WASHINGTON – CUNA is expecting as many as 500 credit union executives and small business owners to Hike the Hill in the days following Thanksgiving as a final effort to land the member business lending bill during Congress’s lame duck session.

BILLINGS, Mont. – In one of the most expensive Senate races ever, freshman Democrat Jon Tester won re-election over the state’s lone House member, Denny Rehberg, with a broad coalition of credit unions and banks helping to boost the incumbent.

WASHINGTON – A brief post-election congressional session focusing on a year-end budget deadline being called the “fiscal cliff” is posing new opportunities for credit unions to push the member business loan bill, according to credit union lobbyists.

MIAMI – A federal appeals court yesterday denied a request by Power Financial CU to order NCUA to uphold a $15 million real estate loan deal the federal regulator had agreed to, then rescinded because the borrowers did not fit within the credit union’s field of membership.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Redstone FCU this morning introduced a new CUSO that will offer a variety of low-cost lifeline services, including check cashing, money orders, Western Union money transfers, bill pay, and reloadable prepaid cards to members and non-members.

WASHINGTON – Several important congressional credit union allies were headed towards reelection in close races last night, ensuring that credit union legislation will be forwarded in the next Congress.

BOSTON – Democrat Elizabeth Warren, the one-time credit union foe and the creator of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was elected to the U.S. Senate yesterday, defeating Republican incumbent Scott Brown.

CLEVELAND – Firefighters Community CU said it has merged into it United Food and Commercial Workers Local 880 CU, a troubled $11 million credit union.

MIAMI LAKES, Fla. – Members of $20 million Mercy (Hospital) CU voted to merge their credit union into $135 million JetStream FCU, creating a credit union, with more than $150 million in assets, eight branch locations, and over 19,000 members throughout Miami Dade County and Puerto Rico.

OMAHA, Neb. – Four Points FCU has contracted with Primax to implement and provide support services for the credit union's credit card issuing program.

RIVERDALE, Utah --America First CU has rolled out the ABC Deals cash-back program that offers members cash back on as much as 15% of Visa credit or debit purchases.

MALVERN, Penn. -- Akcelerant, a provider of software technology and advisory services to credit unions and banks, has agreed to acquire CorePROFIT Solutions, which provides profitability measurement, for among others, Mid-Atlantic Corporate FCU.

WASHINGTON – Troubled secondary mortgage market giant Freddie Mac reported net income of $2.9 billion this morning for its second quarter, its second straight quarterly profit and the latest sign of a rebounding mortgage market.

OREM, Utah – Police closed voting at two nearby precincts yesterday after and armed robbery just before noon at Alpine CU

DENVER – A federal appeals court agreed this morning to hear an appeal by RBS Securities and Wells Fargo’s Wachovia Capital Markets on whether NCUA filed suit against the Wall Street banks too late to satisfy the statute of limitations on securities claims for the failure of the five corporate credit unions.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Tennessee CU League announced this morning that Fred Robinson, its chief lobbyist, will succeed Tom Gaines as president and CEO.

CARTERET, N.J. – With electricity, telephone landlines and cellphone power all out, staff at MidState FCU gathered here amid lanterns and flashlights last Friday to disperse much-needed cash to members who were unable to pay for food, gas and other necessities in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – FIS yesterday reported its third quarter earnings dropped 36% to $86.8 million, due to a $56-million loss associated with the sale of its Healthcare Benefit Solution unit in August.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – Dale Chidester, one of 13 Kellogg employees to pool their savings in 1941 to charter what became Kellogg Community FCU, has passed away at 99.

VIENNA, Va. – Navy Federal Credit Union originated $2.63 billion of home mortgages in the third quarter, more than doubling its production of a year ago.