Editors crow over PA scoop, ignore mass-transit failures

Rain barrels are an easy way to conserve water during what federal weather officials are calling a "moderate drought" in North Jersey, according to The Record.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's editors waste no time today taking credit on Page 1 for a scoop exposing a United Airlines flight between Newark and Columbia, S.C., "to curry favor" with David Samson when he was chairman of the powerful Port Authority.

A federal and internal probe of the special flight for Samson, often called a mentor and father figure to Governor Christie, led to the departure of the Newark-based airline's CEO (A-1).

But the Woodland Park daily has done a far poorer job exposing how little the bistate agency has done to expand mass-transit operations, including the PATH commuter rail system and the reverse bus lane into the Lincoln Tunnel.

The agency's mass-transit failures affect far more readers than another so-called expose of cronyism and favoritism in high places.

Christie P.R.

Editor Martin Gottlieb continues to assign Staff Writer Melissa Hayes to cover Christie's doomed bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

Hayes' story, which sounds more like public relations than hard-hitting reporting, appears on Page 1, marveling over the conservative bully holding more town hall meetings in New Hampshire than any other GOP clown (A-1).

Local news?

On the Local front today, Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza give lavish coverage to the opening of a $20 million science, technology, engineering and mathematics center at the hoity toity Dwight-Englewood School (L-1).

The private school, on the mansion-filled East Hill of Englewood, counts among its alumni Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, chairman of North Jersey Media Group; his wife Sandra Agemian Borg; son Stephen A. Borg, publisher of The Record; and daughter Jennifer A. Borg, NJMG vice president and general counsel.

Stephen's sons, Alexander, Austin and Charlie, are in the Dwight-Englewood Classes of 2017, 2019 and 2021, respectively.

In the past, coverage of Englewood's private schools has been far more extensive than that of the troubled public schools, even though both Sykes and Sforza covered the small city as reporters before they were promoted to assignment editors.

'Horse' in Teaneck

Instead of municipal news, another lead story on the Local front catches up to the seizure of $3.5 million in heroin, also called "horse," and the arrest of a California man in a home on Bryant Avenue in Teaneck.

There is no explanation for why Sykes and Sforza didn't report the Friday arrest and seizure until a press release came out on Tuesday or why the identity of the house renter eluded the three reporters who worked on the story (L-1 and L-2).

More filler

The desperate local editors also needed more Law & Order news and two drive-by accident photos to fill their thin section today (L-3).

The caption under a photo of a tobacco truck fire at Routes 17 and 80 in Hackenack doesn't say whether the driver was speeding, his load shifted or whether the bridge abutment he hit was damaged.

And the photo is all the Hackensack news you'll find today.

More filler appears in Business, where an entire half page is wasted on a story about "auto parts suppliers" by the Detroit Free Press (L-9).

Happy New Year

On the Better Living cover today, freelancer Sachi Fujimori shares Rosh Hashana recipes from Israeli chefs in North Jersey (BL-1).

She says these "culinary artisans grew up with the flavors of the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa."

But none of the recipes on BL-4 contain Middle Eastern or North African spices and herbs.

Fujimori was a reporter at The Record for more than 5 years, leaving in February 2014. She also worked at the Herald News.

Editors miss the mark on home-rule reporting

Jitneys such as this one heading to Manhattan relieve the pressure on NJ Transit, which doesn't provide enough rush-hour bus or rail seats for North Jersey commuters.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor


Mike Kelly pushes a lot of words around on The Record's front page today without coming close to answering some of the biggest questions about local police departments:

What exactly does the chief of a small department do, and why do we need nearly 70 of them in Bergen County alone (A-1)?

When The Record's Local section runs stories about a string of house burglaries, readers in such wealthy towns as Tenafly know what the chiefs don't do.

So, isn't it a good idea to empty the office of police brass and get them out on the street in Englewood Cliffs and other towns, where they can try to stop burglaries and enforce speeding laws?

But Kelly, aka "The Shit-Eating Grin," beats the subject to death, relying on one of the silliest comparisons I have ever seen:

"Think of this as the law enforcement equivalent of a restaurant with too many cooks and not enough waiters to serve the food."

No. Think of this as a columnist who long ago ran out of steam, and has been reduced to rewriting news stories.

