MADISON, Wis. – Eight homeless men were arrested Tuesday and charged with cashing forged checks at local credit unions and banks on behalf of what police believe is an interstate ring.

Featuring credit unions’ efforts in their communities.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board this morning approved a new rule that will replace the current Wall Street rating system as a criteria for determining the permissibility of an investment with two new standards, whether the investment is determined to be of “investment grade” and whether it contains a “minimal amount of credit risk.”

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – CPM FCU, struggling with a $1.6 million loss for the first three quarters, removed its two top executives yesterday and brought in a work-out specialist to manage the $270 million credit union.

SULLIVAN, Mo. – An alert teller at South Community CU foiled a potential robbery Monday when she sounded the alarm as she saw a man approach wearing all-black clothing and a bandana covering his face, prompting the suspect to flee.

TAMPA, Fla. – USF FCU yesterday said it is giving $300,000 to the University of South Florida’s USF Foundation to support scholarships and programs within the Morsani College of Medicine and to provide passport scholarships for USF System undergraduates.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Service One CU said Valerie Brown is retiring after 34 years as CEO of the $120-million credit union.

HOUSTON – KBR Heritage FCU has signed with Geezeo to integrate the company’s personal financial management product into its online banking platform.

TREVOSE, Penn. – TruMark Financial CU has implemented Financial Management Solutions, Inc.’s Teller Management System.

YUBA CITY, Calif. – The Yuba City Council this week approved a plan by Sierra Central CU for an eight-acre headquarters project that would develop three buildings totaling 132,600-square-feet over three phases.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Lake Trust CU has chosen Contracting Resources to help it design a new high-tech service model that will introduce teller pods inside its branches.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – A federal jury yesterday convicted two men in a $500,000 interstate stolen credit card scheme that hit 25 credit unions and banks.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – NCUA on Wednesday reported it approved a TIP charter to Yale-New Haven Healthcare FCU, allowing the $30-million credit union to serve any healthcare workers in Fairfield, Middlesex, New Haven and New London counties.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA yesterday reported it approved the merger of troubled L.C. School Employees FCU, a $27-million Gary, Ind., credit union that lost $1 million through the first nine months of the year, into $2.2-billion Teachers CU, South Bend, Ind.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Redstone FCU on Wednesday began offering an online document storage service that allows members to load electronic files such as wills, mortgages and insurance documents, or other images, into the credit union’s online banking protected document library for free.

WASHINTGON – CUNA and the leagues, faced with the imminent defeat of the member business loan bill again, called on Senators today to kill the bank-favored Transaction Account Guarantee bill which would extend the federal guarantee on all non-interest bearing accounts for banks and credit unions.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – An explosive device detonated at a Virginia CU ATM early this morning failed to access the cash but left a charred machine.

HONOLULU – Aloha Pacific FCU will pick up a new branch inside the Dole Pineapple Cannery with the acquisition of troubled Hawaii Stevedores/Castle & Cooke FCU, the fast-growing credit union giant’s fifth merger in the last five years.

PHILADELPHIA – American Heritage FCU donated $100,000 to the Children’s Seashore House of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to fund the Music Therapy Program at the hospital.

SHEBOYGAN FALLS, Wis. – The former manager of Midwest CU on Monday was sentenced to a year in jail for stealing $180,000 from the $4-million credit union and threatening its future.