Cheryl Corazzi Esse. MY BANK ACCOUNT IS PASSWORD PROTECTED. i CHANGE IT A LOT SOMETIMES I FORGET WHAT IT IS. BUT HAVE A WAY OF GETTING ON IT. THANKS TO THE U.S. GOV. WHEN YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER A CODE AND YOU WERE NOT ALLOWED TO WRITE IT DOWN ETC.
A LOT OF INDIVIDUALS USE BIRTHDAY ETC. WRONG THING TO DO. THAT IS THE FIRST THING SOMEONE WILL TRY. NOW DAYS WITH ALL THE NEW SECURTY, SYSTEM FOR A HOUSE FRONT ETC. THE KEY PAD IS EASY TO READ . ALL IT TAKES IS A RED LITE TO READ THE PASS CODE, I LEFT OUT SOME INFORMATION. IF YOU HAVE ONE OF THESE KEY SYSTEM FOR YOUR HOUSE . RUN A CLOROX HANDY PAD OVER IT. NOT REAL WET . JUST ENOUGH TO GET IT CLEAN THIS WIPES WHAT CODE NUMBERS ETC YOU USE .
Bill, we have a keypad on our front door that allows us to enter some random numbers before and after our passcode, so we don't have to worry about what you are talking about.
that old saying famious last words can you do that after you enter pass code after you inter your home .??
Madison, WI had been one of few cities in the country that took full advantage of the LBJ-era Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) of 1964, which provided 50% federal grants to match local governments' expenditures. This allowed Madison to acquire and develop its greenway network, thereby translating the city's open-space vision into reality, preserving vital wildlife corridors and protecting sensitive urban watersheds from development.
LWCF funding required the newly acquired greenways to remain open for public outdoor recreation. This directly spurred the development of multi-use paved and unpaved trails that connect Madison (like this bike path).
Faircrest Neighborhood bicycle path in LBJ-era greenway, Madison, Wisconsin, July 22, 2026, 7:53 PM
Bill, thank you for sharing the information about your sister. I am praying, asking God for her protection and healing..and for His perfect peace for you and all of your family.
Agricultural Company to Pay Over $10M to Resolve Foreign Bribery Case
The Scoular Company (Scoular), an agricultural supply chain company based in Omaha, Nebraska, will pay over $10 million to resolve an investigation by the Justice Department into a years-long scheme in which it relied on bribery of Mexican officials to deliver trains of goods across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Scoular entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in connection with a criminal information filed in the Western District of Texas charging the company with one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
“The Scoular Company used customs brokers as part of a long-running scheme at the Mexican border to pay more than $400,000 in bribes to Mexican officials,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “A portion of those bribes ultimately benefited people who helped operate a cartel, even though Scoular did not know about it. This resolution shows that bribery and corruption not only undermine fair play and competition for Americans, but also hurt our national security interests in stopping the scourge of dangerous cartel activity.”
“Nothing crosses into or out of Mexico without the approval and payment to Mexican drug cartels. American businesses that engage in any cross-border trade bear a significant amount of responsibility to do so without benefitting those cartels and without threatening our national security,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “The bribery scheme in which the Scoular Company engaged demonstrates the dangerous corporate corruption we in the Western District of Texas are committed to fighting on behalf of the American people.”
According to court documents, between 2013 and 2019, Scoular relied on multiple customs brokers to ensure that its shipments of corn and other products successfully crossed from the United States into Mexico. Under Mexican law, those shipments were subject to inspection for dirt, soil, and other impurities. To ensure that Scoular’s shipments successfully transited the border despite inspections that found such dirt, soil, and other impurities, Scoular authorized multiple third-party customs brokers to bribe Mexican officials at the border. At the direction of Scoular employees, and for Scoular’s benefit, those brokers paid bribes of approximately $2,000 per Scoular train and invoiced the bribes back to Scoular for reimbursement of reinspection fees, which Scoular paid. Scoular employees communicated about shipments and bribes via WhatsApp and other means. In total, Scoular authorized bribes of more than $400,000 and avoided fees and costs of more than $6.5 million.
