JEFFERSON PARISH, La. – A member service representative at Jefferson Parish Employee FCU admitted she stole $31,000 from member accounts.

DECATUR, Ill. – A former employee at Earthmover CU, assigned as a “personal banker” to certain members, was charged with embezzling $150,000 from accounts held by five elderly members.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Service CU is sponsoring its second Money Mammals tour, which incorporates Joe the Monkey and other Money Mammal puppets to teach financial literacy to youth.

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. – TopLine FCU said it has signed with Fynanz Inc. to offer private student loans through the company’s EdAccess cuStudentLoans.org network.

EL PASO, Texas – GECU, formerly Government Employees CU, has applied to state regulators to expand its field of membership over state lines to serve the New Mexico counties of Dona Ana and Otero.

WASHINGTON – The benchmark 30-year rate for mortgage lending declined again this week to its lowest level in five decades, as confidence in the economy continued to slide, according to Freddie Mac.

DETROIT – A Southfield investment adviser on Thursday was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he stole approximately $10 million from investors, including several municipalities, a school district, a bank and a credit union serving churches.

HONOLULU – The former chief financial officer at Hawaii Community FCU filed suit against top executives and the board of the $300 million credit union, claiming she was harassed into quitting after reporting allegations of lavish expenses and unusual deferred compensation paid to top executives.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State officials this week said they will provide $6.5 million through the N.C. Small Business Assistance Fund to insure small business loans to be made by Self-Help CU.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The ink was not even dry on a new corporate credit union rule when NCUA was planning amendments to the regulations that will severely limit the ability of corporates to earn income by limiting their investment powers.

WASHINGTON – The credit union lobby insisted yesterday that the government-backed resolution of the corporate credit union meltdown does not amount to a taxpayer bailout because it is ultimately being paid by rank-and-file credit union members.

WASHINGTON – In a new assault on credit unions, community bankers called on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner this morning to begin a review of the credit union tax exemption in light of the government-assisted rescue of the corporate system.

PORTLAND, Maine – Synergent, a CUSO owned by the Maine CU League, is rebating $750,000 to credit unions that use its products and services.

BOULDER, Colo. – Elevations CU said its Elevations Foundation donated $81,000 to needy homeowners whose property was damaged by the recent Fourmile Canyon fire.

WASHINGTON – A former loan officer at REA FCU, now known as Agriculture FCU, issued more than $100,000 in unsecured loans to herself, family and friends, causing the credit union losses of almost $103,000.

VIENNA, Va. – Navy FCU, the fast-growing credit union giant, said it plans to open two more branches next month, one in the nearby Pentagon and one in the town of Largo, Md., giving the $45 billion credit union a total of 185 branches.

DAYTON, Ohio – Wright-Patt CU chose five families that will compete for its $10,000 Savings Race grand prize.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Fairwinds CU said it has renewed its membership in First Data Corp.’s STAR electronic funds transfer network and named STAR its preferred provider of PIN-secured debit point-of-sale and ATM access.

CLEVELAND – Authorities are investigating what they believe was a major real estate loan fraud that bankrupted a one-time $250 million credit union here serving the local Croatian-American population, one of the biggest credit union failures in recent years.

ROCKWALL, Texas – CU Liquidity Services, a CUSO owned by Texans CU, bought the troubled Harbor on Lake Ray Hubbard mixed-mixed use development for $25 million in a foreclosure auction yesterday, six months after the owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.