Governor Christie as leader, his evil twin -- all in one place

In a photo by Mel Evans of The Associated Press, Governor Christie pauses during applause at his State of the State address to the Legislature on Wednesday. Evans is a former staff photographer at The Record.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I can't recall another front page of The Record that showed the two faces of Governor Christie so starkly -- a radical anti-tax politician who thinks nothing of destroying the middle class, and a compassionate leader against drug addiction.

Today's top story discloses a settlement that "exposed private meetings in which unnamed allies of ... Christie planned to divert almost $2 million" from a project to dig two new Hudson River rail tunnels so he could use the money to fix roads and bridges (1A).

That allowed Christie to avoid raising the gasoline tax in late 2010 or 2011 for those repairs, but set back the expansion of mass transit for middle class commuters more than a decade.

But the biggest element on Page 1 today is an upbeat report on Christie's pledge during his final year in office "to combat the plague of heroin and opiate abuse," and expand treatment (1A).

"Our friends are dying. Our neighbors are dying. Our co-worker are dying. Our children are dying. Every day. In numbers we can no longer endure" Christie said during his State of the State address on Wednesday.

Sloppy coverage

There is so much missing in today's news and Editorial Page coverage of the $400,000 settlement with the Port Authority, and Christie's seventh State of the State address (1A, 8A, 9A and 10A).

Nowhere do Record reporters or the paper's Editorial Board recognize that Christie's conservative war against tax hikes, including a surcharge on millionaires, while doling out billions to businesses and other special interests, have wrecked the state economy.

And he's balanced the state budget year after year only by grabbing leftover Hudson River rail tunnel money from both the Port Authority and NJ Transit, under-funding the state employee pension system and using other voodoo economics. 

In a preview of the State of the State speech on Tuesday, Dustin Racioppi buried key paragraphs:

"Christie possesses tremendous power over the budget, over appointments and with his veto pen," the State House Bureau reporter wrote.

But Racioppi long ago stopped counting Christie's more than 500 vetoes, which surely set a record for any New Jersey governor, or chronicling the damage they've caused to working and middle-class residents.

Also on Tuesday, he wrote:

"Property taxes in New Jersey remain the highest in the nation, despite a 2 percent cap," and "New Jersey's pension system is now the worst-funded in the country, with $135.7 billion in unfunded liabilities, according to Bloomberg."

None of those issues are raised in today's news story or political column, which is yet another Charles Stile rehash of Christie's "reputation" and "standing with voters" in the wake of damaging Bridgegate trial revelations (1A).

Christie's State of the State address is no longer Page 1 news

"Trump Hackers" from cartoonist Steve Sack. New York businessman Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as president of the United States in just 10 days.



By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Did you miss the teaser at the bottom of The Record's front page today on Governor Christie's State of the State address?

From the State House Bureau, Dustin Racioppi tries to predict what mood Christie will be in when he delivers his annual address to the state Legislature today (3a).

Most of the focus is on whether the GOP thug will be "combative or compassionate," not on such issues as the "worst-funded" public employee pension system in the country.

By the time the actual speech hits The Record's front page on Wednesday, it will be old news to anyone who watches the TV coverage or follows the governor on Twitter (@GovChristie).

How's that again?

The editors made a mess of Staff Writer Christopher Maag's overwrought story on the 100th anniversary of "one of the largest acts of foreign sabotage ever committed on American soil" (1A).

The man shown in the big photo on Page 1 isn't identified by name, though he's called "Bergen County Fire Marshal" in the caption.

Bryan Hennig of Lyndhurst is planning to celebrate the heroism of Tessie McNamara, who stayed at the telephone switchboard of the exploding Kingsland munitions factory on Jan. 11, 1917, to warn others to evacuate.

No one died, so readers are not sure why so much space is devoted to this anniversary. 

Judging from the dull headlines, the copy editor must have been lulled to sleep by the overly long story, and forced to write the main headline minutes before deadline:

"ANNIVERSARY

OF SABOTAGE"

In the story, Hennig is identified as a 35-year veteran of the Volunteer Fire Department in Lyndhurst, but not as a county fire marshal (6A).

The reporter stops short of comparing the German attack on the Lyndhurst shell factory to Russian sabotage of the 2016 presidential election.

Local news?

