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.

Sky Financial Group Inc. of Bowling Green, Ohio, announced Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income rose 19%, to $49.3 million.

Webster Financial Corp. of Waterbury, Conn., reported Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income fell 61%.

Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc. said Monday that fourth-quarter earnings more than tripled, to $20.2 million, because of strong loan growth and its purchase of a much larger company.

Heartland Financial USA Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 77% from a year earlier, to $6.6 million.

Four months after calling off his deal to buy Gold Banc Corp. in Kansas, the veteran banker C. Stanley Bailey has emerged as the chief executive officer of a $1.4 billion-asset Alabama banking company.

Unizan Financial Corp. will post an other-than-temporary, noncash charge of $2.2 million when it reports fourth-quarter results Feb. 18.

What would community bankers think of proposed state legislation that would finally tax credit unions but also raise bankers' taxes?

Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. of Westerly, R.I., said solid asset quality and expenses that stayed under control last year permitted more revenue than ever to flow to the bottom line. The $2.3 billion-asset company's full-year profit grew 10%, to $20.8 million; fourth-quarter earnings jumped 13%, to $5.5 million.

Just before organizers of Minnesota's Lakeview Bank held their first meeting, in April 2003, three board members who were also members of a men's Bible study group proposed a group prayer.

To position itself as the bank of choice for small-business owners and wealthy individuals, Enterprise Bank and Trust in Clayton, Mo., created its own “university” 18 months ago.

California bankers are pushing for a state law that would indemnify banks against failure to report suspected financial abuse of the elderly.

First Niagara Financial Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 34% from the same period in 2003, to $13.6 million.

Though the National Credit Union Administration has acted twice in 11 months to make becoming a bank more difficult, some fast-growing credit unions see little alternative and have abandoned the charter or tried to.