tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29362507678170717672024-02-19T06:43:51.194-05:00The Sasson ReportThe Sasson Report from Victor E. Sasson, based in northern New Jersey, explores the decline of The Record of Hackensack, N.J., the local daily newspaper where I worked as a reporter, copy editor and food writer for nearly 30 years; shopping at Costco Wholesale; eating in and eating out; harmful antibiotics in meat and fish; and Tesla and the slow transition to electric cars. It bears no relation to an official Israeli government report in 2005, also called the Sasson Report.
Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.comBlogger503125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-88021223985414952082022-11-21T11:43:00.008-05:002022-11-21T13:20:40.297-05:00Man. 78, seduced and abandoned by major medical center in Hackensack<div style="text-align: left;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was a big promise: If I checked in at the medical center in Hackensack, a world class team of doctors and surgeons would determine whether it was safe enough to open my heart and replace both of my infected and damaged valves.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My son brought me to the hospital a couple days before my birthday on November 4. but I didn't leave until many days later.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">l was confined to the same stretcher, and doctors and nurses would stop by and say a few words.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Time passed, time stretched on and I am not sure which one of the surgeons took me aside said he had decided any surgery at this time was too risky.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, I was back on the stretcher, and doctors stooped by less frequently.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Yes, I felt seduced and abandoned.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of my valves had been replaced at Englewood Hospital in 2011.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was discharged on Nov. 15.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdR6gHJ1SMFqJtA18Y7PyRUKWQLoLDcPWgAX0jVYUm9rBa8N9XHJEBvNOb9r1UL-y3T5pfqMrlGsXsOdrh0C3pPwcJuuYJAsi_5lIFn_fy9bIO2t3Xuc_tDuNCf1Bk04_7clMOun2Kkk2lYlJYLd-RHYrh1iE1dpXsw4lOpWuk_jOTCOidEaPIYh5w/s1280/v%20hospital.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdR6gHJ1SMFqJtA18Y7PyRUKWQLoLDcPWgAX0jVYUm9rBa8N9XHJEBvNOb9r1UL-y3T5pfqMrlGsXsOdrh0C3pPwcJuuYJAsi_5lIFn_fy9bIO2t3Xuc_tDuNCf1Bk04_7clMOun2Kkk2lYlJYLd-RHYrh1iE1dpXsw4lOpWuk_jOTCOidEaPIYh5w/s320/v%20hospital.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50y3yE7PxjxTrYITmF0wjHYwpLNC0MsjG3PL-Rmh_1KKjQ54urBppUlRVPoUNT0hYDTdSz0_pihViRoMnDlm2O07FtQse1BEks9-239vTAILmimP9-bjRLWrnzq6rKaiWf1js0jqWAnbRV12KvwouXm1Tjpx0ShTDV8zV4fJOgIqNPyhqwnXJSsmG/s1280/victor%20hospital.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50y3yE7PxjxTrYITmF0wjHYwpLNC0MsjG3PL-Rmh_1KKjQ54urBppUlRVPoUNT0hYDTdSz0_pihViRoMnDlm2O07FtQse1BEks9-239vTAILmimP9-bjRLWrnzq6rKaiWf1js0jqWAnbRV12KvwouXm1Tjpx0ShTDV8zV4fJOgIqNPyhqwnXJSsmG/w236-h315/victor%20hospital.jpg" width="236" /></a></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-13042142484846405792022-09-07T18:02:00.003-04:002022-09-07T19:12:17.790-04:00Bergen prosecutor says an SUV driver ran a stop sign in Hackensack on July 29 and killed one of his assistants on a motorcycle<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZR7MEa7YvxVQO1lhhxIugAzIp9PawGpLtRTCd7MCagkBQwxVHrL4xFE3sHqznqWOb8vj59vULpxVsP7ZkYtBrAVtpCFUWsYXk8_uMyy6-qgxWCzkh-DIXIOl4hX-MLunqQTen1yXBfLPQ9Loq0F2fa6CZy7o6JED9t2PCy2susDUdM2Ut5aEOmyD/s1280/messages_0_8_vdgxqy.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="1280" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZR7MEa7YvxVQO1lhhxIugAzIp9PawGpLtRTCd7MCagkBQwxVHrL4xFE3sHqznqWOb8vj59vULpxVsP7ZkYtBrAVtpCFUWsYXk8_uMyy6-qgxWCzkh-DIXIOl4hX-MLunqQTen1yXBfLPQ9Loq0F2fa6CZy7o6JED9t2PCy2susDUdM2Ut5aEOmyD/w534-h350/messages_0_8_vdgxqy.webp" width="534" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">FATAL CRASH: A photo of Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Avon Morgan of Ridgewood and the scene of his fatal accident in Hackensack appeared online as part of Daily Voice coverage.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Death of Avon Morgan 'remains</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">an open police investigation'</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- News reports of the death of Avon Morgan, 38, contained few details about the July 29 collision of an SUV and the motorcycle ridden by the Assistant Bergen County prosecutor.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For example, the lead paragraph on NorthJersey.com said "the law enforcement community is mourning the loss" of Morgan, "who was remembered as a 'class act' who was always smiling."</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Now, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella is blaming the SUV driver in Morgan's death:</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Answering The Sasson Report's request under the Open Public Records Act for his office's completed investigation, the prosecutor said in his response:</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">"Your request pertains to a recent motor vehicle accident in which a motorcyclist [Morgan] was struck and killed by a vehicle that disregarded or failed to yield to a stop sign.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">"The matter remains an open police investigation at this time," Musella said.</span></b></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir0Q9xF_LCUrwhsTXF5aG_EcEUyGMQEscvtL2JBCqK7Bagp6xwKDQeR_aVc6GhkEB7s5nLT4LJ0VtYfRzBRBLNdkV7MjiUxfXda2d06wmvh81jKw5u4bads_8pg92dkq1otc4KMbc1gqPFlVZZwROOd1b_ei58Xn_QxDjtHD-H-HdtiDW56ozmeH1y/s660/7401ab89-e7ef-4f16-baf6-e68b42978d50-072922MotorcycleFatal008.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="660" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir0Q9xF_LCUrwhsTXF5aG_EcEUyGMQEscvtL2JBCqK7Bagp6xwKDQeR_aVc6GhkEB7s5nLT4LJ0VtYfRzBRBLNdkV7MjiUxfXda2d06wmvh81jKw5u4bads_8pg92dkq1otc4KMbc1gqPFlVZZwROOd1b_ei58Xn_QxDjtHD-H-HdtiDW56ozmeH1y/w580-h386/7401ab89-e7ef-4f16-baf6-e68b42978d50-072922MotorcycleFatal008.webp" width="580" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>SUV DRIVER EXTRICATED: In photos that appeared on NorthJersey.com, above and below, investigators examine a Suzuki GSX motorcycle and a Toyota RAV4 after a collision on Essex Street and Railroad Avenue South in Hackensack on the afternoon of July 29. The time of the fatal accident was said to be 3:47 p.m.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IM1Sf7eY4AAjEA86Ok3dvHzAeoCk8aVsaQrJIMnwT8gXenwimCBA-WqvHplY_mxuSL-6fARJI5IQxp_ynBcT6uUJvUNMqZyd25xOwz3-HaNtvRwxrqo_EE5s0NP-Oq5ZhMApOJRNN89iNhwMQnp3OHld2XuLCQ1FjdUR7WX2HCnV_mx5yoOk70Dv/s660/a515eff6-ed1f-4647-9e99-8cd712b21c75-072922MotorcycleFatal003.webp"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="660" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IM1Sf7eY4AAjEA86Ok3dvHzAeoCk8aVsaQrJIMnwT8gXenwimCBA-WqvHplY_mxuSL-6fARJI5IQxp_ynBcT6uUJvUNMqZyd25xOwz3-HaNtvRwxrqo_EE5s0NP-Oq5ZhMApOJRNN89iNhwMQnp3OHld2XuLCQ1FjdUR7WX2HCnV_mx5yoOk70Dv/w580-h388/a515eff6-ed1f-4647-9e99-8cd712b21c75-072922MotorcycleFatal003.webp" width="580" /></a></div><br /><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>SUV driver identified</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The driver of the Toyota RAV 4 who allegedly "disregarded or failed to yield to a stop sign" was identified by Hackensack police as Juan DeJesus, 59, of Hackensack.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">DeJesus had to be extricated from his vehicle. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The SUV driver was treated at Hackensack University Medical Center and released after detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office executed a search warrant and obtained two vials of his blood, which were taken to Hackensack police headquarters.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>DeJesus told police he was making a left turn from Railroad Avenue South onto Essex Street, but the police report ends in mid-sentence.</b></span></p><p><br /></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-81145195749395902192022-09-02T17:29:00.002-04:002022-09-04T16:56:28.785-04:00Deirdre J. Bowe is yet another victim of Bergen County officials' criminal refusal to improve pedestrian safety in Hackensack <p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GKtUO2-qsZS1KUEzQD5zbewEWa8g_YdMKmsE5-3PWSxqYiNZxe0Ekrd_aFg4osiGYwkB8Waj-6wFtemW4IauheDObl6jf73BE420BbMumFH1jt8_4-_qWtf5pS5zqiIoW07K_lNSSM4y0Bl3CSf-bmjTMotV5K6TjfW4jvfoOttOZgYuSDdwGaN6/s4032/IMG_1076.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="654" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GKtUO2-qsZS1KUEzQD5zbewEWa8g_YdMKmsE5-3PWSxqYiNZxe0Ekrd_aFg4osiGYwkB8Waj-6wFtemW4IauheDObl6jf73BE420BbMumFH1jt8_4-_qWtf5pS5zqiIoW07K_lNSSM4y0Bl3CSf-bmjTMotV5K6TjfW4jvfoOttOZgYuSDdwGaN6/w490-h654/IMG_1076.jpeg" width="490" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The large SUV that struck and fatally injured Deirdre Bowe, 64, stopped approximately here on Polifly Road and Mary Street in Hackensack, as shown in the Hackensack police report filed on July 10, 2022, by Police Officer Panagiotis Seretis, below.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></b><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoqgKseMjGYZnAXg-K_9x8UFd4vwyH7-Ck1AHuXkO2Vp5VMbRgL5ywmRiNP_E1hyuWrmOGcuQVsHcg_KAF3Sjs0qTtFuAGUSula4Vuf8ksAFPpqyzsfGWIny650Hv8lmQcWIB8zQKuCe4u2PWWgkK8eapVUfh5NjDDOX4Mcmf5LfQf1p93-rQ6Kun/s1836/IMG_1077.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="1712" height="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoqgKseMjGYZnAXg-K_9x8UFd4vwyH7-Ck1AHuXkO2Vp5VMbRgL5ywmRiNP_E1hyuWrmOGcuQVsHcg_KAF3Sjs0qTtFuAGUSula4Vuf8ksAFPpqyzsfGWIny650Hv8lmQcWIB8zQKuCe4u2PWWgkK8eapVUfh5NjDDOX4Mcmf5LfQf1p93-rQ6Kun/w449-h483/IMG_1077.jpeg" width="449" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">EDITOR</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Who was Deirdre Janet Bowe?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The 64-year-old woman was struck by a Cadillac Escalade as she crossed a darkened Polifly Road at Mary Street in Hackensack at about 8:55 p.m. on July 10, 2022, and died of her injuries in a hospital.</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Bowe is the second woman killed crossing Polifly Road, a busy 4-lane street supposedly maintained by Bergen County that has a crosswalk at only one intersection between Essex Street and Route 80 -- a distance of 11 blocks -- and inadequate lighting.</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Hackensack officials' repeated calls for better street lighting and crosswalks at every intersection have fallen on deaf ears at the Bergen County Administration building in Hackensack.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Even signs or flashing lights warning drivers of pedestrians wouldn't be out of place given a popular CVS Pharmacy, all of the apartment buildings lining both sides of Polifly Road, and drivers who often exceed the speed limit.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>2021 fatality</u></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>On March 4, 2021, Lillian J. Holmes, 81, of Hackensack died after she was knocked down by a hit-run driver and struck by a second driver as she crossed a darkened Polifly Road, between Sutton and Marvin avenues, several blocks away from the latest fatality.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>She was going to pick up a prescription at the CVS Pharmacy, family members said.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The case remains open at the Bergen County prosecutor's Fatal Accident Investigation Unit, which has been unable to locate the vehicle that struck her or identify the driver who fled.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u><b>Deirdre Janet Bowe</b></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Bowe's first name was misspelled in the Hackensack police report, and she wasn't identified in the Daily Voice story about her death on July 11, 2022.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The headline: "Pedestrian, 64, Struck, Killed On Treacherous Stretch of Road in Hackensack." </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"Lost too soon" said an online obituary in The Record and Herald News on July 15, 2022, listing as survivors her mother, Hope; her sister, Daphne Bowe-Kricheff; and three children, Ashton, Christopher and Cordelia Bowe-Rivera.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>There is no information on where she lived. </b><b>The obituary suggested donations to AdvanceHousing.org.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>What driver said</u></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The driver, Abraham Hazem, 56, of Hackensack told police "he was traveling southbound on Polifly Road," near Mary Street, and "the pedestrian ran across the roadway and that he was unable to avoid the collision."</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Hazem was driving a black Cadillac Escalade registered in New York State with "SYDNEYS" on the license plates.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The police officer who wrote the report noted:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b> "The pedestrian was not crossing at a marked crosswalk" and the "nearest crosswalk was located north of the location...200 feet away."</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"Also the location has very little overhead lighting making the area dark," the officer wrote.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>There are apartments and homes on both sides of the street near the spot where Bowe was killed, a couple of blocks from Route 80.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The driver was released at the scene, the police report noted.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>What state law says</b></span></u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The officer who wrote the report mentioned the pedestrian wasn't using a marked crosswalk, but state law says:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"Pedestrians have the right-of-way at all intersections, including intersections with no crosswalk markings ('unmarked crosswalks').</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"A motorist is required to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection."</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"From 2010 to 2020, 14 pedestrians were killed in Hackensack, records show," NorthJersey.com has reported.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="https://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2021/05/crosswalk-without-warning-sign-proved.html" target="_blank">Crosswalk without warning sign proved deadly</a></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-77289656336076122282022-09-01T15:37:00.009-04:002022-09-06T22:00:18.810-04:00We flew first class to Nashville on Delta, but the 'food' wasn't music to our ears<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNNQjOCayARItXXHl32X7_v6TlI3Bi_mx0_tmsqJXjawUqaoyfxDMUcAj4dLAZGv0DtMM9adv6AGXpVLqcbGOB_cHTOLmFE0b5rogXAbjTENbDAcVUfN5oNWcW-ctYrBHv4du810ZMHCCTWVazIwZ-mq2rN9ezDtwwFc-tI6_OmcjQ-9AssbSmyHA/s2048/IMG_0905.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="686" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNNQjOCayARItXXHl32X7_v6TlI3Bi_mx0_tmsqJXjawUqaoyfxDMUcAj4dLAZGv0DtMM9adv6AGXpVLqcbGOB_cHTOLmFE0b5rogXAbjTENbDAcVUfN5oNWcW-ctYrBHv4du810ZMHCCTWVazIwZ-mq2rN9ezDtwwFc-tI6_OmcjQ-9AssbSmyHA/w515-h686/IMG_0905.jpeg" width="515" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">THE VIEW FROM FIRST CLASS: I decided to pay more than $1,000 each for my wife and I to fly roundtrip to Nashville, the country music capital, to celebrate her birthday and our 20th wedding anniversary. Amid lingering fears of the coronavirus, I welcomed our two roomy seats and our own bin for carry on luggage, below.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oGy7ZoxxuVDjdFTEDWgvyqyAbrFbMdbWgo_vj7osp6C50yfmQA8cIEGGVJO6zFpK42-RAMMNkV3g0N3lpoynX8v70ay9-C2LGqF1OORaYbN-uL_HAXBMSOKM_5Qsao5FLTpywwx8c-kOs9VJ34PsjaHlkBZa_dskEy8tc_7Llul424a4ws62T_Hn/s2048/IMG_0907.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="716" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oGy7ZoxxuVDjdFTEDWgvyqyAbrFbMdbWgo_vj7osp6C50yfmQA8cIEGGVJO6zFpK42-RAMMNkV3g0N3lpoynX8v70ay9-C2LGqF1OORaYbN-uL_HAXBMSOKM_5Qsao5FLTpywwx8c-kOs9VJ34PsjaHlkBZa_dskEy8tc_7Llul424a4ws62T_Hn/w538-h716/IMG_0907.jpeg" width="538" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Are we more susceptible to being </b></span><b style="font-family: verdana;">overcharged</b><b style="font-family: verdana;"> as we get older?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><b></b></i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><b> </b></i></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><b>Editor's note: I've added more photos of the great food we ate in Nashville during our visit, as well as listed some of the great country music stars we heard live.</b></i></span></blockquote><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Our last real vacation was a trip to New Orleans in April 2019 so I decided to splurge on the airfare to Nashville for a weeklong stay last month.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">First-class seats on Delta were a little over $1,000 each, but I welcomed the prospect of ordering a couple of margaritas and a nice salad or an Impossible Burger with a side of great fries.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">After all, we were celebrating my wife's birthday and our 20th wedding anniversary even as the lingering coronavirus still made us worried about being in crowds.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, I booked two first-class tickets online for our flights from Newark to Atlanta and a change of planes to Nashville's international airport.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But it turns out we were ripped off by Delta.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Margaritas and chips</u></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Tickets in steerage cost about $300 each or less for the same flights.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>So, for an extra $700 0r so, I got a couple of margaritas after we took off, and when I asked what food was being served, the cabin attendant showed me a basket with small bags of mini graham crackers, pistachio nuts and potato chips!</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOWoNm6-NpdY3zYGYBdqLKTnAA0lVX1pKt9UzOAzkbRQvQgeQsPGRyaaxitmzJ-hqhd-Tq-EwMU_s1MxMwWmLbJrUHrH26cJkZqtmx0RnHrFbmKyHz0C1Cu4j77H_g2-nGYOp9i33G1JBPa2CXG1os-tY0S2VgM6ccIvD0zzF2y7-UbqdJaHDqR4Q/s4032/IMG_1066.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="694" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOWoNm6-NpdY3zYGYBdqLKTnAA0lVX1pKt9UzOAzkbRQvQgeQsPGRyaaxitmzJ-hqhd-Tq-EwMU_s1MxMwWmLbJrUHrH26cJkZqtmx0RnHrFbmKyHz0C1Cu4j77H_g2-nGYOp9i33G1JBPa2CXG1os-tY0S2VgM6ccIvD0zzF2y7-UbqdJaHDqR4Q/w520-h694/IMG_1066.jpeg" width="520" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">ON THE WAY HOME: I made sure to eat a good lunch at the Nashville airport before we left for home via Atlanta last Sunday -- a Mushroom Toast with a crisp Romaine lettuce salad and shaved cheese, and a cold beer to wash it down.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></b><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Problems with Delta</u></span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>This was the first time -- and likely the last time -- I used Delta Airlines, and as I was booking the trip I was offered $400 off our airfare, if I applied for a Delta-branded American Express credit card.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I filled out the application, but by the end of the purchase, I wasn't approved, and I couldn't even charge our air fares to PayPal for some reason.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>So, I had to charge the full $2,000+ to another credit card, losing the $400 discount. The next day, I got an email the American Express card was approved.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>When the card arrived in the mail a week later, I called Delta and asked the airline to reverse the charges and put them on the Amex card so I could get the $400 discount.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Delta refused to do so.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>$2,000 return ticket</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Our flight home last Sunday was scheduled to leave Nashville around 2:30 in the afternoon, and when I called Delta to see if we could get on an earlier flight, I was told yes, but I would have to pay another $1,000 each -- the fares went up, I was told.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I can't make this up. Delta's greed knows no bound.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Bring lots of money</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Nashville is booming. And it's expensive for tourists, especially if you want to enjoy fine dining and see the big country music stars.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>We attended three major concerts and paid about $200 each for seats each time, plus service fees totaling $100 or so.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I bought all of our tickets on my smart phone, a difficult process for a senior like me. I wonder now if I couldn't have called the venues directly and bought my tickets over the phone, eliminating the "service fees."</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The biggest disappointment was the Grand Ole Opry -- "the show that made country music famous" -- where promotional material holds out the promise of you seeing the biggest country stars among up and comers and a house band.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Last Saturday night, from our $200 seats, we saw a lot of performers in their 70s and bands we never heard of, even a really funny comedian, but no stars like Darius Rucker, who was shown on the cover of the program.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Big country stars</u></b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We did see and hear Darius Rucker at a fund-raiser on Aug. 23, 2022, for the bus drivers and other support staff for tours of big stars like Rucker, as well as performances by the Brothers Osborne, Scotty McCreery and Brad Paisley.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>At an award show, the Academy of Country Music Honors, on Aug. 24, 2022, we loved a song-and-dance number by Kelsea Ballerini. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Nashville also boasts the country's only National Museum of African American Music, where you can see videos and listen to bands and singers. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwmhdmRCmrVXLrEpBC6k-gT-GsxI2MS0Hqh7PXB4IS-3why9sY79dYHvt2vMOJ5BcZqBwpKvV-RX3-TCP-tnQz61sDKloH-1Q5lNbJQZbYAIxyQQaCoOXMR_f1ab-_XJm3D9o4ind-Lkj4x2IU7QVL4-4aphr2pKbLy1TATeS55GG3ZNSLP0f1Pqa/s2048/IMG_0973.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="745" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwmhdmRCmrVXLrEpBC6k-gT-GsxI2MS0Hqh7PXB4IS-3why9sY79dYHvt2vMOJ5BcZqBwpKvV-RX3-TCP-tnQz61sDKloH-1Q5lNbJQZbYAIxyQQaCoOXMR_f1ab-_XJm3D9o4ind-Lkj4x2IU7QVL4-4aphr2pKbLy1TATeS55GG3ZNSLP0f1Pqa/w559-h745/IMG_0973.jpeg" width="559" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW? StubHub, an online ticket agency, promised we'd have an "unobstructed view" of the stage from our seats at the Academy of Country Music Honors, an award show with performances by Kelsea Ballerini and others. We paid a total of $422 with fees. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KR3ndi_UeoEhGLBwTd-U505pl0bwC38rSy1LhBXN-YECVYlh3ziQOAIsL2B0OCRphVSpciMT-nfaErl28fo_DPve87GcgP_MKbNeDClLBiClRk7F5-FQ-1SsWAQs_YzbeIapyf3Lq1w--WR-0LANTKAtxuriOCtAsIeELf83PLLfUM2pdcitF6dC/s2304/IMG_0982.