Another national nightmare begins with the sad realization news media did little to prevent election of a Liar-In-Chief

From Paul Zanetti, an Australian political cartoonist.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The ascendancy of wacko racist Donald J. Trump shows the danger of the news media focusing on politics instead of issues, and doing little to expose the president-elect's hundreds of campaign lies.

From his claim that millions of illegal immigrants are pouring across our borders to his demonization of President Obama as a Muslim, Trump was able to get away with murdering the truth time and again.

In fact, Obama has deported more illegal aliens than any previous president, and he's taken a lot of heat for that.

Anti-free trade

Is free trade responsible for shuttered U.S. factories, as Trump says, or did greedy corporations start exporting millions of job overseas to fatten their bottom lines?

It's highly unlikely Trump will be able to get automakers, drug companies and others to close foreign factories and repatriate those job -- just as Mexico won't ever pay for a wall on the U.S. border.

How about his charge that Democrat Hillary Clinton -- who has fought for children, women and families from the time she was first lady in Arkansas -- accomplished absolutely nothing in her 30 years in government?

Racial animosity

The news media, including The Record of Woodland Park, allowed Trump to tap into deep reservoirs of racial animosity toward Obama, and didn't call him out for that.

So, when will the news media report Trump was largely elected by anti-black, anti-women voters?

Last night, I watched election coverage on both CBS and CNN, and was horrified at what basically was a numbers game.

When CBS commentators discussed the campaign, they did so superficially, noting Trump's call for "change" resonated with voters, especially white men.

Even Gayle King, the African-American co-anchor of CBS This Morning, didn't mention that in 2008, Obama used "Change We Can Believe In" as one of the slogans that propelled him into the White House.

Nor, did I hear any commentator link gridlock in Washington to racist Republicans who vowed to vote against any initiative from our first black president, and tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 60 times.

Today's paper

When my copy of The Record hit the driveway this morning, it carried stale headlines:

"Historic election stretches into wee hours"

"Edge of our seats" 

I guess the election would have been "historic" -- if a woman won.

But what's "historic" about the ascendancy of a billionaire racist who apparently cheated on his taxes, shafted anyone he did business with and paid slave wages to minority workers?

We'll get a reprise of President Reagan, if Trump succeeds in giving the wealthy an enormous tax break and calling it anything but what it is -- more "trickle-down economics."

The Associated Press was quick to label Trump "a political outsider" or "political novice" instead of reporting he presented voters with the vision of a dictator who would throw out due process and other constitutional protections to make American White Again.

Garrett out

In North Jersey, former White House speechwriter Josh Gottheimer was elected in the 5th Congressional District, deafeating Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, an ultra-conservative House member first elected in 2002.

As he has done for years, Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson of The Record focuses on who had the edge in campaign funds, and how the campaign turned nasty (L-1).

Jackson never quoted Gottheimer, a Democrat, who repeatedly identified Garrett as a "Tea Party radical" who voted against Superstorm Sandy aid and a bill to aid first responders after 9/11.

Gas-tax 'lockbox'

Voters also rejected a ballot proposal to allow two casinos in North Jersey -- a doomed measure The Record backed with an unusually large number of stories in anticipation of thousands of dollars in new advertising revenue (L-1).

But voters approved a constitutional amendment dedicating all of the state's motor fuels tax to transportation funding.

In the three years Governor Christie and the Democrats fought over raising the gasoline tax, The Record's reporters and columnists never pointed out the environmental benefits of higher gasoline prices, if they prompted owners to trade in their gas guzzlers for more efficient cars or simply drive less.

A 23-cents-a-gallon hike in the gasoline tax went into effect on Nov. 1, but for many drivers it's no big deal, despite the hysterical headlines in The Record.

For most, the tax hike will translate into another $2 to $3 on each fill-up.

Christie's mean GOP spirit is looming over the front page

Governor Christie at the Republican National Convention, where he said he has been wacko racist Donald J. Trump's friend for 14 years.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Page 1 today, The Record's chief medical writer again lets Governor Christie off the hook for trying to sabotage President Obama's health-care law in New Jersey.

And today's centerpiece on a young woman -- the first in her family to attend college -- is another in an occasional series, Muslims are Just Like You and Me, the paper has been running since Christie sought to bar all Syrian refugees from New Jersey (A-1).