Elderly and dead

Another front-page story today continues The Record's portrayal of the elderly as so demented they wander off for days -- or end up confined to a long-term care facility (A-1 and A-9).

The Record often ignores vibrant seniors who are living full lives until they die.

Still, I searched Local in vain today for an expanded obituary of a noteworthy North Jersey resident. In fact, I haven't seen one in several days.

Assuming Staff Writer Jay Levin is on vacation, why do the editors simply sit on their hands instead of assigning another reporter to write a local obit?

God knows, readers can't figure out why the Borgs are paying some reporters whose bylines are as rare as blue moons or why head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes keeps making excuses for them.

Help for obesity

The Better Living section today picks up more of Local's slack with a cover story on where families can get help for their obese children (BL-1).

Now, the paper should publish a story on where its obese editors can go for help.

The section also appears to have ended "STARTERS" -- a feature on new restaurants -- and substituted a streamlined column called "NOW OPEN" (BL-1)

Today's piece on Fiona's Restaurant in Midland Park is by Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori, whose straightforward reporting is far better than the hard sell of free-lancer Joyce Venezia Suss.

Going all out to promote unhealthy food

This old bank building on State Street in Hackensack has been empty for years, and the parking lot next to it isn't being used. Meanwhile, customers going to the post office down the block have to fight over the four metered spaces out front, below.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Love unhealthy food? Fattening cookie dough? Salty, teeth-corroding potato chips? Artery clogging cakes?

Then, you'll be eager to patronize the three "food" company owners shown on the front of The Record's Better Living section today (BL-1).

Esther Davidowitz, the new food editor, actually has the nerve to call Joel Ansh, Marisa Iapicco and the trio of Adam Horvath, Camille Beck and Jared Levine "epicures." 

Davidowitz demotes to BL-2 in Better Living news of the opening of a healthy food place, Dosateria at the Whole Foods Market in Edgewater.

Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori has been writing so enthusiastically about Dosateria in recent weeks you'd think she had discovered a new aphrodisiac.

Bottom feeding

The editors of Better Living and Business are bottom feeders.

The major story on the Business front today is all about the titanic battle among franchises selling hamburgers and cupcakes, among other items (B-1).

Even today's front page is wrapped in the Summer Can Can flier from ShopRite, which is selling obesity fueling 12-packs of sugary Pepsi at half price (when you buy 4).

Hackensack police reported two editors from The Record, Deirdre Sykes and Tim Nostrand, had spent the night in big-and-tall sleeping bags in front of the ShopRite on South River Street in hopes of raiding the store's Pepsi aisle.

Racist verdict?

Readers likely were surprised by the lead story on Page 1, reporting that a civilian had been found not guilty of all charges in the slaying of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager (A-1).

That's because Record readers are so accustomed to seeing police officers cleared in the shootings of blacks -- in Garfield, Leonia and other towns.

Anyone who was stunned into senselessness by media coverage of the trial might wonder why Florida requires only 6 people on a jury hearing a criminal case, compared with 12 here in New Jersey and many other states.

They won't find the answer in today's story from The Associated Press (or Mess) wire service (A-1 and A-6) nor do I think I saw an explanation on CNN, which went "live" for closing arguments in the case.

Mind the gap
 
The entire Road Warrior column today is devoted to a gap in a Route 3 noise wall (L-1), leaving readers wondering when The Record will fill in the gap in coverage of real commuting problems.

Tens of thousands of words have been written about NJ Transit, especially since Superstorm Sandy, but no reporter or editor seems ready to explain why rush-hour seats on trains and buses are so scarce (see today's restroom editorial on O-2).

More errors

In his Road Warrior column on Friday, Cichowski reported incorrectly that passing a slower car on the right is illegal, according to a concerned reader: 

"Road Warrior tries to repeatedly endanger his readers in believing his lie that passing on the right is a violation, even though I have repeatedly indicated to him that New Jersey law (39:4-85) states it is not a violation when drivers pass vehicles on the right if done under safe conditions."

To read the full e-mail to editors and management, click on the following link to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Pass on Road Warrior misinformation 
 
Rent-an-editor

I saw two problems in today's Real Estate cover story on apartment rentals -- one of them so sloppy it could only have been inserted by an editor (R-1).