In his 14th year as the so-called Road Warrior, Staff Writer John Cichowski continues to give the cold shoulder to all of those long-suffering NJ Transit commuters and even drivers stuck in growing congestion at the Hudson River crossings.

I'm not sure what anyone's reaction to painting a blue line in the street to honor police departments has to do with transportation (1L).

Page 3L of today's Local section speaks volumes about the poorly executed redesign of the print edition by Gannett editors holed up in the Neptune design center.

The page is a mass of type, with only a thumbnail photo and a few headline words to break it up.

Appeals could keep Bridgegate pair out of prison for 2 years

Bridgegate defendants Bridget Anne Kelly, left, and Bill Baroni, both former allies of Governor Christie, were found guilty on all counts today (Credit: Thomas Bryan/Getty Images).

Editor's note: This post has been revised and greatly expanded.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We're nowhere near having heard the last about Bridget Anne Kelly, Bill Baroni, Governor Christie and the infamous George Washington Bridge lane closures in 2013.

After a federal jury in Newark found Kelly and Baroni guilty of all charges this morning, sentencing was set for Feb. 21.

Appeals of the verdicts and sentences are certainties.

That means Christie's former deputy chief of staff, as well as his top executive appointee at the Port Authority, owner and operator of the bridge, may be able to stay out of prison for up to 2 years.

So, David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty and became the government's star witness against Kelly and Baroni, likely will be going to prison before them.

Damning email

Kelly, a divorced mother of four, testified in her own defense, but was never able to explain away the email she sent to Wildstein about a month before he put the lane closures into motion on Sept. 9, 2013, causing five mornings of gridlock:

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

"Got it," replied Wildstein, who was Baroni's deputy at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a notorious patronage mill for the governors of the two states.

What everyone referred to as a "traffic study" was actually a bizarre scheme designed to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for refusing to endorse Christie's re-election in November 2013.

The defendants were each charged with seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud, including misusing the resources of the bi-state transportation agency and violating the rights of the citizens of Fort Lee to travel without restriction.

The most serious charge is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Christie's role

Kelly and other witnesses testified that Christie knew about the lane closures as they were happening, despite his repeated denials.

Wildstein testified that his every official action at the Port Authority was designed to please only "one constituent" -- Christie.

Wildstein also said he told the governor about the scheme at a Sept. 11, 2013, memorial service. Kelly said she received the governor's approval before she sent the "Time for some traffic problems" email.

Unindicted?

The governor was never charged and wasn't called to testify under oath, although he was found guilty in the court of public opinion years ago.

And federal prosecutors never revealed the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the case.

"The lane-closing scandal was the biggest political corruption case in New Jersey in years, riveting a state that has a long history of official malfeasance," The New York Times is reporting.

"It crippled ... Christie's presidential candidacy this year and left him deeply unpopular among his constituents.

In the six-week trial in Newark federal court, "the prosecution and defense both portrayed the Christie administration as a relentlessly political operation in the service of a fiery-tempered and ambitious governor," according to The Times.

"Aides began using government resources to seek political endorsements" in 2010, the year the GOP bully took office, "with an eye to winning not just a broad re-election victory, but also the presidential race six years away."

Today's paper

The guilty verdicts were returned before noon today by federal jurors, who like so many of their predecessors didn't want to come back on Saturday to deliberate.

They started going over the evidence and the judge's instructions on the law that governed the charges on Monday.

The Record's front-page story on the trial today focuses not on the possibility of a verdict, but on Thursday's mistrial motions by hysterical attorneys who saw their defense cases sinking.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan D. Wigenton had ruled the jury could find the defendants guilty of conspiracy even if prosecutors didn't prove the motive was to punish Fort Lee's mayor.

Novice reporters

Sadly, the Gannett-owned Woodland Park daily put coverage of one of the biggest trials in decades in the hands Dustin Racioppi and Paul Berger, reporters who had little, if any, experience covering federal criminal cases.

That resulted in an unusually heavy focus on the two defense teams -- headed by Michael Critchley and Michael Baldassare -- which likely have bankrupted the defendants with their endless motions and delaying tactics.

Now, after the pair are sentenced, those same lawyers will be demanding even more money to bankroll appeals and keep Kelly and Baroni out of prison for as long as possible. 

Meanwhile, readers are questioning why Columnist Mike Kelly wrote such a long, flattering profile about Bridget Kelly during the trial, emphasizing her roots in Ramsey, her Catholicism and her four children.