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="1363" height="738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KR3ndi_UeoEhGLBwTd-U505pl0bwC38rSy1LhBXN-YECVYlh3ziQOAIsL2B0OCRphVSpciMT-nfaErl28fo_DPve87GcgP_MKbNeDClLBiClRk7F5-FQ-1SsWAQs_YzbeIapyf3Lq1w--WR-0LANTKAtxuriOCtAsIeELf83PLLfUM2pdcitF6dC/w436-h738/IMG_0982.jpeg" width="436" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>AWARDS: Singers Miranda Lambert, above, and Shania Twain were among the country stars receiving awards at the show in the historic Ryman Auditorium, where the hard, wooden church pew seating was torture.</b><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwlXYYa3LOJ-HY7ro7QatcI8oZzgciSvVagffp6c5py3YLRAJbnXGGn-Bj7P8U_MLRPH_uC7Ud2QGvtlRhRkhBwEIkupenGw6Z-Rd_QMg_v__ybmToStvPhOFsHCbC_V-omX9STFg-571Kns_RgWz5F45lc9aHd6GlaiIQIfE7eKl8nVDh9an90I_/s2048/IMG_0935.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwlXYYa3LOJ-HY7ro7QatcI8oZzgciSvVagffp6c5py3YLRAJbnXGGn-Bj7P8U_MLRPH_uC7Ud2QGvtlRhRkhBwEIkupenGw6Z-Rd_QMg_v__ybmToStvPhOFsHCbC_V-omX9STFg-571Kns_RgWz5F45lc9aHd6GlaiIQIfE7eKl8nVDh9an90I_/w470-h625/IMG_0935.jpeg" width="470" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">FROM FINE DINING TO FOOD HALL: We ordered and shared a comforting side dish of Chipotle Sweet Potatoes ($13), above, at Marsh House, a fine-dining seafood restaurant in the Thompson Hotel. The neighborhood is called The Gultch. Our entrees were sea scallops ($42) and red fish ($38), below.<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxivNpQRKVkXNv1ZKQkkh9OmjSCeRAJfc7IRSwN-9R8OLaFt7A6DYUNggcm8nH6UQGz68TjK1vbCeCdqYUHx3c3pW3tSg_IIRnNEbeCZPFzdb1QJd5DPEPGwPFi3FdPi1XOaOghhwgT-jCQB9p8RL1fcTs2a7DcKNOfRJhwAbMwt93_IQREMyXRgA/s1800/38C5DB02-9B9A-4E49-B434-5B8809D8BFB3%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="585" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxivNpQRKVkXNv1ZKQkkh9OmjSCeRAJfc7IRSwN-9R8OLaFt7A6DYUNggcm8nH6UQGz68TjK1vbCeCdqYUHx3c3pW3tSg_IIRnNEbeCZPFzdb1QJd5DPEPGwPFi3FdPi1XOaOghhwgT-jCQB9p8RL1fcTs2a7DcKNOfRJhwAbMwt93_IQREMyXRgA/w468-h585/38C5DB02-9B9A-4E49-B434-5B8809D8BFB3%20(1).jpg" width="468" /></a></div><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ND8U_Gcz9F8dyo6vcoaaxBkcAqxRcAFk2dcBasjn6ySslEmYSjoAaW1wBHjbTB0-M0ZsOQ0-kw8pgQgIk2wlJIYK0qraQWFJUNTebvumdEvfXpz7kWIisWrlrKbCdoS9geoyoa5gHdm4CW_rPnByOtg_Tz0pQLe7yxRgvIoXfCO0CEzLUnV-NjLe/s1800/DD344023-7CE5-41EE-A7D9-0BA8C5C3B7D2%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ND8U_Gcz9F8dyo6vcoaaxBkcAqxRcAFk2dcBasjn6ySslEmYSjoAaW1wBHjbTB0-M0ZsOQ0-kw8pgQgIk2wlJIYK0qraQWFJUNTebvumdEvfXpz7kWIisWrlrKbCdoS9geoyoa5gHdm4CW_rPnByOtg_Tz0pQLe7yxRgvIoXfCO0CEzLUnV-NjLe/w513-h642/DD344023-7CE5-41EE-A7D9-0BA8C5C3B7D2%20(1).jpg" width="513" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLc3yegfQKIsQQo5WCtkh32hPugvDNntbDiqpyPLZkwBbcOw65h8kQDzXcNWSsD3RXA9UzWrZ6a3XSqVLbHBwO75SrmNh-bRlM0-daqC4FykBGkCNh8wFJrBiW_EJyx1Qs1mTBnTY4RkCid9o6GSBRB3DDEDiszkZJBhqyVRvgewuADWXsdAufYKDe/s3543/IMG_1058%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3543" data-original-width="3024" height="533" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLc3yegfQKIsQQo5WCtkh32hPugvDNntbDiqpyPLZkwBbcOw65h8kQDzXcNWSsD3RXA9UzWrZ6a3XSqVLbHBwO75SrmNh-bRlM0-daqC4FykBGkCNh8wFJrBiW_EJyx1Qs1mTBnTY4RkCid9o6GSBRB3DDEDiszkZJBhqyVRvgewuADWXsdAufYKDe/w523-h533/IMG_1058%20(2).jpeg" width="523" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">MARGARITAVILLE HOTEL: In the hotel's JWB Grill, I enjoyed Local Trout served over garlic spinach and red chilies ($30), and Charred Broccolini ($8), below.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjPDsG6mm6kHSFIBpPtV1T_LSfv_LIA1komlsyaCOAM7k76DGJYyJKsEVwEbzfqbHZWPmwf6Uwow0fgZm7vDcpwP6v7dQlANJFpbLPEdQKboEDhJyWcmzSAOR8aOKQrUBJSnrSBI4X-sMD0wg2fKND6u10Kj9tNIdeKvYEAOdBtQF1T5XT9VQOc7g/s3641/IMG_1059%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3641" data-original-width="2412" height="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjPDsG6mm6kHSFIBpPtV1T_LSfv_LIA1komlsyaCOAM7k76DGJYyJKsEVwEbzfqbHZWPmwf6Uwow0fgZm7vDcpwP6v7dQlANJFpbLPEdQKboEDhJyWcmzSAOR8aOKQrUBJSnrSBI4X-sMD0wg2fKND6u10Kj9tNIdeKvYEAOdBtQF1T5XT9VQOc7g/w388-h586/IMG_1059%20(2).jpeg" width="388" /></a></div><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXHMDOf-kojJrpPyF8cGabfebybS7sZ8rs5UNgcXeIGkf4X5xOqS6hFxuZ3NBAeLAXuT9SmK4eG_4ZWv9YaDJ5kEBTOH4ESiSIqw3Nkzuu9ItIUW-zfzAkk5kH7np1M2-ZPiS-NBMYR0S8Ppl4Ms4oD60q4Ob3irQT7nBnj58LlRSzJm3XGyRLAtig/s4032/IMG_1006%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXHMDOf-kojJrpPyF8cGabfebybS7sZ8rs5UNgcXeIGkf4X5xOqS6hFxuZ3NBAeLAXuT9SmK4eG_4ZWv9YaDJ5kEBTOH4ESiSIqw3Nkzuu9ItIUW-zfzAkk5kH7np1M2-ZPiS-NBMYR0S8Ppl4Ms4oD60q4Ob3irQT7nBnj58LlRSzJm3XGyRLAtig/w524-h698/IMG_1006%20(2).jpeg" width="524" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">WORTH THE DETOUR: For lunch, I loved the Broccoli Melt ($14), above, at Cafe Roze in East Nashville, a neighborhood across the Cumberland River. We took a Lyft there and back. Unfortunately, the noise level was uncomfortably high.</span><br /><br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs92qiKzi-jDVxJ51biFICTydO_92Ni9GXvLG0J-zFz9CcYpePatbSKs7cYTf1oG9Knk4HgACP21rm1jgqNYWrmTxgjrVP22eAydHU7d96w84mOEnxtw7kmvGhZBen96Y6ZPZ3U3f40csrn4iA2QMkI5AJ2Rf38wNI8WgFpm0OPo_i-RzODyNowU_Q/s3890/IMG_1004%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="3890" data-original-width="2917" height="716" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs92qiKzi-jDVxJ51biFICTydO_92Ni9GXvLG0J-zFz9CcYpePatbSKs7cYTf1oG9Knk4HgACP21rm1jgqNYWrmTxgjrVP22eAydHU7d96w84mOEnxtw7kmvGhZBen96Y6ZPZ3U3f40csrn4iA2QMkI5AJ2Rf38wNI8WgFpm0OPo_i-RzODyNowU_Q/w537-h716/IMG_1004%20(2).jpeg" width="537" /></b></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>BREWED IN NASHVILLE: This bottle of porter ($6), a dark beer, was so good I ordered a second to wash down my sandwich. But I couldn't find another restaurant that served it, even though it is brewed in Nashville.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQ316AUrKU6HWH5MNZzRPIVvbcFU2jh5tTVW49j8iYAS8FuKiHD17zL2GhdCyW4JLg_gIpAzh1AolIwmKheR10uAWSyrgulxsChFgI0MTApCLpAg0RlAlnrASQPNhP7NQkFR7K4ETjAXl70dJHFlarUfVHBhAIkS-ZKO_b7u41dQ9aAyRMeHqyE0J/s1651/IMG_1003%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="1651" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQ316AUrKU6HWH5MNZzRPIVvbcFU2jh5tTVW49j8iYAS8FuKiHD17zL2GhdCyW4JLg_gIpAzh1AolIwmKheR10uAWSyrgulxsChFgI0MTApCLpAg0RlAlnrASQPNhP7NQkFR7K4ETjAXl70dJHFlarUfVHBhAIkS-ZKO_b7u41dQ9aAyRMeHqyE0J/w528-h192/IMG_1003%20(2).jpeg" width="528" /></a></div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNiij9SKng2mHQL93YauDrMvMB5Gse45yu9pA-EJo0Ave4o4Xgmkl7AXEmfS9Uu7TzR0ke0J1NGu78CevuTjyxshWoD7QDe4KgDtX-ny3kqEa0HsrQzdSsZt03frvORGBPhS_1DWcyEsRBTm6IWhzc0af-0NtO9e20f57UMl6JrAZGjGq1MyICd14/s2048/IMG_1047%20(3).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNiij9SKng2mHQL93YauDrMvMB5Gse45yu9pA-EJo0Ave4o4Xgmkl7AXEmfS9Uu7TzR0ke0J1NGu78CevuTjyxshWoD7QDe4KgDtX-ny3kqEa0HsrQzdSsZt03frvORGBPhS_1DWcyEsRBTm6IWhzc0af-0NtO9e20f57UMl6JrAZGjGq1MyICd14/w548-h730/IMG_1047%20(3).jpeg" width="548" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">BIG BREAKFASTS: If you're a fan of big breakfasts, Kitchen Notes in the Omni Nashville Hotel is the place that serves them. My Yogurt Parfait, above, was $9. Coffee and orange juice are $6 each.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sXi_ilOkeMVit2mDzwGb0qrSf5jSFyB8F6GdDuXzN3N54P0vzfCtItsWUZPK4iNyoIUMpYDC1ghWl0dLq4HhYLQT-aTqbqagRkYp8rOG3dza20aUpBDm97iRj9noMrOsEjgNUDzaRUYBLzdOJwnpuX2QUUyiJv9gZ60fKGE3rueI4YOY5m1fbMKz/s2048/IMG_1048%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="721" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sXi_ilOkeMVit2mDzwGb0qrSf5jSFyB8F6GdDuXzN3N54P0vzfCtItsWUZPK4iNyoIUMpYDC1ghWl0dLq4HhYLQT-aTqbqagRkYp8rOG3dza20aUpBDm97iRj9noMrOsEjgNUDzaRUYBLzdOJwnpuX2QUUyiJv9gZ60fKGE3rueI4YOY5m1fbMKz/w541-h721/IMG_1048%20(2).jpeg" width="541" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">MUSIC OMELET: My wife's Music City Omelet ($18) was stuffed with ham, roasted peppers, onion and cheddar cheese and served with house potatoes.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAgnaVw7uTc3OxEX1198-su3brjL1VEF9tv9bsoTG2-kFPVu27TZObiR1Tf8jWaM6bNP4OmDEXyO7WLxSBjOqgzA6vC_e2cr1Hgm-rbONqsT746kQgnahHy8bQps8POxon6kUPldjPW1JKQtvWyus8H4j6uEIWBUeI-PcM5W9XWPmz6bQPSqiBc9E/s2048/IMG_1046%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAgnaVw7uTc3OxEX1198-su3brjL1VEF9tv9bsoTG2-kFPVu27TZObiR1Tf8jWaM6bNP4OmDEXyO7WLxSBjOqgzA6vC_e2cr1Hgm-rbONqsT746kQgnahHy8bQps8POxon6kUPldjPW1JKQtvWyus8H4j6uEIWBUeI-PcM5W9XWPmz6bQPSqiBc9E/w536-h714/IMG_1046%20(2).jpeg" width="536" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">COMPLIMENTARY BISCUITS: Our breakfasts came with these addictive biscuits, served with honey, butter and jam.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyndcV2LxYdUfcZ05ZMi_rayzoyFPxXp43SXe7S98VNqEMRiYEXL9WejsJAKT1F5VYON1FKeklgPDnBjk2f1PrDrOZw3zIYkF2t4VVjPv689SekFFZfvo852J8xl5_sQHwkZZ1rvoYVCosLeK9n_BXvrweCOJOknJlBCvjUk6XRg39umsw2FNrHEpQ/s2048/IMG_0963.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="619" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyndcV2LxYdUfcZ05ZMi_rayzoyFPxXp43SXe7S98VNqEMRiYEXL9WejsJAKT1F5VYON1FKeklgPDnBjk2f1PrDrOZw3zIYkF2t4VVjPv689SekFFZfvo852J8xl5_sQHwkZZ1rvoYVCosLeK9n_BXvrweCOJOknJlBCvjUk6XRg39umsw2FNrHEpQ/w464-h619/IMG_0963.jpeg" width="464" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>ASSEMBLY FOOD HALL: Mushroom Tacos at Chilangos Tacos in the Assembly Food hall downtown, above, were $10.50.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjet5_oGt5W0GNyJp27WrsXd6pqjYS2znKIrqYd83_9ofwueSaAJ25EWEtE6PBSNiQJKFB_F3fzNriLP_p_I8gGxUvvqt6ppUnsYZD5iZXCzhkWfTWKNXi4sXx65bOcbxFOR2LJTYfR-kJ7bE5xO0VOCjnv6SG7nCov4qsKNWE4XqrZK9ZfTamnG1CG/s2048/IMG_0964.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjet5_oGt5W0GNyJp27WrsXd6pqjYS2znKIrqYd83_9ofwueSaAJ25EWEtE6PBSNiQJKFB_F3fzNriLP_p_I8gGxUvvqt6ppUnsYZD5iZXCzhkWfTWKNXi4sXx65bOcbxFOR2LJTYfR-kJ7bE5xO0VOCjnv6SG7nCov4qsKNWE4XqrZK9ZfTamnG1CG/w470-h626/IMG_0964.jpeg" width="470" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">DESANO PIZZA: A 9-inch Verdura Pizza in the food hall was $13.75.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Sjy361cJ5ljLm_PUpUwO51oewUL1xyA-Mx-N8g-bGeJjebqJd8br-OLeX70WLjQP34kszOdnVxwurUK8KxscMqUbFpG5I47VlzUnuTwGutFSESM0E2KdSgPtFVHQkL9rGmFfh8hVkY0R9EQjOxRZAbjfjGiG9v0t_PjPXG7T-v5Zo3-EsNFb1MN4/s2048/IMG_0922.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="676" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Sjy361cJ5ljLm_PUpUwO51oewUL1xyA-Mx-N8g-bGeJjebqJd8br-OLeX70WLjQP34kszOdnVxwurUK8KxscMqUbFpG5I47VlzUnuTwGutFSESM0E2KdSgPtFVHQkL9rGmFfh8hVkY0R9EQjOxRZAbjfjGiG9v0t_PjPXG7T-v5Zo3-EsNFb1MN4/w508-h676/IMG_0922.jpeg" width="508" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">WEBB PIERCE'S CADILLAC: At the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, you can see a Cadillac convertible festooned with pistols, a saddle and more that belonged to Webb Pierce, above and below. Pierce had more No. 1 hits in the 1950s than any other artist.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2kieQ0G7T8s4YpcXRmNJyhE9diTl1LVaTEQr7FQLUn9tGA0zUyWLY5EoexjkfhyLKhcKlSDNDCc4B_xjtYCwb8qY_O6T-O7GRHFBUsC-hdoAHL3nV_r8sT6it8cS_fWZ-Qkwu2amQ1ehlud2Cydjp31i9eWlTcDXbNMZxKPOKrYTmbygZaAmKg7iB/s2048/IMG_0923.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="702" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2kieQ0G7T8s4YpcXRmNJyhE9diTl1LVaTEQr7FQLUn9tGA0zUyWLY5EoexjkfhyLKhcKlSDNDCc4B_xjtYCwb8qY_O6T-O7GRHFBUsC-hdoAHL3nV_r8sT6it8cS_fWZ-Qkwu2amQ1ehlud2Cydjp31i9eWlTcDXbNMZxKPOKrYTmbygZaAmKg7iB/w526-h702/IMG_0923.jpeg" width="526" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-12441143408646751602022-07-11T14:04:00.007-04:002022-07-12T09:24:09.350-04:00Crossing street, woman, 64, is latest victim of dangerous stretch of Hackensack road<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTq3EfmpLKgbzZ0GEtCmUBrVsBPK-BTk2uefO37BbTPviwVh9kd7PChauj7muzkoPOCsRBKYas_JGP-sbxQguB8-kj55MBNuiJFDufK01XHzdGsrPUHoL4GMvIXpuPEgBZMBD-P-vGdtnBRwrO0KRI7M9E3XbN8SQAN0Aj-8WKIyJemi9gwG5U4Jjg/s1440/C6A74D1D-017D-4D80-ADC4-9B04FE191B36.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="535" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTq3EfmpLKgbzZ0GEtCmUBrVsBPK-BTk2uefO37BbTPviwVh9kd7PChauj7muzkoPOCsRBKYas_JGP-sbxQguB8-kj55MBNuiJFDufK01XHzdGsrPUHoL4GMvIXpuPEgBZMBD-P-vGdtnBRwrO0KRI7M9E3XbN8SQAN0Aj-8WKIyJemi9gwG5U4Jjg/w535-h535/C6A74D1D-017D-4D80-ADC4-9B04FE191B36.jpg" width="535" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>ANOTHER PEDESTRIAN DEATH: Hackensack police closed Polifly Road, above and below, on Sunday night to investigate after a woman, 64, was struck by an SUV as she tried to cross the street. She died at the hospital.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN0dF9DTDJi_8Q8Zk92BOD9JIqEsDBUk2zJnoqqhFTYiDFFxUvjqFMmQRajzXS4sfptJbDX9avTGuDhr071DC1gCtbpu9IR0KInaX14C5SasSu0tEx6tQSOaS3cyKTv9H9525GOAWwJEPsqW1oq9KEajXIYrMpSwbbvA5eVMBe3-EjpAwqweRrXkJP/s4032/IMG_0826.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="708" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN0dF9DTDJi_8Q8Zk92BOD9JIqEsDBUk2zJnoqqhFTYiDFFxUvjqFMmQRajzXS4sfptJbDX9avTGuDhr071DC1gCtbpu9IR0KInaX14C5SasSu0tEx6tQSOaS3cyKTv9H9525GOAWwJEPsqW1oq9KEajXIYrMpSwbbvA5eVMBe3-EjpAwqweRrXkJP/w531-h708/IMG_0826.HEIC" width="531" /></a><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>By VICTOR E. SASSON</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACKENSACK -- The victim -- a 64 year-old woman -- was struck by a Cadillac Escalade on Polifly Road, near Mary Street and Route 80, around 8:30 p.m. Sunday night, police said.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>She was later pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center, police said.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The driver, 65, also of Hackensack, remained on the scene, but no summonses were immediately issued.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Lillian J. Holmes</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>On March 4, 2021, Lillian J. Holmes, 81, died after she was knocked down by a hit-run driver and struck by a second vehicle, which stayed on the scene, as she crossed to the CVS on Polifly Road -- designated as a county street.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>There are no crosswalks or warning signs for pedestrians or drivers along a 6-block stretch of the 4-lane Polifly Road between Essex and Lodi streets, and at night the street is dark from the lack of lighting.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>No changes were made by Bergen County or PSE&G after Holmes death, which the county Prosecutor's office says remains unsolved.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Public information</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Hackensack police refused to release any information to me, a former reporter at The Record of Hackensack and author of The Sasson Report.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>A police supervisor referred me to the Daily Voice, which didn't identify the woman who was killed.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-19039340074682416202022-06-07T18:16:00.000-04:002022-06-07T18:16:52.311-04:00Woman once called 'Napalm Girl' says she endorses showing photos of children killed by 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde, Texas<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VWZXfi5XMhZm9t1uvrTyh18bu_YThYKYs3gENnMEFwdo8cygmGfEs27zJLCMp76QA-o7nMe-gKdhom2CKIUzj_Bo0E89Cl6poNupH47PvENGVQlDeKW807iXb3D0sj4oLGRVbwTzpL3zIsDnT-FafpLAaSolK9UT7XrdG-1GZtltPZFI9bNQRGcV/s2048/merlin_207889548_43601325-7521-4780-8eca-a639d47fee38-superJumbo.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VWZXfi5XMhZm9t1uvrTyh18bu_YThYKYs3gENnMEFwdo8cygmGfEs27zJLCMp76QA-o7nMe-gKdhom2CKIUzj_Bo0E89Cl6poNupH47PvENGVQlDeKW807iXb3D0sj4oLGRVbwTzpL3zIsDnT-FafpLAaSolK9UT7XrdG-1GZtltPZFI9bNQRGcV/w543-h361/merlin_207889548_43601325-7521-4780-8eca-a639d47fee38-superJumbo.webp" width="543" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>HELPS CHILDREN: Kim Phuc Phan Ti, shown in a New York Times photo at her home in Canada, is founder of Kim Foundation International, which provides aid to child victims of war. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- After mass shootings at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket and at an elementary school in Texas, I urged news media like CNN and The New York Times to obtain crime scene photos of the victims to confront officials who refuse to curb gun sales.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Now, a victim of war sees a need for the same kind of confrontation with members of Congress who say no action in necessary.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In a guest essay in The Times' Opinion section, Kim Phuc Phan Ti -- the 9-year-old who became known as "Napalm Girl" after her clothes were stripped off in an attack -- says:</b></span></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">"I know what it is like to have your village bombed, your home devastated, to see family members die and bodies of innocent civilians lying in the street. These are the horrors of war from Vietnam memorialized in countless photographs and newsreels. Sadly, they are also the images of wars everywhere, of precious human lives being damaged and destroyed today in Ukraine.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">"They are, in a different way, also the horrific images coming from school shootings. We may not see the bodies, as we do with foreign wars, but these attacks are the domestic equivalent of war. The thought of <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/opinion/uvalde-shooting-photos.html" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;" title="">sharing the images of the carnage</a>, especially of children, may seem unbearable — but we should confront them. It is easier to hide from <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/16/opinion/international-world/ukraine-war-bucha-photographs.html" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;" title="">the realities of war</a> if we don’t see the consequences.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">"I cannot speak for the families in Uvalde, Texas, but I think that showing the world what the aftermath of a gun rampage truly looks like can deliver the awful reality. We must face this violence head-on, and the first step is to look at it."</p><p></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-50897207777706986782022-05-25T16:44:00.003-04:002022-05-25T16:47:38.891-04:00Imagine the horror of 19 schoolchildren and 2 teachers herded together into a classroom before they are slaughtered by a teen with a weapon that tore them apart<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMeRrVy3cVl3yCczRgRiM1mixFOqx7R1v96JFoSY2FWc1ZtuG4_Ebvm8wHCznvOK8KgyLZONWO9pmTsm-m71-Vad1dYwPpZlCYVrCwX9bvCxaEnG8Qvc7KaFtqSp706nl1b4i61mzsTb2di7qTpXBj286aZO7-x_lxDbkYKCLmR-zU1j0LQoydsdZJ/s1600/https___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_220524190449-18-uvalde-texas-school-shooting-restricted.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1163" data-original-width="1600" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMeRrVy3cVl3yCczRgRiM1mixFOqx7R1v96JFoSY2FWc1ZtuG4_Ebvm8wHCznvOK8KgyLZONWO9pmTsm-m71-Vad1dYwPpZlCYVrCwX9bvCxaEnG8Qvc7KaFtqSp706nl1b4i61mzsTb2di7qTpXBj286aZO7-x_lxDbkYKCLmR-zU1j0LQoydsdZJ/w554-h404/https___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_220524190449-18-uvalde-texas-school-shooting-restricted.jpg" width="554" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">A woman leaving the Civic Center in Uvalde, Texas, reflects the grief we all feel after a deranged teenager killed 19 schoolchildren and 2 teachers in the small city near the Texas-Mexican border on Tuesday.<br /></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-large;">The news media must confront the gun lobby's bought and sold reps in the U.S. Congress</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; text-align: left;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>VICTOR E. SASSON</b></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u><br /><b><br />HACKENSACK, N.J. -- How big is CNN, the global news gathering organization? <br /><br />Big enough to obtain photos of the horrific slaughter inside a single classroom in Texas where 19 schoolchildren and 2 teachers were cut apart by bullets from an assault rifle on Tuesday?<br /><br />Unlikely. When have you ever seen photos like that? <br /><br />How about The New York Times? <br /><br />Imagine if reporters from CNN or The Times could use those photos to confront public officials like the governor of Texas, Sen. Ted Cruz and all others in the U.S. Congress who oppose any reform in background checks and other measures that could stop such tragedies.<br /><br />"Is this what you favor? Is this carnage acceptable in return for the blood money you take from the gun lobby?"<br /><br />Instead, those officials get treated with kid gloves, and are allowed to perpetuate the myth that the federal government wants to "take away our guns." <br /><br />And the news media simply repeat those lies.<br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-51482949411423930432022-05-22T18:10:00.003-04:002022-05-22T18:19:56.563-04:00Who is hiding the many hideous images of 10 victims blown apart by bullets fired by a black-hating gunman at a Buffalo market?<p style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4RRqkQaHC6fvPVw1ybB8XNzphja4Bc-A7ZbvtNWvyXibaSXJFAEqLOKLtxFvt_CkXNOcyPUKYXeCJuGaAGMItDDSWj6JtuyQsrwwarEqJ5wZxg5JggOAMw8gWoSKOB2gXSFeCcDYIr9rYPJj7FpVO73c92h5SjFvR6a5mcgHXZis88AXSnysxlsE/s2048/merlin_206956332_08a38abe-9c2b-4418-aa4f-659f927cfeda-superJumbo.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4RRqkQaHC6fvPVw1ybB8XNzphja4Bc-A7ZbvtNWvyXibaSXJFAEqLOKLtxFvt_CkXNOcyPUKYXeCJuGaAGMItDDSWj6JtuyQsrwwarEqJ5wZxg5JggOAMw8gWoSKOB2gXSFeCcDYIr9rYPJj7FpVO73c92h5SjFvR6a5mcgHXZis88AXSnysxlsE/w567-h377/merlin_206956332_08a38abe-9c2b-4418-aa4f-659f927cfeda-superJumbo.webp" width="567" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">BEST COVERAGE: The best reporting I've seen on the slaughter inside Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 15 was published in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/nyregion/buffalo-shooting-tops-employees.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>, which recounted surviving employees' encounter with the gunman or what he or she did upon hearing gunshots. The photo was supplied by the Associated Press.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">News media have been censoring</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">mass shooting for decades</span></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>By VICTOR E. SASSON</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Has censorship slowed permanent reform of gun-control laws as we witness one horrific mass shooting after another stretching back decades?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Have the news media decided to hide the horrific images of gunshot victims in Buffalo, N.Y., and has that censorship allowed many congressional officials to withhold their support for a permanent nationwide ban on military style assault weapons like the one used by the gunman?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Little of the reporting I saw even discussed Buffalo's size and prominence in New York State or its location on one of the great lakes and the Canadian border.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Blood and gore</u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I recall another supermarket shooting where one of the victims was shown on the floor, but the wounds were obscured by a gauzy quality that was added to dull the impact.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In most shootings, as in the Tops slaughter on May 15, no images have been broadcast or published as far as I know.