In only the third paragraph, readers encounter this ridiculous sentence:

"The recent housing bust ... pushed many more people out of single-family homes and into leasing offices ...."
  
Offices? That can't be right.

Working or renting?

On the continuation page, the story says Virginia-based AvalonBay is "working on projects" in Wood Ridge, Hackensack and Bloomingdale.

Avalon at Hackensack, shown on the cover, has been leasing for at least a couple of months.

Where was Production Editor Liz Houlton, who supervises the copy desk?

Out shopping for a new wardrobe at the Salvation Army? 

Christie shares front page with bimbos

The lack of Hackensack news has skeletons turning over in their
 graves at The Church on The Green, across from the courthouse.

Did interim Editor Doug Clancy's masturbatory fantasies lead to today's Page 1 play for the Kardashian bimbos at a book-signing in Ridgewood?


Which moron at the Wednesday afternoon news meeting promoted the non-event for the front page? Did Publisher Stephen A. Borg make a cameo appearance to push for the consumer-friendly story?


Did Borg, Clancy and the other male editors form a masturbation circle to decide what went out front today?


Bimbos on parade


The Record has given an inordinate amount of space to the so-called Real Housewives of New Jersey and the Kardashian Sisters -- as if frumpy head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and rag-wearing Production Editor Liz Houlton are living vicariously through them.


Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori is really a letdown this time, waiting until her penultimate paragraph on A-8 to tell readers the spoiled Kardashian brats left "half the crowd standing in the rain, and some of them empty-handed."


The Kardashian farce is sandwiched between two A-1 stories dominated by Governor Christie.


Empty rhetoric


Why did Christie wait a full day after The Record's expose on bloated Port Authority executive pay to blast the agency's former executive director, Christopher O. Ward, for "awful leadership" and "secret deals ... to reward his cronies."


And why is the The Record just now reporting more than $2 million in extra bi-state agency salary payouts in the past two fiscal years -- months after such a disclosure could have helped trim the scandalous Hudson River toll and fare hikes? 


School daze


The Christie plan to help the state's failing schools also is on A-1, but it's below the fold and plays third fiddle to the Kardashian bimbos and suspended high school football players in Wayne, where Clancy lives.


An A-3 story blames the weather and economy for a shortfall in state revenue collection -- not Christie's veto of a tax surcharge on millionaires or his refusal to raise the low gas tax to fund road and mass transit improvements.


Focus on local


Take a look at the front of Local, if you suspected Sykes was hiding Hackensack news under her tent dresses.


Staff Writer Stephanie Akin's assignment editor had her attending early morning "kettlebell lifting" workouts by city firemen, breathing in all that perspiration and then writing a really long story that runs with two big photos (L-1 and L-2).


A second Hackensack story appears on L-3, reporting a judge has rejected a motion to dismiss criminal charges against suspended Police Chief Ken Zisa. 


Routine motions in the Zisa case are no substitute for Hackensack news. Surely, there must be more going on in the city, given that these are the first stories about Hackensack in nearly two weeks.


In contrast, three stories about Englewood appear today on L-1, L-2 and L-3. 


On days like this, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes is putting other municipal reporters to shame, though many city residents would like to see her tackle bigger issues, including the city's segregated schools and how downtown is faring during the recession.


Sykes also thought the third story this week promoting the revived Xanadu entertainment and retail project in the Meadowlands was important enough for L-1. 


Staff Writer John Brennan had been itching to write Xanadu's obituary, but now that a new developer has taken over and a huge tax break is in the works, Borg apparently ordered the former sports reporter to do all he can to promote the project and help bring in tens of thousands of dollars in new advertising revenue.


Scandale's English


As his LinkedIn page clearly shows, former Editor Francis "Frank" Scandale can't write a sentence in English, even when exaggerating his own accomplishments. (See previous post, The bullshit artist breaks his silence.) 


But as a friend at the gym pointed out, he was being paid more than $200,000 a year to be an "editor," not a "writer."


Of course, he couldn't edit for shit, either.

Readers lose big bet on local news

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Today's local news amounts to little more than a pile of manure.

Readers looking for local news won't find much of it on Page 1 today and if they turn to the local-news section, they'll probably end up staring at an unusual amount of horse manure.


