WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Credit Union Journal is now accepting entries for its 2012 Best Practices Awards.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Altura CU said its Altura Scholarship Foundation granted $42,000 in scholarships to seniors graduating from Riverside County high schools.

OGDEN, Utah – Goldenwest CU plans to open a branch inside Dick’s Market grocery store in Centerville.

NEW YORK – New York Times Employees’ FCU has signed with Geezeo for the company’s white label personal financial management solution.

CORDOVA, Tenn. – HealthNet FCU said Mike Haggard is retiring after 24 years as its president and is being succeeded by Bull Whitten, vice president of the $46-million credit union.

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas FCU has contracted with Prime Alliance Solutions to use its prime+ cloud-based mortgage solution, which the company said allows credit unions to consolidate multiple lending platforms.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Healthcare FCU has expanded its field of membership to serve a hospitals advocacy group called the Center for Health Affairs.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU celebrated its 75th anniversary yesterday with the opening of a new branch in Durham Lowe’s Grove, the site of the state’s first rural credit union in 1916.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Southeast Corporate FCU on Monday said it is still short of its planned capital raising for its merger into Corporate One FCU and has extended the deadline for subscriptions another month, until June 29.

NEW YORK – In an unusual dispute, the National Federation of Community Development CUs is suing one of its members for non-payment of PRIDE – Predatory Relief and Intervention Deposits the Federation lends to its members to help fund anti-predatory lending programs.

VINELAND, N.J. – Police are searching for two con men who convinced an elderly woman in a Walmart parking lot to take them to her credit union and withdraw $7,000.

WICHITA – A federal judge Friday agreed to consolidate two suits NCUA has brought against Wall Street banks for their sale of faulty residential mortgage-backed securities that went bad and helped cause the failure of U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU, the two biggest of five corporate credit union failures.

JACKSON, Mich.-Not surprisingly, CFOs expect their attention in the second half of the year will remain on squeezing what they can from investment portfolios.

MADISON, Wis.-The economic tea leaves do not show rapid growth nor booming loan demand in the second half of this year, meaning credit unions must look for alternative means to build their portfolios, according to one analyst.

ONTARIO, Calif.-Pay little attention to any second-half forecasts that call for a softening in car sales.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Not expecting the economy to turn the corner for another 18 months, Dennis Dollar is urging credit unions to begin navigating their way through the fog now.

GREENSBORO, N.C.-Credit unions will need to hone their investment strategies in the second half of 2012.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-The biggest concern for credit unions in the second half of 2012 is not whether the economy will continue to rebound, according to one expert, but what to do about all the excess liquidity pouring into credit unions post Bank Transfer Day.

LAKE MARY, Fla.-Credit unions' technology investments in the second half of 2012 will likely continue to be in the areas of relationship management and loan origination, according to Harland Financial Solutions.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-High demand for used cars has created a bubble that one person says could burst within the next six to 18 months.