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2003 Surveillance image of Xerox Federal Credit Union assailant, provided via Webster (NY) Police Dept. web page at http://ci.webster.ny.us/gallery.aspx?PID=36 I'm a college professor, not a reporter. But I may or may not have had something to do with getting a 13-year-old murder case back in gear. Eight weeks ago, I dug up details of a 2003 bank robbery and murder at a Xerox credit union branch in Webster, NY. A Xerox employee, Raymond Batzel, was killed. The killer fled and was never found. My reporting days are well behind me, but I wanted to use the case in a journalism class I teach at St. Bonaventure University . The idea was to get students to think about who they'd call to get updates on a case no one had reported on for almost a decade. (Most of the officers and others connected with the case have moved on.) During my research, I emailed the police chief in Webster, NY, and the FBI's Buffalo office. The FBI responded first, telling me the Webster Police...

By (WT-shared) Inas at wts wikivoyage  (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons If you're a CEO, President, Executive Director, etc. -- or one day wish to be -- please read this message from the head of Raindrop Products. It's a perfect example of how to treat customers, take responsibility, spell out a path forward, and do public relations around a thorny problem: Dear Citizens of Webster, Earlier this year the town of Webster officials made a decision to provide a new Spray Park on the grounds of the Webster Recreation Center. In addition to providing the citizens with a new community gathering place offering a fun, safe aquatic play experience, the officials decided to honor the town’s police officers and firefighters by theming this spray park with custom made spray toys with a “first responders” theme.  The purchase order was issued for the manufacturing of the custom made pieces with the hopes of having the equipment in place for a July 4th Grand ope...