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The gunman, who live streamed the shooting from a camera attached to his helmet, was arrested and is now being held for indictment and trial.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-50160340270873416622022-05-10T10:35:00.003-04:002022-05-13T19:37:04.172-04:00Here's a tortured tale of real estate hype and a buyer who got saddled with a 'new' home filled with shoddy workmanship<p></p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqTh-Pk6UcuVrNHoyvdOa1xpjAtm0jSzbyu3QpHR9RYpBl9KQ-TiyaCGNjDg3MwSjg0n9n0VZw1vYA5qS4_zrWODpb68we0u16cXskqCA9rBdORewv1jV2dWlz-oMa1-JCyTgdiXbwMvwqDRZyXsSv0OpQ63htWU40bYYNZMAd7UetdRzSif4-ZpY/s2956/IMG_0723.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2827" data-original-width="2956" height="533" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqTh-Pk6UcuVrNHoyvdOa1xpjAtm0jSzbyu3QpHR9RYpBl9KQ-TiyaCGNjDg3MwSjg0n9n0VZw1vYA5qS4_zrWODpb68we0u16cXskqCA9rBdORewv1jV2dWlz-oMa1-JCyTgdiXbwMvwqDRZyXsSv0OpQ63htWU40bYYNZMAd7UetdRzSif4-ZpY/w557-h533/IMG_0723.jpeg" width="557" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>WHAT'S NEXT: Our new roof was completed last week by EMT Solar & Roofing of Cherry Hill in preparation for a new solar panel system that promises to zero out our electric bill year-round. Shoddy workmanship on the original roof left us with numerous leaks.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"> The front door wasn't safe, </span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">the roof sprung many leaks, </span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">radiant heat left us shivering</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;"></span></b></i></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">EDITOR'S NOTE: If you're shopping for a home in Hackensack's Fairmount section, you should be aware of a big quality of life issue -- aircraft noise. You will be living under the flight paths of both Teterboro Airport and the international airport know as Newark Liberty.</span></b></i></span></blockquote><p> </p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACENSACK, N.J. -- In 2007, I was a first-time home buyer and tree hugger who was looking for a place with a southern exposure -- ideal for the installation of solar panels.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Both of our cars were gas-electric hybrids, but we wanted to do more to clean up the environment.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And thanks to an inheritance, we had a seemingly limitless budget to finally allow us to move out of a cramped duplex apartment. </b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>So, when I saw an article showing a gee-whiz redesign of a Hackensack ranch home in The Record, where I worked at the time, my wife and I decided to drive over and meet brokers from Buyer's Advisors, who act as agents for buyers only and collect their fee from the seller.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>'A mini estate'</u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The house was being sold by real estate agent Lynn Jantos Donovan, then owner of Property Connections Real Estate in Hackensack, who hired an architect to transform the 3-bedroom ranch in the city's Fairmount section that dated to the 1960s.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Donovan lived there, but also owned several other homes, we were told, one as near as the Jersey shore, others in Mexico and New Mexico, and the last in Hawaii.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Listen to the hype in the original listing of the home:</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"This mini estate boasts all the bells and whistles. This Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home has 3 bedrooms..., 3 full bathrooms and over 3,300 sq. ft."</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>There was a fireplace in the master bedroom, a Jacuzzi tub in the master bath, a gourmet kitchen with a Viking range, and a backyard with a gas fireplace and hot tub.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Once I confirmed the redesigned home had the ideal exposure to the sun to take advantage of a state rebate program for the installation of solar energy, all those features were a seeming bonus, but as a first-time home buyer I missed some major flaws.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>As soon as we saw the vaulted ceilings in the airy 1st floor family room, kitchen and dining room, we should have run, knowing the rooms would be impossible to heat with a radiant system under the wooden floor.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>We hired an inspector</u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>But even the inspector we hired didn't mention that, so we closed on the house in August 2007, and moved in.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In the following months and years, here are the problems with safety and workmanship that surfaced:</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The Andersen "custom stained glass front doors embedded with [Frank Lloyd] Wright's geometrical color patterns," as reported in The Record, were missing security parts that compromised our safety, and we spent about $1,000 to repair them.</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The first-floor radiant heat was so inadequate we had to set the thermostat to 74 degrees to get even the hint of warmth through the wood floors (used even though stone is the best conductor of radiant heat).</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The roof started leaking in numerous places on both floors, and exterior and interior repairs cost about $7,000.</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Besides causing roof leaks, heavy rains would flood our 2-car detached garage, requiring the installation of a sump pump in a shed behind the garage. When the first couldn't handle the flooding, we upgraded to a bigger one for a total cost of about $1,000.</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The house is so poorly insulated and sound proofed I can hear the boiler in the basement go on when I turn up the thermostat in the second-floor master bathroom.</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>One winter, that lack of insulation caused a pipe to burst through a kitchen wall. Repairs cost many hundreds of dollars.</b></span></li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">'Cheapest system possible'</span></u></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Months after we moved in and shivered through our first winter in 2007, I called the plumber who had installed the radiant-heat system under the floor -- plastic tubes carrying hot water from the boiler in the basement -- and was told Donovan asked him to put in the "cheapest system possible."</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I eventually got an estimate of $10,000 for installing radiators in the first-floor rooms to solve the problem, but never went ahead with the work.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Roof and skylight leaks</u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Numerous leaks from the vaulted roof and a skylight in the kitchen, over sliding doors to the deck, in a 1st-floor bedroom and upstairs in the master bedroom and bathroom soon followed -- the apparent result of shoddy workmanship by a ragtag collection of workman Donovan hired for the renovation.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>During heavy, wind-whipped rain, we'd have to lay down towels to absorb the leaks or move furniture. Rain even poured into a first-floor bedroom closet through a light fixture.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>When we hired a contractor to make repairs, he discovered the original installers of the roof ran out of underlayment -- the layer that protects the plywood deck from moisture -- but instead of getting more used paper and plastic bags that shingles and other roofing material came in.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUUu_vLdUm7Vx49QR_7msg4P0TpctdvYkUKxX8ZRuy8nL13FAAWAbEf5q-_E-lMsYukQw1qPOiihW6WTy7LKmybKpsrNbx5WHTrYdtzsao5eIvbzTcdem-Pr0KpNqrkZrBH2cJcgYuNtH2Ht-aC8Zeho6APaHFcicucYMcLktHr1D7b853N9E0fuj/s2048/IMG_0731.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="2048" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUUu_vLdUm7Vx49QR_7msg4P0TpctdvYkUKxX8ZRuy8nL13FAAWAbEf5q-_E-lMsYukQw1qPOiihW6WTy7LKmybKpsrNbx5WHTrYdtzsao5eIvbzTcdem-Pr0KpNqrkZrBH2cJcgYuNtH2Ht-aC8Zeho6APaHFcicucYMcLktHr1D7b853N9E0fuj/w541-h406/IMG_0731.jpeg" width="541" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">ROOF BAGS R US: The crew installing a new roof during the 2003 renovation used paper and plastic bags under the shingles, above, when they ran out of the proper leakproof material.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZJgUW4LBQCVPrA8rT_xT7EzuR1P2cgdU1u_2gsEJcUMRUrZPyksdgLoJLoVDOGdO3IhQZnWf-TaNSPxy0UjoVLrLjvqQLMLczHxyQ5Kkcb1HqmKbIsDNZ0do0VPhb9ZR6bUcH3hyDwYJhKR6u6f_6vmhW7Zu-NWtojbpbMrlNpTRuFWGTgTKiTE4/s640/IMG_1915%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="734" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZJgUW4LBQCVPrA8rT_xT7EzuR1P2cgdU1u_2gsEJcUMRUrZPyksdgLoJLoVDOGdO3IhQZnWf-TaNSPxy0UjoVLrLjvqQLMLczHxyQ5Kkcb1HqmKbIsDNZ0do0VPhb9ZR6bUcH3hyDwYJhKR6u6f_6vmhW7Zu-NWtojbpbMrlNpTRuFWGTgTKiTE4/w551-h734/IMG_1915%20(2).jpeg" width="551" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>SOLAR POWER: The solar panels we installed in 2009 and 2012 have served us well, above. They generated electricity from sunrise to sunset, thanks to a southern exposure. They were removed to replace our roof and we will be getting a new system that will generate even more electricity.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Small Claims Court</u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Only the missing security parts in the elaborate double front doors were apparent in the first days of moving in, and I was able to take the seller to Small Claims Court and recover the $1,000 cost of repairs.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>When the roof leaks and the myriad other flaws of the elaborate renovation that had apparently been done as cheaply as possible appeared many months or years later, I was never able to locate the seller again to discuss possible reimbursement.</b></span></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-66817345549910810282022-04-01T13:01:00.008-04:002022-04-04T15:22:55.229-04:00'See, you have pneumonia in both lungs,' the doctor said as we looked at my X-ray. 'Go to the hospital's emergency room now'<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCOZRez-DpTPa47USdpGpDSEKWSa2lyjNi_Veu4lPKwVqp76jiJf5UiiP46buobDAmDEekLsvxGwM2RhY6ys0pM0J7T_t7QfpQHAShHQ5XutVLqTKFQEJ-G6n1HjPQ9PV9bU8_iDZSty4CFJ2Na-f_2c2-78n2vfrEOzYscRmqctASAs3C89FNOC3/s2048/IMG_0581.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="712" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCOZRez-DpTPa47USdpGpDSEKWSa2lyjNi_Veu4lPKwVqp76jiJf5UiiP46buobDAmDEekLsvxGwM2RhY6ys0pM0J7T_t7QfpQHAShHQ5XutVLqTKFQEJ-G6n1HjPQ9PV9bU8_iDZSty4CFJ2Na-f_2c2-78n2vfrEOzYscRmqctASAs3C89FNOC3/w534-h712/IMG_0581.jpeg" width="534" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>DISORIENTED: My 5-day hospital stay for pneumonia began here in cubicle No. 30 of the Emergency Department on March 22, 2022, and ended with my discharge on March 27, 2022.<br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><span><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><span><b>I was tethered </b></span><b>to a wall</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"> by hoses and wires,</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><span><b> </b><b>dressed in a skimpy </b></span><b>hospital gown, </b><b>poked with a needle</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">at 5:15 a.m. and fed poorly</span></b></div><div><p></p></div><p> </p><div><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">ENGLEWOOD, N.J. -- "No" was my first reaction when my doctor ordered me to drive a short distance from his office to the hospital, and check in at the Emergency Department.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Of course, I know this hospital, which has played a big part in keeping me healthy since September 2011, when I had open-heart surgery there and received a new aortic valve (from a cow).</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And starting in March 2012, after weeks of cardiac rehab there, I became a hospital volunteer, working 4 hours three days a week.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I eventually joined the Visiting Hearts Program, volunteers who visit open-heart surgery patients during their recovery in the hospital, and discuss their rehab and futures.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Covid-19 pandemic</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Those visits ended and the entire volunteer program was suspended for 14 months during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but some of us returned in May 2021, and I was assigned to the Cardiac Services Waiting Area, showing patients where to go or pushing a few of them in wheelchairs for heart catheterizations, stress tests, X-rays and other services.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>That day at the doctor last week, I considered myself to be a "healthy" 77 year old who wasn't in need of hospitalization, who walked 1.5 miles to 3 miles a day as a volunteer or shopping in Costco and supermarkets 3 or 4 days week, and watched what he ate.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Huffing and puffing</u></b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But lately, I had been experiencing shortness of breath, and was huffing and puffing after I climbed the 17 steps to my bedroom the night before I called to make an appointment with my primary care physician.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I had a few other complaints, but was surprised to hear my primary care physician, Dr. Glenn Brauntuch, tell me I had pneumonia, and I wondered whether I had caught it in the hospital, even though I was Covid-19 vaccinated and boosted, wore 2 masks when I volunteered, and washed or disinfected my hands 3 or 4 times an hour.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So, I drove to the hospital, leaving my car with a parking valet, and checked in at the front desk of the Emergency Department, where the nurse said, "You look familiar." </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I told her I was a volunteer there.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">That's how my 5-day hospitalization began, and now that I am home, I don't feel as healthy as I did before, and I'm really feeling my own mortality.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcPgdLYUiTHO5K_kj_LA4wZNVZTmxAZUyq69tdMfin2_uRfW0aOiRYJ5JMwxfCI6lavuFCWExf2P0w5fwtpbBOEk8d08flKyz_uU2lHDVfkb8zuckQTwK0pWITnZVaO3DuQ_DIqXsDXIM6QTFPzpD29_bjhfNkQ76898giK0slG1T1iNmXn7nNgcR/s2048/IMG_0588.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="716" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcPgdLYUiTHO5K_kj_LA4wZNVZTmxAZUyq69tdMfin2_uRfW0aOiRYJ5JMwxfCI6lavuFCWExf2P0w5fwtpbBOEk8d08flKyz_uU2lHDVfkb8zuckQTwK0pWITnZVaO3DuQ_DIqXsDXIM6QTFPzpD29_bjhfNkQ76898giK0slG1T1iNmXn7nNgcR/w537-h716/IMG_0588.jpeg" width="537" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">OBSTACLE COURSE: Two poles and a table, all on wheels, had to be negotiated when I got up from my hospital bed to use the bathroom, and sometimes I had to untangle my oxygen hose and keep my heart monitor wires -- both attached to the wall -- from getting caught under the wheels.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5cdmvKJCovtD0l5JoY_4o5cvIVmeOQeP9bUPFq-8WDhJI0hLWbh291zF9EEiVruKaL-xtac8oYG_ZD8atRE5K7MabOpwC1jPm916nndyGANgVwoK5ohzyCrGTsa67r2DkL3uAX2Knrq8Skbu4Oh-DohAbwq9GI5Pzkj8Ym2edPLCrzZxlfR6hEqv0/s2048/IMG_0590.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5cdmvKJCovtD0l5JoY_4o5cvIVmeOQeP9bUPFq-8WDhJI0hLWbh291zF9EEiVruKaL-xtac8oYG_ZD8atRE5K7MabOpwC1jPm916nndyGANgVwoK5ohzyCrGTsa67r2DkL3uAX2Knrq8Skbu4Oh-DohAbwq9GI5Pzkj8Ym2edPLCrzZxlfR6hEqv0/w369-h492/IMG_0590.jpeg" width="369" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">HEART MONITOR: I had to wear this heart monitor 24 hours a day, and it required a number of battery changes and often stopped sending data to the nurses station, prompting a visit from a nurse.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Open-door policy</u></b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">After my open heart surgery in 2011, I had a room all to myself for the 4 days before I was discharged, but this time, I shared a room with another patient.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Two patients, 2 beds, 2 large screen TVs competing with one another, but the same complaints about the food.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">"The food here sucks," the Navy veteran in Bed 2 declared loudly one day.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Still, the two hospitalizations had a few things in common:</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The door stayed open to the lighted corridor 24 hours a day, and inside there was the sound of rushing air all the time.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In 2011, my door was opposite the nurses station and the constant chatter robbed me of sleep. This time, I brought my custom-made earplugs from home to help me sleep.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But now, when I complained my 6th Floor room was too cold, the nurse sent someone to get me a couple of extra cotton blankets, explaining she had no way of adjusting the room temperature.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><u>Doctors, nurses</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">And there was a steady parade of medical personnel approaching my bed at all hours of the day and night, and waking me up, so I got little actual rest:</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There were daily visits from the emergency room doctor who saw me before I was admitted, day nurses and night nurses who gave me cough syrup with codeine and other medications, and others who treated my respiratory problems, measured the percentage of oxygen in my blood, stabbed me with a needle to draw blood, took my "vitals" and asked me to get on a scale.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">My identity was reduced to a bar code on a plastic band around my wrist each one of them scanned.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I also had to urinate into a pitcher-like plastic container with a flimsy top I kept on the bathroom sink so the nurses could "measure" the flow.</span></b></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOQJXCiQip6VyIg0q1iAELZ99rtyFyj1B0eig-OPDguAH9MKX7nuynwDBNAD1OsIeHuJ--CXJRjZk8zHZ6794_98CqSzFECak-KDvjhLo5sZgctJ_OLGZVUWwe5Gl6KnH2Yy-dPbFeywuErFoRZKt_3_iW2G9V8ZrJCj5bAKw64f1hazBy_KU8RVD/s2048/IMG_0591.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOQJXCiQip6VyIg0q1iAELZ99rtyFyj1B0eig-OPDguAH9MKX7nuynwDBNAD1OsIeHuJ--CXJRjZk8zHZ6794_98CqSzFECak-KDvjhLo5sZgctJ_OLGZVUWwe5Gl6KnH2Yy-dPbFeywuErFoRZKt_3_iW2G9V8ZrJCj5bAKw64f1hazBy_KU8RVD/w431-h576/IMG_0591.jpeg" width="431" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">TOO MUCH SUGAR: This 5.3-ounce container of low-fat yogurt served to me at breakfast, above and below, contained about 5 teaspoons of sugar, including 3 teaspoons of added sugar, which pose a danger to people like me with heart conditions. </span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbDt0UNDwpkHGuCRp0J1KfoAMcxq4z5UzIXUBhlACsu6VgeNw_Di-iNEu2Y755lkq2y7fG9PE86KHHBVNcMrWxrkzJZmzTZeopknKvNczdrIq3Ch-3KcAEvOlp_PKuuKSFstSy_5uHC84qiZ_SaE49Pds7bCEC9xagI0J6oPLo4-TB6OhCRZlZd0M/s3105/IMG_0592.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="3105" data-original-width="2843" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbDt0UNDwpkHGuCRp0J1KfoAMcxq4z5UzIXUBhlACsu6VgeNw_Di-iNEu2Y755lkq2y7fG9PE86KHHBVNcMrWxrkzJZmzTZeopknKvNczdrIq3Ch-3KcAEvOlp_PKuuKSFstSy_5uHC84qiZ_SaE49Pds7bCEC9xagI0J6oPLo4-TB6OhCRZlZd0M/w457-h500/IMG_0592.jpeg" width="457" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYBKuqjs6_acn2rQSm_sa-mjhRF4Ez6eH3mkxrKZHi6uJTvrB7T-CKX18iiwwe8BHJlUjiAkpEAnIuYUjQTu02yCTIXfBhqAD1DoK3A8aERApiKsTYtxnNsca6N19pxBvIdBw0FpnBB8bWOS4VXK5eOafcWawWRN06MTBrRUTEOqVRlgyG9ccVNsP/s4032/IMG_0608.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="756" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYBKuqjs6_acn2rQSm_sa-mjhRF4Ez6eH3mkxrKZHi6uJTvrB7T-CKX18iiwwe8BHJlUjiAkpEAnIuYUjQTu02yCTIXfBhqAD1DoK3A8aERApiKsTYtxnNsca6N19pxBvIdBw0FpnBB8bWOS4VXK5eOafcWawWRN06MTBrRUTEOqVRlgyG9ccVNsP/w567-h756/IMG_0608.jpeg" width="567" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">COMFORT FOOD: This grilled cheese sandwich, which came with a small green salad and a fruit salad, was the most comforting dish I had. I liked it so much I ordered another one for the day I was discharged, even though I normally don't eat full-fat cheese.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZTAB96phOlQdWJIftWr2qKkT6LTRe_-sxIzr4e-amrgBhimWciKWdhoEh5gbLudNTAiwJi-ZWhlbjkzCor1ZlMQDyoZxhSugh3D-KRG0VQyKCpQFhDK-I7OGhD1alGFJbBKMC1aA6zGStJ_l4gb-47mPDMIXdPMypLmjNzpcfi-02MMzJRPexUod5/s2048/IMG_0595.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZTAB96phOlQdWJIftWr2qKkT6LTRe_-sxIzr4e-amrgBhimWciKWdhoEh5gbLudNTAiwJi-ZWhlbjkzCor1ZlMQDyoZxhSugh3D-KRG0VQyKCpQFhDK-I7OGhD1alGFJbBKMC1aA6zGStJ_l4gb-47mPDMIXdPMypLmjNzpcfi-02MMzJRPexUod5/w542-h722/IMG_0595.jpeg" width="542" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">OFF TASTE: I also liked this dinner of Shrimp with Mango Salsa, but the taste and texture of the crustacean was off.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><u>Why serve unhealthy food?</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I've been serious about what I eat and what I don't eat for a couple of decades now after writing about budget restaurants for The Record of Hackensack and then starting my own food blog -- <a href="http://doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Do You Really Know What You're Eating?</a> -- after I retired in 2008.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I also had </span></b><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">read the great reporting in The New York Times and Consumer Reports magazine on the widespread use of human antibiotics and harmful growth hormones in raising the vast majority of chickens, pigs and cows slaughtered for sale in supermarkets or use in restaurants.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Since my first hospitalization in 2011, I've never liked the food at Englewood Health, and have never understood why a hospital would knowingly serve unhealthy food to its CEO, medical staff, patients and visitors alike.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">(And I wondered why when the hospital was rebranded Englewood Health from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center several years ago the powers that be didn't go all the way and call it "Englewood Life"?)</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Organic produce?</b></u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The hospital cafeteria used by staff, volunteers and visitors alike offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the same kitchen prepares made-to-order meals delivered to patients.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>No organic produce, including strawberries and spinach, which are grown with large amounts of pesticides, is offered nor is any of the meat or poultry naturally raised, as far as I know. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>As a patient, I was offered wild-caught cod for dinner, but low-quality farmed tilapia and shrimp also are served.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I stopped eating meat and poultry for health reasons in 2010, about a year before my open-heart surgery, becoming a pescatarian and trying to buy only wild-caught seafood.