FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Employees of Freedom Financial CU foiled a potential armed robbery Wednesday by locking the would-be perpetrators out of the building.

ERIE, Penn. – Erie FCU won the bidding today to acquire Glenwood Elementary School, shuttered by city officials in a cost-cutting move last year, for a potential new headquarters and branch.

TAMPA, Fla. – Grow Financial FCU, fresh off a new branch opening in downtown Tampa, announced plans this morning to open three additional branches this year.

SALT LAKE CITY – Police say the two men dubbed the “Honey Bun Bandits” in a robbery and bomb scare at a Zions Bank branch Dec. 17 may also be connected to a holdup at Central CU 10 days later.

WASHINGTON – Congressional FCU has signed with Geezeo to implement the company’s personal financial management system.

JOHNSTON, Iowa – Community Choice CU has contracted with Hyland Software to implement the company’s OnBase workflow and enterprise content management solution.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Langley FCU yesterday announced it is now offering private student loans through CU Student Choice.

LANHAM, Md. – EZShield, a provider of identity management solutions, filed suit in federal court here last week claiming its long-time business partner Harland Clarke is infringing on its new patent for its check fraud protection program that Harland Clarke is marketing as CheckArmor

SAN ANTONIO – Alamo FCU has selected SIGNiX as its digital signature provider so members can sign documents online.

CORNING, N.Y. – Corning CU has purchased the former Tower Bank branch in Chambersburg and will convert it into one of its own service facilities.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Two members of Credit Union 1 were notified by their credit union that someone had stolen their debit card number and had racked up some $5,000 worth of purchases in an hour and the credit union cancelled the card – but not before the unawares thief had the merchandise sent to the victims’ home.

SAN FRANCISCO – A group of assistant branch managers at Patelco CU has filed a civil suit claiming the credit union has misclassified them as exempt employees, enabling Patelco to avoid paying them for overtime and missed meals and rest breaks.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said today that last year’s liquidation of Telesis Community CU, the year’s biggest failure, is projected to cost the National CU Share Insurance Fund losses of around $72 million, most of it on bad member business loans made by the one-time $615 million Chatsworth, California, credit union.

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Diebold is rolling out the first ATM that includes integration with mobile devices via the cloud, allowing cardless transactions.

OMAHA, Neb. – The CEO and lone employee of the now-defunct H.B.E. CU was sentenced yesterday to 45 months in federal prison for stealing $636,000, much of it to go on shopping sprees, the latest case of a manager of a tiny credit union taking advantage of lax board oversight to loot the credit union’s coffers.

WICHITA, Kan. – Meritrust CU will donate $30,000 to each of two local non-profits, money raised through its holiday’s Skip-A-Pay program, which allowed members to defer their loan payments in December by paying a $25 processing fee per loan, of which a portion would be donated to local charities.

SALT LAKE CITY – A former branch manager at Intermountain CU on Monday was sentenced to 36 months probation and six months home confinement for stealing $152,000 from the credit union.

JOLIET, Ill. – NuMark CU paid its members a Dec. 31 bonus amounting to a 5% auto loan interest rebate and a $5 checking bonus for December – a total of $230,000.

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Penn. – U$X FCU paid its members $420,000 in member loyalty rewards.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Chartway FCU said its charitable arm, the We Promise Foundation, is offering its fourth annual Free Groceries for a Year Raffle, a $5,200 value.