Pre Employment Screening Articles

Those of you that already have webzines or those that have started one and not continued, know first hand that while it sounds great to publish a webzine it takes a lot of time to do it on an on-going basis particularly keeping up with constantly finding content. Fortunately, there is more than one way to skin a cat (it is just an old saying, animal rights activist please don’t start a campaign against me.)

Here are two alternative approaches to helping you achieve your goal of establishing credibility, staying in touch with your prospects, and capturing your Web site visitors.

The “Pre-Packaged” Newsletter

If you don’t foresee yourself being able to write fresh new content every week or month that you publish or know you simply will not have time to dedicate to this then there is another way – the Pre-Packaged newsletter.

While this method will not fit all newsletter styles, particularly those that need to be time sensitive it can be a godsend for many of you. Simply put, this approach means that all your content and articles are written ahead of time. This allows you to set aside a designated time period to collect articles and stockpile them. Once you have a sufficient number of them collected you set up your messages on an autoresponder and set it for when you want your information to go out. (For example, if you want the frequency to be monthly then it would be day 1/month 1, day 1/month 2, etc. — each subscriber would get a message every month.) Note the way this works is that each new subscriber starts with your first ezine. For example, if your frequency of publication is monthly, they would start with - day1/month 1 - and then will get their editions each month.

You have probably signed up for one of these ‘pre-packaged’ newsletter and didn’t realize how it works because all you knew is that each week or month the information shows up. Well now you have the inside secret so you can make it work for your business as well.

The Email Mini- Series

Have you ever signed up to receive a series of ‘tips’ or ‘articles’ online. Chances, are that you signed up for an ‘Email Mini-Serie.’ It is a great marketing tool and really easy to set up. Here is how do it.

First, you either write or source content that you will be able to spread out over a specified amount of time. For example, you could write an article on ‘The Top Ten Reasons Why It is Important for Businesses to do Background Checks’ or you could write ten one paragraph or one page articles on each one of the ten reasons. Either way you end up with ten segments. You then set up each ‘reason’ on your autoresponder to go out at a specified time period, e.g., weekly and bingo your subscribers will get reason #1 starting week 1, reason #2 week 2, etc.

For both of the above approaches keep in mind that the quality of your content is crucial to the success of the marketing campaign. If you provide high quality information that is of value to your audience they will look forward to receiving the next installment of information. This allows you to reinforce your marketing message and start building a relationship with them which ultimately is the reason you created the campaign. Don’t waste your valuable time and money by providing poor or outdated information. It will defeat the whole purpose and lose you potential clients.

The final step is to write a sales message that you will add on to your series as the 11th message. This is when you ask for the order or tell them what it is you want them to do. Since you have now engaged them ten times with valuable content they are familiar with your firm, have started recognizing your expertise and are much more open to considering your product or service offerings.

We recommend at this point you reel them in with a free offering, e.g., one free background check to experience our ‘Knock Your Socks Off Customer Service’ or offer an exclusive discount for having subscribed to the series. You would be amazed how effective offering ‘exclusivity’ works. It makes people feel special.

Put your messages into an autoresponder series, set the timing to what you want (e.g. every week or every month) and you are ready to reap the benefits.

Just in case you are not familiar with autoresponders they are actually called e-mail autoresponders. You could think of it as a fax-on-demand system that sends out e-mails automatically when others request them. You preset the autoresponders with the timing of a series ahead of time and then like clockwork they go out to your subscribers.

If you are interested in creating either a ‘pre-packaged’ webzine or a mini email series we can help you with the content and set it up for you. Call me, Barry Nixon 949-770-5264 or email me at wbnixon@aol.com for more information.

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

Pre-employment screening services make sure you are hiring the right people for the job. In today’s world there are many companies that provide services for many sectors. In the same manner, for the process of pre-employment, there are companies that provide services like screening candidature. These service providers guide the company or business sector in selecting and hiring the right candidate for their organization.
A company hiring an employee looks at a candidate’s merits, giving less importance to their background that can become the cause of major problems. These service providers help provide the right information by screening the employee’s past criminal history, fraudulent social security numbers, untruthful resumes, falsified employment applications, etc. The reports given are accurate and

School Drug Testing - Pros & Cons of Student Drug Testing at Schools
…drugs, but to prevent them from ever using drugs,illegal or not. Once teenagers are using drugs it is much harder for them tobreak their addiction. Maybe it’s the issue of peer pressure, which is thegreatest cause of kids trying drugs. …

legal compliant. This service can be provided online and include employment drug screening and back ground checking.

This service helps companies reduce hiring risks, increases efficiency and ensures employment of the right candidate. The staff at these servicing companies is professional, specialized in screening applicants within numerous industries, including all types of medical, technical, administrative, production, financial and management positions. The services include verification of employment, education, references and professional licenses, driving records, drug screening, credit history, civil history, criminal background checks and more.
There are many organizations that are turning to outside professionals for employment screening and drug testing services. The services provided are cost effective, highly professional and confidential and guarantee that your candidate has reported their qualifications

Teen Addiction to Prescription Drugs
…members could have the prescription, these drugs can be easier to get than street drugs. Prescription drugs are very commonly sold on the street like other illegal drugs as well. Some teens even think a prescription drug, regardless of whom …

accurately. The reports sent by these services are accurate and help you make the right hiring decisions. [http://www.e-PreEmploymentScreening.com]Pre Employment Screening provides detailed information on Pre Employment Screening, Pre Employment Screening Services, Pre Employment Background Screening, Pre Employment Drug Screening and more. Pre Employment Screening is affiliated with [http://www.e-PrivateInvestigators.com]Private Investigator License.

By Robert Harris, Managing Director
“The Attrition Busters”

Here’s the question of the day. “What is a satisfied customer?” Before you read on, please take a moment and think about your answer. Some people might have said, “A satisfied customer is one you never get a complaint from.” Others might answer it by saying they get exactly what they pay for; they give you referrals; they pay their bill; or they are happy with the service you provide. In reality, a “satisfied customer” is statistically eight-times more likely to dump you for a cheaper competitor than is a delighted customer! Having merely satisfied clients is not good for your business. How much does your company invest in training to establish and maintain longer lasting customer loyalty? When you look around, customer loyalty is sadly missing nearly every service industry today. Based on my experience working with a wide variety of related businesses, the background screening business is certainly not immune. In fact, without an intentional strategy to effectively differentiate your self from competitors and delight your clients, it really still boils down to price doesn’t it? Why should I go with you if those other guy’s are cheaper? You’re all the same aren’t you?