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And I have tried to buy as much organic produce and other food as possible for our family of 4 at Whole Foods Market, ShopRite, Aldi, Lidl and Costco Wholesale.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Restricted diet </u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>As a coronary patient last week, I was placed on a restricted diet, but the hospital kitchen couldn't accommodate special requests.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>If I wanted eggs for breakfast, scrambled was the only way, and bread, a bagel or a roll couldn't be toasted. Of course, I did get toast when I ordered those grilled cheese sandwiches I found so comforting.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The Navy vet in Bed 2 was denied a banana, even though he told the dietary staff the potassium helped ease the pain in his hand.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>On the third day of my stay, I finally was able to get a large paper cup of caffeinated coffee. Before that, weak decaf was the only option.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1p35HU3tLO1yKE3esGFF-2E70UxfxKwBi5txEpSGXNUaAt9aua7wVt874-b3gJHIbRrV6QNHFPIibFHO_fUDG0TAFX4KEtdxA5pDjn_8NBgW3CqlR4ZwNI9eI-Jyil2R_qxrwQtLYhawCVNiMKtab85cf5ljrtfcDIw7HGdF0h1jFnm_lo3AxSUc/s2048/IMG_0604.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1p35HU3tLO1yKE3esGFF-2E70UxfxKwBi5txEpSGXNUaAt9aua7wVt874-b3gJHIbRrV6QNHFPIibFHO_fUDG0TAFX4KEtdxA5pDjn_8NBgW3CqlR4ZwNI9eI-Jyil2R_qxrwQtLYhawCVNiMKtab85cf5ljrtfcDIw7HGdF0h1jFnm_lo3AxSUc/w548-h730/IMG_0604.jpeg" width="548" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">THE VIEW FROM MY ROOM: This was the view from the open door of my room in two directions, above and below.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_O0fCdkgP3Q_asZHHaoEzTI2S721vnFsjVix8g73j-U7_D5ZLKeJnP-sxXKvSajW-5p__3QJwjSVPVp-v1IDVT36sSlPUPKorZIpcPV899s-u_FzovqCGy8d9eJdVkUgvCO_9Msq9Vra260nL9y9w1VRzSbqNalsIn1cacUjfRwzfOBMM-VD9c0-/s2048/IMG_0603.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_O0fCdkgP3Q_asZHHaoEzTI2S721vnFsjVix8g73j-U7_D5ZLKeJnP-sxXKvSajW-5p__3QJwjSVPVp-v1IDVT36sSlPUPKorZIpcPV899s-u_FzovqCGy8d9eJdVkUgvCO_9Msq9Vra260nL9y9w1VRzSbqNalsIn1cacUjfRwzfOBMM-VD9c0-/w542-h722/IMG_0603.jpeg" width="542" /></a></span></div></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">Drab surroundings</span></u></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The hospital room I shared first with a Jersey City resident in his 70s who was born in Greece, and later with the Navy veteran, had little color on the walls and was jammed with medical equipment.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Some of the first-floor corridors in the hospital are splashed with color -- paintings by local artists that are for sale -- but none of them can be found in patient rooms, and that's a shame.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>As for the medical and support staff, I have nothing but praise and thanks.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Everyone treated me with respect -- from Dr. Enrique Baez, who attended me in the emergency room and then visited me daily before approving my discharge with an oxygen tank; to Jin, one of the hard-working Korean nurses and to all of the others who supported them.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And there were employees whose name I never learned or forgot who delivered meals, changed my bedding, picked up empty trays or emptied the rubbish cans. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Thank you to all.</b></span></p><p><br /></p></div>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-71586946769876639742022-03-20T17:35:00.003-04:002022-03-20T19:17:34.403-04:00Newspaper cartoonists are not up to task of conveying the horrors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and killing of civilians<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-oiNTxLfsv7DgcyC9ZKXnLHul3K8VlP9d4sVNBB2grQthk2lRHfEzbXwTj276oOpXtp0wtyIvC3VUTNaMnEDrgFNwxjUn8u8B5okDyfGkvG1ZiOdpEkAkxo84jS9ZX-JhhNbMS301JdsidciFnyvNCrOgTHn8LIMALr1NjejkUcHqh1d70qfYQkTG=s750" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-oiNTxLfsv7DgcyC9ZKXnLHul3K8VlP9d4sVNBB2grQthk2lRHfEzbXwTj276oOpXtp0wtyIvC3VUTNaMnEDrgFNwxjUn8u8B5okDyfGkvG1ZiOdpEkAkxo84jS9ZX-JhhNbMS301JdsidciFnyvNCrOgTHn8LIMALr1NjejkUcHqh1d70qfYQkTG=w542-h360" width="542" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">HOW IS THIS FUNNY? Showing a clownish Vladimir Putin in a Russian tank stopped by a parking-enforcement boot is far from funny, especially when the backdrop looks like a destroyed apartment building in Ukraine.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Portraying Putin as clownish</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>dishonors the men, women,</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b> and children who are dying</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">BY VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACKENSACK, N.J. -- <a href="https://www.cagle.com/" target="_blank">Cartoonist Daryl Cagle</a> has been distributing the cartoons of 60 editorial cartoonists and 14 columnists to about 850 subscribing newspapers for more than 20 years.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I'm appealing to them to stop commenting on the criminal Russian invasion of Ukraine, if they are going to make fools of themselves by minimizing the brutality, loss of innocent life and assault on democracy.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I've included only 4 of the many cartoons out there. They are just awful.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgixemAw-rMJ71MxqHhLIywGBU8mRuiirGSCgG3WjeNzAoJvC9JZRxWpMPYuUOZbKMz2fhtmIZK3FMYkfkWIa2E4vQEYtBfa3m7BbYhnKQVC4CXiTvud2tQQwjUEB9vAzXPzcHZzEeuu6bOwWW5vaFrB9-KbjdY3XslNEiDhVr_30YagUf7lEAIPUpP=s750" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="750" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgixemAw-rMJ71MxqHhLIywGBU8mRuiirGSCgG3WjeNzAoJvC9JZRxWpMPYuUOZbKMz2fhtmIZK3FMYkfkWIa2E4vQEYtBfa3m7BbYhnKQVC4CXiTvud2tQQwjUEB9vAzXPzcHZzEeuu6bOwWW5vaFrB9-KbjdY3XslNEiDhVr_30YagUf7lEAIPUpP=w501-h387" width="501" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>REALLY? In this cartoon, a box marked "PUTIN" is on the left of the dictator's desk and another marked "PUTOUT" is on the right.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAJuo2U-qg-wGdPN6n74TzbDvP6d4hZHYt8aHWZ0SQVE5G1g-o-J2vsHbHVd1lwe9ZJdgRsBdcHjnb5TBsb9Muv61UWZiQZaTmHgheU27d9-0ZMBnP0q0cSwwyUdf-E0AM-crateusJulgguQtCJ1ou52oQv67pTlnUvf5UPGXxLccmh6XW-IrhetQ=s989" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="750" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAJuo2U-qg-wGdPN6n74TzbDvP6d4hZHYt8aHWZ0SQVE5G1g-o-J2vsHbHVd1lwe9ZJdgRsBdcHjnb5TBsb9Muv61UWZiQZaTmHgheU27d9-0ZMBnP0q0cSwwyUdf-E0AM-crateusJulgguQtCJ1ou52oQv67pTlnUvf5UPGXxLccmh6XW-IrhetQ=w380-h500" width="380" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>KILLING OF INNOCENTS: At least this cartoon seems to condemn the killing of civilians in Ukraine, but instead of showing graphic images of corpses torn apart by Russian missiles, the cartoonist appears to mimic the 1937 Spanish Civil War painting by Pablo Picasso of the bombing of the city of Guernica.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHXDeYPm4veiiLZpellGRranSv7HVdFEpLMnQ0BYwycGqbgoMOApOn_EEY_sLOqRy8rhusCvw4yeXu47SIFNzR_nLcJwL6rEbMyWTwZAMdbFMpVeqRkqCFIs4yAi2EwVgLbnuTNPAJny66drTBRoWFcnoswzHm4YU8vmZYfy391OGpo1cU0YhT2vZt=s750" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="750" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHXDeYPm4veiiLZpellGRranSv7HVdFEpLMnQ0BYwycGqbgoMOApOn_EEY_sLOqRy8rhusCvw4yeXu47SIFNzR_nLcJwL6rEbMyWTwZAMdbFMpVeqRkqCFIs4yAi2EwVgLbnuTNPAJny66drTBRoWFcnoswzHm4YU8vmZYfy391OGpo1cU0YhT2vZt=w478-h387" width="478" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>PUTIN'S BOY TOY: The Kremlin believes right-wing wacko and Fox News' chief liar Tucker Carlson is vital to its propaganda effort, but I'm far from sure the play on words -- "Russian Dressing" -- conveys that message.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-80096164240406380632022-03-10T16:28:00.008-05:002022-03-12T12:51:28.385-05:00If Consumer Reports' auto editors cared about our environment, every car on their annual Top 10 list would be a hybrid or EV<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYKynVF0T7G8CX5dMCpU9pbDU7t8SDDCdO9kLNU7xncHwK6Bwffuqm8H3N5l4-VTVfmt2qyg24c6iOh_nKxqGb2b5CTs35TS9UWd42GKsA8wKZhtdwdT6u_oiAw_krch7aL-QtOQeTkRPv2Lf_UNSW-n1ryIcXLjQvDB37Rl-As6ECFYxwk1Bxl8Wp=s2053" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2053" data-original-width="1531" height="787" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYKynVF0T7G8CX5dMCpU9pbDU7t8SDDCdO9kLNU7xncHwK6Bwffuqm8H3N5l4-VTVfmt2qyg24c6iOh_nKxqGb2b5CTs35TS9UWd42GKsA8wKZhtdwdT6u_oiAw_krch7aL-QtOQeTkRPv2Lf_UNSW-n1ryIcXLjQvDB37Rl-As6ECFYxwk1Bxl8Wp=w539-h787" width="539" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>COVER STORY OR COVER UP? Consumer Reports' annual Auto Issue lists only 4 gas-electric hybrids or electric cars among its Top 10 vehicles for 2022.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Gas hits average of $4.32 a gallon</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>as tailpipe emissions are killing</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>53,000 Americans every year</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>By VICTOR E. SASSON</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Consumer Reports boasts about a full-time auto testing staff of "about 30" who "work to deliver exclusive insights to our members," but none of them claim to be environmentalists.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And for yet another year, the non-profit's Top 10 list in its annual Auto Issue ignores the premature deaths of 53,000 people every year from tailpipe emissions, as measured by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>That compares to 34,000 a year who die in traffic accidents (based on a 2013 MIT study).</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Two Toyota gas-electric hybrids, a Lexus hybrid, a Honda Accord hybrid and Ford's Mustang Mach-E -- an electric vehicle -- are the only low or zero emissions entries on CR's Top 10 list for 2022.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>It's a Top 10 list, but a total of 13 vehicles are listed for some reason in the April 2022 issue of the magazine.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Safety first</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"Our ratings now reward automakers that install driver monitoring systems in their cars," Marta L. Tellado, president and CEO of Consumer Reports, says in her monthly column.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Tellado makes no mention of auto tailpipe emissions and their role in global warming or impact on life expectancy.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>'Green Choice'</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Just last year, Consumer Reports started designating some vehicles as "our Green Choice" -- the top 20 percent of vehicles on the market with the cleanest emissions.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Unfortunately, the "Green Choice" designation came more than 20 years after the first gas-electric hybrid or green cars went on sale in the United States.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And being "clean" or "cleaner" doesn't come close to earning a vehicle a spot on the annual Top 10 list.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGTipKbcaRBYoT_iuKkth0qs84lMsjHWho_Wf_MgjRPvnZMMDKI4Qy2RFITHErmW8G41vVt9f1CzSAwJa7oELHMxZ_y8EXHkFM1SMbELVrIsNljGjsEbVps3qxpHfG0LQiu8f4PzEQV453E-tPRJlwUyiPPl81Hgk3kFXae9Y57OQiBmwNXxlVd-hb=s2173"><img border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="2173" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGTipKbcaRBYoT_iuKkth0qs84lMsjHWho_Wf_MgjRPvnZMMDKI4Qy2RFITHErmW8G41vVt9f1CzSAwJa7oELHMxZ_y8EXHkFM1SMbELVrIsNljGjsEbVps3qxpHfG0LQiu8f4PzEQV453E-tPRJlwUyiPPl81Hgk3kFXae9Y57OQiBmwNXxlVd-hb=w534-h333" width="534" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">NO TESLAS IN SIGHT: Even though Tesla has been the best selling electric car in the United States since 2012, none are listed on Consumer Reports' Top 10 list for 2022.</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></b></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Top 10 Picks</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The Top 10 list in the annual Auto Issue includes a midsize SUV, Kia's Telluride, that gets 21 mpg; and a compact pickup truck, the Honda Ridgeline, which is rated at 20 mpg -- less than half the mileage of most gas-electric hybrids. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>But instead of the Honda, the so-called auto experts at the magazine should have chosen the 2022 Ford F-150 hybrid pickup truck, which is rated at 25 mpg city/highway.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And is the Kia Telluride so special that it eclipses all of the midsize SUVs with hybrid power and lower emissions sold by competitors?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Gas hits $4.32 a gallon</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>This year, the Top 10 list includes a total of 13 vehicles: </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Both the Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid, and the Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid with an electric range of 25 miles, are listed.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Consumer Reports also lists the Honda Accord and Accord Hybrid as well as the Lexus RX and Lexus RX Hybrid.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The Top 10 list could have done without the gasoline versions of the Honda and Lexus. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In fact, a Top 10 list of only gas-electric hybrids and EVs makes even more sense as the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States hit $4.32 this week.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Deadly air pollution</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>All in all, Consumer Reports' annual Auto Issue continues to disappoint, and ignore the elephant in the room:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Premature deaths from air pollution caused by vehicle tailpipe emissions.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2018/03/years-late-consumer-reports-puts-ev-on.html" target="_blank">First EV on Top 10 list</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2018/03/years-late-consumer-reports-puts-ev-on.html" target="_blank"> didn't appear until 2018</a></b></span></p><p><br /></p><p></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-8760816224623170202022-03-04T07:38:00.004-05:002022-05-30T10:01:26.886-04:00Bergen prosecutor is stumped on identity of driver who killed Hackensack woman, 81, as she crossed the street one year ago<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnr5mCR0VHqAIb4JtHVE-kvF9Gjv_55wSqRN-73VbwU54A0nGg1rzNK9Gf0U5Pnn3b-QwIeEbL34qUTyPSmCDO5SnKyNYvGu7x3vscbq2uqsZD5nE603oRToTYC87JqolZZkGZHMj5K7aAQvlUfz66NWuk-VZNphiQHriUeDoS69uT96UorFRI1omJ=s551" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="551" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnr5mCR0VHqAIb4JtHVE-kvF9Gjv_55wSqRN-73VbwU54A0nGg1rzNK9Gf0U5Pnn3b-QwIeEbL34qUTyPSmCDO5SnKyNYvGu7x3vscbq2uqsZD5nE603oRToTYC87JqolZZkGZHMj5K7aAQvlUfz66NWuk-VZNphiQHriUeDoS69uT96UorFRI1omJ=w555-h396" width="555" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>After Lillian J. Holmes of Hackensack was killed by a hit-run driver on March 4, 2021, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office issued this stock image of a 2013 or 2014 black BMW X5 SUV with tinted windows, and said the driver is believed to have been involved in the hit-run death of the 81-year-old woman.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b> </b></span><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">'Matter remains an open</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">criminal investigation,'</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">is the only comment</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- An 81-year-old Hackensack woman died one year ago today after she was cut down by a hit-run driver as she crossed the street to pick up a prescription, and then run over by a second vehicle.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This week, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office declined to answer any questions concerning the investigation into the death of the woman, Lillian J. Holmes, except to say:</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">"The matter remains an open criminal investigation at this time."</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The second driver stayed on the scene on Polifly Road, between Sutton and Marvin avenues, where a CVS Pharmacy is located, and wasn't charged with any wrongdoing.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But there is no crosswalk or warning signs about pedestrians, even though there is an apartment building on the other side of the 4-lane street. </span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Poorly lit at night</u></span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In fact, there are no crosswalks or traffic lights for 6 blocks of Polifly Road, from Essex to Lodi streets, and street lighting is poor at night, when the hit-run fatality occurred.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Despite repeated requests from the city, Bergen County hasn't made any improvements in the lighting along Polifly, a county road. </span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Nor has the county added crosswalks and warning signs to help pedestrians cross Polifly Road, which is lined with apartment buildings.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>OPRA request</u></span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I filed a request under the Open Public Records Act for details from members of the prosecutor's Fatal Accident Investigation Unit, but all but one of my questions went unanswered.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The Prosecutor's Office issued a stock image of the BMW SUV, but also supplied a video "of the subject vehicle" to the news media.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella declined to supply the video to me, but cited a NorthJersey.com story, "which posted a video of the subject vehicle" on March 10, 2021.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>But I can't access the video because I do not have a subscription to NorthJersey.com.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Unanswered questions</u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Before I filed the OPRA request, I tried to obtain information about the investigation from Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Rebein, the public information officer for the Prosecutor's Office.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">All of my requests were turned down and none of my questions were answered. </span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"Our press releases are posted on our website ... for one year," she said in an email. "No one at the BCPO [Bergen County Prosecutor's Office] can speak to you openly or anonymously about how investigations are conducted, including the amount of time spent."</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I had asked whether the BMW X5 was registered in New Jersey or New York and whether a man or woman was driving, among other questions.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I also asked for the names of other hit-run victims after Rebein said the Holmes fatality wasn't the only open case. </b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2021/03/lillian-j-holmes-81-of-hackensack-lived.html" target="_blank">Lillian J. Holmes lived a full live</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2021/03/lillian-j-holmes-81-of-hackensack-lived.html" target="_blank"> before hit-run driver killed her</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-88458228305387550272022-02-27T14:48:00.009-05:002022-04-10T08:34:31.918-04:00Readers continued to drop The Record and NorthJersey.com in 2021 -- 5 years after $40M purchase by the Gannett Co.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivhf3FKqb0bFy0-XYE7fds3Y7Y3bxIFXeu0wCP4ac5vT3serboQFDjbHZ89UbDhVMap9eeweFPfrhgRlUwqPkWW9mrH6afrCXnMr1Ye629JhK3Sc3ldyMC_BNqPS4pb2ikl2WY9z1k2CNORlD93gYAeo0UJ93CYtjHnbktY9TrVn-D2lb1J5rjlSv9=s2630" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1985" data-original-width="2630" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivhf3FKqb0bFy0-XYE7fds3Y7Y3bxIFXeu0wCP4ac5vT3serboQFDjbHZ89UbDhVMap9eeweFPfrhgRlUwqPkWW9mrH6afrCXnMr1Ye629JhK3Sc3ldyMC_BNqPS4pb2ikl2WY9z1k2CNORlD93gYAeo0UJ93CYtjHnbktY9TrVn-D2lb1J5rjlSv9=w550-h416" width="550" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>EX-PUBLISHER TURNS DEVELOPER:</b></span> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Stephen A. Borg, former publisher of The Record, is a partner in the development of Print House, luxury apartments and retail at 150 River St. in Hackensack, where the newspaper operated until 2009.</b></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>`</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">39,683 </span></b><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">daily, </span></b><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">48,684 on Sunday</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">is the new circulation low</span></b></div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <b style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Editor's note: I just received an email listing the sale and purchase of homes by Malcolm A. Borg, former chairman of North Jersey Media Group; and the divorce granted to attorney Jennifer Borg, his daughter. See the comments section at the end of this post for details. </span></i></b></p></blockquote><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The world's biggest newspaper publisher seems powerless to stop the slide in circulation at The Record of Woodland Park and NorthJersey.com.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In 2021 -- 5 years after Gannet Co. bought the prize-winning daily newspaper founded in Hackensack and its website -- circulation of both fell to only 39,683 daily and 48,684 on Sunday, according to the media company's annual report, filed last week.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">That is a shocking development given the numbers at the end of 2016, when circulation of The Record and NorthJersey.com stood at 235,681 daily and 147,609 on Sunday</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>That includes circulation of affiliated publications like the Herald News and the weekly Hackensack Chronicle.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Dramatic changes</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>A year later, at the end of 2017, the precipitous slide began: </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Circulation of The Record and its website dropped to only 91,032 daily and 97,149 on Sundays.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Meanwhile, in the first 8 months or so after Gannett acquired North Jersey Media Group in July 2016, about 350 employees were laid off and pay was frozen.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Survivors wake up</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>But it wasn't until 2021 that survivors of the bloodletting formed a union called <a href="https://twitter.com/therecordguild" target="_blank">The Record Guild</a> to bargain with Gannett, which continues to deny them raises.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The vote in The Record newsroom to form the union was 59-4.