CLAREMONT, Calif. — Expanding knowledge, developing skills and enabling someone to "find her voice"-all part of the praise heaped upon Western CUNA Management School by two of its former students.

BREA, Calif. — Here are some highlights of Matt Weidler's Business Plan for "Mobile Phone ATM Access":

SAN FRANCISCO-Michael E. James of Lending Insights also offered "Five Key Exposures Regulators Will Review."

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University CU made a $30,000 pledge to Community Kitchen’s Build the Kitchen, Feed the Community Campaign.

SCRANTON, Penn. – A former principal at McNichols Plaza Elementary School in South Scranton last week was charged with stealing $87,000 from an account at Penn East FCU he had access to through the Scranton Association of Administrators and Supervisors to pay for his gambling habit.

BETHPAGE, N.Y. – Bethpage FCU plans to open two Long Island branches later this year and three to five the following year.

AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine credit unions have launched an extensive summer radio campaign promoting the CU24 SURF ATM Network.

LANSING, Mich. – Lake Trust CU announced Friday it is merging into it Father Kramer CU, a one-time $10 million Center Line, Mich., credit union that has been in the red the past three years.

WASHINGTON – Regulators closed four more banks Friday – two in Georgia and one each in Florida and Arizona – making a total of 55 bank failures so far in 2011.

NEW YORK – The final parameters of an antitrust settlement submitted to a federal court here Friday by the Department of Justice promises to give merchants and cardholders more choices when paying for goods and services by preventing Visa and MasterCard from enforcing anti-steering bylaws.

WASHINGTON – President Obama is expected to finally nominate a director of the fledgling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week but it won’t be controversial figure Elizabeth Warren, according to several sources.

NEW YORK – A federal court last week dismissed a suit brought by a Belarusian immigrant who said he was discriminated against by Polish & Slavic FCU when the nation’s largest ethnic credit union denied him membership because he was neither Polish nor Slavic.

DALLAS – Confidence among credit union CEOs declined again last quarter and continues near record lows as the economic recovery is slow to take hold, according to the second quarter CEO Confidence Survey conducted by Southwest Corporate FCU.

LAS VEGAS – Nevada FCU, the state’s largest federally insured credit union, today said it is seeking a conversion to a state charter which will allow it to expand its field of membership beyond the current Clark County to include 300,000 more potential members in Washoe and Nye counties.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fidelity National Financial, the biggest title insurer in the U.S., said it is selling its flood insurance business to WRM America Holdings of Uniondale, N.Y., for $210 million.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Altura CU said its Altura Scholarship Foundation has granted $43,000 in college scholarships to seniors who graduated this year from Riverside County high schools.

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Digital FCU’s DCU for Kids foundation is making donations totaling $91,500 to local organizations as part of its charitable efforts in supporting programs that provide a health, welfare, educational or social service for children in communities it serves.

POTTSVILLE, Penn. – A former employee at Hidden River CU on Wednesday was sentenced to six months to 23 months in prison for to stealing more than $58,000 from the credit union.

WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates retreated this week along with long-term bond yields amid weaker-than-expected jobs gains and an increase in the unemployment rate.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Financial Plus CU is the first credit union to deploy Dwolla’s FiSync, allowing members to connect the Dwolla payment platform directly to its existing systems, thereby expediting the sign-up process.