The Record didn't give Baroni anywhere near the same sympathetic treatment.

Reporter admits error, columnist struggles for relevance

This morning, an FBI spokesman in Newark said agents executed court-authorized search warrants at 248 Fairmount Ave. in Hackensack on Tuesday as part of "an ongoing investigation." He wouldn't say if any arrests were made.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Bridgegate trial reporter Dustin Racioppi finally corrects his story from last Thursday, when he reported the judge instructed jurors on the law at a closed meeting with lawyers the day before.

In The Record today, Racioppi now acknowledges the judge instructed the jury on the law and read the charges "before it broke for deliberation[s]" on Monday.

The reporter also says that on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark "sided with the prosecution in removing language" that the George Washington Bridge lane closures in 2013 were designed to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Governor Christie's reelection.

Jurors had sent out a note asking whether the defendants can be found guilty of conspiracy "without the act being intentionally punitive toward Mayor Sokolich."

Racioppi's error on jury instructions was compounded when it was picked up by both Paul Berger, the other reporter covering the trial, and Carl Golden, a Sunday columnist.

And in his own column, Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin reported incorrectly the trial is taking place at the federal courthouse in Trenton.

Incoherent columnist

Staff Writer John Cichowski, The Record's sorry excuse for a commuting columnist, continues to struggle for relevance.

Today, the so-called Road Warrior links "getting a commuter to divulge his favorite shortcut" to "getting a presidential candidate to talk about the contents of her email server" (L-1).

The cheap shot at Democrat Hillary Clinton isn't lost on readers, who question what the presidential race has to do with anything in his column.

On Sunday's Local front, a desperate Cichowski linked Halloween's "annual parade of witches, ghosts and goblins" to the "ghoulish bit of news" about a nationwide study on "the habits of  of young people as they cross streets in school zones."

Jeurys who?

About a third of today's front page is wasted on a news story and column about a pro baseball player who was arrested at his Fort Lee home "in connection with an alleged domestic assault" (A-1).

The column by Bob Klapisch begins:

"It was about 11 a.m. on Tuesday when I spoke to a high-ranking Mets official with the unfortunate news of Jeurys Familia's arrest in Fort Lee."

Does Klapisch mean "about" the news of the athlete's arrest?

This isn't inside baseball; this is inside the mind of a burned-out sports columnist.

Bridgegate trial editors forgot to read U.S. Courts handbook

In summing up the government's case at the Bridgegate trial on Friday, a prosecutor called defendants Bridget Anne Kelly, left, and Bill Baroni "loyal lieutenants" of Governor Christie (Credit: Bryan Thomas/Getty Images).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's flawed coverage of the Bridgegate trial in Newark is lurching toward its conclusion next week, when federal jurors are expected to begin their secret deliberations and deliver a verdict.

In reporting on Friday's closing arguments, the main Page 1 headline today presents the defense case first, and is missing a question mark:

"Political
dupes
or loyal
soldiers"

In fact, a federal prosecutor went first, and spent four hours laying out evidence the defendants "shared an intense commitment to the political success of Governor Christie."

"They saw themselves as his loyal lieutenants who were free to use their government jobs to launch political attacks ...," notably the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September 2013, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Cortes said (A-1).

Defendants Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the governor's former top executive appointee at the Port Authority, "never attempted to separate politics from their jobs in public service," Cortes told the jury.

Defense attorney Michael Baldassare called Baroni's accuser and former subordinate David Wildstein "a serial liar." Kelly's attorney is set to sum up on Monday.

Uncorrected error

In today's Bridgegate trial story, Staff Writer Paul Berger steers clear of a major error on Friday, when The Record reported the judge has already instructed the jury on the law, even though that is the last step before they start their deliberations.

And no correction appears on A-2 today.

The two reporters who have been covering the trial, Berger and Dustin Racioppi, and their editors apparently forgot to read the "Handbook for Trial Jurors Serving in the United States District Courts," which lays out how a federal criminal trial proceeds.

Page 8 notes the judge's instructions or "the charge to the jury" comes after closing arguments, not before.

"The charge ... is much more than a statement of the rules of law. Sometimes it may contain a summary of the facts or some of the facts.

"The judge may point out and may also explain basic facts in dispute, and facts that do not actually matter in the case."