As part of the DPA, Scoular agreed to pay a $9,769,521 criminal penalty and $414,351 in forfeiture. Scoular will also continue cooperating with the department in any ongoing or future criminal investigation arising during the term of the DPA. Further, Scoular has committed to implementing a compliance and ethics program designed to prevent and detect violations of the FCPA, and other applicable anti-corruption laws, throughout its operations. Scoular will periodically report to the department on remediation and implementation of compliance measures throughout the term of the DPA.
The department reached this resolution with Scoular based on a number of factors, including, among others, the nature and seriousness of the offense and the determination during the course of the investigation, that, unbeknownst to the company or its employees, a portion of the bribes paid in connection with Scoular’s shipments benefited persons associated with the criminal operations of a cartel operating at the U.S.-Mexico border. Scoular did not receive voluntary disclosure credit pursuant to the Department of Justice’s Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy, because it did not voluntarily and timely disclose to the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section the conduct described in the Statement of Facts.
Scoular received credit for its cooperation with the department’s investigation, which included (i) conducting an internal investigation into the misconduct and providing evidence to the department, including detailed factual presentations; (ii) providing information and evidence to the department that identified those involved in the misconduct; (iii) producing and organizing materials in response to the department’s voluntary document requests, notwithstanding certain deficiencies in the early part of the investigation; and (iv) securing counsel for current employees.
Scoular also engaged in timely remedial measures, including (i) increasing compliance sensitivity across the organization through enhanced business engagement; (ii) implementing the findings of an external compliance program maturity assessment and an anti-corruption risk assessment, including by restructuring its compliance function and incorporating senior leadership oversight across compliance and business activities; (iii) reducing operational risk by eliminating the use of customs brokers associated with reinspection fees in Mexico; (iv) strengthening risk-based review and monitoring procedures, and coordinating those efforts through the use of specific software tools; (v) updating and launching a revised Code of Conduct, along with several key policies and procedures related to its compliance program, including anti-corruption, bribery, conflicts of interest, and third party management; (vi) improving and implementing risk-based screenings and approval requirements for third-party providers; implementing anti-corruption and audit right provisions in third-party contracts; (vii) implementing revised financial controls procedures that relate to high-risk transactions, and (viii) providing general and targeted anti-corruption training to relevant personnel.
In light of these considerations, the criminal penalty reflects a 25% reduction from the bottom of the applicable guidelines range, and the term of the DPA is for a period of three years.
In a related case, a customs broker who paid bribes on behalf of Scoular, Carlos Leopoldo Alvelais, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA on Oct. 23, 2025. Sentencing in that case is scheduled for July 20.
The FBI is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Connor Mullin and Assistant Chief William E. Schurmann of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.
The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting FCPA and Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA and FEPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
LOOKING AT THE NEWS FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH ,EAST AND WEST COST.
FROM FIRES, HOMES SLIDING DOWN HILLS, FLOODING, RIVERS OUT OF THEIR BANKS. YES A FEW EARTHQUAKES, FIRES, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON? I THINK SOMEONE FROM ABOVE IS TELLING US SOMETHING . ITS TIME TO GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER. LOOK AT OTHER PLACES ON EARTH. SAME THING.
LOOK WHERE OUR CLASSMATES LIVE. WIND RAIN FIRES. LOTS OF OTHER PROBLEMS ALL OVER THE WORLD.
JUST MY WAY OF LOOKING AT WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW DAYS.
2 people shot at Woodward Reservoir in Stanislaus County, sheriff says. JUST IN
Thanks for the remembrance. Yes, it is HOT in Texas, but what else is new? Seems like Montana has been unseasonably warm. I always thought of it as being sort of Ruidosa North...Maybe not! Be safe, as Bill points out, we are living in increasingly crazy times it would seem.
had been one of few cities in the country that took full advantage of the LBJ-era Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) of 1964, which provided 50% federal grants to match local governments' expenditures. This allowed Madison to acquire and develop its greenway network, thereby translating the city's open-space vision into reality, preserving vital wildlife corridors and protecting sensitive urban watersheds from development.