You can smell this story as soon you unfold The Record -- an upbeat profile of a new general manager for the dying Meadowlands Racetrack. 


Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes could not have strayed farther from her mission of covering local news, but she has long relied on Staff Writer John Brennan's sports-business stories to fill all that yawning space in Local she faces every day.


Another BM


Brennan pushed this story for the front page, arguing many readers say Editor Francis Scandale and his minions "don't give a shit."


"My glowing profile will show readers we have a lot of shit to give them," the former sports reporter said.


Sykes grabbed the story for the Local front after her assignment desk failed for the umpteenth time this year to find any municipal news in Hackensack, Englewood, Teaneck and many other towns.


The head assignment editor also knew her decision would be supported by the local-news layout editor and one of the supervisors of the news copy desk -- both of whom are big fans of horse racing.


More big holes


Even all that horse manure couldn't plug the many holes in the section -- Sykes needed two candidate-debate stories, a federal trial and a police story just to fill out L-1.


She was lucky to have health-care news for L-2, but her desperation returned on L-3, where she grabbed at a photo of a downed traffic-light pole and ran the continuations of three stories from the front.


Sykes also was fortunate to have two strong local obituaries for L-6. 


Page 1 scramble


To critics who say Scandale fills Page 1 with garbage, the editor answers with an off-lead A-1 story about the influence in Trenton of the smelly garbage industry.


The editor did provide a ray of light on A-1 in Staff Writer Barbara Williams' saga of Mike Stanzione of Saddle Brook, a hospital patient who battled the medical bureaucracy for four years and is finally going home.


But Scandale stumbled by putting an international story at the bottom of the page.


A far better story for Page 1 would have been opening arguments in the federal murder conspiracy trial of prominent criminal-defense attorney Paul Bergrin -- a tangled tale that is destined for the big screen.


This rare story of a lawyer fighting for his own freedom is out of place on Sykes' Local front, but she probably warned Scandale she'd sit on him if he tried to take it for A-1.


Christie defeat


And why couldn't Scandale find room on A-1 for the rebuke of Governor Christie by a Superior Court judge, who ruled the state's revised pension-and- benefit system violates the constitution's ban on cutting judicial salaries?


Is Scandale trying to protect the GOP bully again?


Christie wailed, calling the judge's decision "self-serving" and claiming it "is why the public has grown to have such little faith in the objectivity of the judiciary."


Really? Did he ever say that in the years he rolled up a long string of official-corruption convictions as U.S. attorney?


Editors blasted


On A-10 today, a letter to the editor from Arnold Korotkin of Little Falls blasts an L-1 story that ran this past Sunday under the headline, "North Jersey not running to join Wall Street protesters."


Korotkin says he is dismayed "the article neglected" to report that in New Jersey, there is "an active,visible movement showing support for the Occupy Wall Street" protesters.


Demonstration and vigils have taken place in Little Falls, Trenton and Jersey City, among other places, he said.


Gee, did Sykes' crack assignment desk deliberately slant the story?


Bloodletting


Watch for a spike in emergency room visits, if Better Living readers take Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori's advice to shuck their own oysters (F-1 and F-3).


The bivalves will be red with blood -- not hot sauce -- if the amateur shuckers don't use a protective glove ($139.95 at Cooking.com).


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The real story: Failure of government

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Today, a columnist praises Governor Christie for not going to Disney World.

Editors Francis Scandale and Deirdre Sykes had staffers at The Record knocking themselves out covering the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, yet all but one of them missed the real story.

The weekend storm exposed state and local governments' failure to fund a long-term solution to flooding or pay for the routine maintenance of roads, trains and even catch basins.

I've been quick to criticize Road Warrior John Cichowski for inaccurate reporting and advice -- and for neglecting his commuting beat -- but today, he's the only reporter to pinpoint the real legacy of Irene and all the other storms we've weathered (L-1).

You have to plow through Cichowski's florid writing and his lead paragraph comparing Irene to a World War II "pinup girl" -- an analogy so ridiculous the columnist felt a need to explain immediately who that was.

Enemies of transit

But if you read closely, he runs through the many failures of politicians, including Governor Christie, to expand mass transit and pay for road and rail maintenance.