I can't recall the last time Staff Writer Lindy Washburn included background information on how Christie refused to set up a health-care exchange in New Jersey when the federal Affordable Care Act took effect a few years ago (A-1).

That meant tens of thousands of residents, along with consumers in more than 30 other states with Republican governors, were thrown onto the overburdened federal exchange.

Next year, the number of New Jersey insurers will dwindle to two from five in 2016, Washburn reports, further limiting choice and raising premiums.

Local news?

A radical proposal to move the start time to "as late as 8:30" at Tenafly High School merits a front-page brief and a full story on the Local front today (L-1).

A story about Tenafly's school board appears on L-5.

Hackensack readers are racking their brains for the last time they saw a story about their schools or school board.

Apparently, Staff Writer John Seasly, who covers the city, is stretched thin just attending City Council meetings.

Today, Seasly reports the council hired Ted Ehrenburg as city manager to replace David Troast at the end of the month (L-5).

Ehrenburg, 59, of Hackettstown, a former police chief and business administrator, will be paid $170,000 a year.

Obits, crash photos

Eight days of coverage marking the 15th anniversary of 9/11 -- ending on Monday -- sucked the energy out of the Woodland Park newsroom, judging from all the filler in the local-news section today.

A pair of rollover crash photos on L-3 from ambulance-chasing Staff Photographer Tariq Zehawi have readers saying gee whiz.

A third crash photo from the talented photographer plugs a hole on L-6.

Half of L-5 is taken up by obituaries of Sam Iacobellis, an obscure aerospace engineer, and Stanley Sheinbaum, the "liberal lion of Los Angeles." 

Trump compared to Hitler, Joe McCarthy, segregationists

Monday morning rush-hour traffic in Englewood was tied up in knots when police closed Woodland Street for repaving. Detoured drivers encountered delays of 30 minutes or more.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Democrats are pointing to a report by veteran TV newsman Tom Brokaw on Donald J. Trump's promise to ban all Muslims from the United States, if he is elected president.

In the report, Brokaw compares such a step to the internment of Japanese citizens in the United States during World War II, Hitler's attempted extermination of the Jews, anti-communist Sen. Joe MaCarthy, and the brutal segregation of African-Americans in the South. 

See: Why every American should be terrified

And in an interview with People magazine in 1998, Trump called Republicans "the dumbest group of voters in the country.... I could lie and they would still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific."

Today's paper

Editor Deirdre Sykes of The Record publishes thousands upon thousands of words on Page 1 and inside the paper today on the opening of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland -- and the vast majority of the coverage will never be read.

WNYC-FM, on the other hand, needed only a few sentences: 

"The evening started off with a stirring rendition of the national anthem by a blind girl. What followed were three hours of rage, racially polarizing language, calls to put Hillary Clinton in jail, and Rudy Giuliani talking about Syrian refugees coming to kill us. Then Melania Trump took the stage and talked about saving the poor and taking care of women."

See: WNYC@RNC


Local news?

In another case of Sykes' poor news judgment, the death of Peter G. Banta, one of the most prominent First Amendment lawyers in North Jersey, is being upstaged today by a 24-year-old murder case and a high jumper on A-1, and three stories about animals in the so-called local news section (L-1 and L-3).

The paper's editor continues to mishandle local news, as she did for years when she was head assignment editor, and duck her responsibility to readers who want to know how well or how poorly their towns are being governed.

The obituary for Banta, who represented The Record for many years, is conveniently buried on an obit-local news page (L-5) -- just above a long Dean's List.

Trump's hate speech may encourage rash of terror attacks

Today's cover of the New York Post commenting on the Bastille Day attack on a crowd watching fireworks in Nice, on the French Riviera. (The town's name is pronounced "NIECE," not "NICE.") Below, a Post cover from February, when Governor Christie endorsed wacko racist Donald J. Trump for president in the apparent hope -- now dashed -- the billionaire would pick him as the GOP's vice presidential candidate.

Seven major New Jersey dailies -- six of them owned by the Gannett Co. -- cited the endorsement of Trump when they called on Christie to resign. However, The Record didn't, and it's unclear whether that position will change now that Gannett has purchased the Woodland Park daily.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Is there anyone Donald J. Trump doesn't hate?

