued against the dismissal motion, but the caption is written so poorly readers don't find that out until deep on the continuation page (L-2).

The way the caption is written readers might think the "hearing" is "seeking  to dismiss" the suit. 

Also, the caption on NorthJersey.com under the same photo used in the print edition identifies the lawyer as Eric Kleiner, not Larry Kleiner.

The women are represented by both Kleiners.

This photo from The Associated Press shows the NJ Transit bus that was struck by another bus around 6 a.m. on Friday on Broad Street and Raymond Boulevard in downtown Newark.

Fatal bus crash

All morning on Friday, radio news reports on the fatal collision in Newark quoted officials as saying one of the drivers may have run a red light before he T-boned a second bus.

The driver of the NJ Transit bus that may have sped past the light was killed along with a passenger on the second NJ Transit bus that was almost tipped onto its side by the impact.

The Record's front page photo over line and caption today make no mention of the red-light investigation.

As for the story on A-3, Staff Writers Christopher Maag and Nicholas Pugliese report the bus driven by Joseph Barthelus, 70, was empty.

He died in the collision.

However, The Record's story lacks the details of other accounts, including that Barthelus' bus left no skid marks.

Also, the two NJ Transit buses involved in the collision are used on local routes. 

They are smaller and not as heavy as the so-called cruiser buses used on routes to and from Manhattan, and may not afford as much protection to drivers and passengers in crashes.

Even editor is tired of exploiting insane Trump campaign

A mural in downtown Hackensack has been given a face lift by artist Stephanie O'Connor, owner of The Artistic Giraffe Art Studio Gallery at 193 Main St. The historical plaque in the sidewalk lists names for Main Street and State Street in the 1700s and 1800s, below. The passageway connects Main Street to the city owned Atlantic Street paring garage.

Main Street was once called King's Highway and later Front Street. State Street was called Back Street -- "to the west were farms and pasture land," according to the plaque.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A front page dominated by Law & Order news is a sure sign Editor Deirdre Sykes is desperate to avoid having The Record labeled as just a partisan political rag.

Still, she is not ready to give up politics altogether, as readers can see from A-1 stories on the insane presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump and the continuing stalemate over New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund.

Transportation reporter Christopher Maag continues to disappoint, focusing on well-to-do construction workers and contractors who were thrown out of work by Governor Christie -- instead of on how the impasse affects drivers and the environment.

On the continuation page -- if you ever get there -- you'll learn the gasoline tax has paid for road, bridge and rail improvements since 1988, but that the fund now owes $30 billion in principal and interest (A-8).

A proposed 23-cent hike in the gas tax would still allow New Jersey to have lower pump prices than New York and Pennsyvania, but is not expected to slow the sale of gas-guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks.

Local news?

The front of the local-news section carries a banner headline with a word you haven't seen lately, "Mafia" (L-1).

Declaring the Mafia "alive and well," federal prosecutors and a grand jury charged 46 people with "a multitude of crimes up and down the East Coast."

Sykes and the local-news editors are so desperate they continue to run gee-whiz drive-by photos without bothering to identify drivers or say whether summonses were issued (L-1 and L-8).

And today, they need another long Dean's List to fill columns that should be devoted to local news (L-5).

Cheating readers

Today's Informal Dining review cheats readers who may want to know how the beef at Steve's Burgers in Garfield was raised (BL-14).

As it is, Staff Writer Elisa Ung's silence can only mean the fare at the roadside stand -- burgers "made simply from a ground beef blend" -- is just a step above the low-quality stuff served in fast-food restaurants.

The hot dogs? Don't ask.

Christie's war against mass transit, columnist without balls

A view of the Hackensack River from the parking lot behind the White Manna on River Street in Hackensack

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Page 1 of The Record today and Saturday detail the sad state of roads, bridges and public transit, but the editors refuse to point their fingers at Governor Christie.