Bad news for Christie

At least three witnesses testified under oath that Christie knew about the lane closures in Fort Lee, despite his repeated denials.

But that's not why he looks so unhappy in a Page 1 photo today from a Seaside Heights bar, where people who are not back in their homes four years after Superstorm Sandy rained on his progress report.

3-star crap

Staff Writer Elisa Ung continues to lose credibility as a restaurant critic with her rave review of the low-quality smoked pork and artery clogging desserts served at an out-of-state restaurant, Fink's BBQ and Cheesesteak Roadhouse (BL-14 on Friday).

Absent any information to the contrary, readers can only assume the worst, that the pork, meat and poultry served there are raised under horrific conditions and pumped full of antibiotics, which are harmful to humans.

More bad journalism: False Bridgegate trial story, column

The upper level toll plaza of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee in September 2013 (Credit: The New York Times).

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

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In a major error on Page 1 today, The Record says the federal judge at the Bridgegate trial has already instructed the jury on the law.

Also on A-1 today, Staff Writer John Cichowski, The Record's pathetic excuse for a commuting columnist, quotes one of his moronic readers comparing the Bridgegate trial to the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals after World War II.

The conspiracy trial of two of Governor Christie's ex-aides, Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, opened on Sept. 19, and the judge instructs the jury on the law governing the charges only after prosecutors and defense attorneys sum up their cases.

This morning, U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton postponed those closing arguments until Friday, apparently to resolve defense objections to proposed instructions that jurors should ignore the political motive for the lane closings.

Kelly is charged with sending an email to David Wildstein, Christie's crony at the Port Authority -- "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" -- that set into motion five mornings of gridlock, starting on Sept. 9, 2013, the first day of school.

The traffic jams were intended to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for refusing to endorse Christie's reelection, prosecutors say. 

Missing type

At least nine words of Cichowski's Road Warrior column between the front page and the continuation page (A-6) went missing due to a production error.

The complete column appears online.

His first paragraph names five "victims" who were "trapped in their cars" when two of three Fort Lee access lanes to the bridge were closed.  

"Bridget Kelly is a single mother who was worried about losing her job, but that's not a good enough defense," says Hyla Epstein. "It's a self-serving argument" (A-6).

In an exaggeration typical of the column, Cichowski says Epstein "recalled nearly being trapped in her Fort Lee home by gridlock for most of the week."

So, I guess we can assume cars caught in the traffic jam mounted the sidewalk and blocked Epstein's front door.

Trial coverage

The biggest flaw in The Record's coverage of the Bridgegate trial was the editors' decision to assign reporters who apparently have little or no experience covering trials in federal court.

Two of those reporters are Paul Berger, who is assigned to the Port Authority; and Dustin Racioppi, a reporter in Trenton who covers Christie.

That can be the only explanation for why Racioppi's report today on a "closed meeting with lawyers" says incorrectly that the judge "read the charges to the jury, a routine procedure in criminal cases so that each member [of the jury panel] understands instructions on how to deliberate" (A-6).

The sub-headline on Page 1 says:

"Jury told to ignore possible

 motivation for alleged scheme"

His reporting and the sub-headline are flawed, because the judge instructs the jury on the law governing the charges in the case right before they start their secret deliberations, and does so in open court.

Since both prosecutors and defense attorneys haven't given their closing arguments, the judge couldn't have read the instructions, which usually are so extensive and complicated they can put even an experienced lawyer to sleep.

Christie pushing back against ex-aide on trial in GWB case

"Saturday Night Live" lampooned the third and final debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and wacko racist Donald J. Trump, above and below. When Alex Baldwin's Trump used the phrase "bad hombres," Kate McKinnon's Clinton declared she had won "Trump Bingo" ("rapists," "Miss Piggy," "They're all living in hell" and "If she wasn't my daughter").

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If I didn't know better, I'd think reporters and columnists at The Record are taking sides in the trial of Governor Christie's ex-aides in the Bridgegate scandal. 

Today's lead story by Dustin Racioppi reports the Intergovernmental Affairs department (IGA) "did not become politicized until" right-hand man Bill Stepien left "and turned over duties to Bridget Anne Kelly" (A-1).

Kelly is on trial in Newark federal court, accused of working with Port Authority officials to block access to the George Washington Bridge as political retribution against Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, who refused to back the GOP bully's reelection in 2013.