Eleven million immigrants, all Muslims, women and legions of others are on the hit list of the Republican Party's presumptive presidential candidate.

Now, as we try to absorb yet another attack on innocent people in France, you have to wonder whether Trump's venomous speech is encouraging terrorism here and abroad.

"Has anyone else noticed?" CoCoWats tweeted on Thursday afternoon (@WatsJo). "Terrorist attacks have drastically increased since Donald announced his candidacy."

Meanwhile, Trump's fellow Muslim hater, Governor Christie, now is out of the running for vice president on the GOP ticket.

Instead, Trump has picked just what we all really need -- another heartland conservative, Gov. Mike Spence of Indiana, where only 6.6 million people live, many of them on farms.

Today's paper

In a Page 1 column today, Staff Writer Charles Stile, The Record's chief apologist for Christie, reports Spence is Trump's choice.

But the headline -- "Former mentor delivers hit to Christie's hopes" -- makes it sound like the GOP bully still is in the running for the Republican Party's all-hate, all-the-time ticket.

The headline on the continuation page (A-6) also is outdated, given the apparent selection of Spence:

"STILE: Former mentor's guilty plea delivers hit to VP hopes."

"Former mentor" is a reference to former Port Authority Chairman David Samson, who Christie has called a "father figure."

Samson pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to bribery charges for pressuring United Airlines to launch what amounted to private jet travel to his vacation home in South Carolina (A-1).

Samson, who Christie named to the powerful job of Port Authority chairman, was charged as part of the FBI investigation into the politically motivated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. 

Brace for five months of hysterical Clinton-Trump coverage

Work is underway to convert the former United Jersey Bank Building at 210 Main St. in Hackensack and an adjacent structure into apartments, above, as seen from Moore Street.

The former bank's parking garage on Moore Street was being demolished on Saturday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record and other media will make sure the five months until the November presidential election won't be pretty.

Today's front page celebrates the milestone of Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman to lead a major American political party as she clinched the Democratic presidential nomination (A-1).

But below the fold, Editor Deirdre Sykes trots out the paper's burned-out political columnists -- Charles Stile from Trenton and Herb Jackson from Washington -- signaling her distaste for issues-based coverage.

She has that in common with The Associated Press and much of the electronic media, which will do their best to portray the contest between Clinton and wacko racist Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, as one of the closest, if not the closest, in history.

Jackson claims "leaders of both parties debated whether Trump's unpredictability could end the state's streak of backing Democratic presidential candidates that goes back to Bill Clinton in 1992" (A-1).

As for Stile, he's quoting Governor Christie as claiming "Trump is not a racist" (A-1 and A-7).

What a joke. 

Of course, Trump is a racist, and he's drawing support from an exclusively white electorate who have always hated the nation's first black president.

Obama v. Romney

The media have a lot invested in keeping voters interested in coverage of a presidential race that seems to begin right after the inauguration.

That's what happened in 2012, when the media quoted pollsters and experts as claiming the contest between President Obama and the GOP's pathetic Mitt Romney was too close to call.

In fact, the incumbent buried Romney in both the popular vote and in the Electoral College.

Mexicans, Muslims

Why haven't the major TV news networks or The Associated Press ever just laughed in Trump's face when he says he is going to build a wall on the U.S.- Mexican border, and get the Mexicans to pay for it?

Why haven't the media denounced the billionaire for his hate speech against Mexicans, Muslims and other minorities? 

Trump can't possibly win on a platform that seeks to "Make American Hate Again" and "Make America White Again."

Local news?

The first paragraph of another front-page story claims the plan for a 14-story hotel and conference center at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center was "once heralded as a cornerstone of revitalization efforts in South Paterson" (A-1).

That's the kind of flawed local reporting The Record is known for.

Since the 1960s, South Paterson's bustling Middle Eastern bazaar of restaurants and other food businesses, and the city's Farmers Market have drawn shoppers from Bergen County and other parts of the metropolitan area.

With new commercial buildings and a strip mall, as well as one of the biggest mosques in North Jersey, renewal of the neighborhood on the Clifton border has never waited for the hotel and conference center that St. Joseph's has now abandoned.

Page 1 focus on minorities recalls discrimination of the past

A poster on the shuttered New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack, above, and the beached gangway that once gave visitors access to the USS Ling, below. The World War II sub is stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River, and tied up to property owned by North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Positive images of Native Americans, Muslims and African-Americans in North Jersey appear on the front page of The Record today in a rare focus on minorities.