Since 2010, the GOP bully pulled the plug on the original Hudson River tunnels; threatened repeatedly to veto a modest hike in the gas tax to fund road repairs and rail improvements; and did nothing to force the Port Authority to add bus-only lanes into the Lincoln Tunnel.

Today, readers have to plow through paragraph after paragraph in a long, tedious story before Staff Writer Paul Berger comes clean on A-9.

That's when he reports the "$1.8 million in Port Authority funds" he mentions in the lead paragraph on A-1 was mass-transit money left over from the first Hudson River rail-tunnels project (A-1).

Berger doesn't even mention other tunnel-project money Christie misappropriated from NJ Transit before he started cutting millions in state subsidies, forcing the mass-transit agency to raise fares and cut service.

Why 'ambitious'?

On Saturday's A-1, why did Staff Writer Christopher Maag call a fuel-tax plan to raise $20 billion over 10 years "ambitious"?

You'd expect that description from Christie, whose threats to veto any gas-tax increase forced legislative leaders to include a phase-out of the state's estate tax and deductions on some charitable contributions.

New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund is expected to run out of money by the end of the month.

Maag reports the proposals "could increase the cost of gasoline by 23 cents a gallon ... still less than the amount charged by neighboring states, including New York and Pennsylvania."

Saturday's paper included three sections of advertising from car dealers, so The Record's editors likely have been ordered not to report higher gas prices would be good for the environment, if people drove less, bought fewer SUVs and pickup trucks, and turned to hybrids and all-electric cars instead.

Local news?

Road Warrior John Cichowski continues to betray older drivers like himself with yet another column on cellphone-addicted teens (L-1).

In the 12-plus years he's been writing his column, hundreds of seniors have mistaken the gas pedal for the brake pedal, often with fatal consequences.

Cichowski's reaction has been to urge older people to give up driving, and take one of the few ride services available. 

'Me, me, me'

Why does Mike Kelly's Opinion front column on Donald Trump and "labels" begin with the veteran reporter screaming, "Me, me, me"?

"Some years ago, I knocked on the front door ... where Al Sharpton was living," Kelly says in a first paragraph guaranteed to put the reader to sleep (O-1).

"Some years ago"? That was more than 25 years ago, when a white Teaneck police officer shot and killed a black teenager.

When Kelly eventually gets to the billionaire racist demeaning the judge hearing the fraud case against Trump University as "Mexican," all the columnist can manage is to call it "deplorable" (O-4).

Where are Kelly's balls?

He then goes on to declare "this presidential sweepstakes has become another journey into America's racial divisions," and in the process, offends supporters of Hillary Clinton.

The columnist describes "Trump's smarmy decision to reach out to white, working-class voters and ... Clinton's equally smarmy courting of African-Americans" (O-4).

Hysterical N.J. gas-tax opponents don't deserve equal time

In Hackensack, the exterior of the Bergen County Justice Center is nearing completion as work continues on the covered pedestrian bridge to the courthouse, below, near the medieval ramparts of the old county jail. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Koch brothers -- oil billionaires who back right-wing candidates in a war against the middle class -- are financing a campaign to stop a gas-tax increase in New Jersey.

The crackpot New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by the evil brothers, urges drivers to say "no to a crazy new gas tax," a Page 1 story in The Record reports.

Staff Writer Christopher Maag actually devotes his second paragraph to the group's ridiculous ad showing "a father stealing things from his kids, including the family dog Sparky to pay for a gas-tax increase" (A-1).

The story is the latest to reflect how The Record allows wealthy special-interest groups, polls and politics to shape its reporting on important public issues.

Maag gives undue weight to hysterical anti-tax opponents without ever citing the logic of drivers paying a higher gas tax to fix roads and bridges, and to improve mass transit.  

Solar farms

The first paragraph of today's solar farm story claims "the projects could depress the price of solar credits that some homeowners rely on to pay off their rooftop ... arrays" (A-1).