I can tell you that it costs approximately $8.00 to get back one single dollar of lost recurring business. I’m not writing about new business, I’m writing about replacing the business you already had. If you consider a “recurring revenue” model for this industry, we all have clients who pay us each and every month to do their background screening. In some cases we generate considerable recurring income from these clients who have a good amount of turn over or who are growing and are constantly in need of new people. When one of these clients jumps ship in favor of a competitor, we have to sell more just to replace what we have lost. Think about it, how much do we spend on marketing, sales commission, labor bourdons and overhead. Not to mention our direct out of pocket cost to establish a relationship and prepare information to secure a new client? What the actual cost is to replace a single dollar of lost recurring revenue depends on your individual company. I assure you that if you really analyze the cost in you company, you will find that the $8.00 figure is pretty close.

If this figure is anywhere near accurate, I would say it’s a pretty staggering number. Having to cough up eight times your recurring revenue to replace a lost client should certainly promote some careful attention to getting better at keeping what you have! So what can we do? When it boils down to the bottom line, many of our clients are really interested in paying the lowest price. If low price is our business model, how can we ever increase loyalty? Without a serious and tenacious effort to increase the perception of “added value” in doing business with our company, we will continue to lose customers to anyone else selling their services cheaper, just as fast as we can get new ones.

Perceived value in the service you provide helps to create longevity. I promise you, with some very simple gestures, you could assure yourself that your clients will not jump ship the first time some competitor comes along with a lower price without at least calling you to try and work out some kind of reasonable solution first. By selling the idea of “added value” to your entire team, and providing them with training on better ways to handle upset customers, improve communication, convey empathy and enthusiasm, resolve problems, and nurture relationships as well as give your clients a little something extra for their money, you will create a significant and measurable loyalty factor. This is exactly what many successful and growing companies do to become market leaders in any industry. Building personal relationships cost you little or nothing, and makes it next to impossible to lose your customer’s to competitors, while creating huge payoffs when it comes to referrals. The best part is that getting better at it will be at your competitor’s expense!

Today, many service consumers are thrilled just to be satisfied. When people return phone calls promptly, show up on time, or actually do what was promised, it has become the exception rather than the rule. The art of true customer service is just about gone in nearly every industry. Put yourself in your client’s shoes and imagine how delighted you would be if you had a relationship with someone at any vendor company and they always took the time to nurture that relationship and say thank you for your trust? Customers want a little something extra if they are going to pay a little more. There is never a traffic jam along the extra mile these days. This is an easy way to prove you really care about the trust your client has placed in you, and it costs you nothing to express gratitude. But this is just the start! How much larger will your company grow by keeping more of what you have and developing those relationships to the best of your ability? A little effort goes a very long way these days. Some of your competitors sponsor and host seminars and workshops for their clients to help them get better at growing their businesses and keeping more of their employees and clients! The payback they receive in terms of loyalty and long term business relationships is substantial. Even though that makes them money, it also costs money to provide. There are many other things that don’t cost a penny, which any company can incorporate to help reduce customer attrition.

Simple gestures along with improved communication create a foundation of trust and long term business relationships. For example, when was the last time a service provider of any kind called you just to say hello and check up? When was the last time someone in your organization called a client to let them know how grateful you are for their trust and patronage? Imagine a service provider sending you a birthday card, or inviting you out to lunch. Does anyone in your organization think about finding out a when it is a client’s birthday? These are just a couple of things you can do to literally “knock the socks off” your clients. Unavoidable attrition combined with others stealing your accounts by offering lowest price services takes a significant big bite out of your business. Just ask the call center industry! If ten percent of your inventory was being lost to theft, you would take immediate action to turn the tide. When ten percent of your customers are leaving you, no one might even notice! Don’t you think it’s time to consider some kind of professional customer retention program?

Any pre-employment screening company would do well to contact an industry customer retention specialist in an effort to determine the most beneficial and cost effective way to get training and initiate a program designed for your specific situation. Turning satisfied customers into delighted ones, will separate you from every single competitor, and add considerable value to doing business with you! The referrals you will get from clients who have finally found a company who truly delights them and where action speaks louder than words will lower your marketing expenditures, increase profits, and hand you a larger market share. No matter how good anyone is, we can always get better at raising the bar. Beginning from the top down, unless you intentionally implement a measurable loyalty strategy, it is simply not going to happen on its own.

Some helpful hints to try yourself:
· Learn to exceed expectations.
· Take an honest look at your service from the perspective of your customer.
· Learn as much as you can about your customers and competitors, use & maintain that information.
· Create an action plan with your top people, and filter it throughout your entire organization.
· Less talking - more listening!
· When you can’t say yes, learn how to say no correctly.
· Provide your staff with training to delight your most difficult customers.
· Give them a little something extra.
· Consider a consultant who knows this industry and can give you the tools to do it effectively.

Robert Harris is managing director for The Attrition Busters seminars, consulting, and workshops. With over 30 years of customer relationship experience, he can be reached at 818-730-4690 or by email at bobh@consultant.com. Learn more about The Attrition Busters at www.attritionbusters.com.

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

One of the most frequent questions that we get when discussing webzines is ‘how often should we publish?” With today’s overloaded email boxes people are very conscious about not getting caught up in the online version of proverbial ‘file 13’ better known as the delete key. To avoid this fate it is critical to determine the right frequency so that your readers view you information as bringing them value and not as an intrusion. Overwhelming your readers could result in many of them unsubscribing or worse just not reading your webzine.

Let’s look at some of the key considerations. First of all, is your news or information perishable? If your information is date sensitive or must be acted on quickly then sending it next week will not serve any purpose. Accordingly ‘time sensitive’ information needs to be sent in short intervals. An example would be if your webzine deals with travel discounts and a major airline announces it has a three day sale on tickets from New York to London. You need to get that information out today so your readers can receive value from the information. On the other hand if you website focus is ‘quotable quotes’ it is not likely that it has the same sense of urgency for publishing the information.

