WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Out of respect for our readers on April 1, Credit Union Journal has opted not to report any of the following stories:

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – Kinecta FCU said yesterday it has expanded its mortgage offerings to include federally insured Federal Housing Authority loans.

WASHINGTON – Home loan rates rose this week for the second week in a row, but the average rate on the 30-year loan remained below 5%, according to Freddie Mac.

WARWICK, R.I. – Greenwood CU said it is cutting all loan rates for soldiers and sailors from the statutorily required 6% under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, to 2%.

WASHINGTON – Credit union and banking lobbyists were confident last night they were moving closer to the 60 votes necessary in the Senate to delay the debit fee rule, but the measure was not expected to be attached to a sure-thing small business bill being debated yesterday.

WASHINGTON – Supporters of a bill to delay the rule on debit interchange continued to build support this afternoon as Senate backers worked to collect the 60 votes they will need to attach their bill to bipartisan small business legislation. The Federal Reserve’s proposed rule to cap interchange fees on debit, said Montana Democrat Jon Tester, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, “will further consolidate financial institutions in this country, and that’s the last thing we need.” Tester’s remarks on the Senate floor followed those by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, the sponsor of the fee cap rule, who indicated he will filibuster the bill to delay the rule–meaning supporters of the delay will need 60 of the Senate’s 100 members to sign on. Sources told the Credit Union Journal this afternoon they have tentative commitments from 52 senators, leaving them well short of what will be needed to overcome Durbin’s filibuster. So there was serious doubt the delay bid will be attached to the small business bill. Tester, who co-sponsored a bill to delay the Fed’s rule for as long as two years while further study is conducted on the exemption for credit unions and community banks, painted a bleak picture of the rule’s impact. “These rules are going to put community banks and credit unions out of business,” he told his Senate colleagues. The stakes in the fight are enormous, with merchants paying banks and credit unions an estimated $20.5 billion a year in debit fees–$2.6 billion of it alone going to credit unions.

ATLANTA – CRIF Lending Solutions rolled out a new loan and account origination platform that combines features of the APPRO and Teres lending systems together in a single solution.

VISTA, Calif. – Bluepoint Solutions announced yesterday the introduction of an online marketing center that will allow credit unions to easily and inexpensively create professional-quality, customized marketing materials for the company’s QwikDeposit Home, Pro and ToGo remote capture applications.

SAN DIEGO – CUSO Financial Services said yesterday it signed with Albridge Solutions, an affiliate of BNY Mellon’s Pershing subsidiary, to provide enhanced data management and wealth reporting solutions to advisors within the CFS network.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Associated Healthcare CU signed with TRC Interactive to offer online training with CreditUnionTrainingOnline.

WALL, N.J. – First Financial FCU is offering special financing on used cars during its second annual used car sale with Enterprise Used Car Sales next month at the credit union’s Neptune branch.

LARAMIE, Wyo. – UniWyo FCU has signed with Jack Henry & Associates to install the company’s My NetTeller, which enables account holders to create customized dashboard-style landing pages of their most commonly used online banking functions.

BERKELEY, Calif. – At its members’ request, Cooperative Center FCU is installing a 29.7 kilowatt DC photovoltaic solar system that is expected to meet 65% to 75% of the credit union’s electricity needs.

FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines FCU on Wednesday launched its own remote deposit capture system, which will allow members to deposit checks from their home or office.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A woman who took $232,000 from her elderly parents’ accounts at Lake Michigan CU and invested it in an Internet Nigerian scam was put on probation for five years and ordered to replenish the funds.

LENEXA Kan. – A group of 14 corporate credit unions is submitting a bid to NCUA to acquire the payment products and services currently operated by U.S. Central Bridge FCU, one of the surviving parts of the one-time $52 billion corporate.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The former CEO of Western Mass. Electric Co. CU. was sentenced to four years supervised release and ordered by a federal judge to write a letter of apology to the $33 million credit union he headed for three decades for stealing $225,000 in phantom expense reimbursements. “I’m waiting to hear I’m very sorry for what I did,” Judge Michael Posner told Robert Koss, 68, who ran the credit union until 2006, during a sentencing hearing Tuesday. A younger defendant would likely have received a two-year prison sentence, according to the judge, who said going to prison “would be extremely dangerous” to Koss, who appeared in court in a wheelchair. From the late 1990s and through 2006, Koss collected about $225,000 from invented or inflated expense reimbursements. He pleaded guilty last September to embezzlement and tax evasion charges. Koss must also repay the full $225,000 within 30 days, under Ponsor’s order; most of the funds have already been repaid.SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The former CEO of Western Mass. Electric Co. CU. was sentenced to four years supervised release and ordered by a federal judge to write a letter of apology to the $33 million credit union he headed for three decades for stealing $225,000 in phantom expense reimbursements.

DETROIT – Federal prosecutors have changed their minds about seeking the death penalty for two men charged in the 2001 shooting death of an armored car guard who was killed while restocking ATMs at Dearborn FCU, now known as DFCU Financial.

WARMINISTER, Penn. – Freedom CU announced the retirement of Theresa Chletcos, who served 39 years on the credit union’s board.

BURBANK, Calif. – Employees of Lockheed FCU will trade in pens for paintbrushes next month to give a facelift to the Burbank Center for the Retarded.