But nowhere does Staff Writer James M. O'Neill mention that PSE&G has placed a floor of $400 under each credit a homeowner uses to repay the utility under its solar-loan program.

That compares to the average of $220 the reporter cites in his story. In 2010 and 2011, a so-called SREC fetched as much as $650.

Ruben Enukashvili

There are few details in the story about driver Christine Ko, 20, and how she killed pedestrian Ruben Enukashvili on Sunday night, allegedly while drunk (A-1).

Was the 86-year-old Georgian native in a Fort Lee crosswalk when he was struck by Ko's car? Is she a liquor store clerk in Fort Lee or her hometown of Ewing? Was she working that night?

Ko, who is charged with vehicular homicide, a first-degree crime, also received motor vehicle summonses.

John Walton

A story on another fatality -- the death of a 101-year-old driver who grazed a firetruck and crashed into a Paterson firehouse -- doesn't say whether former firefighter and Pearl Harbor survivor John Walton suffered a medical emergency (L-1).

Walton, who crashed on Sunday, died in the hospital on Tuesday. 

A photo of the accident and a seven-paragraph story appeared on L-6 in Monday's paper.

But for some reason, the reporter didn't identify the driver or give his age, reporting only that he was "elderly."

The man was taken to a hospital after receiving "emergency medical treatment" from firefighters, according to the story.

Staff Writer Linda Moss even interviewed Deputy Fire Chief William Henderson, who witnessed the accident but apparently didn't know or didn't tell her who Walton was.

Today's obituary reports Walton was Paterson's oldest living war veteran.

Sensationalism drowning out questions from local taxpayers

The Hackensack City Council and city manager are reviewing proposals to privatize sanitation pickup for a projected savings of $850,000 a year. Officials also may hire a public relations firm, Vision Media of Secaucus, to promote downtown redevelopment at an undisclosed cost. The Record hasn't covered those issues or asked why Board of Education President Jason Nunnermacker, below in hoodie, falsely claimed the school budget cut local property taxes. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Today, the desperate editors of The Record exploit the anguish of a mother -- who suspected her son committed anti-Semitic acts -- to sell newspapers and distract readers searching in vain for local news.

Large photos of a tearful Denise Rivas, mother of Lodi defendant Anthony Graziano, are splashed all over Page 1 and the continuation page in the kind of sensational trial coverage you'd expect to see in a trashy tabloid (A-1 and A-8).

Local news?

On the Local news front today, Editor Deirdre Sykes continues to scramble, grabbing at crime news, a college graduation, animal-rights activists and the expansion of the Islamic Center of Passaic County (L-1).

In fact, there is so little local news from Hackensack and many other towns, Sykes had to plug a huge hole (half of a newspaper page) with a Dean's List (L-6) -- a crutch she has used for many years.

Meanwhile, the business editors couldn't find enough news in Bergen and Passaic counties, so they ran with the closing of the Saks Fifth Avenue store at the Short Hills mall -- far out of the circulation area (L-7).

Wednesday's paper

On Wednesday's front page, transportation writer Christopher Maag tried to whip readers into a frenzy over "waste" and "lapses in security" at Newark Liberty International Airport.

And Port Authority reporter Paul Berger threw crumbs to long-suffering commuters who ride buses to and from Manhattan on the completion of a new midtown terminal (2023 to 2026).

Berger is another in a long line of Record reporters who decline to question officials running the massive bi-state agency on their refusal to add exclusive bus lanes at the Lincoln Tunnel or expand PATH service to Bergen County.

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski dredged up a 2008 incident, but the introduction was so long and boring, readers fell asleep before he made the point that "driving drowsy" is as dangerous as drunk driving.

Piling on decades-long tradition of demonizing mass transit

On Boulevard East in West New York, passengers boarding a local NJ Transit bus to Manhattan on a weekday morning in late March found standing room only.

An NJ Transit train pulling into the Anderson Street station, one of two rail stations in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

At least The Record has been consistent in decades of negative reporting about bus and train service to Manhattan from northern New Jersey.