That clashes with her testimony, including her claim that her email to David Wildstein, Christie's Port Authority crony -- "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" -- wasn't an "order."

Tarring Kelly

Until today, Bridget Kelly enjoyed several days of being portrayed in flattering terms by Columnist Mike Kelly, who profiled her and then wrote a long piece commenting on her Friday testimony, which he called "her side of the story."

But Racioppi quotes a former head of the state Ethics Commission suggesting an investigation into whether the IGA under Bridget Kelly "conducted political activity during state time, using state resources, using state employees to do it" (A-6).

It's also troubling that Racioppi refers several times to an "investigation" commissioned by Christie that eventually cost taxpayers more than $10 million -- the lead lawyer, Randy Mastro, was charging $650 an hour.

That report was widely viewed as a whitewash of the governor's role in the George Washington Bridge scandal -- confirmed by Kelly and other witnesses who said the governor knew of the lane closures in Fort Lee as they occurred.

As an example of how today's piece amounts to major push-back by Christie, Racioppi quotes Mastro's report as claiming IGA "functioned very effectively during the first three years of the governor's first term, both in terms of responsiveness and non-partisanship" (A-6).

"But, then, during the governor's reelection year, under [Bridget] Kelly's stewardship, there was aberrational behavior at Kelly's direction," Mastro claimed.

First Record pink slips reportedly will be issued on Oct. 15

The Record is reporting a proposal to move the USS Ling to Paterson presents cost and engineering challenges, but not that the World War II-era sub is stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River and listing, as this photo from April shows.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Gannett, which has owned The Record for less than two months, will be issuing pink slips to copy editors, page designers and other so-called production workers on Oct. 15, a New York tabloid says.

Those employees were summoned to an Aug. 22 meeting and told production would be moved from Woodland Park to Neptune, where six other Gannett dailies are put out, Keith J. Kelly of the New York Post reported.

Gannett paid the Borg family "an estimated $40 million for the 121-year-old paper and sister titles and websites," says Kelly, the first reporter to disclose the selling price.

The Borgs held onto about 20 acres along River Street in Hackensack, where The Record was headquartered until 2009, and the land may fetch $20 million to $30 million when sold to an apartment developer.

Kelly says Gannett executives told copy editors, designers and other production workers they would have to apply for new jobs -- the same process former Publisher Stephen A. Borg used during a major newsroom downsizing in 2008.

"They will learn on Oct. 15 if they have jobs," Kelly reported on Saturday. "No word on how many will be getting pink slips."

One of those who is expected to go is six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton, who earned the title of "Queen of Errors" when she ran the features copy desk.

Kelly's story has reporters and other newsroom staffers anxiously wondering when the Gannett ax will fall on them.

The Record lost four veteran copy editors in the 2008 downsizing, as well as the co-supervisor of the copy desk who single-handedly upheld standards of accuracy, grammar and news writing.

See: Borgs take money and run

Today's paper

For the second day in a row, Governor Christie's conservative policies dominate Page 1 -- this time his explanation for why he vetoed, as expected, raising New Jersey's minimum wage to $15 by 2021 (A-1).

And for the second day in a row, State House Bureau reporter Dustin Racioppi turns out another slanted report, calling the proposal "a Democratic effort to join the nascent but politically divisive effort to mandate increased pay for entry and lower-level workers."

(Yes. The clunky, wordy first paragraph actually includes the word "effort" twice.)

Why is Racioppi politicizing the minimum-wage hike rather than reporting Christie's veto is a rebuke to tens of thousands low-wage workers in the state, including Walmart employees who are paid so little they have to apply for food stamps to feed their families?

More politics

And an editorial criticizing Democrats also supports Christie (A-8).

The editorial notes Democrats plan to put a constitutional amendment on the 2017 ballot, but urges them to try to override the veto instead.

But amending the constitution worked in 2013, when the minimum wage was raised to $8.25 an hour and tied to inflation, and will likely work again -- most voters are in favor of a higher minimum wage, and two other states already have enacted it.

Stuck with Christie?

Despite Gannett's purchase of The Record, reporters, columnists and editorial writers continue to side with the GOP bully, despite his more than 500 vetoes and his endorsement of wacko racist Donald J. Trump for president.

Yet months ago, six other New Jersey dailies owned by Gannett, as well as The Star-Ledger, called on him to resign.

