Page 1 stories speak volumes about broken government

"Baring Our Soles" is an exhibit at the Johnson Public Library in Hackensack, above and below, sponsored by the Center for Hope and Safety, formerly Shelter Our Sisters, which helps battered women in Bergen County.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You know we are mired in deep doo-doo when James P. Fox has been able to move easily between the public and private sectors without raising any ethical concerns.

Today, a Page 1 story in The Record argues whether Fox, the state's transportation commissioner and former lobbyist for United Airlines, broke the law simply by attending a public meeting where the airline was mentioned (A-1).

Below that on one of the dreariest front pages in weeks from Editor Martin Gottlieb is another story on our broken election system, which is driven by special interest money.

I can see the death of Yogi Berra taking up a big part of Page 1, but why is his funeral and photos of former Yankees out front today and not in Local or Sports?

Local news

Staff Photographer Marko Georgiev's enterprise photo of a flooded parking lot reflecting a cloudy blue sky on L-3 today is what readers want to see more of.

It's far better than all of those shots of rollover and other non-fatal accidents with captions that tell you absolutely nothing about the possible cause, names of those involved and whether any charges were filed.

Still, on most days, local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza can't seem to put out a local-news section without relying on such photos as well as a heavy dose of police, fire and court news.

Food news

Page BL-2 in the Better Living section today shows you how far The Record has declined in the years since the paper folded an entire section devoted to food; downtown restaurants, shops and caterers; recipes and related news.

Clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River strikes again with another unhealthy recipe, Chicken Francese, which certainly doesn't need three tablespoons of artery clogging butter to taste great (BL-2). 

Pope's visit won't change poverty, immigration and politics

Construction workers adding hundreds of apartments overlooking traffic on Route 4 east in Englewood. Meanwhile, the city's downtown merchants haven't been helped much by the thousands of people who already live in buildings on both sides of the highway.

This storefront on North Dean Street, near Palisade Avenue, Englewood's main business street, has been vacant for months.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With Governor Christie running New Jersey and other uncharitable Republicans controlling Congress, Pope Francis' message of hope and unity will fall on deaf ears.

You have to wonder why The Record and other media have been publishing hundreds of thousands of words and images for a full week now on Francis' first visit to the United States (A-1, A-6, L-7).

A big break in that coverage is the death of Yogi Berra, but you won't find the best story about the Yankees legend on the front page or in the Sports section today (A-1 and S-1).

On Page 1, sports Columnist Bob Klapisch's first line is an instant turnoff:

"This was way back in the early 2000s...."

On the Sports front, Columnist Tara Sullivan can't wait to tell readers about "my few, if memorable, intersections with Yogi...."

For the most moving story about Yogi, see Jay Levin's piece on his Montclair neighbors, who recall Berra as a regular guy.

The story is on the front of the Local section under a great headline:

"His home field since 1958"

Other news

Also on Page 1 today, Staff Writer Shawn Boburg is telling NJ Transit bus riders a new Manhattan terminal one block west of the current hub will take 13 years to build and cost $9 billion (A-1).

But there's not a single word in his long account about the easiest way to ease delays at the antiquated terminal now -- running two express bus lanes into the Lincoln Tunnel during the morning and afternoon rush hours. 

In the years Boburg has been covering the Port Authority, he has written little about the bi-state agency's rail and bus operations. 

Ken Zisa

On the Local front, Staff Writer Todd South is reporting a judge is giving the lawyer for Ken Zisa and an assistant prosecutor four months to prepare for a motion to dismiss the remaining charge of official misconduct against the former Hackensack police chief and state assemblyman (L-1).

Four months?

Our glacial legal system is a national disgrace that seems designed to line the pockets of defense attorneys, impoverish defendants and deny many others access to the courts.