Another key consideration is resources and their utilization. Needless to say to produce a daily webzine requires more commitment of resources and their time then produce a quarterly webzine. Consider the following:

Daily – Someone on your staff will have to commit time daily to finding information, articles, etc., setting up the webzine, proofreading and editing, set up for delivery, etc. every day. Depending on the nature, content and length of your webzine this could range from a couple of hours to all day. Congratulations besides your core business you have just gotten into the publishing business on a full time basis.

Weekly – Similar to the daily scenario someone will have to spend time on those same activities at least once a week. This could easily consume the equivalent of a day or more a week. Do you have the resources to dedicate to this activity? How much time will finding or creating content take? Remember the more frequently you publish the more information you need.

Bi-Weekly – The time management issues and staff time commitment ease up a bit with this timing, however, you still have to decide is this timing sufficient to meet your audiences needs. If weekly is too much for you to handle and too much for your readership to be interested, but monthly is too far out than this could be a viable option even though it is still resource intense.

Monthly –The time management issues and staff time commitments get much better because the responsible person can spread the required activities out over the course of the month which from a workload viewpoint makes it easier to accomplish while maintaining other duties. Note I am assuming you are not dedicating a staff member to creating a webzine.

Quarterly – The above points regarding time management and staff time even get better with this frequency, however, a major question has to be while this is bettor for you from a resource utilization viewpoint, will it meet your marketing goals in doing the webzine in the first place. You certainly will not be able to cover time sensitive material, special offers, highlight any short term product announcements, etc. Also a fundamental question has to be does a quarterly publication keep your firm on peoples minds or do they forget about you? You have to closely examine your goals and purpose of doing the webzine to see if this meets them. Very few webzines are published on a quarterly basis.

Our intent was to give you some key considerations regarding deciding the frequency to publish your webzine and armed with this information you should be able to decide which frequency best fits your business requirements and the goals of your webzine. Choosing the right frequency will have a direct baring on the success of your webzine and its contribution to your overall marketing effort. Good luck.

If you would like help with publishing your webzine please contact me at wbnixon@aol.com. We publish The Background Buzz as a private brand webzine for clients (taking out the advertisements, competitive information, etc.). We create a unique header and template for your webzine that fits with your company’s image and marketing strategies.

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

The words, “venture capital,” are used quite frequently in discussions of entrepreneurial finance, but to different people, they mean different things. It is essential that the first-time entrepreneur knows the differences and uses the term correctly. But “venture capital” is a generic term that the man-on-the-street uses to describe all forms of private equity that might be invested, on some basis, in privately held, smaller firms. Quite often, the person using this term is referring to angel, or individual investors.

Private equity investing may broadly be defined as investing in securities through a negotiated process. It entails providing equity capital to develop new products and technologies, to increase working capital, to make strategic acquisitions, or to strengthen a company’s balance sheet. Venture capital is a subset of the larger private equity asset class. The private equity asset class includes venture capital, buyouts, and mezzanine investment activity. Venture capital focuses on investing in private, young, fast growing companies. Buyout and mezzanine investing focuses on investing in more mature companies.

“VENTURE CAPITAL” is professionally managed investment capital targeted for new and emerging companies in which investments have the potential to yield extraordinary returns. Venture capitalists are professional investors who specialize in funding and building young, innovative enterprises. Venture capitalists are long-term investors who take a hands-on approach with all of their investments and actively work with entrepreneurial management teams in order to build great companies.

So what’s the difference between a bank and a venture capitalist? Banks provide term loans and working capital to companies. The company has to make interest payments and pay back the principal within a stipulated timeframe. In comparison a VC subscribes to the equity shares of a company for a stake in the company at a negotiated valuation.

What does a Venture Capitalist look for?

Venture capitalists are higher risk investors and, in accepting these higher risks, they desire a higher return on their investment. The venture capitalist manages the risk/reward ratio by only investing in businesses that fit their investment criteria and after having completed extensive due diligence on each candidate.

Venture capitalists have differing operating approaches. These differences may relate to the location of the business, the size of the investment, the stage of the company, industry specialization, and structure of the investment and involvement of the venture capitalists in the company’s activities. The entrepreneur should not be discouraged if one venture capitalist does not wish to proceed with an investment in the company. The rejection may not be a reflection of the quality of the business, but rather a matter of the business not fitting with the venture capitalist’s particular investment criteria.

Venture capital is not suitable for all businesses, as a venture capitalist typically seeks:

Superior Businesses
Venture capitalists look for companies with superior products or services targeted at fast-growing or untapped markets with a defensible strategic position. Alternatively, for leveraged management buyouts, they are seeking companies with high borrowing capacity, stability of earnings and an ability to generate surplus cash to quickly repay any outstanding debt.

Quality and Depth of Management
Venture capitalists must be confident that the firm has the quality and depth in the management team to achieve its aspirations. Venture capitalists seldom seek managerial control; rather, they want to add value to the investment where they have particular skills including fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, marketing and networks.

Corporate Governance and Structure
In many ways the introduction of a venture capitalist is preparatory to a public listing. The venture capitalist will want to ensure that the investee company has the willingness to adopt modern corporate governance standards, such as non-executive directors, including a representative of the venture capitalist. Venture capitalists are put off by complex corporate structures without a clear ownership and where personal and business assets are merged.

Appropriate Investment Structure
As well as the requirement of being an attractive business opportunity, the venture capitalist will also be seeking to structure a satisfactory deal to produce the anticipated financial returns to investors.

An Exit Plan
Lastly, venture capitalists look for clear exit routes for their investment such as public listing or a third-party acquisition of the investee company.

Stages in the Venture Capital Investment Process

A recurring theme throughout this series of articles has been to encourage you to make the most efficient use of your time. In fund raising, that means only pursue sources that are viable providers of capital to you. The corollary to that is you need to understand the investment objectives of the investors you approach and make sure that the investment you pitch to them is something in which they are interested.

For you to do this with regard to VENTURE CAPITAL, you need to understand what makes them tick. I hope to provide you with some of that insight in this month’s column.

Let’s look at a typical activity sequence for a professional venture capital firm. (To more sophisticated readers, I apologize in advance for this oversimplification). A VC firm will create a ten-year limited partnership with the venture capital firm as the general partner. Raise money from investors. [Yes, just like you, a venture capitalist is an entrepreneur who needs to raise money.] Invest the capital in opportunities that meet its investment criteria, AND pass the internal approval process. Work with the portfolio companies to help them build value and move them toward an attractive exit. Achieve exits when possible and distribute the proceeds to its investors. And finally, do it all again.