Christie cancelled the Hudson River rail tunnels, then snatched $1.8 billion in tunnel funds away from the Port Authority to fund New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund for roads and mass transit -- rather than raise the low gasoline tax.

Does anyone doubt Port Authority toll and fare hikes would have been lower, if the agency still had that $1.8 billion?

Road to ruin

Scandale came to his senses today, following Monday's tits-and-ass photo on Page 1 with a huge, overhead image of a flood-damaged Route 287.

A dramatic photo I don't see in the Woodland Park daily today would be the Great Falls in Paterson, swelled by Passaic River flood waters, with both a rainbow and an American flag highlighted by the sun.

In contrast to Cichowski, Political Stile Columnist Charles Stile delivers a vigorous blow job, praising Christie for not making a second, ill-timed visit to Disney World and for helping state residents get through the storm (A-9).

Also on A-9, a photo caption inexplicably has the borough of Oakland "knocked off its foundation by Ramapo River flooding and later deemed unsafe."

It's Liz Houlton's news copy desk that's unsafe and should be condemned.

Tunnel vision

The editorial on Irene gives state and local officials a pass (A-10) and ends lamely: "Hurricanes come and go. The water remains." 

So does Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin's view from a toilet seat.

You might recall The Record editorial opposing a tunnel that would safely funnel flood waters to Newark Bay, because it "would cost too much."

On the front of Better Living, Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori makes a game attempt to dissect Middle Eastern cuisines, but ignores history and geography in saying the food in Syria is "much like Lebanese food."

The two countries once were one, called Syria, ruled first by Ottoman Turks, then by the French.

Bad news for seniors on all fronts

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 Teterboro Airport is a huge nuisance for Bergen County residents.

The Record runs stories about senior citizens infrequently -- the editors are far more concerned about autism than Alzheimer's disease, and they treat the  death and destruction caused by older drivers as mere photo-ops.

Today, the front page is dominated by a story on how life expectancy in the United States ranked 37th globally, with a photo of a woman who turned 100 in May. 

Old news

(Last Thursday, CNN reported the U.S. ranked 38th, not 37th.) The ranking is from 2007, not this year.

The main headline in The Record notes the country's poor ranking "despite spending" -- a bewildering choice of words in view of the 30 million to 40 million people without health insurance.

Nor does the story compare the U.S. with every other country.

The story cites "research released this month" by the obscure Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, where an automated system answered the phone this morning.  

The only other stories on Editor Francis Scandale's front page today are about official corruption. For a New Jersey paper, that's like using A-1 to report the sun rose and set. 

Aircraft news

The lead story in head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section reports another wealthy, macho small-plane pilot -- this one a doctor from Franklin Lakes -- killed himself and his wife when his plane crashed and burned in Ohio (L-1).

Mike Kelly deserves rare praise for a column demanding the shut-down of Teterboro Airport or at least a ban on all those noisy business jets carrying such mucky mucks as Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, investment bankers and hip-hop stars (L-1). 

Still, Kelly is such a poor reporter and writer, he mentions how the jets scream  over "the close-knit, working-class neighborhoods of Hackensack," but ignores the aircraft noise heard in the city's middle and upper-middle-class enclaves. 

He also says, "Other jets float into Teterboro all day ...." 

No. Jets don't "float" unless their engines have died. They roar overhead, denying residents of many towns the quiet enjoyment of their homes and backyards.

The local-news section has two stories from Garfield (L-2 and L-3), but none from Hackensack.

Bloopers

Are the news and features copy desks competing with each other to see which can make the most mistakes? 

That wouldn't be surprising, considering that Liz Houlton, who supervises the news copy editors, once ran the features copy desk and then left it in the unsteady hands of her husband, George Cubanski.

A Star-Ledger story on F-8 of Better Living today reports Rockland County, N.Y., is east of the Hudson River. (It's west of the river, just north of New Jersey.)

On Sunday, the headline on the Road Warrior column (L-1) referred to "summer," which doesn't officially start until Tuesday.

Also on Sunday, the Father's Day feature on the Better Living front had a different age for Hudson Feeney in the text and photo caption (F-1). 

That same day -- in Sachi Fujimori's excellent story on karaoke -- the photo and caption on F-7 don't seem to jibe with the text on how many other women joined the reporter to sing a Beyonce hit. 

