SANTA ROSA, Calif. – A career bank robber was sentenced last week to 45 years to life in state prison the August armed robbery of $50,000 from the Redwood CU branch in nearby Point Arena.

WOODBURY, Minn. – Postal CU is awarding $1,000 a week this holiday season in cash prizes for members who use their debit cards.

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Merrimack Valley FCU will acquire a branch here when it merges $7 million Merrimack College FCU.

DETROIT, Mich. – Detroit Metropolitan CU has picked up a branch in nearby Clawson with the merger of one-time $34 million Clawson Community CU.

RIDGECREST, Calif. – AltaOne FCU has signed with Lifelock to enable members to enroll in LifeLock identity theft protection at a reduced price.

DENVER – Bellco CU will have its name replace Wells Fargo atop the Colorado Convention Center’s theatre under a five-year sponsorship deal to be announced Thursday.

NEW YORK – United Nations FCU has signed with The Members Group to offer the company’s fraud text alerts to its members.

SEATTLE, Wash. – CUNA Mutual Group asked a federal court here to enforce a subpoena that would produce due diligence documents related to $72 million in failed residential mortgage-backed securities for which it is seeking recovery.

NEW YORK -- A group of retailers and trade groups filed notice in federal court today stating they are appealing a key component of last month’s preliminary approval of the landmark antitrust settlement with Visa and MasterCard which would bar merchants from bringing subsequent legal claims in the case even if they object to the settlement.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA reported this morning that last year’s failure of Eastern New York FCU was mostly caused by poor member business lending, which the $57 million credit union conducted through several layers of CUSOs, subsidiaries through which credit unions typically conduct non-traditional business.

FRESNO, Calif. – CUMIS Insurance Society filed suit in federal court here yesterday to recover $182,800 it claims a branch manager at Educational Employees CU stole through 56 unsecured loans she approved to family and friends, though she appears to have siphoned most of the proceeds for herself.

WASHINGTON – The powerful banking lobby was urging Senate leaders last night to reject a final effort to bring the member business loan bill to a vote, even as 500 credit union executives and allies were massing on Capitol Hill for a final lobbying blitz today and tomorrow on the MBL measure.

SAN ANTONIO -- Two suspects disabled a surveillance camera and then used a blow torch to try to get inside an ATM at a Randolph Brooks FCU branch early this morning but fled before they were able to get inside the machine when they were spotted by a security guard.

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Michigan Schools and Government CU awarded 52 classroom grants, totaling more than $36,000, to fund innovative classroom projects through its Classroom Cash Grant program.

SAN ANTONIO – SWBC said yesterday it has signed six credit union giants to its SWBC Insurance Partners program, which offers a comprehensive range of auto and homeowners coverage.

EAST LANSING, Mich. –Michigan State University FCU has won the bidding among seven financial institutions to open a branch in the Sparrow Professional Building in Lansing.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame FCU has contracted with CardFellow LLC of Cromwell, Conn., for card processing for commercial members.

COLONIE, N.Y. – CAP COM FCU, thwarted earlier this year in efforts to build a new headquarters, has a new plan for a headquarters.

AUSTIN, Texas – EECU, the giant Fort Worth credit union, has applied to state regulators to acquire Fort Worth Telco CU, one of four troubled Texas credit unions that would be merged out.

TACOMA, Wash. – A man suspected of carjacking a plumber and forcing him to drive to Twin Star CU and withdraw more than $4,000 from his credit union account was connected to the crime by DNA police took from the victim's smoothie as they sat in his vehicle during the 2011 incident.