President Bush's plan to raise fees on government-guaranteed farm loans has hit a roadblock in Congress.

Kentucky bankers are fuming over a new law that requires banks to help keep track of delinquent taxpayers, and banks there are suing to overturn it.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Six months into its Florida comeback, F.N.B. Corp. of Hermitage, Pa., is enjoying such strong loan growth in the state that it is considering further expansion.

Ending a five-year dispute, PSB Bancorp Inc. in Philadelphia has agreed to pay $9.65 million to settle a number of shareholder lawsuits over stock options.

In what may be the largest loan syndication ever by number of lenders, 101 community banks are financing a $118.5 million commercial real estate project in Kansas City, Mo.

First Banks Inc. of St. Louis announced Wednesday that it had agreed to buy San Diego Community Bank of Chula Vista, Calif., for $25.5 million in cash.

Sterling Bancorp in New York is counting on high-rate loans and cross-sales to rev up earnings dampened by tight margins, high expenses, and flat fee income.

Hundreds of community banks and thrifts that were among the first to sell trust-preferred securities through investment pools could soon be looking to refinance.

Heartland Financial USA Inc. of Dubuque, Iowa, has lowered its first-quarter earnings by $1.2 million, to $4.5 million.

Colorado lawmakers have approved the creation of a statewide identity theft task force that would include bankers.

NBC Capital Corp. in Starkville, Miss., said Thursday that it plans to raise about $46.8 million in a public offering.

A traditional Texas bank's experiment in automated banking is showing signs of promise.

The $1.1 billion-asset Mercantile Bancorp Inc. in Quincy, Ill., announced Thursday that it had restated its first-quarter earnings after reaching an out-of-court settlement with a brokerage firm that had sued it.

Vineyard National Bancorp in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., said Thursday that it plans to raise $31.8 million by selling 1.2 million shares of common stock to three institutional investors in a direct offering.

NEW ENGLAND

National Mercantile Bancorp of Los Angeles said its first-quarter profit rose 40% from a year earlier on strong loan and deposit growth.

After several years of groundwork, a nonprofit in Minneapolis that teams up with small banks to make bigger loans to growing business customers is looking to take its model to other states.