Once the appropriate investment opportunity is identified, the following process outlines the typical deal flow stages.

Deal Origination in which potential investments come to the attention of venture capitalists.

Screening is a step in which the venture capitalist reaches an initial decision to investigate further the investment (or not). The initial screen is a cursory glance at the business plan to determine whether or not the proposal fits within the investor’s areas of expertise. If warranted, the investor reads the plan more thoroughly as part of the generic screen to assess potential of the product or idea to obtain first impressions of management.

Evaluation, during which the venture capitalist conducts a detailed analysis of the venture. Criteria that venture capitalist apply are:

- Assessment of concept;
- Assessment of the principals; and
- Assessment of returns.

Due Diligence, if warranted, is the second phase of the evaluation step. This step may include formal market studies, reference checks, consultation with third parties. The investor outlines basic contract terms and discusses pricing. Your ability to respond quickly and completely to due diligence inquiries and to complete disclosure schedules and other required documentation, will largely dictate the timetable for closing.

Negotiation is a step in which the investor and the principals iron out the framework for a deal. The deal closes once the parameters are acceptable to both parties.

Post-investment activity relates to how the venture capitalist monitors the firm and takes part in major decisions. This phase largely involves monitoring, control, and intervention only as needed. Many entrepreneurs and managers of closely held companies run their businesses on a rather autonomous basis and are not used to gaining consensus. If you close a VC transaction, you’ll be expected to adhere to established and regular reporting and oversight functions. This will likely include monthly information gathering and sharing, submitting specific tracking reports showing the company’s progress concerning agreed development milestones and many times quarterly board meetings.

Tips to Improve Chances of Securing Venture Financing

Do define the business clearly.

In particular, identify the “competitive advantage” that the product or service embodies. This attribute is what makes the business opportunity unique and provides the edge over the competition. Exclusivity by means of copyright or patent is useful.

Do identify clearly the target market for the product or service and present the marketing strategy that supports financial projections.

The marketing strategy should stress how the product or service will provide a value added benefit to the purchaser. The findings of independent market research should provide further reasoned estimates of the market potential and penetration.

Do demonstrate a thorough understanding of the industry sector in which the product or service will compete.

Show the investor that you have a position in the industry conducive to rapid growth.

Do outline the management abilities of the business’ principals.

These capabilities should demonstrate proven marketing expertise and fiscal responsibility. VC’s generally subscribe to the view that they don’t invest in companies or products, they invest in people. Emerging companies should have in place a well-planned and implemented compensation scheme whereby key management is rewarded based on the successful growth and development of the business. In addition, you should be prepared to identify the key employees who will be critical to the investment transaction and/or the company’s continued success.

Do outline a proposed financial framework for the deal.

The business plan presented to a venture capitalist should specify the financial return, identify sources of risk, make provision for profitable exit, and propose how to structure the deal. Depending on risk, venture capitalists expect the value of their investment to grow from fivefold (for low risk firms) to twenty-fold (for high risk firms). The business plan should identify how to include other investors, if any, in the deal.

Don’t advance market projections that are unrealistic.

One reason venture capitalists specialize is to develop expertise in given sectors. Investors have a good sense of what constitutes a realistic market forecast. The best defense against this error is to provide projections or strong historical facts based on independent market research.

Don’t ignore sources of risk and uncertainty.

All businesses are subject to external uncertainty and have internal shortcomings. Show the investor that you recognize such risks and that you have developed contingency plans to address them.

Advantages of Venture Capital

Venture capital has a number of advantages over other forms of finance, such as:

Finance
-The venture capitalist injects long-term equity financing, which provides a solid capital base for future growth. The venture capitalist may also be capable of providing additional rounds of funding should it be required to finance growth.

Business Partner
-The venture capitalist is a business partner, sharing the risks and rewards. Venture capitalists are rewarded by business success and the capital gain.

Mentoring
-The venture capitalist is able to provide strategic, operational and financial advice to the company based on past experience with other companies in similar situations.

Alliances
-The venture capitalist also has a network of contacts in many areas that can add value to the company, such as in recruiting key personnel, providing contacts in international markets, introductions to strategic partners and, if needed, co-investments with other venture capital firms when additional rounds of financing are required.

Facilitation of Exit
-The venture capitalist is experienced in the process of preparing a company for an initial public offering (IPO) and facilitating in trade sales.

Karl Buettner (610-560-4700 x 101) is a partner and Christopher Jansen (610-560-4700 x112) is a Managing Director at Gatehouse Ventures, LP.
Gatehouse Ventures, LP, is a private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts and leveraged buildups in partnership with qualified management teams. Gatehouse focuses on companies with market values between $5 - $20 million and where our principals can leverage their expertise to drive value for our partners.
For more information, please visit: www.gatehouseventures.com

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

Seven Florida men have been arrested on charges that include conspiring to provide material support to the al Qaeda terrorist organization and conspiracy to levy war against the United States by discussing and planning attacks on targets in the United States, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and the FBI building and other federal buildings in Florida, the Department of Justice announced today.

The seven men - Narseal Batiste, Patrick Abraham, Stanley Grant Phanor, Naudimar Herrera, Burson Augustin, Lyblenson Lemorin and Rothschild Augustine - were named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida (Miami). The indictment charges four counts: conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, namely al Qaeda; conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists; conspiracy to maliciously damage and destroy by means of an explosive; and conspiring to levy war against the government of the United States.

The defendants - five U.S. citizens, one legal permanent resident, and one Haitian national in the country illegally - have all been arrested and are expected to make appearances at U.S. District Court in Miami today.

The indictment alleges that, beginning in November 2005 and continuing to the present, Bastiste recruited and supervised individuals to organize and train for a mission to wage war against the United States, including a plot to destroy the Sears Tower by explosives. Batiste and his co-conspirators allegedly attempted to obtain the support of al Qaeda to achieve their goals and discussed this desire with an individual cooperating with law enforcement who posed as a member of al Qaeda. Believing they were dealing with that terrorist group, in March 2006, Batiste and other defendants pledged an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda and allegedly supported a plan to destroy FBI buildings in the United States by taking photos of the FBI Building in North Miami Beach, Florida, and other federal buildings in Miami-Dade County.