It began more than 20 years ago with two front-page stories on "highways of the future" by a transportation reporter who ignored screeching brakes and noisy engines on NJ Transit commuter buses.

Then, the editors went on the warpath against extension of NJ Transit's pollution-free light-rail service to Englewood and Tenafly.

And in the last year or so, the paper's transportation reporters don't seem to be reporting anything but how many "billions of dollars" will have to be spent to replace the antiquated mid-Manhattan bus station and expand rail service to the city.

Page 1 stories today and Saturday also emphasize how transportation spending is mired in politics.

Sadly, readers haven't seen anything about the tremendous societal benefits of taking commuters out of their cars -- from less traffic congestion to fewer deaths from auto emissions to greater worker productivity.

Today's so-called analysis of NJ Transit's "problems" is especially bad, because Staff Writer Christopher Maag again ignores Governor Christie's war on commuters, and his deep cuts in state operating subsidies -- cuts that forced the agency to raise fares (A-1). 

The headline uses "NJT" for NJ Transit, eve though that has never been recognized as an acronym for the state mass-transit agency.

Bridgegate probe

Staff Writer Jeff Pillets was once of the first reporters to understand that the George Washington Bridge scandal would be as damaging to Christie's reputation as Watergate was to President Richard Nixon, who was hounded out of office (A-1 and O-1).

But no reporter has been able to show that Christie at least knew about the Bridgegate conspiracy during his successful 2013 campaign for a second term.

Deep in today's front-page story, Pillets and reporter Dustin Racioppi report that Christie aide Regina Egea and the governor are "believed" to have deleted text messages they exchanged as Port Authority officials testified to a legislative committee looking into the lane closings (A-4).

Local news?

The Local section delivered to Bergen County readers today includes stories from West Milford, Wanaque, Woodland Park, Pequannock and Ringwood (L-1 to L-7).

The Borgs and North Jersey Media Group save money on newsprint by printing only one section, but cheat Bergen readers out of the local news they deserve.

Meanwhile, The Record continues to chronicle the violent death of every animal in North Jersey. 

Today, eight paragraphs are devoted to a Morris County golfer who killed a goose (L-3).

Road Warrior John Cichowski today reports on "better training" for motorcyclists, not a ticket blitz to penalize them for disturbing the peace (L-1).

What about better training for elderly drivers like Cichowski who too often mistake the gas pedal for the brake pedal? 

Split personality

On Fridays, Staff Writer Elisa Ung's reviews are supposed to take a critical look at new restaurants.

But on Sundays, her uncritical Corner Table column does little more than promote chefs and restaurants, as in her glowing profile of Fortunato Nicotra of Paramus (BL-1).

Those Sunday columns are a disservice to reader who want more -- not less -- information about how the food they eat was raised or grown.

On BL-2 today, the First Course feature pushes za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend, that costs the equivalent of $80 a pound when purchased online.

That same mixture is available at Fattal's and other stores in the bustling South Paterson neighborhood of Paterson for about $8 a pound. 

Searching another Sunday edition in vain for local voices

One of the charms of Hackensack's Fairmount section is this shady alley off of Prospect Avenue, but the neighborhood also is plagued by noisy business jets heading for Teterboro Airport.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Another Sunday edition of The Record almost completely ignores the concerns of the vast majority of North Jersey residents.

A front-page story on the alarming number of assaults on vulnerable patients at Bergen Regional Medical Center, which treats the neediest, certainly is important (A-1).

But why -- in more than two full newspaper pages -- doesn't the story ask and answer the question on most readers' and taxpayers' minds:

Why does Bergen County still own a hospital -- the state's biggest, no less?

Rail commuters continue to scramble for seats aboard crowded NJ Transit trains, so why is Staff Writer Christopher Maag going on and on today about a safety system called "positive train control" (A-1)?

And why does political columnist Charles Stile think anyone is interested in his boring assessment of Senate President Stephen Sweeney's chances in the 2017 gubernatorial election (A-1)?