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The union's total membership is not known, but includes employees at NorthJersey.com, The Daily Record of Parsippany-Troy Hills and the New Jersey Herald of Newton.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In its annual report, Gannett said that only about 17 percent of is 13,800 employees in the United Sates are represented by labor unions.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><u>Change, change, change</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>At the end of 2021, according to the annual report, The Record and NorthJersey.com of "Bergen, New Jersey" were listed in 11th place among Gannett's major publications, led by USA Today, one place lower than at the end of 2020.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>But when The Record was acquired in 2016, it stood in third place among Gannett newspapers after USA Today and the Detroit Free Press.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Gannett's annual report for 2021 lists a total of 9 daily newspapers, 14 weeklies and 2 production facilities in its New Jersey portfolio.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Corporate revenue</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The amount of circulation is the primary factor in the pricing of advertising space, meaning Gannett likely has had to reduce how much it charges for ads in The Record, Herald News and on North Jersey.com, reducing corporate revenue.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Circulation also fell after Gannett editors cut the amount of local news even further after buying The Record in 2016, and then <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2019/07/readers-of-record-turn-thumbs-down-on.html" target="_blank">switched to a subscription-only model</a> for NorthJersey.com in 2019. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In January, The Record and Herald News told subscribers they will no longer receive home delivery of the Saturday edition.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The print edition of The Record may not be long for this world, judging by Gannett's annual report for 2021, which cites the company's "evolution from a more traditional print media business to a digitally focused content platform."</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2019/06/shit-in-driveway-wasnt-from-dog-walkers.html" target="_blank">Shit in driveway wasn't from dog walkers</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://eyeontherecord.blogspot.com/2020/07/from-great-local-journalism-to-hawking.html" target="_blank">How Stephen Borg turned </a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://eyeontherecord.blogspot.com/2020/07/from-great-local-journalism-to-hawking.html" target="_blank">The Record into crap</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0j_stRU-JjTF-SWT6B2FYVpM44rGMkPWE6aMZi31RwNWd22r6vR1-rSvf8vOPi0ZPS9QQa3uxxfncNborIkSQ8qEmNIBhcTAulYQKfEgic_aNpxisRtlv5DADr7sYAczU_W-Q8zjqmIq2vvtHfwFmAkiCKBwbrDDz0Wv8mRHecsRgX7FLUFXpHf5O=s1821" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1821" data-original-width="1726" height="578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0j_stRU-JjTF-SWT6B2FYVpM44rGMkPWE6aMZi31RwNWd22r6vR1-rSvf8vOPi0ZPS9QQa3uxxfncNborIkSQ8qEmNIBhcTAulYQKfEgic_aNpxisRtlv5DADr7sYAczU_W-Q8zjqmIq2vvtHfwFmAkiCKBwbrDDz0Wv8mRHecsRgX7FLUFXpHf5O=w548-h578" width="548" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>FREE PAPER: The weekly Hackensack Chronicle, which has no staff and reprints stories and photos from The Record, is delivered free to Hackensack residents.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Big downsizing </u></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The Record had been based in Hackensack for more than 110 years when then-Publisher Stephen A. Borg executed the biggest downsizing in company history in 2008.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>He targeted veteran employees who were earning higher salaries, then closed the headquarters building at 150 River St. in 2009 and moved The Record to a bank building overlooking Route 80 in Woodland Park.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Stepen Borg also ended separate Local sections for news from Bergen and Passaic counties, and Bergen readers often were inundated with news of Paterson and other Passaic communities.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>After closing the building at 150 River St., Stephen Borg monetized The Record's parking lot by renting spaces to Hackensack University Medical Center and Bergen County.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>North Jersey Media Group</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In its 2016 annual report, Gannett and the USA Today Network hailed as a strategic acquisition purchase of North Jersey Media Group, the Borg family company that published The Record, Herald News, (201) magazine, NorthJersey.com and about 50 weeklies.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The Borg family held onto nearly 20 acres along River Street in Hackensack and the former headquarters building.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The headquarters, other NJMG buildings and a diner were torn down, and in mid-2020 Stephen Borg and his partners began construction of luxury apartments and retail along River Street.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-77981050636370288872022-02-22T15:22:00.001-05:002022-02-22T15:22:32.620-05:00Here are 3 recipes -- a Pasta with Yogurt, Korean-style Haddock and Kimchi Stew, and Monkfish with Spinach -- all from Victor's Healthy Kitchen on YouTube<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="477" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UFn3ABOyrpw" width="574" youtube-src-id="UFn3ABOyrpw"></iframe></div> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="473" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wRLIKUbs5nE" width="568" youtube-src-id="wRLIKUbs5nE"></iframe></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="474" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qd9n5mGYibE" width="569" youtube-src-id="qd9n5mGYibE"></iframe></div><br />Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-7687745430142055252022-02-20T17:21:00.004-05:002022-03-03T16:07:09.266-05:00Don't curse potholes and rough pavement: You can blame this wealthy county in N.J. for refusing to repair, repave many streets<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcgyHbtEoo8Bh6Uey4G55-Uv607Tnbce8HgqqKLrJxPWkoP_0n5e-u0fK8zKlxf4DH15lKbVTtO43htM7eD9DFt7ZBW74Kdx8mrlEHWroiGY_Po6X-KgDfhfaozOFU4RqjJlk_TX1TyH8udoQdNCwDkS3puCuq5Tqt4W78W92mXegSoO9etsLwwF7Y=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcgyHbtEoo8Bh6Uey4G55-Uv607Tnbce8HgqqKLrJxPWkoP_0n5e-u0fK8zKlxf4DH15lKbVTtO43htM7eD9DFt7ZBW74Kdx8mrlEHWroiGY_Po6X-KgDfhfaozOFU4RqjJlk_TX1TyH8udoQdNCwDkS3puCuq5Tqt4W78W92mXegSoO9etsLwwF7Y=w536-h714" width="536" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">WHO OWNS THIS STREET? Summit Avenue -- from Essex Street in Hackensack to the Hasbrouck Heights border -- is considered a road under the control of Bergen County, but the city of Hackensack controls this pockmarked stretch of Summit, above and below, which is between Passaic Street and Spring Valley Road. </span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVMNf4tEJl7Up3LtloYlvxpyxFZB7KLtUChdvWY0I8PRJfWPmm2_-8R2tnSmQTzxWhbozeDamm7aQ6jKRupgJU-VFPvgZP3gl25L8bCinQIGPwADNd34l6l3LhyJfbn0QuF3Nrc0SuLNrQkDMGx9IxZv6p60LkBUC_iDLkZ_X8RVKUba5tpHgjqrqE=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="707" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVMNf4tEJl7Up3LtloYlvxpyxFZB7KLtUChdvWY0I8PRJfWPmm2_-8R2tnSmQTzxWhbozeDamm7aQ6jKRupgJU-VFPvgZP3gl25L8bCinQIGPwADNd34l6l3LhyJfbn0QuF3Nrc0SuLNrQkDMGx9IxZv6p60LkBUC_iDLkZ_X8RVKUba5tpHgjqrqE=w530-h707" width="530" /></a></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>What do property taxes we pay</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>to Bergen </b></span><b style="font-family: verdana;">get us besides heartburn?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>By VICTOR E. SASSON</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Every year, a little over 9 percent of my property tax bill -- or $1,743.75 in 2021-22 -- goes to Bergen County, and I'm struggling to think what I get in return.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In fact, living in Hackensack carries a far larger county imposed tax burden for me and other home and business owners who pay property taxes:</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The hundreds of millions of dollars of county owned property in Hackensack -- including the classically styled Bergen County Courthouse, county Administration Building, jail and homeless shelter -- are tax exempt, shifting the burden to me and thousands of other and raising our tax bills considerably.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Drivers get the finger</u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And yet, day after day, month after month, year after year, we have to deal with the insult of county owned streets that go unpaved or are crudely repaired or <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2022/01/bergen-officials-fail-to-add-safety.html" target="_blank">lack safety measures</a>, which contributed to the death of two pedestrians in Hackensack last year.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I originally included Summit Avenue in Hackensack, from Passaic Street to Spring Valley Road, pockmarked with numerous crude repairs or potholes, but was told only the section of Summit from Passaic Street to the Hasbrouck Heights border belongs to the county (and was repaved several years ago).</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>But county roads that have been in disrepair for years include Grand Avenue and Lafayette Place in Englewood, littered with sunken manhole covers and broken pavement; and on and on.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In fact, I'm sure there are county owned streets in each of Bergen's 70 municipalities that have been neglected for years.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>For a list of all state and county owned streets in your town, see <a href="https://www.charliesballparks.com/charliez/bcnj/muni.htm" target="_blank">Bergen County Roads by Municipality</a>, which was compiled in 2016.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">Terrible Teaneck</span></u></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I remember the years-long nightmare of driving to Route 80 on a narrow, 4-lane DeGraw Avenue in Teaneck, between Queen Anne and Teaneck roads, before it was finally repaired and repaved.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Teaneck's Cedar Lane through the main business district, another narrow, 4-lane county street, remains a nightmare, with motorists jostling for space with buses and dump trucks, and plenty of rough and broken pavement to contend with. </b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Is Bergen County broke or so arrogant that it treats tax-paying county residents like crap by letting the streets and avenues it controls fall apart?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>An email I sent to Michael Pagan, the county's public information officer, seeking information on the history of county owned streets, hasn't been answered. </b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Pagan also is a councilman in Teaneck.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Please use the comments section at the end of this post to highlight streets in your town that are in desperate need of repairs.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSqk-xeI-ly4-E4iQP83E46D7Zw-gBZr7cAYFgq7joZK5HSbjFA3g-ZMlnuQnukuiG8pjshmVxVX-FZMXCrGhd2e6FNgDUTrUTVGi2s5oGY-AbnMX_k9qyUyge_NF0Gq6ljabGdnJXH2JVVJWulihZFFEVFEsIH4duvkQk-v6xdclWKwg_n4XZfC36=s3024" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2800" data-original-width="3024" height="519" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSqk-xeI-ly4-E4iQP83E46D7Zw-gBZr7cAYFgq7joZK5HSbjFA3g-ZMlnuQnukuiG8pjshmVxVX-FZMXCrGhd2e6FNgDUTrUTVGi2s5oGY-AbnMX_k9qyUyge_NF0Gq6ljabGdnJXH2JVVJWulihZFFEVFEsIH4duvkQk-v6xdclWKwg_n4XZfC36=w561-h519" width="561" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">A LITTLE PAINT, A LOT LESS CONFUSION: The city of Hackensack painted these turn arrows at Prospect Avenue and Passaic Street after Bergen County officials ignored repeated requests for them, City Councilman Leo Battaglia said. Without the arrows, two lanes of cars would form and some drivers in each lane would drive straight ahead into one lane, causing conflicts.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2022/01/bergen-officials-fail-to-add-safety.html" target="_blank">Bergen fails to add safety measures</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2022/01/bergen-officials-fail-to-add-safety.html" target="_blank"> months after 2 pedestrian deaths</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="Yet another careless driver is getting away with running down a Hackensack woman" target="_blank">How 2 Hackensack women</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span><b><a href="Yet another careless driver is getting away with running down a Hackensack woman" target="_blank"> died</a></b></span><b><a href="Yet another careless driver is getting away with running down a Hackensack woman" target="_blank"> crossing the street</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-56611208430076459102022-01-31T12:17:00.004-05:002022-02-21T15:00:14.419-05:00Bergen officials fail to add safety measures or warning signs many months after two women were killed by cars in Hackensack<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieMz-iZOHaM5mo969OCUELbwgHoqniYtspP7oEju7EOPrE2HX8oSEKnpHroG6vElmG4h-4hdqTp_P5_6KJQq4Ew-KEQ7gQn9QRryuK6kLWL8wcxXZ_2kPLuizbvmSSCq3oJ3dWozI-udNUmQlU6e5cG13vGfbEJf2nHLujSe-acM66FhiuH8hWlVnM=s3386" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3386" data-original-width="2500" height="759" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieMz-iZOHaM5mo969OCUELbwgHoqniYtspP7oEju7EOPrE2HX8oSEKnpHroG6vElmG4h-4hdqTp_P5_6KJQq4Ew-KEQ7gQn9QRryuK6kLWL8wcxXZ_2kPLuizbvmSSCq3oJ3dWozI-udNUmQlU6e5cG13vGfbEJf2nHLujSe-acM66FhiuH8hWlVnM=w559-h759" width="559" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>FATAL CROSSING: None of the four crosswalks at Passaic Street and Summit Avenue in Hackensack -- including this one used by Carol A. Ventura, who was struck by one vehicle and run over by a second on May 13, 2021 -- have been improved with "Walk/Don't Walk" signs or any other warning to alert pedestrians about turning vehicles, like the one I photographed recently, above.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmUe46sD7PwXJHZKDhi0xQricb3rqiocvQUVkUkpAjZh2aiTrPr2EhsloJn4hBqvulNZWJ0sxe8xQhLoG_r1cfhvTZxLQ78neOwE_onfSviC6gLtClkTCznq7hU2RIaUwRDTkrDueM1KJMNXNdNJeia3icMm2OcoTz3TK8nE8oP30d-RStSQ2ObVKO=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="745" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmUe46sD7PwXJHZKDhi0xQricb3rqiocvQUVkUkpAjZh2aiTrPr2EhsloJn4hBqvulNZWJ0sxe8xQhLoG_r1cfhvTZxLQ78neOwE_onfSviC6gLtClkTCznq7hU2RIaUwRDTkrDueM1KJMNXNdNJeia3icMm2OcoTz3TK8nE8oP30d-RStSQ2ObVKO=w560-h745" width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>NO AERT FOR DRIVERS: Since Carol A. Ventura's death, Bergen County officials paved Passaic Street and Summit Avenue and repainted faded turn lanes and crosswalks, but failed to add a message on the traffic signals, alerting drivers who get a green arrow to watch for pedestrians.<br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><br />County gets off cheap </span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b><span>with new </span></b><b>asphalt, paint</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- In the more than 8 months since a 76-year-old Hackensack woman died from injuries after she was run down and then run over in a crosswalk, Bergen County officials have failed to add "Walk/Don't Walk" signs at the intersection, Passaic Street and Summit Avenue.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>County officials also haven't installed signs warning drivers who get a green arrow in turn lanes on Summit Avenue to yield to pedestrians crossing Passaic Street.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The only apparent improvements at the Hackensack intersection where Carol A. Ventura, 76, was fatally injured at dusk on May 20,2021, was the repaving of Passaic -- a county owned street -- and repainting of faded or missing lines marking the four crosswalks and two turn lanes.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>A second death</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And more than 10 months after the death of Lillian J. Holmes, 81, who was struck by a hit-run driver and run over by a second vehicle on another county owned street, Polifly Road in Hackensack, nothing has been done to improve poor street lighting or add crosswalks and warning signs.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Hackensack City Councilman Leo Battaglia said requests for better lighting have fallen on deaf ears.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Holmes was crossing a darkened Polifly Road on the way to a CVS Pharmacy when she was struck by the two vehicles, including a black BMW X-5 whose driver fled. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>No crosswalks</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>There are no crosswalks or signs warning drivers of pedestrians along a 6-block stretch of 4-lane Polifly Road, despite several apartment buildings on both sides of the street and the CVS.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Michael Pagan, the public information officer for Bergen County, didn't return calls seeking comment on whether "Walk/Don't Walk" or warning signs will be installed where the two women were fatally injured.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Pagan is also a councilman in Teaneck.</b></span></p><p><b><u><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Investigations</span></u></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The hit-run death was investigated by the Fatal Accident Investigation Unit of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, which apparently hasn't been able to find the driver who fled.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Hackensack police investigated the death on Passaic Street and Summit Avenue, but no charges of failing to yield to a pedestrian were filed against either driver. </b></span></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg665o2qFD9lOuaQhAVPtSq6VPY5gz4lKyGXFLbxNI0lDJL341zH9rNuKxcz6UmTdQdcaViqMKpdt4UYViLO4LA9lRN2ruEpCPimu2TYzIoNtqjKlYTYfPU1USanbWa776d6BEAE93ZHgUvz7EyYgOs4NPuUkj5BECm_rckLI6xvpVwrF757-WT8dY6=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="735" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg665o2qFD9lOuaQhAVPtSq6VPY5gz4lKyGXFLbxNI0lDJL341zH9rNuKxcz6UmTdQdcaViqMKpdt4UYViLO4LA9lRN2ruEpCPimu2TYzIoNtqjKlYTYfPU1USanbWa776d6BEAE93ZHgUvz7EyYgOs4NPuUkj5BECm_rckLI6xvpVwrF757-WT8dY6=w551-h735" width="551" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>PEDESTRIANS FACE SUDDEN DEATH: There are apartment buildings and a popular CVS on Polifly Road in Hackensack, above and below, but a 6-block stretch of the 4-lane street between Essex and Lodi streets doesn't have a single crosswalk or warning signs for pedestrians or drivers. And none was added after Lillian J. Holmes, 81, who was crossing Polifly Road on the way to the CVS, died on March 4, 2021. She was knocked down by a hit-run driver and struck by a second driver, who stayed on the scene. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfb3u5rcAjfhkkxSv2_w8H20Tar-hNzA_uI5emE85uccUPuJOEXZdptA-TF0KQt-dIdTTN4_LT6MwCJCd5YwcqSaL0EFBoLHyiJAlyOr1vaohRItRbtnwH5cUCP0WOwu6NUNvgUV8zupbF3t_iqCYooMb4T0JXalWZLmPqQtisgYrfwel-gRrbqFja=s4032"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="742" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfb3u5rcAjfhkkxSv2_w8H20Tar-hNzA_uI5emE85uccUPuJOEXZdptA-TF0KQt-dIdTTN4_LT6MwCJCd5YwcqSaL0EFBoLHyiJAlyOr1vaohRItRbtnwH5cUCP0WOwu6NUNvgUV8zupbF3t_iqCYooMb4T0JXalWZLmPqQtisgYrfwel-gRrbqFja=w557-h742" width="557" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2021/05/yet-another-careless-driver-is-getting.html" target="_blank">How 2 Hackensack women</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2021/05/yet-another-careless-driver-is-getting.html" target="_blank"><b> died crossing the street</b></a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2017/12/record-columnist-is-fiddling-while.html" target="_blank">Record columnist fiddled </a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2017/12/record-columnist-is-fiddling-while.html" target="_blank">as drivers got away with murder</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-66556106214682556062021-12-12T18:38:00.003-05:002021-12-17T22:04:39.535-05:00Bells toll for the death of customer service at online companies both big and small, including Carvana, Raymour & Flanigan<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHGspwyKhIj9FtbsgxmKjnQ1s6lddt4zhTGQeWqFLb7c3z4TU0Hjtlzx1bl5W5uU2RTDt3w09FPLxibAl64VCpR0ywiVYq1jyWoWEOP4qftjCPPKo3llg2v2W1osIHgz2-j2pTuMlFpRJnir5vm5o0ERKv3b8oa02gxBVdvm5yhdCchiDnXr0WncRY=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHGspwyKhIj9FtbsgxmKjnQ1s6lddt4zhTGQeWqFLb7c3z4TU0Hjtlzx1bl5W5uU2RTDt3w09FPLxibAl64VCpR0ywiVYq1jyWoWEOP4qftjCPPKo3llg2v2W1osIHgz2-j2pTuMlFpRJnir5vm5o0ERKv3b8oa02gxBVdvm5yhdCchiDnXr0WncRY=w500-h666" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">CARVANA DISAPPOINTS: In mid-November 2021, I sold my 2016 Tesla Model S 75D, above, to an electric-car dealer in Nebraska for $10,000 more than I was offered by Carvana, the nation's biggest online used car dealer, which twice cut its offer to me. </span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Ease of shopping</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>from your computer</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>doesn't always bring</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>special treatment</b></span></div><div><br /><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- What a difference 2 years can make when you are trying to sell a Tesla to Carvana, said to be the fastest growing online used car dealer in the United States.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In November 2019, I quickly made a deal with <a href="https://www.carvana.com/" target="_blank">Carvana</a> to buy my low-mileage 2015 Tesla Model S 60, and pay off my remaining loan.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Then, on the morning I was going to take delivery of a used 2016 Model S from the Tesla dealer in Paramus, Carvana re</span></b><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">ps showed up at my home, handed me a check for $39,000 and drove the older electric car away.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Two years later, in November 2021, my original offer of roughly $43,500 for the 2016 Tesla was cut twice -- to $41,500 and then $39,500.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>He said, she said</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The fly in the ointment was the car's title, which took more than a month to get. I had to take a photo of the title and post it on my Carvana account before the purchase would go through.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The credit union that financed my loan -- which was paid off in October 2020 by my local bank -- said the title was sent to Spencer Savings, but bank officials insisted they didn't have it.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Motor Vehicle Commission offices in New Jersey no longer take walk-in business, and it took two appointments weeks apart, in Wallington and Jersey City, before I got the title and uploaded a photo onto my account -- on the eve of the expiration of my second, lower Carvana offer.