Batiste then allegedly took reconnaissance photographs of the FBI Building in North Miami Beach, the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building, federal courthouse buildings, the Federal Detention Center and the Miami Police Department. In addition to conducting surveillance, the defendants allegedly provided the individual, whom they believed was an al Qaeda member, with a list of materials and equipment needed to wage jihad, including boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios and vehicles. In December 2005, at one of a number of meetings with this person, Batiste spoke of using an army of “soldiers” and explosives to destroy the Sears Tower. In a subsequent meeting, he provided the individual with a list of other materials needed in his plot to take down the Sears Tower, including radios, binoculars, bullet proof vests, firearms, vehicles and $50,000 cash.

According to the indictment, the plot advanced further through meetings with other co-defendants. In one of the meetings on Feb. 19, 2006, Batiste allegedly told the “al Qaeda representative” that he wanted to attend al Qaeda training with five of his soldiers, with a mission to wage a “full ground war” against the United States in order to “kill all the devils we can,” which “will be just as good or greater than 9/11.” Ultimately, all seven of the defendants allegedly swore bayat, or an oath of loyalty to al Qaeda.

“The convergence of globalization and technology has created a new brand of terrorism. Homegrown terrorists may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al Qaeda,” said Attorney General Gonzales. “I am pleased by the cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement in taking down this group of individuals who wished to harm our country and its citizens.”

U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida stated, “Batiste and his group had the intent and took several steps toward fulfilling their plan of blowing up the Sears Tower and the Miami FBI building. They were never able to obtain, however, the explosives or access needed to implement their plan. The South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force successfully performed its mission to prevent terrorism by identifying, disrupting and prosecuting these individuals before they posed an immediate threat to our nation.”

FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole said, “Today’s announcement marks yet another important victory in the war on terrorism. It is also, however, a grim reminder of the persistent threat environment that exists here at home and underscores the need for continued vigilance and cooperation. I’d like to commend all the members on our Joint Terrorism Task Forces who work tirelessly day and night to interdict these threats and hold accountable those who seek to inflict harm on the U.S.”

If convicted, the defendants in this case face a maximum penalty of 15 years each in prison on the charges of conspiracy to provide material support or resources, and a maximum of 20 years in prison each on the charges of conspiracy to destroy by use of explosives and conspiracy to levy war against the United States.

The arrests are the result of an investigation led by the FBI’s South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Miami. The JTTF is comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose primary work is to identify and disrupt terrorist cells before they commit acts of terror. Members of the JTTF include the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida; the FBI; U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement; U.S. Secret Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Internal Revenue Service; the Bureau of Prisons; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Miami Dade Police Department; City of Miami Police Department; Broward Sheriff’s Office; Palm Beach County’s Sheriff’s Office; Ft. Lauderdale Police Department; Hollywood Police Department; and the Miramar Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacqueline Arango and Richard Getchell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

The FBI encourages the public to report any suspected violations of U.S. federal law. You can do so by calling your local FBI office, Legal Attache office, or by submitting a tip via the FBI Tips and Public Leads form https://tips.fbi.gov/

Field Office listing by State | Field Office listing by City | Field Office Jurisdictions
Find Your Local Field Office by Using Your ZIP Code

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/June/06_ag_386.html

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

A Battle Creek woman was shot in the head by her former boyfriend, who then killed himself Wednesday in the parking lot of a Portage Road business, according to police.

Tobi Meyer, 28, was taken into surgery at Bronson Methodist Hospital and listed in critical condition, Portage Police Department Lt. Don Butler said Wednesday.

Bronson officials, citing federal privacy laws, would not confirm Meyer was a patient at the facility.

Meyer and Demont Macdonald, 28, of Wyoming, had recently ended a six-and-a-half-year relationship, Butler said. They met in the parking lot of the State Farm Claims Center, 5564 Portage Road, at about 12:20 p.m. to exchange some possessions.

That’s when Macdonald shot Meyer in the head, Butler said. Then he got into a truck and shot himself in the head. Macdonald was pronounced dead at Bronson, Butler said.

There were no witnesses to the shooting, police said. Butler said he believed the two had been living together in Wyoming. An Internet search of the two showed them listed at the same Wyoming address. No phone number was listed.

Meyer was taking a training course at the State Farm building, Butler said.

State Farm officials said this morning that Meyer has worked for the company for the past five years as a claims representative. Spokeswoman Angie Rinock said Meyer has worked at several State Farm locations in Michigan during that time, but was unaware how long she has worked at the Portage Road facility.

Company officials had on-site counseling today for employees at the Portage Road location and offices in Grand Rapids and Marshall for employees who know Meyer, Rinock said.

“We’re very concerned and our hearts are going out to her and her family,” Rinock said.

Kalamazoo Gazette

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

BY STEVE SCHULTZE

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MILWAUKEE - (KRT) - A Living Church of God leader said in Milwaukee Thursday that Terry Ratzmann’s killing spree was a satanic act performed by a normally friendly man.

John Ogwyn, a minister and spokesman for the 7,000-member church, said he didn’t know what prompted Ratzmann to fire into his congregation during a Saturday service held at the Brookfield Sheraton hotel. Ratzmann killed seven and wounded four church members before killing himself.

“Walking in and blindly shooting people - is that satanic? Is that evil? Of course it is,” Ogwyn said during a press conference. “Something tragically wrong happened in his life.”

He said the small church believes in the existence of God, angels, Satan and demons.

Ogwyn used Thursday’s appearance to counter comments from some local members of the church, saying it did not discourage members from seeking secular treatment for emotional problems. Psychiatric counseling “certainly has its place,” Ogwyn said, and is not banned by the church. The church also has no ban on medication, he said.

Local members have said those with emotional problems are told to consult first with the local pastor, and some have said seeking outside professional help is actively discouraged. Ratzmann had a long history of depression and once acknowledged suicidal feelings, according to church members.

Ogwyn also said the church does not restrict members to dating and marrying within the church. He said, however, that choosing a mate who practices the same religion would likely lead to a more harmonious marriage. Some local members have said outside dating was strongly discouraged and that Ratzmann had been frustrated by his inability to find a wife within the church.

Ogwyn described the Living Church of God as “an exact continuation” of the former Worldwide Church of God and the teachings of its founder, Herbert W. Armstrong, who died in 1986. Armstrong gained fame for his “The World Tomorrow” radio and television programs and “The Plain Truth” magazine.