The stories recall past instances when the editors marginalized those groups.

Ford pollution

The Record's 2005 series -- "Toxic Legacy" -- won journalism awards, but did little to prove Ford Motor Co. waste -- first dumped in 1967 -- was sickening and killing members of the Ramapough Native American tribe in Ringwood.

And in 2010, The Record urged the Ramapoughs to settle their lawsuit against the automaker for $12.5 million, allowing the lawyers to grab the lion's share of the money, and pay 633 adults and children only $4,368 to $34,595 each.

Today, the Woodland Park daily reports borough residents want to hold a referendum to kill a plan to cap 166,000 tons of contaminated soil in favor of removing it (A-1).

Still, the first reference to the Ramapoughs on Page 1 today is a mean-spirited description of their "low-income neighborhood."

Crime stories

Less than a decade ago, an African-American would have to be charged with a serious crime to land on the front page, unless the editors were running Black History Month stories.

Today, the funeral and burial of Teaneck Mayor Lizette Parker, 44, is Page 1 news, including a moving tribute from a Muslim councilman who once was part of a coalition that spurned her (A-1).

Still, The Record continues to ignore the hard-working, God-fearing Jamaican-American community in Englewood, Teaneck and Hackensack unless one of them is involved in gun violence or drug dealing.

Silk City Syrians

After the November terrorist attacks in Paris, Governor Christie wanted to bar Syrian refugees, even children, from New Jersey.

The editors' response took more than a week, but they finally published a positive story about Syrian merchants in Paterson decrying the governor's stereotype.

Today, Muslim leaders in New Jersey are quoted as "reacting warily" to an FBI plan to "cut terrorism off at its roots," as the headline states (A-1).

Still, The Record is the only major daily in the state that failed to call for Christie's resignation after he endorsed GOP presidential front-runner, Muslim hater and racist Donald Trump.

The USS Ling in a photo taken a week ago.

Local news?

Just one look at today's Local section tells Bergen County readers they won't find much news about their towns today.

On L-1, they find an enormous weather-related photo, and another column on the test for a learner's permit.

On L-3, a "Monthly News Quiz" wastes an enormous amount of space, and four major stories in the section are from Passaic County (L-1, L-2 and L-3), further cheating Bergen readers.

Healthier eating

In today's Better Living profile, Susan Ungaro of River Vale says she want the James Beard Foundation "to help move the needle on important food policy issues" (BL-1).

Celebrity chefs "can teach America how to eat better and be healthier and be socially conscious about important issues," says Ungaro, president of the culinary arts foundation.

Sadly, Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung, the reporter who wrote the profile, and Record Food Editor Esther Davidowitz don't see any part for journalists in that mission.

What else can readers conclude from Ung rarely telling them whether the food she samples is naturally raised or grown, and her obsession with meat and artery clogging desserts?

Meanwhile, Davidowtiz fills her food pages with promotions of restaurants, bakeries and other businesses that advertise in The Record. 

Syrians upstaged by immigrant haters Trump and Christie

The Daily News predicted in January 2014 that Governor Christie's run for the GOP presidential nomination was doomed, but The Record of Woodland Park stood by his side even after seven other New Jersey newspapers condemned the governor's endorsement of racist Donald Trump and called for his resignation.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Deirdre Sykes, The Record's new editor, is sending horribly mixed messages to readers on Page 1 today.

Readers can only guess why Sykes gives better play to immigrant haters Donald Trump and Governor Christie than to a series of moving interviews with North Jersey Syrians on the fifth anniversary of the civil war in their native land (A-1).

Ban on Syrians

A photo shows front-runner Trump and Christie looking awfully comfortable in ex-slave state North Carolina, where the billionaire businessman's Klan supporters flourish.

Left unsaid, of course, is that Trump wants to bar all Muslims from entering the United States, and Christie sought to ban all Syrian refugees, including children, first from New Jersey and then the rest of the United States. 

In fact, after Christie called for the ban last November, The Record's editors waited a week or so before interviewing law-abiding merchants and other Syrians in Paterson, not far from the Woodland Park newsroom.

Presumably, that was to show readers not all Syrians are terrorists, as Christie seemed to suggest.