The Record is alone is refusing to do so, and hasn't even reported those calls for Christie's resignation. 

USS Ling

"The Ling is looking to move from its location beside the Hackensack River on property slated for redevelopment by the former owner[s] of The Record," according to today's Local front.

But Paterson Press reporter Joe Malinconico forgot to call the Borgs, the former owners, and ask them why they don't help finance the move (L-1).

After all, they are cash rich after reaping $40 million from the sale of The Record, and are expecting another huge windfall from sale of the land along River Street in Hackensack where the sub is stuck in the mud.

Once again, Governor Veto is the cause of gridlock in N.J.

Trumpisms are not-so-thinly veiled racism. President Obama spoke for millions of Americans today when he said GOP nominee Donald J. Trump is unfit to serve as president.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You haven't seen it in The Record, but Governor Christie's 500-plus vetoes are once again at the root of gridlock in the state Legislature.

That's the subtext of today's lead story on Page 1:

Pension ballot 
measure stalled
by transportation 
fund dispute

Editor Deirdre Sykes once again wastes precious space by running a news story and a political column on the impasse, and both reporters quote the same people and cite the same events (A-1 and A-6).

What's the point of that duplication?

Gasoline tax

Staff Writer Dustin Racioppi reports Senate President Steve Sweeney wants to round up a veto-proof majority on a bill to raise the gas tax by 23 cents a gallon to replenish the transportation fund.

Governor Veto (err Christie) has called the measure "dead on arrival," just as he's done so many times before on bills to raise the minimum wage, tighten gun controls, raise taxes on millionaires and so forth -- more than 500 times since early 2010.

Line monitor

Are lines outside the Motor Vehicle Commission office in Lodi really front-page news (A-1)?

If anyone is stuck in the "slow lane," it's Staff Writer John Cichowski, who has been banging out the Road Warrior column for nearly 13 years -- to the consternation of bored readers.

Cichowski has ignored mounting traffic congestion, a broken mass-transit system and less enforcement of speeding laws on state highways to gnash his teeth over MVC lines, potholes and other slow-lane issues.

Trump backlash

The last major element on A-1 today is the growing backlash against GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump in his feud with a Muslim-American couple who lost their son, an Army captain, to a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2004 (A-1).

An editorial calls "disgraceful" how the wacko racist has treated Khizr and Ghazala Khan (A-8).

'Don't support Trump'

Writing in The Huffington Post, Paramus lawyer Thomas M. Wells recalls Trump once hired him as his attorney on a planned shopping mall called Trump Centre.

Now, Wells says, "bullies will always exist somewhere, but the White House shouldn't be that somewhere."

The No. 1 reason Wells cites for Trump's unsuitability as president: "The man lies all the time."

See: Please don't support Trump for president


Local news?

Police and court news continue to dominate The Record's local-news section.

An L-1 story about a 9-year-old boy who died days after he was pulled out of  pool at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly doesn't say whether a lifeguard was on duty.

Instead of that boring political column on A-1 today, Sykes could have published some good news from Paterson for a change -- the story of filmmaker Randy Jackson, who gave up his life as a drug seller and pimp.

His short film, part of a series called "The Bottum," will be shown Thursday night at a downtown multiplex (L-3).

7 other N.J. newspapers hounded Christie 'back to work'

Light snowfall didn't slow the collection of garbage and recycling in Hackensack today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie pledged to get "back to work" on New Jersey's most insoluble problems, but you won't find any mention in The Record today of the role played by seven other newspapers that demanded his resignation.

In the first paragraph of a Page 1 news story, Trenton reporter Dustin Racioppi refers vaguely to "demands," and then focuses on an "intense and scathing" online reaction to Christie's endorsement of racist Donald Trump (A-1).

Still, even in his longest press conference in two years, Christie successfully "managed" Racioppi and Record Columnist Charles Stile, who wrote another boring political column on the GOP bully's ties to the "party establishment" (A-4).

Neither Racioppi nor Stile asked whether Christie intends to continue to rule by veto, as he's done more than 500 times since early 2010.

Nor will you find any mention in today's upbeat editorial of Christie's war on the working and middle classes in the state (A-10).

This week, six Gannett-owned newspapers in New Jersey, followed by The Star-Ledger, the state's biggest daily, called on our absentee governor to resign after sacrificing his duties to his personal ambitions on the presidential campaign trail.