Armstrong’s version of Christianity emphasized a coming apocalypse marked by disasters and a world war and belief that Christ would return to Earth and establish a 1,000-year rein. Armstrong rejected more mainstream Christianity as “Roman paganism.”

Ogwyn said he and other church leaders, including its current top leader, Roderick Meredith, were in Milwaukee for some of the Ratzmann shooting victims’ funerals.

Ratzmann will also have a church funeral officiated by some Living Church of God pastors, although at the request of his family it will be private, Ogwyn said. Ratzmann’s family members did not belong to his church.

Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher said Thursday that he made a formal recommendation to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to deny the family’s request that Ratzmann be buried at Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove. Ratzmann had served in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Bucher said he told the department the request should be denied because Ratzmann was unavailable for prosecution for a series of crimes.

Meanwhile, a California-based workplace violence expert said Thursday that Ratzmann likely lashed out against local church leaders because he viewed them as responsible for his woes.

Larry J. Chavez, a former hostage negotiator for the Sacramento Police Department, said in an interview that Ratzmann’s rage likely was triggered by a Feb. 26 pre-recorded sermon the local congregation watched on television. Ratzmann stormed out of that service before it was over, despite the fact he was scheduled to give the final prayer that day.

“It was probably at this point that Ratzmann’s depression transitioned into anger and animosity toward church officials,” Chavez said in a paper published on his Web site.

That sermon remains subject of some debate. Ogwyn and other church leaders have said the Feb. 26 sermon was a non-controversial one given by Charles Bryce, the church’s director of administration. Chandra Frazier, a local church member, said Thursday that she was “75 percent certain” the sermon that day was a different one by Meredith, presiding evangelist of the Charlotte, N.C.-based church.

Brookfield Police Lt. Mark Millard said that investigators were still trying to clear up that point.

Ogwyn also announced a fund was being established to help shooting victims and their families, with details on the church’s Web site, lcg.org.

—

© 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

By: DENIS DEVINE - Staff Writer, North Country Times, CA

I’ve never beaten my girlfriend, or struck my mom or sisters. Most men reading this can say the same. So it’s easy to think of violence against women as a terrible social problem, perhaps, a rampant injustice, a public health threat, but most of all, someone else’s problem. If a particularly tragic tale of domestic violence tugged at my conscience, I had imagined the most I could do was donate to a shelter for abuse victims.

But on Monday, Valentine’s Day, I heard a large group of compassionate, bold men say something different: violence against women is something all men must deal with. Because it’s mostly males doing it —- 93 percent of violence against female adult victims is committed by men —- the responsibility falls upon us to stop it. And that means far more than calling the cops when we hear a crime in progress.

It means teaching young men that disrespecting women is not manly or acceptable, but that talking about their feelings is. It means letting friends who tell sexist jokes know that we don’t find it funny. It means exploring the ways our own behavior contributes to an atmosphere of sexism and machismo that teaches women they are less than men, and that we will enforce that dominance with our fists, if need be.

While most men chose chocolate, flowers and jewels for their lady loves on Valentine’s Day, a group of about 200 men and women from the San Diego County region gathered in a Mission Bay conference center Monday to discuss how to help stop gender-based violence —- another way of saying violence against women like our mothers, sisters, daughters and girlfriends.

“It’s just not a problem on most men’s radar. It’s not a big deal to them,” said Steve Allen, co-founder of the Men’s Leadership Forum, the committee of the San Diego Domestic Violence Council that organized Monday’s conference. “We’re saying it is a big deal. We’re saying if you knew the societal cost, let alone the human tragedy, it would be a big deal.”

In North County, one such tragedy reached a conclusion last week. Eugene Orange was sentenced to 111 years for brutally murdering his wife, Zeda Barnett, a 37-year-old mother of three boys.

Barnett had twice sought temporary restraining orders against her husband in the months before her murder. On her second application, the well-loved Palomar College employee wrote in July 2003 about what happened when she told Orange she wanted to end their relationship: “He got very angry and stated to me that ‘our marriage is not over’ and that if he cannot have me ‘no one can.’” Before that month was over, Orange fulfilled his deadly threat, stabbing his wife to death in their Escondido apartment.

Many people had warning that tragedy was coming. The Men’s Leadership Forum seeks to educate men who might find themselves in those shoes —- either striking their wives or learning that their friends do —- so that we can prevent more suffering and pain like what Eugene Orange rained down upon Zeda Barnett.

Why men?

For too long, violence against women has been mischaracterized as a “women’s issue.” When a newspaper story broaches the subject, guys often flip toward the sports pages —- only to routinely encounter stories about athletes raping, abusing and otherwise mistreating women.

Don McPherson, the forum’s keynote speaker, railed against the way boys are taught not to cry, express their emotions or “throw like a girl” —- a particularly nasty slur to a child who grew up to become an NFL quarterback. McPherson —- whose Sports Leadership Institute challenges sports to fulfill its promise of teaching children how to be healthy adults —- criticized the narrow definitions that confine manhood to notions like strength, control and hiding emotions.

“Where are the opportunities for men to express their other characteristics?” he asked. “The answer is to raise boys to be whole people. My friends kid me about ‘getting in touch with my feminine side,’ but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about getting in touch with my wholeness.”

The men leading Monday’s workshops emphasized that the lessons boys learn about manhood sabotage their ability to handle relationship stress later in life, which leads many to turn to violence to resolve conflicts with lovers and others.

McPherson isn’t the only jock working to stop violence against women: In a televised address about his Safe at Home Foundation, New York Yankees manager Joe Torre revealed the emotional scars left by his father’s abuse of his mother.

Torre’s story echoed what Zeda Barnett’s 16-year-old son, Kyrell, told a judge Feb. 10: “I’m really mad that my mom is gone,” Kyrell said at his stepfather’s sentencing. “Ever since he came into my life, my life has been a living hell.”

A barrage of statistics

The Men’s Leadership Forum seeks to address what experts say is a global pandemic of violence against women by encouraging men to act locally —- in their homes and communities, among their families and friends.

The men gathered Monday were social workers, high school guidance counselors, sports coaches, pastors, fathers, sons, brothers, husbands. They were all sick of the war on women that men have been waging.

The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency’s Office of Violence Prevention reports:

· In 2003, law enforcement officers reported 21,272 domestic violence incidents in the county, including 3,207 in the north coastal region and 2,361 in the north inland.