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Sour milk</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Still, Carvana's original offer of $43,500 expired like the fresh milk you left on the counter overnight, and was cut first to $41,500 and then to roughly $39,500.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I called Carvana headquarters in Tempe, Ariz., many times, but never got to speak to the same person twice. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Finally, one told me my seeking three offers for my Model S, which had less than 13,500 miles on the odometer, led to two cuts in what Carvana would pay.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I went online and looked for another site that wanted my Tesla, and quickly got an offer I couldn't refuse from <a href="https://www.findmyelectric.com/" target="_blank">FindMyElectric.com</a> -- $10,000 more than Carvana's twice-trimmed bid.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizY4gji2Bn5wP0X2uP0r3sbA4MasU_QWu9BWTFWSVh_zw4nHoPDG5Fhz-wv500V9v51vmq9SUlIvPALlbsfTk5MjHJpke3IsCDGV8EjEAsGAgpkd9_OzTV5vMMiwlAC6XsrmRcSLAKYV9BWfdvjF_Hnn5uTZDo5Kz54F5sm2e6wmXiCrwB2kIago-b=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="697" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizY4gji2Bn5wP0X2uP0r3sbA4MasU_QWu9BWTFWSVh_zw4nHoPDG5Fhz-wv500V9v51vmq9SUlIvPALlbsfTk5MjHJpke3IsCDGV8EjEAsGAgpkd9_OzTV5vMMiwlAC6XsrmRcSLAKYV9BWfdvjF_Hnn5uTZDo5Kz54F5sm2e6wmXiCrwB2kIago-b=w523-h697" width="523" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>EXPENSIVE TOWEL HOLDER: A $1,900 built-in GE Microwave Oven from <a href="https://www.appliancesconnection.com/" target="_blank">AppliancesConnection.com</a> was delivered 2 days after I placed the order online the week of Thanksgiving, but we couldn't use the appliance except to hold dish towels before the free installation was completed nearly 2 weeks later.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b></b></div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Mattress woes</u></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Last week, I placed an online order for a queen size platform bed with storage and a new mattress at <a href="https://www.raymourflanigan.com/" target="_blank">Raymour & Flanigan</a>, the furniture retailer, which offers free removal of your old mattress.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>My total purchase was $2,680, including about $800 for the mattress, but when the latter was delivered the next day, the men who carried it into the house refused to take the old one away, despite repeated requests.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Finally, the delivery men said there was no room on the truck for the old mattress, a ridiculous claim since the new mattress was delivered in the very same vehicle.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>All of this was related to me by my son (I wasn't home).</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I called Raymour & Flanigan delivery and the woman I spoke to hung up on me. Calls to customer service haven't been returned.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I'm thinking of cancelling the order for the platform bed, and finding another one elsewhere.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>OXO coffee maker refund</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In early 2021, I had to pay about $30 in postage to return an expensive, difficult-to-operate 9-cup coffee maker I bought from <a href="https://www.oxo.com/" target="_blank">OXO.com</a>, and I didn't get the refund for about 8 weeks.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The coffee maker looked great on the counter, but the 9-cup capacity was on the low side, and I couldn't even figure out how to set the clock, so I returned it and resumed making coffee in an old 12-cup Farberware electric percolator.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span><b>In effect, OXO tells customers, </b></span><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2021/02/oxo-and-costco-may-rhyme-but-they-are.html" target="_blank">How dare you dislike our coffeemaker?</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The company made the return and refund process as difficult as possible. That's terrible customer service.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjw1k39TVCtJWO1b1E7Nd0mdD9G5QUf4BKVH9BYV57_F4SPI-VvL6b6BMem42vr-R11wpegIA41mpJsDhJRHIiFEwN4MAHViBTX2LC0ljS6JsndZyktq0TfRH1zWJn6EIV7UNfJbKYVTicfF6lvZcFtn_j1GNOeERiCeF1LmrNlbB1OhIAYLzbjtD0I=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="583" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjw1k39TVCtJWO1b1E7Nd0mdD9G5QUf4BKVH9BYV57_F4SPI-VvL6b6BMem42vr-R11wpegIA41mpJsDhJRHIiFEwN4MAHViBTX2LC0ljS6JsndZyktq0TfRH1zWJn6EIV7UNfJbKYVTicfF6lvZcFtn_j1GNOeERiCeF1LmrNlbB1OhIAYLzbjtD0I=w438-h583" width="438" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>DAMAGED AND A POOR MATCH: The wood panels for our built-in Monogram refrigerator-freezer I ordered from The Home Depot in Hackensack at a cost of $1,977 were chipped badly and a poor color match for our kitchen cabinets (see photos, above and below).</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo82SQQa8VX22ZqW6XwHrdTMC3rWweOhZt3yaodDoznfC27QUY53LxyTHRifyTkyjrNpAnPzdpWWKVcWhV7fi89AMTazeVYzjPAR1Fji52TXZ8ipHZW1pwPQjlcobKyd1_pU5ivxc6J-NPDr5edlu_hiWKVxVvwFQw36bROnrKQajeggJ8uyqUcgmk=s2048"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo82SQQa8VX22ZqW6XwHrdTMC3rWweOhZt3yaodDoznfC27QUY53LxyTHRifyTkyjrNpAnPzdpWWKVcWhV7fi89AMTazeVYzjPAR1Fji52TXZ8ipHZW1pwPQjlcobKyd1_pU5ivxc6J-NPDr5edlu_hiWKVxVvwFQw36bROnrKQajeggJ8uyqUcgmk=w471-h628" width="471" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgn4tSS17_grUdibjhy-ahppJMCEr5UOiB2GqaMA3zmZbwo3b-l7i7Ip_k7s44CDlELasOYtY5TDEzb-u0upgJy1R4soOjpy2G2oqzEHkEZ37F5vvXO4ro7p2JUM93Lr4YZqfg5Si2YzjFJs0QQINMrqqU1F4hxptcyRtIyE5EklajiWJ6FXXo0xMOj=s2048"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgn4tSS17_grUdibjhy-ahppJMCEr5UOiB2GqaMA3zmZbwo3b-l7i7Ip_k7s44CDlELasOYtY5TDEzb-u0upgJy1R4soOjpy2G2oqzEHkEZ37F5vvXO4ro7p2JUM93Lr4YZqfg5Si2YzjFJs0QQINMrqqU1F4hxptcyRtIyE5EklajiWJ6FXXo0xMOj=s2048"></a><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgn4tSS17_grUdibjhy-ahppJMCEr5UOiB2GqaMA3zmZbwo3b-l7i7Ip_k7s44CDlELasOYtY5TDEzb-u0upgJy1R4soOjpy2G2oqzEHkEZ37F5vvXO4ro7p2JUM93Lr4YZqfg5Si2YzjFJs0QQINMrqqU1F4hxptcyRtIyE5EklajiWJ6FXXo0xMOj=w452-h602" width="452" /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>The Home Depot</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I went to The Home Depot in Hackensack to order wood panels for a new Monogram built-in refrigerator installed in our kitchen in July (the panels cost $1,977).</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>About a week ago, I got a call to pick them up, but when 2 of the 7 cartons were too big for my car, I was told I could pay $80 to have all of them delivered to my home less than 3 miles away or rent a truck.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I rented a small truck (final cost was under $30), but when I returned to the store to get a refund because two of the main panels were damaged and the color match was completely off, I was again told I would have to pay $80 to have them picked up or rent a truck to bring them back.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Finally, after the employee who rents truck called a supervisor, the store agreed to send a truck and pick up the panels from my home on Saturday.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>We waited all day, but then got a call that the truck wouldn't get here and that the pickup was rescheduled for Monday.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2020/01/as-teslas-value-soars-buyers-of-ev.html" target="_blank">As Tesla's value soars, </a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2020/01/as-teslas-value-soars-buyers-of-ev.html" target="_blank">buyers of EV complain</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2020/01/as-teslas-value-soars-buyers-of-ev.html" target="_blank"> about poor customer service</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-17016244584983221492021-11-11T13:19:00.001-05:002021-11-13T11:14:31.066-05:00Why didn't most Democrats bother to vote on Nov. 2? They're apathetic, lazy, stupid or offer your own explanation or excuse<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKhW3Ah1-R6z57qoqzxbPR-V4zUVfE-YQKuUKyA436WCZdt0ccY2AcBNh0-tzKkW18wZUyZ8AiKx593stW4KMmAq8kOiugYGJ6o0i3a1HeKxksZz-V8WTr_f9ykyktCkiIYzdflNGyy4iInkPcfGYkHfvIldyRRuC85XVZcxVSzoyI4sbpt-FA7qS0=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="711" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKhW3Ah1-R6z57qoqzxbPR-V4zUVfE-YQKuUKyA436WCZdt0ccY2AcBNh0-tzKkW18wZUyZ8AiKx593stW4KMmAq8kOiugYGJ6o0i3a1HeKxksZz-V8WTr_f9ykyktCkiIYzdflNGyy4iInkPcfGYkHfvIldyRRuC85XVZcxVSzoyI4sbpt-FA7qS0=w534-h711" width="534" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">EASIEST WAY TO VOTE: The postage-paid, mail-in election ballot is by far the easiest way to vote, and if you don't want to take it to a drop box, like this one in Hackensack, you can leave it or give it to your mail carrier.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Scores of apathetic or lazy Democrats didn't vote on Nov. 2, and the next day the news media reported the contest between Gov. Phil Murphy and his Republican opponent was "too close to call."</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Murphy eventually prevailed by 73,814 votes over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman who is an ally of Donald J. Trump, according to updated results published by The New York Times on Nov. 10.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Murphy was the first Democratic governor reelected in New Jersey in 44 years, The Times said, and "his aggressive approach to controlling the [Covid-19] pandemic became a focal point of the bid to unseat him."</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Voter affiliation</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As of Oct. 1, there were 2,577,698 registered Democrats, who far outnumbered the 1,505,265 registered Republicans in New Jersey, according to state officials.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The election should have been a slam dunk for Murphy, even though governors in New Jersey aren't elected in the same year as the presidential election.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Murphy received a total of 1,304,954 votes with more than 95 percent of voting precincts reporting -- or about half of the registered Democrats.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Ciattarelli got 1,231,140 votes of the 1,505,265 Republicans registered -- a much bigger turnout by the challenger's party than by Murphy's party.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Registered voters unaffiliated with a party totaled 2,396,910.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>What happened?</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>So, why didn't Democrats step up and give Murphy another 4-year term in a decisive fashion?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Was the governor's Covid-19 mandates really to blame or were Democrats once again beset by apathy, stupidity or downright laziness?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Ciattarelli's TV commercials during the campaign claimed local property taxes had "skyrocketed" in New Jersey, but didn't explain what the governor could do to cut them.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>One of the biggest components of the property tax bill in Hackensack supports local public schools, so was Ciatterelli saying he would slash state aid to local schools, if he were elected, to lower property taxes?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Where was the media?</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I never heard any reporter ask that question to the Republican candidate for governor.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>If, in fact, local property taxes rose -- "skyrocketed" is more of an allegation than fact -- that was due to the superheated housing market during the pandemic, when "home prices nationwide have risen by an astonishing 24.8 percent since March 2020," The Times reports.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></p><p><b></b></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE8yWc1kDGUY01IWFywDepbZBQ-NYrv1CrFT-EMA2dbCjOkNnQ6cdDhThmhin1p9VF1ZUgdbKYH-tBw3263dhaZqc0rWvg5CMWljQKgH6RslO-JnA12C5XW7kwdpgatMiJxR-0Y4rB1YXhrfbgo5dVvHFJf9JGSwMwrWMBDgccF0oFIvOZ_b5vluLA=s1794" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1794" data-original-width="1752" height="531" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE8yWc1kDGUY01IWFywDepbZBQ-NYrv1CrFT-EMA2dbCjOkNnQ6cdDhThmhin1p9VF1ZUgdbKYH-tBw3263dhaZqc0rWvg5CMWljQKgH6RslO-JnA12C5XW7kwdpgatMiJxR-0Y4rB1YXhrfbgo5dVvHFJf9JGSwMwrWMBDgccF0oFIvOZ_b5vluLA=w520-h531" width="520" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">COPPING OUT: There are more than 265,000 registered Democrats in Bergen County, compared to 150,811 registered Republicans. But Governor Murphy received only 140,654 votes in the county on Nov. 2, according to this graphic from The New York Times, which updated the numbers on Nov. 10. Murphy was reelected, but his winning margin in Bergen County was only 14,230 votes.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><p></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-27108539211070975682021-11-08T12:38:00.004-05:002022-02-02T18:02:38.157-05:00Hot topics: We make room for a new EV; lazy Democrats and a nail-biting election; The Record again stiffs its wretched staff<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6FePLqiVSulCxOCH8EgNwyuNhUqHxoanONQNuBYkrZrsG7q8Zq_ePNnF8sn6TQ7zZfiAML1Xp4VODsEfFRzLO2hfmOAOSaZZCnRl_1FR50JWjS2vGOfBS1hSVVZQ6iKAevUvN_-y-dVNPe6zsPH55dLBW5aBdSOht4BwraGnAhotB38yYt84v9Zpk=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="751" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6FePLqiVSulCxOCH8EgNwyuNhUqHxoanONQNuBYkrZrsG7q8Zq_ePNnF8sn6TQ7zZfiAML1Xp4VODsEfFRzLO2hfmOAOSaZZCnRl_1FR50JWjS2vGOfBS1hSVVZQ6iKAevUvN_-y-dVNPe6zsPH55dLBW5aBdSOht4BwraGnAhotB38yYt84v9Zpk=w563-h751" width="563" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">A NEW EV IN OUR GARAGE: Our new 2021 Tesla Model Y, above, has all-wheel drive and a maximum range of 330 miles. We charge it overnight in our garage when the battery is down to about 30 percent of capacity.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4229BaqI8O5egT0LfgO4YbqGyuvGk2QKvdMdCiEQ3hxjfCiW7PODGhQ6hq_R3bXb2C-TVtgoWOipwr01MV6dqbfBthd5MY6Cs3BOiUDkDLi5_rcDLxvnJypuNRwUh5PUYveOstfUS1QWjm1U-g1ZjFtxSaqOPyPxsEt8oP0Rnc-LI9mT5zLGLhjLQ=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="745" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4229BaqI8O5egT0LfgO4YbqGyuvGk2QKvdMdCiEQ3hxjfCiW7PODGhQ6hq_R3bXb2C-TVtgoWOipwr01MV6dqbfBthd5MY6Cs3BOiUDkDLi5_rcDLxvnJypuNRwUh5PUYveOstfUS1QWjm1U-g1ZjFtxSaqOPyPxsEt8oP0Rnc-LI9mT5zLGLhjLQ=w558-h745" width="558" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">OUR OTHER TESLA: I bought this 2016 Tesla Model S 75D, left, in November 2019, when the luxury, all-wheel drive, 4-door hatchback had only about 7,600 miles on the odometer. It's the best car I've ever owned, and faster than my first EV, a 2015 Tesla Model S 60, which had a smaller battery and rear-wheel drive.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Trump's coup failed, but country</b></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>seems more divided than ever</b></span></div><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- When I turned 77 last week, I thought life is good:</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I'm healthy, I get plenty of exercise food shopping and volunteering at a hospital a total of 4 days to 5 days a week, and we have a new zero-emissions Tesla in the garage.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But then I muttered, "What the fuck?" last Wednesday as I read the news that the election for governor in New Jersey was too close to call.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This with Democrats having a registration edge in the state over Republicans of more than 967,000, according to <a href="https://newjerseyglobe.com/campaigns/does-n-j-really-have-a-million-more-democrats-than-republicans/" target="_blank">New Jersey Globe</a>, so I should have been cursing Dems too lazy to get off their asses to vote or fill out a mail-in ballot.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Voter apathy</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Did the apathy that paralyzes voters in Hackensack spread statewide, as Governor Murphy sought election to a second term, which a Democrat hadn't accomplished since 1977?</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Could Murphy's opponent -- a former, not even a current Republican state assemblyman who lied like Trump during the campaign -- actually take the State House and wreak havoc in a nightmarish scenario recalling the 8 miserable years we experienced under that GOP thug, Chris Christie?</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Yes. I buy cars painted red, but always vote blue.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXLbw4OJ3jP2DfPT7SSO06sKhG7xgC6vBkZ3ifVrYanzvYz06LdfApa_6fM2LgKbVqZnpNsRsmojJdXAjq5jb6d7U1yf2KvMF3ZRubrxU-QFse2YkiixkDz9B9ZraBTKK52goLadK0DymB69nlpE_cS12FNBVWbDxIqiFBP-EZZfHW8YzxmRDecRo6=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="716" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXLbw4OJ3jP2DfPT7SSO06sKhG7xgC6vBkZ3ifVrYanzvYz06LdfApa_6fM2LgKbVqZnpNsRsmojJdXAjq5jb6d7U1yf2KvMF3ZRubrxU-QFse2YkiixkDz9B9ZraBTKK52goLadK0DymB69nlpE_cS12FNBVWbDxIqiFBP-EZZfHW8YzxmRDecRo6=w537-h716" width="537" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">MAIL-IN BALLOTS: On the day before the Nov. 2 election, I took the last of our 4 mail-in ballots to a drop box at the Bergen County Administration Building in Hackensack. Although the mail-in ballot is still a challenge to fill out, we have been using them to vote in every election, big and small, for many years, long before the pandemic.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>New Jersey and Virginia</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Well, eventually, Murphy was declared the winner in New Jersey, but in Virginia, a Democrat was defeated by a Republican for governor, as Richmond seemed to be reclaiming the title of "capital of the Confederacy."</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">"Save your Dixie cups, the South will rise again," my high school art teacher used to say. Indeed. </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>News coverage of the New Jersey and Virginia elections was short on issues and long on polls and opinion writers trying to predict the future.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>So, I was shocked to read a New York Times story about Murphy's narrow victory that reported the Democrat's "aggressive approach to controlling the [Covid-19] pandemic became a focal point of the bid to unseat him."</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The TV and radio news had said little, if anything, about Murphy's Covid-19 policies during the campaign leading up to the election on Nov. 2. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>The pandemic</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>So, now we can add pandemic policies -- as well as anti-vaccine and anti-mask zealots in Trump counties asserting their right to die in droves -- to gun rights, abortion and racism as among the forces dividing us under President Joe Biden.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>As hard as it is to believe nearly a year after Covid-19 vaccines first became available, the virus still kills more than 1,200 people a day in the United States, nearly all of them unvaccinated, according to The Times. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWGM7IZGRlk3AG9XLBhlRq2aplzijJFfMlT9oykMe2c1zhDDAS1GAJ8yGwUUpduDvj-V5dR576Ln3X1iPBn9UmGRl191jP8sYTb4oKnw3A84qRmYi7x-LS-ldTEogbOgUHXRtq1dSOev3YZeWCGhjIRoAjBT6cSKGbZf3Xns4NnP5Zo1srkTXR9z62=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="699" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWGM7IZGRlk3AG9XLBhlRq2aplzijJFfMlT9oykMe2c1zhDDAS1GAJ8yGwUUpduDvj-V5dR576Ln3X1iPBn9UmGRl191jP8sYTb4oKnw3A84qRmYi7x-LS-ldTEogbOgUHXRtq1dSOev3YZeWCGhjIRoAjBT6cSKGbZf3Xns4NnP5Zo1srkTXR9z62=w525-h699" width="525" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I LIKE HATCHBACKS: The Model Y is a 4-door hatchback, one in a long line of hatchbacks I've owed -- from the forgettable Mustang II to a 1986 Toyota Celica to a 1988 Toyota Celica All-Trac turbo to 4 Toyota Priuses, one of which we still have, and the Tesla Model S.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjF6hir1HzR2wy_V1bIpkXBPSKtPpr1IcyelTWqHZUuUxQF4iL4h81qLe-4FCzLSUv6VqiMreKqmN1qYIsW9877CyYn4iLu22LtDnX8-dGrSI7jb5PTgmSm6wqaO1k_UySwuJ0Jo5JVpDcxCVNfSBljOmV1RG79XNbxqU8L8A61adX_k9Xf9mH84aBm=s2591" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="2591" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjF6hir1HzR2wy_V1bIpkXBPSKtPpr1IcyelTWqHZUuUxQF4iL4h81qLe-4FCzLSUv6VqiMreKqmN1qYIsW9877CyYn4iLu22LtDnX8-dGrSI7jb5PTgmSm6wqaO1k_UySwuJ0Jo5JVpDcxCVNfSBljOmV1RG79XNbxqU8L8A61adX_k9Xf9mH84aBm=w546-h217" width="546" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">SEXY CURVE: No design feature in our new Tesla Model Y or any other car I know can match the elegance of the curved door pull on each of the 4 doors in my Tesla Model S. I keep an eyeglass cleaning cloth in the space in the driver's door, but there is room for a pair of glasses or loose change for tolls.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilY0d1FGo2MgCr-oYEs7Ix60RYCrfML26MueGRedsEaZGp3MUun7npDfznrF3cuJjbu0rxfoVvWeMYLJmfAvqCUJEwVsu5DzTTmQZ3hOaAlqOLctivghpQ59w46yEbgUTbevj57GZWNjzA4UImVndERhCpvwQ67tOtRnLJE5HTluyCvODRi-SYOoUx=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="710" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilY0d1FGo2MgCr-oYEs7Ix60RYCrfML26MueGRedsEaZGp3MUun7npDfznrF3cuJjbu0rxfoVvWeMYLJmfAvqCUJEwVsu5DzTTmQZ3hOaAlqOLctivghpQ59w46yEbgUTbevj57GZWNjzA4UImVndERhCpvwQ67tOtRnLJE5HTluyCvODRi-SYOoUx=w533-h710" width="533" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>PESCATARIAN'S DELIGHT: Jumbo Shrimp, above, and a beautifully composed Mahi-Mahi Ceviche with avocado, tomato and cilantro, below, were just 2 of the courses in a lavish lunch my wife and I enjoyed at The Hill in Closter to celebrate my birthday last week.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiojIoNeIZ0Nl3X0RUj8C2E_dcFyyWqWJ8VdH43ExIIlAt02ZjeKBAavvpcIAcNRnRsP0WYvkrycEaPSo_Ob6zzHWWtIPMk5Kttf2r5lvdjLOIta3b2zI8CyXjLVMy4u3KSwKUDJ_SZwrE3Tg4FgOR5I4cHu4_HA5Lb5W9yGtlZwwIZ_9kxXYDv7Iwf=s4032"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="724" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiojIoNeIZ0Nl3X0RUj8C2E_dcFyyWqWJ8VdH43ExIIlAt02ZjeKBAavvpcIAcNRnRsP0WYvkrycEaPSo_Ob6zzHWWtIPMk5Kttf2r5lvdjLOIta3b2zI8CyXjLVMy4u3KSwKUDJ_SZwrE3Tg4FgOR5I4cHu4_HA5Lb5W9yGtlZwwIZ_9kxXYDv7Iwf=w543-h724" width="543" /></a></div></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWr7UJ0vvr1FEpKQf3UbBUIgy4a9lWAXdynAosCqKaDbXkE13r7gij3DT0DPxcF8XDP14rjFsGk3APUfsSdrvh3vklH0544fp7OJZhu4VtAhjbTH1-uvTmy_ITbAp734czoIO-CuhcRncDBY8OO5reeC7FUjhoXPXcO8e8tLkRICZQDRlcZAINyNIN=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="719" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWr7UJ0vvr1FEpKQf3UbBUIgy4a9lWAXdynAosCqKaDbXkE13r7gij3DT0DPxcF8XDP14rjFsGk3APUfsSdrvh3vklH0544fp7OJZhu4VtAhjbTH1-uvTmy_ITbAp734czoIO-CuhcRncDBY8OO5reeC7FUjhoXPXcO8e8tLkRICZQDRlcZAINyNIN=w539-h719" width="539" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">AN EMPTY DINING ROOM: <a href="https://www.thehillcloster.com/" target="_blank">The Hill</a> is the best seafood restaurant in northern New Jersey, when price is no object. But we were the only customers seated in the large dining room for lunch last Thursday.