Newspaper cartoonists are not up to task of conveying the horrors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and killing of civilians

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.

 Portraying Putin as clownish

dishonors the men, women,

 and children who are dying

BY VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Cartoonist Daryl Cagle has been distributing the cartoons of 60 editorial cartoonists and 14 columnists to about 850 subscribing newspapers for more than 20 years.

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.

I've included only 4 of the many cartoons out there. They are just awful.

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.

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.

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.

If Consumer Reports' auto editors cared about our environment, every car on their annual Top 10 list would be a hybrid or EV

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.

 

Gas hits average of $4.32 a gallon

as tailpipe emissions are killing

53,000 Americans every year

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

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.

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.

That compares to 34,000 a year who die in traffic accidents (based on a 2013 MIT study).

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.

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.

Safety first

"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.

Tellado makes no mention of auto tailpipe emissions and their role in global warming or impact on life expectancy.

'Green Choice'

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.

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.

And being "clean" or "cleaner" doesn't come close to earning a vehicle a spot on the annual Top 10 list.

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.

Top 10 Picks

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. 

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.

And is the Kia Telluride so special that it eclipses all of the midsize SUVs with hybrid power and lower emissions sold by competitors?

Gas hits $4.32 a gallon

This year, the Top 10 list includes a total of 13 vehicles: 

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.

Consumer Reports also lists the Honda Accord and Accord Hybrid as well as the Lexus RX and Lexus RX Hybrid.

The Top 10 list could have done without the gasoline versions of the Honda and Lexus. 

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.

Deadly air pollution

All in all, Consumer Reports' annual Auto Issue continues to disappoint, and ignore the elephant in the room:

Premature deaths from air pollution caused by vehicle tailpipe emissions.

READ: First EV on Top 10 list

 didn't appear until 2018

Bergen prosecutor is stumped on identity of driver who killed Hackensack woman, 81, as she crossed the street one year ago

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.

 

'Matter remains an open

criminal investigation,'

is the only comment

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

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.

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:

"The matter remains an open criminal investigation at this time."

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.

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. 

Poorly lit at night

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.

Despite repeated requests from the city, Bergen County hasn't made any improvements in the lighting along Polifly, a county road. 

Nor has the county added crosswalks and warning signs to help pedestrians cross Polifly Road, which is lined with apartment buildings.

OPRA request

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.

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.

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.

But I can't access the video because I do not have a subscription to NorthJersey.com.

Unanswered questions

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.

All of my requests were turned down and none of my questions were answered. 

"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."

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.

I also asked for the names of other hit-run victims after Rebein said the Holmes fatality wasn't the only open case. 

READ: Lillian J. Holmes lived a full live

 before hit-run driver killed her

Readers continued to drop The Record and NorthJersey.com in 2021 -- 5 years after $40M purchase by the Gannett Co.

EX-PUBLISHER TURNS DEVELOPER: 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.

`

39,683 daily, 48,684 on Sunday

is the new circulation low

 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. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

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.

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.

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

That includes circulation of affiliated publications  like the Herald News and the weekly Hackensack Chronicle.

Dramatic changes

A year later, at the end of 2017, the precipitous slide began: 

Circulation of The Record and its website dropped to only 91,032 daily and 97,149 on Sundays.

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.

Survivors wake up

But it wasn't until 2021 that survivors of the bloodletting formed a union called The Record Guild to bargain with Gannett, which continues to deny them raises.

The vote in The Record newsroom to form the union was 59-4.

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.

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.

Change, change, change

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.

But when The Record was acquired in 2016, it stood in third place among Gannett newspapers after USA Today and the Detroit Free Press.

Gannett's annual report for 2021 lists a total of 9 daily newspapers, 14 weeklies and 2 production facilities in its New Jersey portfolio.

Corporate revenue

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.

Circulation also fell after Gannett editors cut the amount of local news even further after buying The Record in 2016, and then switched to a subscription-only model for NorthJersey.com in 2019. 

In January, The Record and Herald News told subscribers they will no longer receive home delivery of the Saturday edition.

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."

READ: Shit in driveway wasn't from dog walkers

READ: How Stephen Borg turned 

The Record into crap

 

FREE PAPER: The weekly Hackensack Chronicle, which has no staff and reprints stories and photos from The Record, is delivered free to Hackensack residents.

Big downsizing 

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.

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.

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.

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.

North Jersey Media Group

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.

The Borg family held onto nearly 20 acres along River Street in Hackensack and the former headquarters building.

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.

Here 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

 

Don't curse potholes and rough pavement: You can blame this wealthy county in N.J. for refusing to repair, repave many streets

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. 

 

What do property taxes we pay

to Bergen get us besides heartburn?

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

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.

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:

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.

Drivers get the finger

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 lack safety measures, which contributed to the death of two pedestrians in Hackensack last year.

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).

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.

In fact, I'm sure there are county owned streets in each of Bergen's 70 municipalities that have been neglected for years.

For a list of all state and county owned streets in your town, see Bergen County Roads by Municipality, which was compiled in 2016.

Terrible Teaneck

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.

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. 

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?

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. 

Pagan also is a councilman in Teaneck.

Please use the comments section at the end of this post to highlight streets in your town that are in desperate need of repairs.

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.

READ: Bergen fails to add safety measures

 months after 2 pedestrian deaths

READ: How 2 Hackensack women

 died crossing the street

Bergen officials fail to add safety measures or warning signs many months after two women were killed by cars in Hackensack

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.

 

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.

County gets off cheap 

with new asphalt, paint

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

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.

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.

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.

A second death

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.

Hackensack City Councilman Leo Battaglia said requests for better lighting have fallen on deaf ears.

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. 

No crosswalks

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.

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.

Pagan is also a councilman in Teaneck.

Investigations

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.

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. 

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. 

READ: How 2 Hackensack women

 died crossing the street

READ: Record columnist fiddled 

as drivers got away with murder