Local news?

Don't look for local news today.

Another Road Warrior column on the MVC, and a huge graphic on the redevelopment of Fort Lee dominate the Local front.

Long-time Fort Lee residents have been very vocal in their opposition to the Hudson Lights project, but you won't hear any of their voices today (L-1).

Inside the section, there are stories from Waldwick, Oakland, Ramsey, Bloomingdale, Haledon and Pequannock, but nothing from Hackensack.

Even if cleared in Bridgegate, Christie still is biggest loser

This front page ran in the Daily News in January 2014, and proved prophetic. The News, Star-Ledger and other newspapers have covered Governor Christie and his administration far more honestly than The Record of Woodland Park.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Since Governor Christie took office in early 2010, New Jersey has become a laughing stock.

And a couple of months ago, Christie's endorsement of fellow Muslim-hater Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination prompted the editorial boards of seven major New Jersey dailies to call for his resignation.

"He has answered every crisis with neglect during his disastrous second term," The Star-Ledger noted on March 3, calling on him to leave office for "New Jersey's sake."

The state's biggest newspaper listed the state's fiscal crisis as second worst in the nation, including Atlantic City on the brink of bankruptcy, a mass-transit system in disrepair and an infrastructure fund fast running out of money.

The Woodland Park daily was the only major New Jersey paper that continued to give Christie the benefit of the doubt, filling its column recently with upbeat assessments of his selection as Trump's transition chief -- in the unlikely event the billionaire racist is elected in November.

"Make America Hate Again" is one critic's take on Trump's message.

By his side

Today and Thursday, The Record ran self-serving statements from Christie that all but absolved him in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal less than two months before he was elected to a second term in 2013.

The Record has done exhaustive reporting on the scandal, and now takes credit for leading other media companies in getting federal prosecutors to release a list of "unindicted co-conspirators" that was kept secret after Christie's close aide and crony were charged with conspiracy.

Two of three access lanes to GWB upper-level tool booths were closed in the week of Sept. 9, 2013, as political retribution against Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, supposedly for not supporting the governor's reelection campaign.

A second list "is expected to offer the broadest portrait yet of who knew about the conspiracy but did not report it" (A-1).

Worst governor ever

Whether one or both lists are released today and whether Christie is on them is irrelevant in view of his mean-spirited rule of New Jersey, and his war on the middle and working classes.

For a hands-on governor to claim he didn't know what his closest aides and cronies were doing is preposterous, and he long ago was convicted in the court of public opinion.

No matter what happens in Bridgegate, Christie's reign has been disastrous for the state and its residents.

He is the biggest loser, and we are the victims of his personal ambition.

Today's paper

I've seen some terrific headlines in The Record recently, but the one over the GWB scandal today is just ridiculous:

"Seeking
clarity in
political
morass"

Readers have no clue from the main or sub-headline what "political morass" the headline writer is referring to, and it could very well be the deadlock in Congress or the State House.

Of course, a big problem is the huge story on GWB repairs that is displayed next to the scandal story, even though the project doesn't get under way until next year (A-1).

Infrastructure stories such as this are a poor choice for Page 1, but Editor Deirdre Sykes is desperate, because she can't inspire her transportation reporters -- Paul Berger, Christopher Maag and John Cichowski -- to cover the actual commuting crisis in North Jersey.

Rare victory

Another Page 1 story today marks a rare victory over the Christie administration's poor environmental policies (A-1).

The state is dropping plans to "bring large-scale development to Liberty State Park" in Jersey City.

Hackensack police Lt. James Prise, second from right, at the March 8 ceremony in City Council Chambers with his wife and children.

Hackensack news?

Staff Writer John Seasly has done a poor job of covering Hackensack, but he has been all over the embarrassing public ceremony in March to recognize the promotion of the city's first black police lieutenant to captain, another first for an African-American.

