Largely because of cost concerns, a bill introduced by Nebraska Congressman Tom Osborne last year to give banks and thrifts tax breaks for lending in rural areas did not even receive a hearing.

Community bankers worry that big banks will use complex services to woo away their customers. A visit I made to a Bank of America branch in Summit, N.J., my hometown, may cast some light on such fears.

Chemical Financial Corp. of Midland, Mich., announced Monday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 5.9%, to $14.4 million. Diluted earnings per share were 54 cents, 5.6% more than a year earlier.

Sterling Financial Corp. of Spokane said Monday that fourth-quarter earnings jumped 72% from a year earlier, to $15.5 million. Earnings for all of 2004 rose 60%, to $56 million.

It had been a tense few weeks for a California high school band since two local travel agents to whom members had paid $100,000 for a trip to China were arrested and charged with stealing from customers.

Cardinal Financial Corp. of Tysons Corner, Va., said Monday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 59% from a year earlier, to $1.7 million.

Community banks are more than holding their own in the face of heavier competition for small-business loans from large banks and even credit unions.

The Banc Corp.’s James Taylor and C. Stanley Bailey last worked together 40 years ago, when Mr. Taylor, fresh out of college, was coaching a high school basketball team and Mr. Bailey was one of his players.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma has dismissed a class action against Gold Banc Corp. Inc. and its subsidiary bank.

Fourth-quarter earnings were lackluster at many thrift companies, and the forecast for the first part of this year looks similarly glum.

Paul B. Murphy Jr., the chief executive at Southwest Bancorp. of Texas Inc., knows that some people will not like its new name.

Gerald R. Francis, City Holding Co.'s president and chief executive officer, will leave the Charleston, W. Va., banking company Monday.

Upon taking the helm at Old National Bancorp four months ago, Robert G. Jones set out on a listening tour of the company’s nine markets.

BancorpSouth Inc. of Tupelo, Miss., said Tuesday that it ended 2004 on a positive note, with an increase in loans and net interest margin.

United Bankshares Inc. of Parkersburg, W.Va., announced Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 142% from a year earlier, to $25.5 million.

Mercantile Bankshares Inc. of Baltimore announced Tuesday that it is buying Community Bank of Northern Virginia in Sterling for $212 million in cash and stock.

I once asked a correspondent banker at a New York money-center bank how it competes against community banks, with their loyal customers.

Irwin Financial Corp. of Columbus, Ind., announced Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 13.8%, to $14.4 million.

TCF Financial Corp. of Wayzata, Minn., announced Monday that Lynn A. Nagorske, its president and chief operating officer, had been designated to succeed William A. Cooper as chief executive on Jan. 1, 2006.