WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates continued to plumb new depths this week, with the average for the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan hitting 3.49%, according to Freddie Mac.

WORCESTER, Mass. – A state appeals court here overturned a fraud conviction for the former office manager of Wyman-Gordon FCU and her husband in the faked $210,000 robbery of the credit union, ruling the lower state court does not have legal jurisdiction over a fraud case in a federal credit union.

MUNCIE, Ind. – A man convicted a year ago of the May 2009 armed holdup at Industrial Centre FCU unmasked his accomplice as Stanley Wills, with the defendants being tried this week for the $250,000 heist.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz hailed Wednesday’s federal court ruling denying a bid by Wall Street banks to dismiss NCUA’s suits regarding corporate credit union investments and said the agency is determined to see the cases through.

NEW YORK – A second plaintiffs group, the National Grocers Association, weighed in against the Visa and MasterCard antitrust settlement on Thursday, increasing the odds against a federal judge eventually approving the historic deal.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Massachusetts CU League this afternoon officially endorsed consumer advocate and Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren, a sometimes foe, for the U.S. Senate.

NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif. – A lucky member of SAFE CU will be travelling to London for the Olympic Games as grand prize winner of the Visa London 2012 Olympic Games Sweepstakes.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- NCUA announced this morning it is creating an office to examine the nation’s largest credit unions, the four over $10 billion in assets and corporates, as part of a reorganization of its examinations process.

WICHITA, Kan. – A federal court yesterday rejected separate bids by two Wall Street banks to dismiss claims by NCUA over the banks sale of billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities to two failed corporate credit unions, U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU, ruling the suits must proceed.

TUKWILA, Wash. – A story in Monday’s issue of the Credit Union Journal Daily briefing incorrectly stated a Russian hacker arrested in Cyprus was charged with stealing more than 28,000 credit card accounts from BECU. The credit unions said only a handful of its accounts were compromised and the 28,000 number refers to accounts at all financial institutions affected by the breach.

DANBURY, Conn. – A woman suspected of robbing a branch of Sikorsky FCU yesterday morning was arrested after police tracked the van she allegedly used to flee the scene.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University FCU named two winners of its Millionaire for a Day contest, in which $1 million was deposited into the accounts of two of the credit union’s Dollar Dog club members for 24 hours.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A suspect in last Saturday’s burglary at an SRP FCU ATM was identified by family and friends, who notified police.

PLEASANTON, Calif. – Patelco CU has signed with Solution Q to install the Canadian company’s Eclipse Project Portfolio Management software to manage its portfolio of projects.

TAMPA, Fla. – Two fans of the Tampa Bay Rays enjoyed a private suite at the baseball team’s Tropicana Field Sunday, courtesy of Grow Financial FCU.

MINNEAPOLIS – FICO, maker of the ubiquitous credit score, reported an 11% drop in third quarter earnings to $20.7 million.

ATLANTA – Credit bureau Equifax reported a 122% surge in second quarter earnings, to $76.4 million, based on the sell-off of its Brazil operations.

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Visa Europe Ltd. may receive an antitrust complaint from European Union regulators over credit card fees, the EU’s competition commissioner said.

SAN FRANCISCO – Fitch Ratings on Wednesday said it downgraded CMG Mortgage Insurance Company’s Insurer Financial Strength rating to “BBB-” from “BBB” based on financial troubles at PMI Mortgage Insurance, CUNA Mutual Group’s partner in the joint venture.

NASHVILLE – Declining non-interest income is at the top of mind for many credit union CEOs, according to a survey by Credit Union Journal of CEOs at NAFCU’s Annual Conference here. Also getting mention as looming concerns: threats to overdraft and credit card revenue.