The Record of Woodland Park has never mentioned those editorials or its own waffling on Christie's dereliction of duty. 

Rail confusion

Today's lead story on a potential NJ Transit rail strike on March 13 is so poorly edited readers are confronted with contradictory numbers on how many commuters will be affected (A-1).

A graphic just below the headline shows an average of 308,523 one-way weekday rail trips, but next to it, a sub-headline says only 65,000 may be "stranded" by a strike.

In the text, the 65,000 number turns out to be referring only to people who ride trains into Manhattan, ignoring others who take trains within the Garden State.

And the long story by Staff Writer Christopher Maag contains absolutely no information on what the 4,200 rail workers are asking for, preventing readers from judging the merits of the unions' position.

Maag does say rail employees have been working without a contract for five years, more evidence that Christie is an enemy of both mass transit and unions. 

'Lasuni gobi'

On the Better Living cover today, a photo of "lasuni gobi," a dish at Kinara in Tenafly, gives no hint of whether it is meat, poultry or vegetable.

Ditto for the caption on BL-2, and the data box that appears with Elisa Ung's upbeat review of the Indian restaurant on BL-14.

Finally, in the penultimate paragraph of the review itself, readers learn this great looking Chinese-Indian dish is fried florets of cauliflower "in a dark garlic sauce."

The sugar-, butter- and cream-obsessed Ung apparently withheld a third star, because "the dessert menu is full of duds."

Still, how can she rate the place Good to Excellent after calling the samosas the "worst" appetizer and the tandori chicken "flavorless"? 

Star-Ledger, biggest daily paper in N.J., piles on Christie

The Anderson Street Bridge to Teaneck was how many Hackensack residents reached the Cedar Lane business district, Holy Name Hospital and Englewood. On Wednesday, with the bridge closed for repairs, Cedar Lane seemed unusually quiet, suggesting that customers are staying away. Have you seen anything about that in The Record?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

For the past decade, The Record of Woodland Park has emphasized marketing over journalism, as you can see in the paper's front-page motto:

"NORTH JERSEY'S TRUSTED SOURCE"

In fact, under Publisher Stephen A. Borg, The Record has shown time and again that its coverage of Governor Christie cannot be trusted.

Today, the Star-Ledger demanded Christie's final exit, echoing the earlier call of six other newspapers in the state.

An editorial notes the GOP bully "has made it abundantly clear that governing New Jersey is a distant second priority for him, far behind his personal ambitions." 

See: 'Resign for New Jersey's sake'

"His craven endorsement of Donald Trump is only the final blow, the moment when he lost any last shred of credibility," the editorial states.

"His fullsome praise of Trump, after his stinging condemnations only a few weeks ago, is impossible to believe."

NJMG and Borgs

Of course, The Record hasn't joined the other prominent dailies in the state, because Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin continues to hem and haw, and equivocate over Christie's neglect of his duties, his endorsement of Trump and all of the unresolved problems in the Garden State.

Doblin's strings are likely pulled by the Borgs and their powerful North Jersey Media Group. 

To call the editorial page editor a pussy is an insult to women. 

The coverage of Christie by reporters and columnists continues to focus relentlessly on politics, so every story and opinion piece is little more than "Republicans said/Democrats said."

As of June 2015, The Star-Ledger's paid circulation was 213,890 daily and 289,882 on Sunday, largest in the state, according to the New Jersey Press Association.

As of December 2013, The Record's paid circulation was 139,904 daily and 167,278 on Sunday, according to the press organization.  

Today's paper

The front page and the rest of the paper continue to ignore the rising chorus of resignation calls on Christie from other dailies.

A Page 1 story by Dustin Racioppi, a former investigative reporter at the Asbury Park Press, carries this headline:

"Criticism of Christie takes

on a virtual life of its own"

His story doesn't mention any other newspaper, but Racioppi today tweeted to his followers about the Star-Ledger editorial and provided a link to it.

Liberals rejoice

Many readers are rejoicing over another Page 1 story:

"Staring down the prospect of nominating Donald Trump for president, Republicans spiraled into a chaotic, last ditch search Wednesday for a way to save the GOP from hitching its fortunes to an unpredictable celebrity candidate without alienating his  throng of followers" (A-1).

Let's hope we are witnessing the self-destruction of Christie, the racist Republican Party and its radical Tea Party offshoot.