Today's editorial on Christie joining the Trump campaign again sounds like it was written by a doddering old man (A-8).

"On March 3," the hemming and hawing concludes,  "he [Christie] said he was fully committed to serving the people of New Jersey.

"There is much evidence to the contrary, governor. Much evidence to the contrary."

That has about as much impact as a wet noodle.

Unions win big?

Staff Writer Christopher Maag continues to give Christie a pass when the governor says NJ Transit fares will have to be raised again to pay for a new contract with rail workers (A-1 and A-10).

Nowhere does the paper's chief transportation reporter mention that Christie's deep cuts in state subsidies forced the state agency to hike fares and cut service last October.

Also, the front-page headline calls the unions "big winners," but only later does Maag report the rail workers haven't had a raise for five freaking years.

Maag doesn't think that's such a big deal because he also has been denied a raise by the Borgs, the wealthy owners of the paper.

Local news?

Three stories from state and federal criminal courts in Hackensack and Newark dominate the local-news section today.

Another story on L-1 reports the Clifton Board of Education is giving Muslim students a day off to observe Eid al-Fitr, the first of two holy days marking a sacred month of fasting.

Former employees of The Record might recall the Borgs refused to give Jewish employees a day off to observe Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, when fasting also is required.

A kid you never heard of gets better A-1 play than Obama

WHY OUR TAXES ARE SO HIGH: On Wednesday afternoon, an incident involving a school bus near the monument in Englewood drew a large response, including an ambulance from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, above; a rescue unit from the city's Fire Department, hospital paramedics and at least three police cars to close streets, below. The police cars are not shown.

In the past two decades, The Record's local editors have been derelict in failing to report on the wasteful duplication of services in home-rule towns. Meanwhile, the editorial page should be calling for a salary cap on police chiefs, and much more cooperation among towns to save money and lessen the impact on property tax payers.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Deirdre Sykes is only the second woman to hold the top editing job at The Record, but she is proving to be no different than her sports-obsessed male predecessors.

Can you imagine the discussion at Wednesday afternoon's news meeting, where editors from news, sports, business and features sit down and decide story placement and play, including what should appear on today's front page, the most important in the paper?

The news editors promote President Obama's historic visit to a mosque amid all the hate speech against Muslims, including Syrian refugees who want to settle in North Jersey, but the sports editor is itching to be heard: 

"OK. I have a better story. There's this black kid, Rashan Gary, a high school student we like to call 'North Jersey's football titan ....'"

Collectively, the other editors in the room say, "Who?"   

Yet, today's front page is dominated by "Who?"

And Obama ends up at the bottom of Page 1, under a bunch of Hasidic Jews who rescued a George Washington Bridge jumper. 

Ignoring readers

Is there anything else in today's paper to interest the majority of readers?

Why run a Page 1 follow-up on "dismal" test scores?

At least Sykes had the good sense to run Governor Christie's campaign crap from New Hampshire on A-3, instead of A-1, but that means the continuing crisis over New Jersey transportation funding is buried today (A-4).

Local news?

The Local front resembles a police blotter again, one of Sykes' specialties when she was head assignment editor.

There are an astounding 14 Law & Order stories in the thin-local news section.

And why is a long story from Washington on proposals to ease the burden of college loans and provide two years of free community college buried deep in Local (L-6)?

That would have fit well on A-3, and to hell with the governor who has said to hell with New Jersey.

Uber alles?

On the first Business page, another staff-written story on Uber continues to hide the exploitation of drivers (L-7).

Staff Writer Richard Newman simply regurgitates the company line:

"Uber promises to pay a gross fare of $15 an hour during slow periods or $20 an hour in busy periods, not including Uber's commission...."

Why not mention the size of the commission (Uber gets at least 20% of the fare), that tips are included in the fare; and that drivers use their own cars, and pay for gas, insurance and maintenance?

Traveling light

A Jill Schensul column offering a guide to travelers on the Zika virus appears on the Better Living front today.

Contrast that with the travel editor's usually frivolous column in her own section, which offers little practical advice on getting the best bang out of your travel dollars.

On Page 1, editors make big deal out of small transit story

In downtown Englewood, this North Dean Street storefront has been vacant forever, perhaps a testament to the exorbitant rent demanded by the landlord.