Less than a month later, Lt. James Prise was returned to his original rank after he learned he had failed part of his state civil service exam.

Now, Councilwoman Deborah Keeling-Geddis, who also is black, issued a public apology and said Prise "did not deserve to suffer this indignity" (L-1).

Today, Seasly reports her statement "angered the mayor and deputy mayor, who accused her of political maneuvering and of going against the lieutenant's wishes."

Poor coverage

Seasly disappointed Hackensack residents by not covering the issues in the April 19 school election or the Zisa family's attempted political comeback by backing three of the nine candidates.

The election deserved attention, because only about 1,300 of 20,000 registered voters usually cast ballots.

This year, only 895 of them approved a $79 million tax levy to support the $104 million school spending plan, bigger than the city's own budget.

School taxes make up 44% of the total bill in Hackensack.

Voter apathy, apparent in Hackensack's local elections, can be traced to The Record's irresponsibly poor coverage of the city it once called home.

Hackensack schools chief is out; wacko Trump taps Plump

Karen Lewis, superintendent of Hackensack schools, has been suspended with pay, according to BergenDispatch.com (Photo credit: Schoolword.com)

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record missed another big Hackensack story today -- the suspension with pay of Schools Superintendent Karen Lewis.

On Monday, Paul Nichols of BergenDispatch.com cited "multiple sources" in reporting that Lewis is out despite a 5-year contract that paid her $167,500 a year starting on Dec. 1, 2013.

With bonuses, Lewis was paid more than Governor Christie, who receives $175,000 a year.

Board of Education President Jason Nunnermacker had no comment, but told Nichols "the matter will be appropriately addressed" at tonight's scheduled board meeting in the high school media room.

The suspension comes about three weeks after the April 19 Hackensack school election.

Two incumbents and a former board member were elected to three-year terms, and a tiny minority of registered voters approved a $79 million tax levy to support a total school budget of $104 million.

Trump and Christie

Since Christie took office in early 2010, the GOP bully has transformed New Jersey into a state of emergency.

So, you have to wonder why the editors are making such a big deal over wacko racist Donald Trump picking Christie to head a transition team in the unlikely event the billionaire and presumptive Republican nominee is elected president (A-1).

Satirist Bill Maher referred to the pair as "Trump and Plump."

Trump's election is as much of a long shot as was Christie's bid for the nomination.

Women to bury him

The billionaire racist likely will be buried under the votes of millions of women for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

One thing Trump and Christie have in common is their hatred of Muslims, and both have tapped into the deep-seated racial animosity toward our first black president.

In New Jersey, not only has the governor been waging war against New Jersey's middle and working classes, but his cancellation of the Hudson River rail tunnels has really screwed up mass transit -- as another Page 1 story reports today.

The story on the Gateway Tunnel project carries a dual byline -- Christopher Maag, who covers NJ Transit, and Paul Berger, the Port Authority reporter.

But the first paragraph is overly long, and contains the phrases "environmental permits" and "environmental regulations."

Federal agencies are said to want to "rush through environmental regulations" -- whatever that means.

Local news?

From the looks of the local-news section, there was plenty of room for a story on the Hackensack schools superintendent.

The only other Hackensack news is a huge photo of two vehicles burning on Byrne Street after a power line fell (L-6).

Below that is another filler photo, this one about a stove fire in Paramus.

'Army of hacks'

A brief on Uber drivers forming a new labor organization in New York City to win better treatment and pay refers to them an "army of homemade hacks" (L-9).

Surely, that's an insult, considering that many Uber drivers in the city have years of experience as livery drivers or work for Uber to supplement their income from other driving jobs.

The true hacks are the reporter and editors who handled the story, which is from an unnamed news service.

Better Living

What are readers to make of today's Better Living cover story on grown men racing miniature radio-controlled racing cars in Hackensack (BL-1)?

And why does the piece carry the byline of Maag, a transportation reporter?

On BL-2, Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung promotes another spot for Callahan's mystery meat hot dogs.