· About 21 out of every 1,000 households in San Diego County reported a domestic violence incident in 2003.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey:

· More than 2.5 million American women experience violence each year.

· About one-third of female victims suffer injuries as a result of the crime.

According to the National Violence Against Women Survey:

· 25 percent of women reported suffering violence at the hands of an intimate partner over the course of their lives, compared with 8 percent of men.

· The more serious the violence, the greater the disparity in the victims’ gender. If it really hurts, it’s more likely a woman at the receiving end.

· 76 percent of women victims reported being assaulted or raped by past or present intimate partners.

Men are committing the overwhelming majority of violence —- especially violence against women and girls —- but that doesn’t mean most men are violent toward women. Of the minority who are hurting women, most aren’t sociopaths or psychopaths.

Instead, as Jackson Katz, one of the movement’s forefathers, put it in a 2003 paper, they are “men who have learned to use force to maintain power and control over women, children or other men to ‘prove their manhood,’ or to try to get their emotional or physical needs met.”

Becoming ‘empowered bystanders’

That cruel curriculum —- lessons that hurt both men and women, but women more —- was at the heart of Monday’s conference.

Workshops sliced off various portions of gender-based violence’s poisoned apple: the limits of law enforcement’s ability to respond, the effects on children, discrepancies in how men and women communicate, how religious communities can help, and how concepts of masculinity contribute to the problem.

Men swapped strategies for dealing with everything from sexist jokes told by friends to neighbors who abuse their wives. It was a common theme: It’s time for men who get it to speak up and let other men know they don’t approve, becoming what Katz calls “empowered bystanders.”

“A lot of guys think it’s OK to do this sort of thing to women because no one has appropriately challenged them on it,” said Allen, the director of legal services for the San Diego-based Center for Community Solutions. “A joke can just not be funny, it can be outright offensive, but men don’t appropriately confront this guy, because we don’t want to seem wimpy and sissy.”

Allen added, “These poor guys, it’s hard to have sympathy for them, but they learned it, and we want to help them unlearn it. This effort is also going to benefit men. There are thousands and thousands of guys currently incarcerated for domestic violence and sexual assault because they didn’t have alternatives, they didn’t know better.”

David Wexler, executive director of the San Diego-based Relationship Training Institute, recently returned from a guest spot on the “Dr. Phil” show, where he discussed his new book, “When Good Men Behave Badly: Change Your Behavior, Change Your Relationship.” His institute has helped thousands of service members and their families through the U.S. Navy Family Advocacy Center in San Diego.

Wexler dissected on Monday the many ways in which the lessons young men learn about manhood cripple their ability to communicate emotions later in life or handle stresses that arise in intimate relationships. Wexler acknowledged the truly “bad” men that won’t make good partners for women under any circumstances. But, he said, “most men who mess up in relationships get tripped up by the emotional demands” but can learn how to handle stress without resorting to violence.

For the men who already know how to resolve conflicts peacefully, express their emotions and appreciate a more complex idea of masculinity, Wexler said, “It’s the good guys’ job to bring the guys in the middle over to our side.”

Too often, a man’s first exposure to the ideas discussed Monday comes when a judge orders him to attend a counseling group for batterers; several therapists who organize such groups throughout San Diego County were in attendance.

Doug Willford hopes men and women don’t wait that long to come to the discussion groups he leads at the Life Skills Learning Center in San Marcos.

“It’s difficult to get people to get help before they get in trouble,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t know how we’ll react until we experience severe stress. It’s better to get help now rather than waiting.”

Faith in solutions

Also moving to help are five San Diego County congregations, including St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Fallbrook.

These religious groups, behind the leadership of the Diocese of San Diego, are participating in the Safe Place Faith Communities Program. That means St. Peter’s is building a set of resources —- a team of trained volunteers, a network of resources, a safe place to talk —- for its parishioners who want help with domestic violence.

“We want to take away the fear, shame and negativity of talking to people about it,” said Terry Hawthorne, pastoral associate at St. Peter’s. While the parish already hosts a weekly visit by a bilingual domestic violence counselor from the Palomar Pomerado Health System and has an active Men’s Group, the Safe Place program will coordinate the church’s ability to respond to parishioners in spiritual crisis —- the hell of family violence, hell for the victims and torment for the perpetrators, too.

“There is a spiritual aspect to this,” Hawthorne said. “People might start to believe that they are unlovable by God, by other people, and their self-esteem goes really down. They need to know that the church is there for them in this and in all things in which they need help.”

All this work might not be able to stop every Eugene Orange in North County from beating or even killing his spouse, but we must try. For there are children, boys and girls, who are watching, and counting on us to make a stand. That stand might not require the dramatic rescue men love to imagine; it might merely require us to examine our behavior and make a subtle but significant change.

Some things men can do to prevent gender violence
1. Approach gender violence as a men’s issue involving men of all ages and socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds. View men not only as perpetrators or possible offenders, but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive peers.

2. If someone you know is abusing his female partner —- or is disrespectful or abusive to girls and women in general —- don’t look the other way. If you feel comfortable doing so, try to talk to him about it. Urge him to seek help. Or if you don’t know what to do, consult a friend, a parent, a professor or a counselor. Don’t remain silent.

3. Have the courage to look inward. Question your own attitudes. Don’t be defensive when something you do or say ends up hurting someone else. Try hard to understand how your own attitudes and actions might inadvertently perpetuate sexism and violence, and work toward changing them.

4. If you suspect that a woman close to you is being abused or has been sexually assaulted, gently ask if you can help.

5. If you are emotionally, psychologically, physically or sexually abusive to women, or have been in the past, seek professional help now.

6. Be an ally to women who are working to end all forms of gender violence. Support the work of campus-based women’s centers. Attend “Take Back the Night” rallies and other public events. Raise money for community-based rape crisis centers and battered women’s shelters. If you belong to a team or fraternity, or another student group, organize a fund-raiser.

7. Recognize and speak out against homophobia and gay-bashing. Discrimination and violence against lesbians and gays are wrong in and of themselves. This abuse also has direct links to sexism (e.g., the sexual orientation of men who speak out against sexism is often questioned, a conscious or unconscious strategy intended to silence them. This is a key reason few men do so).

8. Attend programs, take courses, watch films and read articles and books about multicultural masculinities, gender inequality and the root causes of gender violence. Educate yourself and others about how larger social forces affect the conflicts between individual men and women.