None of these errors have been corrected or clarified.

Peddling a warped view of the shore

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The media were dazzled by Governor Christie, but Bruce Springsteen seemed to anticipate the mayhem the Republican bully would cause. Springsteen refused to appear at the Big Guy's inauguration.

Staff Writer Mike Kerwick has an impressive four bylines in The Record today. He may be prolific, but I was never impressed with him as a reporter or writer.

He's one of several young people Better Living Editor Barbara Jaeger hand-picked to replace older workers who left her department under suspicious circumstances, and his shallowness shows in writing gimmicks he relies on.

Kerwick's obituary of E Street Band stalwart Clarence Clemons dominates the front page today, yet he tries and fails miserably to reinvent the form.

What's this nonsense in the first paragraph about sax man Clemons' arm being visible on an album cover, shore rocker Bruce Springsteen leaning on it and the ridiculous question posed by the reporter, "Who will Springsteen lean on now?"
 
Is the obit about Clemons or Springsteen?

Nothing in Springsteen's statement on A-12 even suggests The Boss is concerned about the reporter's fabricated conflict.

Sand in our faces

Kerwick also has the cover story in Travel today -- his second piece recently on that inane TV show, "Jersey Shore." 

In his first story, he hatched the ridiculous notion this so-called reality show "re-branded" the shore -- a treasure that needs no validation from MTV staffers or anyone else.

The reporter should take a look at readers who send in their travel photos each week (T-3), and ask himself how many have even the slightest bit of interest in following in the footsteps of these bimbos, including the grotesque Snooki.

School is out

Staff Writer Leslie Brody turns out a compelling account of failing School 10 in Paterson, including a rare discussion of the role of parents in student success (A-1). 

But why is this appearing at the end of the school year, and why is Brody comparing the Silk City school with Alpine Elementary? Bewildering.

Columnist Charles Stile exposes Governor Christie's rotten deal to make Steve Adubato, the son of a political power broker, the face of public television in New Jersey (A-1).

Adubato is little more than a straight man to Christie's rants about unions, public schools, taxes and the environment.

But Stile does have something in common with Adubato and other members of the media who continue to give Christie a pass on his weight problem and the poor example he sets during the obesity epidemic.

'Gov. Fat Fattie' 

And taking them to task is political satirist Bill Maher, who lampoons Chris Christie regularly on the HBO show, "Real Time with Bill Maher."

On Friday night, Maher noted the media have been harping on Rep. Anthony Weiner not being able to control his "appetite." Maher then showed a photo of  Christie and asked why the governor's appetite isn't an issue:

"He should be Governor Fat Fattie .... This man is a sumo wrestler."

Comedian Kevin Nealon chimed in, noting Christie "tried to tweet his penis, but got his belly."

Road rage

On the front of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section, Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski lists every New Jersey "nuisance" but himself. 

The section contains stories from Englewood (L-1) and Teaneck (L-2), but nothing from Hackensack.

Pro and con

Three cheers for Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori's first-person account of karaoke in Paterson on the Better Living front. As usual, her copy sings.

I searched in vain for The Corner Table, the Sunday column by Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung. Did this tired excuse for a restaurant column get the heave-ho?

Road Warrior screws up in Page 1 column

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A correction on an A-1 Road Warrior column highlights an ongoing problem with accuracy.

Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski's biggest failure as a journalist is ignoring the plight of tens of thousands of North Jersey commuters who use crowded buses and trains -- while churning out a mind-numbing series of stories on the problems of drivers.

You'd think he is in the pocket of all of the automobile dealers who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising in The Record of Woodland Park, including the many pages that made today's paper so fat.

A correction on A-2 today throws a spotlight on his accuracy:

Correction

The Road Warrior column on Page A-1 on Friday about motor coach safety incorrectly identified a Haledon company that had an alert placed on its record by the federal government. The name of the company is Charter Coach & Travel LLC.

I can't stand reading most of Cichowski's tortured prose, so had to go looking for how the company name was rendered in the paper on Friday. I finally found it, on the continuation page (A-10): "Carter's Coach."

Carter's Coach isn't even close to the correct name. How many other errors has Cichowski made over the years that were never corrected?

