Stanley J. Lukowski did not start his professional life as a banker, but he certainly made his mark as one.

When Hal Russell, the president and chief executive officer of Commencement Bank in Tacoma, decided to get back into banking last year, he made the overwhelmingly popular choice and took a state charter.

After financing the construction of thousands of southern California homes, Vineyard National Bancorp in Corona, Calif., is turning its lending focus to building the dry cleaner stores, gas stations, and coffee shops that will serve the new homeowners.

First Guaranty Bank in Hammond, La., has announced plans to acquire the $132 million-asset Homestead Bank in Ponchatoula for $13 million.

Northwest Bancorp Inc. in Warren, Pa., agreed to buy Penn Laurel Financial Corp. in Curwensville for $32.7 million in cash.

The National Credit Union Administration is reviewing the conversion proceedings at Lafayette Federal Credit Union in Kensington, Md., after receiving complaints of voting irregularities leading up to and during the Dec. 16 vote.

Some of Texas' most prolific acquirers in recent years are being bought out themselves, but even with companies such as Texas Regional Bancshares Inc. and Texas United Bancshares Inc. out of the mix, there are no signs that dealmaking is slowing in the state.

Bradford Bancorp, a mutual holding company in Baltimore, said Thursday that it has a deal buy Golden Prague Federal Savings and Loan, a $29 million-asset mutual thrift in Baltimore.

A lifetime construction worker, Chad Patten was looking for a career change after the Provo, Utah, steel mill where he worked shut down in late 2002.

NEW ENGLAND

After referring customers in need of investment advice to a North Carolina bank for the past seven years, First Citizens Bancorp Inc. of Columbia, S.C., has launched a broker-dealer unit to bring that work in-house.

Less than a year after converting from a credit union to a mutual thrift, ViewPoint Financial Group in Plano, Tex., went public in October at $10 a share.

Greater Atlantic Financial Corp. of Reston, Va., has uncovered irregularities in its financial reporting and said that its earnings reports for fiscal 2004 and 2005 and the quarters that ended March 31, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2005, should no longer be relied upon.

Lafayette Federal Credit Union in Kensington, Md., has won membership approval to convert to a mutual thrift, but a vocal group of members who oppose the plan has refused to give up the fight.

Mid-Southern Mutual Holding Co. in Salem, Ind., has announced the resignation of Stephen H. Walls, its president and chief executive officer.

Sterling Financial Corp. in Lancaster, Pa., has quit three of its insurance businesses, and First Capital Inc. in Corydon, Ind., is selling its property and casualty business.

Casey Duffy, a 28-year-old war widow from Brick, N.J., is going to college so she can better provide for her 3-year-old son.

With the quarter and year drawing to a close, several small banking companies this week made sure to report on the effect of balance-sheet adjustments and of lower credit quality.

Coastal Community Investments Inc. in Panama City Beach, Fla., said it plans to buy the $84 million-asset Bayside Savings Bank in Port Saint Joe, Fla.