9. Don’t fund sexism. Refuse to purchase any magazine, rent any video, subscribe to any Web site or buy any music that portrays girls or women in a sexually degrading or abusive manner. Protest sexism in the media.

10. Mentor and teach young boys about how to be men in ways that don’t involve degrading or abusing girls and women. Volunteer to work with gender violence prevention programs, including anti-sexist men’s programs. Lead by example.

—- Jackson Katz, www.jacksonkatz.com

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

By ANNE BLYTHE, JESSICA ROCHA AND MATT DEES, Staff Writers (News & Observer)

CHAPEL HILL — Five days after Randy Leverne McKendall was in front of a judge for violating a domestic violence protection order, police say, he jumped out of a black Ford truck outside his wife’s workplace, exchanged words with her in the chilly morning air, then fatally shot her before taking his own life. Shennel McCrimon McKendall, 37, was several hundred yards from the front door of UNC Hospitals’ James T. Hedrick Building on Monday when the 34-year-old man she married nearly 5 1/2 years ago fired a 9 mm handgun at her at close range, police said.

The murder-suicide took place shortly after 7:30 a.m., as UNC Hospitals employees were starting their day at the remote office building. Nearly half a dozen people saw it, investigators said.

The couple’s turbulent past month, one that legal officials know well, highlights the limits of protection orders and raises questions about whether a workplace can be fully protected from domestic rage.

“This is just gut-wrenching,” said Kit Gruelle of Chatham County, a nationally recognized expert on domestic violence.

Shennel McKendall, experts say, did everything by the book.

On Nov. 9, she sought an emergency protection order from Chatham County court officials. Her husband had so badly twisted her wrist while they argued about what to watch on TV that it bled, she told them. She also complained that in October her husband had grabbed a radio from her teenage daughter and thrown it across a room after the girl refused to turn it down.

A court date was set for Nov. 15. Judge Pat Devine was on the bench. Shennel McKendall was represented by Melissa Averett, director of Domestic Violence Civil Legal Services in Chapel Hill.

“My recollection of the hearing is that I had to admonish him, that this was very serious,” Devine said Monday, referring to Randy McKendall. “He did some inappropriate laughing and smirking, which was troubling.”

Devine ordered Randy McKendall to stay away from the red brick home the couple shared at 612 Mitchell’s Chapel Road, Pittsboro. He was not to go near his wife, to call her or to communicate with her family. He was to surrender any firearms.

A suicide threat

The very next day, court officials say, he violated the order.

On Nov. 16, Shennel McKendall told Chatham investigators that her husband had called her from the Mitchell’s Chapel Road home and told her he was going to commit suicide. She heard two shots.

Deputies rushed to the house. Randy McKendall was not there. But in Shennel McKendall’s 17-year-old daughter’s bedroom, there was evidence that a TV and nightstand had been shot. Investigators found a 9 mm shell casing. They also confiscated a rifle.

Randy McKendall was charged with violating the protection order by contacting his wife by telephone. The warrant was served in Lee County, where he had relatives.

After a suicide attempt that landed him in a Lee County hospital, Randy McKendall turned himself in to county authorities Nov. 22 to be charged with violating the protection order. A magistrate released him on $1,000 bond, court records show.

Shennel McKendall was advised to stay away from her Mitchell’s Chapel Road home, and she did.

On Nov. 23, after Domestic Violence Officer Cpl. Brad Johnson was briefed about the case, Randy McKendall was arrested and placed under 48-hour lockup with a suggested bail of $5,000. Johnson urged Kayley Taber, an assistant district attorney in Chatham, to seek a higher bail. Devine got the case.

“I set the bond at $10,000, and that is quite high for an alleged violation of a domestic protection order. “It’s a horrible tragedy, but in this particular case, I’m satisfied that, with what we knew at the time, that we did what we could.”

Randy McKendall, who had a teenage son from another relationship, was out on bail before the court-appointed public defender had time to meet with him. Where he went and what he did over the next four days is unclear. Relatives
declined to comment.

“I want to know where he got the gun,” said Averett, the lawyer who represented Shennel McKendall.

Collecting evidence

Police were not sure when Randy McKendall arrived Monday at the Hedrick Building, which is nestled in woods nearly three miles from UNC-Chapel Hill’s main campus. From witness interviews, they think Shennel McKendall parked her 1999 forest green Honda Accord in a lower parking lot, then met up with several fellow employees along the tree-lined walks.

Police were not sure whether Randy McKendall jumped out of the Ford truck with the engine on or backed it over a curb and a small tree flanking the street. They found it with the gearshift in reverse.

Late Monday, investigators were collecting witness statements to piece together what happened in the parking lot. There were reports of as many as five gunshots.

Rarely do UNC police get such cases. “The last homicide was actually a similar situation, it was a murder-suicide, and that was more than 10 years ago,” Maj. Jeff McCracken said.

Neither campus police nor UNC Hospitals police were aware of the couple’s problems. Shennel McKendall had not sought extra protection, they said.

The mood was somber at the Hedrick Building all day. Few of the 200 employees wanted to talk.

“I think people are scared because it happened at work,” said Michael Barbee, who arrived about 10 minutes before the shooting. “Anybody could have been walking in at the time.”

Shennel McKendall worked in the human resources department with six other co-workers. She was the receptionist that job applicants first encountered. Shaken co-workers were ushered to their cars after the event. The employment office closed. Grief counselors were on the scene.

Those who stayed shed tears as they remembered a sweet, spunky woman caught in a dark web that she had tried to escape.

Outside Shennel McKendall’s grandmother’s house Monday evening, aunts, uncles and cousins gathered and talked quietly near the front porch, waiting for McKendall’s parents to arrive. They live in New York, where McKendall grew up, relatives said. Few knew of her marital problems.

Kenneth Dark, an uncle, lived nearby. “She was a good neighbor, but he wasn’t; he wanted to fight all the time,” Dark said. “If I knew it was going to get to this, I don’t know what I would have done.”

In the Berkley Place neighborhood in Sanford where Randy McKendall grew up, Cora McIver, a longtime resident who lived across the street, was saddened by the news Monday.

“I feel really low right now,” McIver said, “because Pie — that’s what we called him — he knew he could come talk to me. I don’t know what was going on up there. He was just a fine young man to me.”

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company