Judging from what I hear from readers and from my own experience in editing his columns for many years, Cichowski makes quite a few errors that are either caught on the news copy desk or get into the paper and are never corrected.

Even today's correction is flawed. The word "alert" should have been written "ALERT," as it was in Friday's story, signifying "warning evaluations" for "unsatisfactory performance" from the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration.

Disaster in Japan

Editor Francis Scandale keeps on squeezing as much as possible out of the sister-city relationship between Glen Rock, where he lives, and Onomachi, Japan (A-1). 

Today, free-lance Columnist Pat Kinney was taken out of mothballs for the second time since the quake hit a week ago Friday (L-3). 

Among the many angles Scandale has overlooked is publishing a profile of the Japanese community in North Jersey. 

Right now, all readers might know from reading Kinney is her oft-repeated statement that most Japanese families live here temporarily during the husband's job posting.

An enduring mystery is why head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes hasn't asked the only  Japanese staffer in the newsroom, feature writer Sachi Fujimori -- who can do it all -- to help out  or even why Fujimori wasn't sent to Japan to cover the big story.

The assignment wouldn't be that expensive for the paper, especially if she can hitch a ride on Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg's private jet.

Breaking news -- a day late

Image by derajfast via Flickr

Readers have begun to pray that The Record they receive is complete.

Around 11 Sunday night, a Paramus police officer was shot five times by a suspect who lost control of his car on a highway ramp -- and readers of The Record of Woodland Park just learned about it this morning. A serious newspaper would have had something on Monday morning's front page.

Oh, I know about the former Hackensack daily's early deadlines and how its deadlines are moved up, if there's even a little precipitation in the forecast. But did the reporter doing the police checks Sunday night miss this big story? Did an assignment editor decide it was too late to throw together a short story for Monday's paper?

There are readers who did not watch local TV news Sunday night or log onto northjersey.com. There are subscribers to the paper who rely on it exclusively for local news -- who don't read the garbage from the weeklies that passes for local news on the Web site.

For those readers, Editors Francis Scandale and Deirdre Sykes failed again.

Raising questions

Today's Page 1 coverage of Paramus Police Officer Rachel Morgan and suspect Michael Carmody was put together by eight reporters and at least two photographers. Why is the profile of the alleged shooter on A-6 longer than the profile of the cop he shot?

Why doesn't the story answer some obvious questions, such as whether the cop was trained to use the door of her police cruiser as a shield when she hasn't determined whether the driver she was chasing is armed and dangerous?

Why is the lead A-1 story today more on Governor Christie's clean-out of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners -- which was all over the front page last week -- and not on his being open to a new plan for Hudson River rail tunnels put forward by New Jersey's U.S. senators?

Car-loving editors

The Record's pathetic coverage of mass transit gives readers the impression its editorial staff, including Road Warrior John Cichowski, is in the pockets of automobile dealers.

An editorial on A-10 calls Christie's veto of a bill that would have meant federal aid for family planning services for poor women "disappointing," and the bill's sponsor wrote an OpEd piece on A-11. It's a clear sign the governor is leading wealthy New Jersey residents in a war against the middle and working classes.

Business side

Sykes' Local news section continues to disappoint, with Columnist Charles Stiles selling out his journalism credentials to attack a bill that could see newspapers such as The Record lose substantial ad revenue from legal notices (L-1).

Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado has a story for a change, an L-2 report on teachers voting on a wage-freeze proposal. 

Silly story

I get a kick out of how young Better Living staffers think technology is the solution to all of our problems, including what we cook or eat out. 

Today's F-1 story by Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori appears to focus on useless culinary apps. Who really needs one that helps you cut "perfectly even slices of cake or pizza" or allows you to "color-coordinate your dinner menu with your outfit." Give me a break.

Or what use is an app that will "trace produce back to the farm it came from and even the crew that picked it"? Wouldn't a far better app be one that tells you whether the produce was grown with pesticides or herbicides, or whether the poultry, meat and fish you buy were raised with antibiotics?

And, please, Fujimori, no more stories that begin: "If you haven't gotten the memo yet...." Believe it or not, many of your readers aren't employed, and don't get memos. Some are retired or were older when they were laid off by bosses like Barbara Jaeger to make way for young staffers such as yourself.