Syros Taverna on Palisade Avenue in Englewood was virtually empty on Thursday around 6 p.m., as were many other nearby restaurant.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record has had a long line of reporters too lazy to ride NJ Transit buses and trains, and report on the quality of service, as did top journalists who wrote subway columns for the New York City papers.

That may be why the Woodland Park daily ignored for months, if not years, long delays faced by North Jersey commuters who board buses for home at the antiquated Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan.

And that's why The Record hasn't reported commuters from Bergen and Passaic counties often can't find seats on buses and trains during the morning rush.

Off the rails

Now, Christopher Maag, the latest in a long line of mediocre transportation reporters, goes on and on today about a decidedly minor transit story, the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The big-black headline is so wrong it's criminal:

AirTrain's demise

comes as no surprise

Few readers will plow through this history lesson to find out the AirTrain's "demise" or death isn't coming until at least 2022 (A-6).

The Port Authority may have squandered millions or billions of dollars on the monorail, but this bi-state agency isn't, after all, supported by taxes.

Patronage mill

What can you expect from an agency famous for cost overruns, one that is little more than a patronage mill for the governors of New York and New Jersey?

That's why Governor Christie apparently was able to get his cronies to shut down lanes on the George Washington Bridge, using the span to retaliate against Democrats who refused to endorse him for reelection.

Maag and the editors who give him his marching orders continue to ignore the biggest transportation stories of all:

The fallout from Christie's 2010 decision to pull the plug on Hudson River rail tunnels, and his refusal to back a higher gasoline tax to fund road and bridge repairs, and transit improvements.

Muslims, Syrians

Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin is so eager to breath life into Christie's dying campaign for the White House he completely forgets to mention the GOP bully wanted to bar all Syrians, even orphans, from entering New Jersey (A-9).

And he made that statement long before Donald Trump said he would bar all Muslims from entering the United States.

Local news?

Today's Local section carries two stories about Teaneck (L-1), and one on Englewood (L-3), but nothing from Hackensack, biggest of the three.

Staff Writer Stephanie Noda's piece on cleanup of the old police pistol range doesn't mention how the noise of early morning gunfire awakened hundreds of Englewood residents for years, especially those who worked at night in hospitals or on the copy desk of The Record.  

Trump's hate speech about Muslims not far from Christie's

What appeared to be another quiet Sunday morning on Sussex Road in Teaneck was anything but when a crazed woman in an old Toyota passed a stop sign on on my right, looked my way and then drove directly in front of my car so she could get to a side street on the other side of Sussex.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Donald J. Trump's bid to bar all Muslims from the United States isn't that different from Governor Christie's attempt to keep all Syrian refugees, including orphans, out of New Jersey.

Now we know how Jews felt during the many years of persecution in Germany and other countries.

But why is Trump's speech leading Page 1 of The Record of Woodland Park, especially when the rest of the page is wasted on football and the state's annual bear hunt?

Is Editor Martin Gottlieb suggesting Muslims might one day be forced to engage in blood sports in stadiums like the Roman Colosseum or be hunted like bears? 

Gottlieb, once a high-flying international editor at The New York Times, continues to bury local news and play up the sensational in an effort to sell the paper, which isn't worth anything near the $1 you have to pay for it on the newsstand.

Taxing hospitals

Gottlieb is ignoring residents of Hackensack, Englewood and other towns by running a story on non-profit hospitals on one of today's obituary pages.

Hackensack University Medical Center and other hospitals are desperately fighting attempts to end their non-profit status, which forces homeowners and others to pay much higher property taxes.

Now, a bill "worked out in agreement with the hospitals themselves" has been introduced (L-5).

But today's story doesn't address whether "defined payments" from the hospitals to help cover municipal emergency services will come close to easing the property tax burden in Hackensack and other communities.

For the past few years, HUMC has turned a deaf ear to Hackensack Police Director Mike Mordaga's request that medical staff be assigned to the county homeless shelter to reduce police trips to the hospital's emergency room.

Love-triangle trial

The decision of the defendant not to take the witness stand in the love-triangle murder of Robert Cantor of Teaneck is no surprise (L-1).

What was a surprise was the incredible waste of space and readers' time on Monday's front page, where Staff Writer Peter J. Sampson speculated endlessly on whether Sui Kam "Tony" Tung would testify (Monday's A-1).