A jury found Iowa state senator Matt McCoy not guilty of charges he attempted to extort $2,000 from Reid Shultz owner of Security Plus in Des Moines. According to the Des Moines Register story, Thomas Vasquez, the paid government informant and former salesman for Security Plus, was not considered the most reliable guy around. Two sources called him a "pathological liar" in testimony.
As managing editor, Tess helps oversee editorial content and works on developing a rapport with industry leaders to report and write on industry news, concentrating on the fire and residential beats. She focuses on writing stories important to installers, integrators, manufacturers and distributors. Before joining Security Systems News in September 2010, Tess was a newspaper reporter in Maine for more than two decades. Most of that time, she worked for The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, and also was an occasional stringer for The New York Times. Tess has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and a master’s in linguistics from the University of Michigan. She lives in Maine with her husband and a demanding cat.