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>The Record's wretched staff</u></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The staff of The Record complained in a tweet last week that they have been denied raises by Gannett, the newspaper conglomerate that bought the former Hackensack-based daily along with the other papers and (201) magazine from the Borg family.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Calling themselves The Record Guild, they said they formed a union along with the staffs of two other newspapers, but that apparently has given them little muscle.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">They refer to The Record, where I worked for more than 30 years, by the antiquated name of "The Bergen Record."</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The daily newspaper also was called "The Wretched" by many critics.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Sold for $40M in cash</u></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In the years before the July 2016 sale, then-Publisher Stephen A. Borg executed the biggest downsizing in The Record's history, moved the staff to Woodland Park, froze raises in the newsroom and then laughed all the way to the bank with the nearly $40 million in cash handed over by Gannett.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>By March of 2017, </b></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-record-what-borgs-started-gannett_19.html" target="_blank">Gannett had laid off more than 350 NJMG employees</a>.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Borg became a partner in the construction of hundreds of luxury apartments being built along River Street after tearing down The Record's landmark Hackensack headquarters and a diner.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"OK, so where are our raises?" The Record Guild tweeted the other day in response to word Gannett is making progress in growing digital subscriptions -- more than 1.5 million across the chain, according to Poynter.org.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>My advice to the dwindling number of staffers at The Record: "Suckers, don't hold your breath."</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>And those who formed a union -- notably Columnist Mike Kelly -- clearly waited much too long before doing so -- like 3 years too long.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="https://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-selective-look-at-once-great-daily.html" target="_blank">Many readers say Gannett </a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-selective-look-at-once-great-daily.html" target="_blank">turned The Record ino a rag</a></b></span></div><div><br /></div>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-33604697865900875932021-10-14T18:18:00.002-04:002021-10-14T18:39:56.471-04:00A winding 2-lane road, a beautiful fall day and a stroll through a large, lush garden<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzY7G1vKnHmWHu_ZHoTv6kwZ2l87Op9-fA2GmFrt89LZLfXq5WpzU4AMJE6wgd9VZjm4yGsWihyXuu7ADLxmmOSD2jUFvbr9Vw_m5lcEZ0wkIGjcjPZGArhu9ffTOINQqKKy3U34D96AuSFEKp7nhA_fIc-ohgpoHTgqyUa-rRUx2isoJqtvfnhjRJ=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="728" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzY7G1vKnHmWHu_ZHoTv6kwZ2l87Op9-fA2GmFrt89LZLfXq5WpzU4AMJE6wgd9VZjm4yGsWihyXuu7ADLxmmOSD2jUFvbr9Vw_m5lcEZ0wkIGjcjPZGArhu9ffTOINQqKKy3U34D96AuSFEKp7nhA_fIc-ohgpoHTgqyUa-rRUx2isoJqtvfnhjRJ=w547-h728" width="547" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>A WARM WELCOME: You can find the New Jersey State Botanical Garden, above and below, on the grounds of a once-grand estate, the 1,119-acre Skylands, now a part of Ringwood State Park.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlZuvhEhtVrE2QwbZQ9DsqxVpHjB1r7PnRXrmIF2-kr1nZwmsm0s5GUbgH0NZqQ-pKbNMNnc5m2Vt7Gd1LE7coWGruDWw_ta-fUM6VbeiYLyjQz7AEZHx4vNdsLZZozJnFvpeBIfNc1hlPaLtzffG9WTJamHjnu7eWhgR02jt1cVKorzl2gfyfKTDr=s4032"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="742" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlZuvhEhtVrE2QwbZQ9DsqxVpHjB1r7PnRXrmIF2-kr1nZwmsm0s5GUbgH0NZqQ-pKbNMNnc5m2Vt7Gd1LE7coWGruDWw_ta-fUM6VbeiYLyjQz7AEZHx4vNdsLZZozJnFvpeBIfNc1hlPaLtzffG9WTJamHjnu7eWhgR02jt1cVKorzl2gfyfKTDr=w557-h742" width="557" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>By VICTOR E. SASSON</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACKENSACK, N.J. -- We went exploring on Columbus Day.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>For some reason, I woke up last Monday, a national holiday, thinking of upper Passaic County, where my first beat as a reporter at The Record in 1980 was covering Ringwood and West Milford. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>My wife had the day off, and the weather turned out to be perfect for shorts, with a temperature of around 72 degrees.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I planned to drive north on Route 208 and take Skyline Drive to Ringwood, and I'm glad I did.</b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The twisting, 2-lane road was smooth and fast, perfect for my Tesla Model S, and a reminder of how much fun driving can be.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Also known as County Road 692, Skyline Drive is a 5.84-mile asphalt ribbon between Route 287 in Oakland -- an interstate favored by fast-moving tractor-trailers -- and Route 511 in Ringwood.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Skyline Drive passes through Ringwood State Park, home to the <a href="https://njbg.org/" target="_blank">New Jersey State Botanical Garden</a>, Skylands Manor and Ringwood Manor (see photos below).</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZrkCCFEp8GQwiEHTIC31SJ7PLSMLjXy9QLwV_D4g8EGOTvL8Zohcdyal2gpDXWTzc7DGSjGxgrgLW9XZ3bKv0l0i3-iULI5QVquA4uKWFuW8tGxUx1xHQ-FDIB2Vn3bW3CMVFqjWQ_ul141EpTxvxVWl_0Zb4swIIGE5GpqpqMQkwhh-qOfVZLuCl=s4032"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="743" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZrkCCFEp8GQwiEHTIC31SJ7PLSMLjXy9QLwV_D4g8EGOTvL8Zohcdyal2gpDXWTzc7DGSjGxgrgLW9XZ3bKv0l0i3-iULI5QVquA4uKWFuW8tGxUx1xHQ-FDIB2Vn3bW3CMVFqjWQ_ul141EpTxvxVWl_0Zb4swIIGE5GpqpqMQkwhh-qOfVZLuCl=w556-h743" width="556" /></a></div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPbN6NV2TUXC5YtO9S-jJQNx5K_E9GLpgVEUf4Fp9S6eXGeRgQQbz3Rm9L8RBDoS1giD_fJYElJrSpfEISD4Bc4SV0rMWCm7YNwnXh6B5Md8dd79y02un7tvlVYFi_SDfIly03lohGsjrsRmO0ZDr_wqcBd-q7f54pU_evcfejwFt8Pa1jMNM9eoIP=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="741" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPbN6NV2TUXC5YtO9S-jJQNx5K_E9GLpgVEUf4Fp9S6eXGeRgQQbz3Rm9L8RBDoS1giD_fJYElJrSpfEISD4Bc4SV0rMWCm7YNwnXh6B5Md8dd79y02un7tvlVYFi_SDfIly03lohGsjrsRmO0ZDr_wqcBd-q7f54pU_evcfejwFt8Pa1jMNM9eoIP=w556-h741" width="556" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> AN 'ALLEE' OF CRABAPPLE TREES</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwnyND9jl6Kz65vNkvz2QnnUkdFr44UNYvqzHaBMVympRM1N7TvSb1b3M9sn4se5ObaT1rysZ-FveDvhiDALWB9L0f5dzB-fY8PlL0c9qp2lUwcuqJtX7j_EvXmVSSX4Cfu2NQtZnSShMcu5yZDzlVRVhkzhZgCVkd4z0hi3cWnGUpG4iT1LX28ajZ=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="739" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwnyND9jl6Kz65vNkvz2QnnUkdFr44UNYvqzHaBMVympRM1N7TvSb1b3M9sn4se5ObaT1rysZ-FveDvhiDALWB9L0f5dzB-fY8PlL0c9qp2lUwcuqJtX7j_EvXmVSSX4Cfu2NQtZnSShMcu5yZDzlVRVhkzhZgCVkd4z0hi3cWnGUpG4iT1LX28ajZ=w555-h739" width="555" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>NOT THAT DIANA: A statue of Diana, the Roman goddess, above, and the imposing stone manor house, below, now a popular wedding venue and hotel, which has gotten some <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g46774-d1140628-Reviews-The_Castle_at_Skylands_Manor-Ringwood_New_Jersey.html" target="_blank">terrible reviews</a>.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgC04fO_7e1-1ljWEYqphVSo1V2jswQ333pJMd4xzTmqOQkZlyhYBzeb7KYK913LtFBQWtqQvEf4xqvFVRDXQ2XfEbqxBqC0C0sVSofs2Wkuce3moUNPPmZv15rJJyHSUqTzhPXLjEsnktmWwADGBUyFMis_4VGOzfncj5lbM3yx4pAdnNjycBPZTHm=s4032"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgC04fO_7e1-1ljWEYqphVSo1V2jswQ333pJMd4xzTmqOQkZlyhYBzeb7KYK913LtFBQWtqQvEf4xqvFVRDXQ2XfEbqxBqC0C0sVSofs2Wkuce3moUNPPmZv15rJJyHSUqTzhPXLjEsnktmWwADGBUyFMis_4VGOzfncj5lbM3yx4pAdnNjycBPZTHm=w547-h730" width="547" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhol_riiNFjarwmE6ek9ph4kV359gwMmXIM2xySO0R16JBuQlPIQgKw_H_k6qTpzcrL7gmTNLJ-90W-kkdjEE7XaHF9WRq9Ri_elhZlq9sbIvG10Bek9yZvZTGp1g_qt5mCjiarY9mZ-8PZYmofXn-vgJHRVjlAuljc_sXQIZH2_wDspGO29ZW4tde=s4032"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhol_riiNFjarwmE6ek9ph4kV359gwMmXIM2xySO0R16JBuQlPIQgKw_H_k6qTpzcrL7gmTNLJ-90W-kkdjEE7XaHF9WRq9Ri_elhZlq9sbIvG10Bek9yZvZTGp1g_qt5mCjiarY9mZ-8PZYmofXn-vgJHRVjlAuljc_sXQIZH2_wDspGO29ZW4tde=w407-h542" width="407" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQ3vIPPthcY-JMrOqxi-aSzzu9MCAeYmvWf1GLp32JB-Vnd6kHDXBaWVZR-M3R5Q2k8DPPtQRKfjTrvnlhkHdAk0QvEnwNWvVkZb0MEvrBYhFG0WTS7zWlUvqGfka3aIUQk4ua2-Lauz3AeJkGyKlzNXWCXRDN0IQc899MsGJZpCu4VD4_8KsZUCXm=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="733" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQ3vIPPthcY-JMrOqxi-aSzzu9MCAeYmvWf1GLp32JB-Vnd6kHDXBaWVZR-M3R5Q2k8DPPtQRKfjTrvnlhkHdAk0QvEnwNWvVkZb0MEvrBYhFG0WTS7zWlUvqGfka3aIUQk4ua2-Lauz3AeJkGyKlzNXWCXRDN0IQc899MsGJZpCu4VD4_8KsZUCXm=w550-h733" width="550" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">RINGWOOD MANOR: Our first stop last Monday was Ringwood Manor, which was closed for renovations, but we took this path to a series of small cemeteries. <a href="http://www.ringwoodmanor.org/" target="_blank">The Ringwood Manor web site</a> says iron mine partners Peter Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt turned the home into a summer estate (see cemetery photos below).</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVf9MC41dpp9F_vE0gvGPRahqJsD5Tm1pvEH6R-rXZ1OYwNGMGPEZTIYD6QMXKSse3lvJVI5Aa_5GznYbAljJ7lm8TuRd57h0sCK7KzE0-PODf7dadfV4ojXUCfwHD3ekCVsU6MjLd9_IPhGG3SD4BdvZdi-f3D_i_-5BxqzMgtO9_36CnVG97nTkF=s4032"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="767" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVf9MC41dpp9F_vE0gvGPRahqJsD5Tm1pvEH6R-rXZ1OYwNGMGPEZTIYD6QMXKSse3lvJVI5Aa_5GznYbAljJ7lm8TuRd57h0sCK7KzE0-PODf7dadfV4ojXUCfwHD3ekCVsU6MjLd9_IPhGG3SD4BdvZdi-f3D_i_-5BxqzMgtO9_36CnVG97nTkF=w576-h767" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQbCE0eOWaFnjH0m0omYzcZF0PIdSnKpIZzvZ5HdkyYCbrbgv9Uv81XhtJxRSEaVvzNLNoIL0v_aqqEO9WyICkztVjM-lMwQ9lNwxuKPshasxAcnuXhmyTGwNBBYQvzIq6MWa3hQTex5x4MhR5gyETcqVp7G_T9LGbgamaVEJehDI2GY0n3n_Lp8ff=s3875"><img border="0" data-original-height="2906" data-original-width="3875" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQbCE0eOWaFnjH0m0omYzcZF0PIdSnKpIZzvZ5HdkyYCbrbgv9Uv81XhtJxRSEaVvzNLNoIL0v_aqqEO9WyICkztVjM-lMwQ9lNwxuKPshasxAcnuXhmyTGwNBBYQvzIq6MWa3hQTex5x4MhR5gyETcqVp7G_T9LGbgamaVEJehDI2GY0n3n_Lp8ff=w517-h387" width="517" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4Ywy8rb0F4QE05nOzDveEdilrbZpvzalfEkm9DiJ7g_xZerxZV4QDhyosIqo1Mj3xx99K2jT-P6KxSnV9A3DfmoDG8kB4UZbR4ji5mNUl6Mwch4fOojqvD4lC44861shkZ3Cu4k3xmLT7uApprkVfho1JM5VQnE9IPkVryqhu_Idr6I0vF5NYRt45=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="731" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4Ywy8rb0F4QE05nOzDveEdilrbZpvzalfEkm9DiJ7g_xZerxZV4QDhyosIqo1Mj3xx99K2jT-P6KxSnV9A3DfmoDG8kB4UZbR4ji5mNUl6Mwch4fOojqvD4lC44861shkZ3Cu4k3xmLT7uApprkVfho1JM5VQnE9IPkVryqhu_Idr6I0vF5NYRt45=w548-h731" width="548" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>SOHO NEW JERSEY: The tombstone for John Hewitt, who was born in England and arrived in America in 1796, refers to "Soho New Jersey" and the construction of the first steam engine built in the United States.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_JbS9btkwskRBBblU95_yNNaOFogyBrMctn9HXnt0HAtK3t_uaQV8IjFKZDgGRyluD3HzmXecGNymncK8pTKzlJMq77I8iwn2NOgoUH1BOAqla2gljwLc8Oxp-uZ-sJCAXhAWbw_Tpvvmewd2rpamoRBDj-YwFs_x85acMVhXLfu-aY8mfycExTLB=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="725" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_JbS9btkwskRBBblU95_yNNaOFogyBrMctn9HXnt0HAtK3t_uaQV8IjFKZDgGRyluD3HzmXecGNymncK8pTKzlJMq77I8iwn2NOgoUH1BOAqla2gljwLc8Oxp-uZ-sJCAXhAWbw_Tpvvmewd2rpamoRBDj-YwFs_x85acMVhXLfu-aY8mfycExTLB=w544-h725" width="544" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">THE FORGOTTEN GENERAL: Robert Erskine, a geographer and surveyor general for the American army during the Revolutionary War, died in 1780 in Ringwood. The plaque calls him a "friend in need for [George] Washington."</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-62277167428763445652021-10-02T15:31:00.011-04:002021-11-08T07:46:28.056-05:00A school election in November, an empty Main Street and other Hackensack views<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrYzHNkEGWsc3fJkVE5mUZusaDJH7kRcM0UNHunLMVkTvOIkMCc3Ag6Txlz9CBe2BLFlrkLQHX7qZN5tfedYtOoZ-0vX0px5DWOe51YJJIqlNs1wm-_LpcIJIBY_FPwLWm_qzKa2gc4g/s4032/IMG_6165+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="727" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrYzHNkEGWsc3fJkVE5mUZusaDJH7kRcM0UNHunLMVkTvOIkMCc3Ag6Txlz9CBe2BLFlrkLQHX7qZN5tfedYtOoZ-0vX0px5DWOe51YJJIqlNs1wm-_LpcIJIBY_FPwLWm_qzKa2gc4g/w545-h727/IMG_6165+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="545" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A DESERTED MAIN STREET: Last Tuesday around 9:30 in the morning, I dropped off our 2010 Toyota Prius at the dealer in Hackensack for a synthetic oil and filter change, and walked over to Main Street. There were few cars and fewer pedestrians on the street.</span></b></span></span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyFf3H6cTkTejF7JnT8OnBlbQet_nV0dR2ZuHKlvkJKtxyO_YAnOXpp4uSQ817lCoHZi0wLCgPQlqvkgHJEkUyvd_TZypyBN6a8MazooRlptYgxQy8_E9JYhhyphenhyphenRF0H93pjGu2fNwCVP0/s4032/IMG_6157+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="688" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyFf3H6cTkTejF7JnT8OnBlbQet_nV0dR2ZuHKlvkJKtxyO_YAnOXpp4uSQ817lCoHZi0wLCgPQlqvkgHJEkUyvd_TZypyBN6a8MazooRlptYgxQy8_E9JYhhyphenhyphenRF0H93pjGu2fNwCVP0/w516-h688/IMG_6157+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="516" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC: Cap Diner at 240 Main St. is on the ground floor of one of the luxury apartment buildings that was completed and occupied, as part of the city's downtown building boom. A total of about 3,500 apartments are being added. On Tuesday, a sign in the window said the diner was closed temporarily.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8KFj642nwVhQksPz7ldv4zTi3hyLQE8P6mjj07DJJ2RjhKHiwkNuU9QuDqmv_fLHXr1wQirE8vhUWNOdrRwDTImJu803Q4TD-yHU89j2ZC3yJVLPEDuoHfzyD6l5X_sqlHuu943KOlQ/s4032/IMG_6156+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8KFj642nwVhQksPz7ldv4zTi3hyLQE8P6mjj07DJJ2RjhKHiwkNuU9QuDqmv_fLHXr1wQirE8vhUWNOdrRwDTImJu803Q4TD-yHU89j2ZC3yJVLPEDuoHfzyD6l5X_sqlHuu943KOlQ/w426-h568/IMG_6156+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>NO CIGAR: The diner's play on the phrase cup of joe -- coffee, which originated on U.S. navy ships -- caused me to wince. "Cap O' Joe"? Really?</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnQ5TjrXmrBhLhAZoHC5okrrLgpDCf7kONSklAstslIcBPwoi5aq9WJHPRrAvy98j92I9tL6Moo8gcXm7QwOUt8AzAQvJMZimzr5a86IKAowCO6hZmrJEI4Gzu7BAasc0ro7VJ4ttMzc/s4032/IMG_6163+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="713" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnQ5TjrXmrBhLhAZoHC5okrrLgpDCf7kONSklAstslIcBPwoi5aq9WJHPRrAvy98j92I9tL6Moo8gcXm7QwOUt8AzAQvJMZimzr5a86IKAowCO6hZmrJEI4Gzu7BAasc0ro7VJ4ttMzc/w535-h713/IMG_6163+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="535" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>SIGNS OF THE TIME: Above the awning of Sara & Sophia, an Ecuadorian restaurant at 287 Main St., you can see the sign of Bohemia, the Colombian restaurant that once occupied the space. Below, photos of Ecuadorian specialties.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFGy8c3YNjKqPT5MYbB6ugI6RvLFnGO6SQU26zKm62AWR6PLr3SThYfJMpiRsZFg7RRpiAJWgcrJHRaBy30ZcndunU7tubi3MPEe_un8jYd-E87ahp8d6bXcPTLJsrPZV075QQYUb3e0/s4032/IMG_6164+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFGy8c3YNjKqPT5MYbB6ugI6RvLFnGO6SQU26zKm62AWR6PLr3SThYfJMpiRsZFg7RRpiAJWgcrJHRaBy30ZcndunU7tubi3MPEe_un8jYd-E87ahp8d6bXcPTLJsrPZV075QQYUb3e0/w485-h364/IMG_6164+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="485" /></a></div><br /> <div style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Voters lose say on size of tax levy</span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">to support local education </span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- With the move of the April school election to November, the more than 22,000 registered voters in the city are losing their chance to accept or reject the proposed budget for the city's schools that is funded by nearly half of their local property taxes.</span></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Such a rejection would send the proposal to the City Council, which could review it, and accept it or make cuts.</span></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Never mind.</span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There are an overwhelming number of stupid, lazy and apathetic voters in Hackensack, and many of them don't even know they once had a right to challenge the spending plan of the city's Board of Education.</span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As a result, since I first started voting in Hackensack school elections in 2008, the proposed school budget has usually been approved by only a few hundred registered voters every April.</span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Shockingly low turnout</u></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Here's what I reported about the 2020 school election:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2e2e; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>The actual number of ballots returned in the May 12, 2020, Hackensack school board election totaled 3,071 and 3 more were blank.</b></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2e2e; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>Still, that was far more ballots than was cast in the 2019 (1,915 ballots) or 2018 (1,638 ballots) school board elections, when voters could go to the polls or vote by mail-in ballot.</b></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2e2e; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>The May 12, 2020, election was by mail-in ballot only, and that apparently raised the turnout significantly. The election was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. </b></span></p></blockquote><blockquote><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2e2e; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>The proposed 2020-21 Hackensack school budget was $125.8 million before federal and state aid, grants and entitlements. </b></span></p></blockquote><blockquote><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2e2e; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The $85 million tax levy to support the school budget passed, as it has in all of the years I've lived in Hackensack, as residents again seemed to say we want to pay higher property taxes to support our local schools, 1,189 yes votes to 693 no votes.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #2a2e2e;">School taxes are roughly 45% of your local property tax bill.</span> </span></b></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>School officials said the 2021-22 budget represents an increase of only 1% for taxpayers. </b></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b> </b></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi00IvPBhh3TGBauA12WURBntR1giSSlzk04gzO4HN8E74C9KEOnZ0-Jg53SvG40I7AziOtOZyV_zi-Ul2kLapjETtUwutxrB1uyxQJZGNtSOCqfMeay5yuX4YhEkAvPY-duj3njEJGKQ/s4032/IMG_6186.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="734" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi00IvPBhh3TGBauA12WURBntR1giSSlzk04gzO4HN8E74C9KEOnZ0-Jg53SvG40I7AziOtOZyV_zi-Ul2kLapjETtUwutxrB1uyxQJZGNtSOCqfMeay5yuX4YhEkAvPY-duj3njEJGKQ/w551-h734/IMG_6186.jpeg" width="551" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">2021 SCHOOL ELECTION BALLOT: The official mail-in ballot for the Nov. 2 general election contains not one but two ballots listing candidates and two public questions, above and below. Hackensack school board candidates are listed on the flip side of the ballot listing candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, state Senate and Assembly, Bergen County sheriff, and county clerk and commissioners, once known as freeholders and often derided as "freeloaders." </span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwf0zh00RIxDGjhQ7pd61PCj_2x1K6qeIM6h28V0DxQYzXnvZ8yPsB74_8GgNOZHM27deQ1-9BZFSRAKBoOQ4hZbWit1vI4dZUErzpVgUkkDOBDxb5un-gKqfMknRA8hj4LPl3U5qr-Kc/s3978/IMG_6187.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3978" data-original-width="2983" height="728" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwf0zh00RIxDGjhQ7pd61PCj_2x1K6qeIM6h28V0DxQYzXnvZ8yPsB74_8GgNOZHM27deQ1-9BZFSRAKBoOQ4hZbWit1vI4dZUErzpVgUkkDOBDxb5un-gKqfMknRA8hj4LPl3U5qr-Kc/w546-h728/IMG_6187.jpeg" width="546" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">EARLY VOTING: Registered voters in Bergen County may vote early from Oct. 23-31 at locations in nine communities, including the county administration building at One Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack. Click on <a href="https://nj.gov/state/elections/vote-polling-location.shtml" target="_blank">the state's Voter Information Portal</a> for more information.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u><b>Is that all there is?</b></u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>As a resident of Hackensack, my stroll last Tuesday along Main Street and then to my home in the Fairmount section was a bit underwhelming.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Yes. Apartment construction seems to be everywhere on or near Main Street, which has finally been converted to 2-way traffic, but few of the buildings have been completed, there hasn't been much</b><b> change in the local dining scene and foot traffic on Main Street is low.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I noticed a new restaurant on State Street -- <a href="https://www.shamifalafel.com/order/" target="_blank">Shami Falafel</a> -- and my wife said she saw a spot for ramen preparing to open toward the border with South Hackensack.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://el-turco-grill.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">El Turco Grill</a>, a Turkish restaurant, opened on Main Street next to the Johnson Public Library last year, replacing an Argentinian spot.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Print House development</u></b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">One of the bigger apartment projects in Hackensack is going up on River Street, replacing the landmark headquarters of The Record and North Jersey Media Group, and former Record Publisher Stephen A. Borg is a partner in the development.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I'm not sure if Borg was responsible for marketing the project as "<a href="https://printhousehackensack.com/" target="_blank">Print House</a>," which is a textile-printing factory.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">"Printing House" would have been more accurate, given the history of local journalism and the many years The Record was printed there.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Nevertheless, the development's website says it is "designed to make headlines" and represents a "new record in Hackensack living."</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I'm laughing out loud.</span></b></p><p><b><u><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The Borgs ditch journalism</span></u></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As publisher of The Record, succeeding his father, Stephen Borg's journalism credentials were suspect, but as a bean counter, he engineered the biggest downsizing in The Record's history in 2008 and the move to Woodland Park in 2009. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In 2016, the Borg family sold The Record and the rest of North Jersey Media Group's daily and weekly newspapers and (201) magazine to Gannett Co. for nearly $40 million in cash.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But they retained ownership of nearly 20 acres along River Street, including The Record's headquarters and a nearby diner, both of which were torn down.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The Borgs had the last laugh -- all the way to the bank.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">After Gannett took over, more than 350 employees were laid off or took buyouts.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Click on this <a href="http://eyeontherecord.blogspot.com/2020/07/from-great-local-journalism-to-hawking.html" target="_blank"><i>Eye on The Record</i></a> post from July 2020, when construction of the Print House apartments began. </span></b></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2e2e; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></b></p></div><p></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-91188123424478391802021-09-09T19:08:00.004-04:002022-03-13T17:55:58.488-04:00Costco's rotisserie bird is glaring exception to Kirkland Signature label's quality claims<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KOkww8VM1THXEf-MHV7bgz512fHIAZG-AeDWI2YHxU-MemfsTYe6Es9yjdk9gN7WwDHX54VEq4I61Z7XxrSkhVwYgKSD0rv-fnnafNf6GccEEwrg0L0bCpxnG-6tBWUSdWQZgS53GQM/s4032/IMG_6106.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KOkww8VM1THXEf-MHV7bgz512fHIAZG-AeDWI2YHxU-MemfsTYe6Es9yjdk9gN7WwDHX54VEq4I61Z7XxrSkhVwYgKSD0rv-fnnafNf6GccEEwrg0L0bCpxnG-6tBWUSdWQZgS53GQM/w535-h401/IMG_6106.jpeg" width="535" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>ADDED SALT, SUGAR AND SODIUM PHOSPHATE: The label of Costco Wholesale's wildly popular Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken, above, lists salt, sugar and sodium phosphate as ingredients. Sodium phosphate also is given to people undergoing a colonoscopy.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqGg3JxX5LFhlLkcUE8PWaWHdeOWVZDEM4K4K9Hnx6A1j-ZAVM8zDf5Zce45FvV_UZdpX2Q4ZR5Jqf_Xvll341AjOlmQ3XBSmbjeOyl5nHMp8rDSh7sgXVpDBYdFDnlJiu3zIRzlxKLM/s4032/IMG_6107.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqGg3JxX5LFhlLkcUE8PWaWHdeOWVZDEM4K4K9Hnx6A1j-ZAVM8zDf5Zce45FvV_UZdpX2Q4ZR5Jqf_Xvll341AjOlmQ3XBSmbjeOyl5nHMp8rDSh7sgXVpDBYdFDnlJiu3zIRzlxKLM/w523-h698/IMG_6107.JPG" width="523" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>JUST OUT OF THE ROTISSERIE: A little after 9 a.m. on a Tuesday, when the Costco warehouse in Teterboro, N.J., opens for seniors, whole chickens fill shelves and rotisserie cases, above and below.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8oC_TkBcWf7voGdGKD8wkzzzH0ooZBYj_C484NVd-oh9Ajo-oUTinETct-0Qgp54VZslF3HeBGn1KCVLBtTn89A-q7oWM9Hd_pN0ZQZ4Piuyc2ka0boYhiPBvwMFeKj6TeZx9dMQWcTU/s4032/IMG_6108.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8oC_TkBcWf7voGdGKD8wkzzzH0ooZBYj_C484NVd-oh9Ajo-oUTinETct-0Qgp54VZslF3HeBGn1KCVLBtTn89A-q7oWM9Hd_pN0ZQZ4Piuyc2ka0boYhiPBvwMFeKj6TeZx9dMQWcTU/w523-h392/IMG_6108.jpeg" width="523" /></a></div> <p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Story on private label omits</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>wildly popular low-quality chicken</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><i></i></b></span></p><p> </p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><i>Editor's note: This post includes a link describing Costco Wholesale's rotisserie chicken as good dog food, as well as more than 100 comments from Costco members describing their experiences eating the chicken and giving it to pets. </i></b></span></blockquote><p> </p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>By VICTOR E. SASSON</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken is missing from a cover story in the Costco Connection magazine praising products sold under the warehouse giant's private label.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Writing about Kirkland Signature products in the September issue, Editorial Director Tim Talevich says:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>"We stand behind the quality of an item, that we feel proud of it, that it's trustworthy."</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>But this past April, <a href="https://thehumaneleague.org/article/costco-chicken" target="_blank">The Humane League</a> reported:</b></span></p><p><span class="sc-epOimh bvFYXK" face="Montserrat, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d252c; display: inline-block; float: left; font-size: 68px; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 1.1px; line-height: 0.88; margin-right: 11px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-top: 5px; position: relative;"></span></p><blockquote><span class="sc-epOimh bvFYXK" face="Montserrat, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d252c; display: inline-block; float: left; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 1.1px; line-height: 0.88; margin-right: 11px; margin-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-top: 5px; position: relative;"><br /></span><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d252c; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-size: large;">"In 2020 alone, Costco sold more than 100 million of its rotisserie chickens. That’s close to 300,000 chickens, on average, every single day. Its suspiciously cheap price tag of just $4.99 tells a deeper story—one that would ruffle the feathers of anyone who is opposed to the abuse of animals—dog, cat, cow, or chicken. You see, behind the low cost of this cheap meat, is a big cost—the painful suffering of smart, cuddly, and curious chickens. These abuses are among the worst in the poultry industry."</span></span></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">Salty chicken</span></u></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>In August, Consumer Reports said:</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: PublicoText, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><p></p><blockquote><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: PublicoText, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"But while roasted rotisserie chickens are convenient, tasty, and easy on your wallet, they’re often not so good for your health. As CR previously reported, a salt solution is often injected into the cooked chickens to enhance flavor and tenderness. </span></b></p><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d252c;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"></span></b></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: PublicoText, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"Costco’s rotisserie chicken has 460 mg of sodium per 3-ounce serving. That’s one-fifth of the maximum amount of sodium adults should consume in a day (2,300 mg). ShopRite’s Bowl & Basket chicken has even more sodium, with 490 mg per 3-ounce serving."</span></b></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Antibiotics?</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The label on Costco's Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken doesn't mention whether the birds are raised on antibiotics that are harmful to humans or fed a vegetarian diet.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>So, you can assume the worst -- that they are raised with antibiotics and fed animal by-products -- bits of dead animals.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>One of the ingredients listed on the label is sodium phosphate, which is also used to treat constipation in humans and clean the bowels before a colonoscopy.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>'A label of quality'</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The cover story in the September issue of the Costco Connection lists many high quality items sold under the Kirkland Signature label, including wine from Italy, health and beauty products, and even the 18-inch pizza that goes for only $9.95 at Costco's food courts.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I am a big fan of Kirkland Signature French Champagne, available at the Costco warehouse in Wayne, N.J., for about half the price of French brands, as well as Kirkland Signature XO French Cognac.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Kirkland Signature Bath Soap and Kirkland Signature Moisturizing Shampoo produce more lather than competitive brands for less money.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Officials of Costco have never explained what prompted them to slap the respected Kirkland Signature label on a low-quality rotisserie chicken that makes great dog food, not good human food, as I reported in <a href="http://doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com/2012/12/costco-rotisserie-bird-makes-great-dog.html" target="_blank">Do You Really Know What You're Eating?</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>My message to Costco: At least offer a better quality, healthier rotisserie chicken as an alternative at a higher price, one that is raised humanely.</b><b> </b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2017/09/costco-wholesale-graphic-photos-of-two.html" target="_blank">Costco members see red</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2017/09/costco-wholesale-graphic-photos-of-two.html" target="_blank"> in bloody, undercooked chickens</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5R-aZp6rte_znA2mzE-iGcKhNus-I-jc9Ww3rb4JmJzUklY_qi15Ivm_A3R86pcaqWMgPx8Kx4QhHv94Jpjkko5xrjj96bmPGmIPNk0ZiOOFrbprwMUuhrLuZQrJ5KXkfEFXN8d9gi4/s4032/IMG_6102.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5R-aZp6rte_znA2mzE-iGcKhNus-I-jc9Ww3rb4JmJzUklY_qi15Ivm_A3R86pcaqWMgPx8Kx4QhHv94Jpjkko5xrjj96bmPGmIPNk0ZiOOFrbprwMUuhrLuZQrJ5KXkfEFXN8d9gi4/w530-h706/IMG_6102.jpeg" width="530" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>MORE FROM KIRKLAND SIGNATURE: You can find Kirkland Signature products throughout Costco, and the vast majority of them are better than competing national brands and are sold at a lower price, including organic quinoa, above; California almonds, organic brown eggs, Italian Basil Pesto and water filter cartridges (see photos below).</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyrTpGN1Wv7l1Cdk35SqvBflvQikMGF9XPJiw05Pq-_eXUZu7V7b7ohXEVoAH_Kwy4B70ISYT_rLzESJIxGxMcTSIrw-hdZ0HGv6mkyeAyQx0lrNvM3IckZC5lU_FfhT2xf1VOKm3qpA/s4032/IMG_6103.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="695" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyrTpGN1Wv7l1Cdk35SqvBflvQikMGF9XPJiw05Pq-_eXUZu7V7b7ohXEVoAH_Kwy4B70ISYT_rLzESJIxGxMcTSIrw-hdZ0HGv6mkyeAyQx0lrNvM3IckZC5lU_FfhT2xf1VOKm3qpA/w521-h695/IMG_6103.jpeg" width="521" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV9grLWrue_IyvJm-4xIKZOXNeumkwHd8Q0GwaAgc_9VA35dEYc24UPOgjM1WlebfUxP1UaDFDQUEmPuSnJjFCWlXLzd1Sv5P8v4-cJi7w1bpR_x-kOyTWDB_q-zKf6fLEy5wgwagE8Aw/s4032/IMG_6104.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV9grLWrue_IyvJm-4xIKZOXNeumkwHd8Q0GwaAgc_9VA35dEYc24UPOgjM1WlebfUxP1UaDFDQUEmPuSnJjFCWlXLzd1Sv5P8v4-cJi7w1bpR_x-kOyTWDB_q-zKf6fLEy5wgwagE8Aw/w536-h714/IMG_6104.jpeg" width="536" /></a></div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxzsVAlwH_59534D5XTJeudHhOk3y9h7Iba059xXvQGxUCAW3fxS6mBJmXjYk7i3GoEbe2TSpZrQEcYark7t_WV6kt1C_rhawjMyy7IGcoHrWLnH1hrLfw8fOxddHiBIxTX3nnhvXV4U/s4032/IMG_6105.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="679" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxzsVAlwH_59534D5XTJeudHhOk3y9h7Iba059xXvQGxUCAW3fxS6mBJmXjYk7i3GoEbe2TSpZrQEcYark7t_WV6kt1C_rhawjMyy7IGcoHrWLnH1hrLfw8fOxddHiBIxTX3nnhvXV4U/w510-h679/IMG_6105.jpeg" width="510" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">PRICE HIKE: Costco's Kirkland Signature Free Range Organic Brown Eggs are $6.49 for two dozen, the first price increase I've seen since they were introduced at $5.99 a couple of years ago.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70TffoqawpyBAXCS5u-9ugij6p0gmtARTgwjXn6xYW4v45QnHCwpGqSw2N1mILWcvhFmlb0_kqNoPei5Nj4Vi4ZzhexveGG3tXg8rAGsAfzWxAovLK4adLwXtMD8lSslnlbCo3Q-2YHY/s4032/IMG_6123.jpeg"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="725" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70TffoqawpyBAXCS5u-9ugij6p0gmtARTgwjXn6xYW4v45QnHCwpGqSw2N1mILWcvhFmlb0_kqNoPei5Nj4Vi4ZzhexveGG3tXg8rAGsAfzWxAovLK4adLwXtMD8lSslnlbCo3Q-2YHY/w520-h725/IMG_6123.jpeg" width="520" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: PublicoText, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Jeupa0uEl5YAYrcYncBKbreYCmja22Gij789yoCbeMMoDnk3ySNXVwKzPVRLN86qhThHJwz4bN8df-BRROAea3L0w_djlyfeZFMXsJyoaRhKd463bQcBTTNwaKCvuQMcSQyAYYTiIGU/s4032/IMG_6125.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="728" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Jeupa0uEl5YAYrcYncBKbreYCmja22Gij789yoCbeMMoDnk3ySNXVwKzPVRLN86qhThHJwz4bN8df-BRROAea3L0w_djlyfeZFMXsJyoaRhKd463bQcBTTNwaKCvuQMcSQyAYYTiIGU/w519-h728/IMG_6125.jpeg" width="519" /></a></div><br />Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-67606390717775892192021-08-15T13:09:00.002-04:002021-08-17T08:23:15.035-04:00Can solar panels, three Tesla Powerwalls completely eliminate your electric bill?<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfuCfsWyKLmxH0HJoeE5vzHT-sePz1M8gsbEqJ5fBUvacwTxet-2QrbLGyUQSHPP8VZg5-RIyKqbHK2Hhm-CnTzbZgziITqaKiSxdXnuOsp-qZh5vM1guOsubpKaPyjiCIsOUjoEdA3w/s640/IMG_1857+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="382" height="805" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfuCfsWyKLmxH0HJoeE5vzHT-sePz1M8gsbEqJ5fBUvacwTxet-2QrbLGyUQSHPP8VZg5-RIyKqbHK2Hhm-CnTzbZgziITqaKiSxdXnuOsp-qZh5vM1guOsubpKaPyjiCIsOUjoEdA3w/w481-h805/IMG_1857+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="481" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>THREE POWERWALLS: Each of the Tesla home batteries I had installed in March 2019 at my New Jersey home stores roughly 13.5 kWh of energy generated by my solar panels.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HACKENSACK, N.J. -- When you purchase home batteries to store energy from your solar panels, Tesla doesn't promise you a rose garden.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In other words, Tesla says the Powerwall 2, as the latest version is known, allows you "to reduce reliance on the grid and run your home off solar day and night."</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So far this year, I paid a service charge of $4.95 -- but nothing for electricity -- in each of 4 months to run a house of more than 3,000 square feet with central air conditioning and to charge my Tesla Model S roughly once a week.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>You pay for 'delivery'</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But in the other 3 months, my bill for electricity and delivery has totaled $90.02 (for Jan. 7 to Feb. 4, 2021); $181.08 (Feb. 5 to March 8) and $96.35 ( July 8 to Aug. 5, 2021). </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The most recent bill shows a charge of $65.57 for electric supply and $30.78 for "delivery."</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Still, my batteries have kept my house running during every power outage in my neighborhood since they were installed in March 2019.</b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>No night rates</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We get a lot of rain and snow in northern New Jersey, and my solar panels often generate little or no electricity for my storage batteries, meaning I draw a lot from the grid.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>My utility doesn't pay me for excess power or have lower rates for electricity at night. </b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">If I generate more than I use, those kilowatt hours go into a "bank" that I can draw on later.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><u>Hooray for SRECs</u></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In fact, the key to eliminating your electric bill in the Northeast is not just solar panels and Tesla batteries that store the electricity they generate.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I earn Solar Renewable Energy Credits or SRECs, which go only to those who, like me, own their solar systems.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>I can sell those credits to my utility through a middleman.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The certificates are worth roughly $223 each (I recently sold 5), down from a high of $600 each after I had solar panels installed in 2009.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>For a second, smaller solar system I had installed in 2012 with a loan from my utility -- PSE&G -- I am repaying the loan with SRECs that are valued at $400 each.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>READ: <a href="https://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2019/03/best-and-worst-of-tesla-get-3.html" target="_blank">The best and worst of Tesla</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFMwObelsExxjgOl2IvMXaRUcWkeUaMCOToADF58eC6X4SqCHui1TEj3s4xQ3xtW_x3Cbhd_P9pBjoA_KpEvS4whM_cnMIr005op4wY1GmJfm7xXAaTIKF8Uy-rEMHZFNeE1BcoVoO6Q/s640/IMG_1915+%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="675" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFMwObelsExxjgOl2IvMXaRUcWkeUaMCOToADF58eC6X4SqCHui1TEj3s4xQ3xtW_x3Cbhd_P9pBjoA_KpEvS4whM_cnMIr005op4wY1GmJfm7xXAaTIKF8Uy-rEMHZFNeE1BcoVoO6Q/w506-h675/IMG_1915+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="506" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: My home has a southern exposure, meaning the sun shines on my solar panels through the day.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936250767817071767.post-72207699628059285382021-08-06T17:50:00.005-04:002021-08-09T13:06:07.073-04:00Watching TV, I have so many questions, but the media don't seem to have answers<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz65BUAcLyp0OPo3JqKbiP2HklfvEmvJzG2VsLNMDKdlAk_q1LbetXx2qGVmfE4Z00Wz_gNJT9j2DKre22gtSs9_8hTNcYmvCQ8s6nQMr-k2s1Hm5e6eiZdBVeCnPyDlAgQ0u0nvMdSS4/s1260/Carlsbad-Desal-Aerial-Mar-2015_web.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="1260" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz65BUAcLyp0OPo3JqKbiP2HklfvEmvJzG2VsLNMDKdlAk_q1LbetXx2qGVmfE4Z00Wz_gNJT9j2DKre22gtSs9_8hTNcYmvCQ8s6nQMr-k2s1Hm5e6eiZdBVeCnPyDlAgQ0u0nvMdSS4/w530-h298/Carlsbad-Desal-Aerial-Mar-2015_web.jpg" width="530" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>WET BUT FAR FROM SEXY: The Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant on the California coast provides 50 million gallons of fresh water a day to San Diego, reports E360, an online magazine published at the Yale School of the Environment.<span style="text-align: center;"> (Photo from Poseidon Water) </span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Conundrums: Drought, the U.N.,</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">cling peaches, invisible captions</span></b></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By VICTOR E. SASSON</span></b></div><div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><u>EDITOR</u></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Night after night, the evening TV news reports about the drought in California -- claiming there isn't even enough water to fight the wildfires that destroyed an historic mining town and other property.</b></span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>But in June 2019, there were 11 seawater desalination plants in California and 10 more were proposed, according <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-water-scarcity-increases-desalination-plants-are-on-the-rise" target="_blank">E360</a>, an online magazine.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Why have the media been silent about them? Why aren't more of these plants being built? </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Don't they hold the solution to this cycle of drought, fires and barren farmland?</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyFejQQEqZK7ON66998QbJj-5uF7fs-onvqOd27bQK7b3594CSBJEpoMKrTWsWi5LRwsRzYOLK9vFzQwbi9sdCLlGiyPUt38y7XIqKUDlXd-7xFsJNbIND9cw88hJnS3MBuukUIZmBo0/s1170/AP20218178213207.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1170" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyFejQQEqZK7ON66998QbJj-5uF7fs-onvqOd27bQK7b3594CSBJEpoMKrTWsWi5LRwsRzYOLK9vFzQwbi9sdCLlGiyPUt38y7XIqKUDlXd-7xFsJNbIND9cw88hJnS3MBuukUIZmBo0/w536-h357/AP20218178213207.webp" width="536" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>BLAST SCENE: The explosion in the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020, leveled many blocks of the Lebanese city and killed more than 200.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>What does the U.N. do?</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The other night, I saw an alarming TV report on the first anniversary of that massive explosion in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, with soldiers or police battling protesters in the street.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>The report portrayed government officials as corrupt and refusing to investigate the explosion, which killed more than 200 people, or assign blame.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Meanwhile, motorists have to spend hours in lines to fill up their tanks with gasoline.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Lebanon is far from the only failed state around the world, so the natural question is what does the United Nations do?</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Nothing, in Lebanon's case. Nothing, in Syria's case. Nothing, in the cases of so many African countries.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Does the U.N. merely call diplomats from around the world to come and live lavishly in New York, one of the most expensive cities in the world, and jawbone all day?</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>What's the good of a Security Council taking decisive action and moving against a failed, corrupt government, if Russia or any other member can veto the council's decisions?</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>Cling peaches</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Is there any good reason cling peaches and nectarines are still being grown instead of all freestone, where the pit is separated from the flesh?</b></span></div><div><b style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Try to cut them up for a fruit salad or even eat them out of hand without making a mess of the kitchen counter or your clothes or both.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I buy organic, and the peaches and nectarines I find at Whole Foods Market in Paramus, N.J., aren't labeled as cling or freestone, so you don't find out the bad news until you get home.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Are cling superior in any way? I doubt it. They just piss you off.</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u>TV captions</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Here is another infuriating oversight -- captions for documentaries that require translation are invariably in white and often blend into the background, so that they're unreadable.</b></span></div><div><b style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Why not just render them in black? At least you wouldn't miss any words, and when the background is dark, then white captions would be justified.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">One color doesn't fit all.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I noticed this recently when watching the PBS series, "Latino Americans." </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I loved the music, but much was lost in the translation when the captions appeared in white.</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /><br /></b></span></div></div>Victor E. Sassonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07920237909721053423noreply@blogger.com0