BEAVERTON, Ore. – Credit unions in Oregon and southwest Washington joined together to raise $847,000 last year for the Credit Unions for Kids campaign.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU yesterday announced its SECU Foundation has provided a $250,000 grant to help build an expansion at the Hospice and Palliative Care of Iredell County.

NOVI, Mich. – Telcom CU will have a used car sale next week at its Southfield branch.

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Family Trust FCU plans to begin construction early next year on its first branch in Fort Mill, which will be the credit union’s eighth branch.

CHICAGO – Alliant CU yesterday said it has signed with Econiq to implement the company’s sales effectiveness system.

WASHINGTON – Community activists last week renewed their call to expand the Community Reinvestment Act to include credit unions, just as a new partisan fight was breaking out over CRA, a long-time favorite of Democrats but not Republicans.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA partially took the covers off its new consumer protection office, which has been kept under close wraps since its creation Jan. 1.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City Police CU has developed a new strategy for its select groups, unveiling a subsidiary called Code 1 CU that will facilitate the $95 million credit union’s growth outside of its core law enforcement field of membership.

MADISON, Wis. and WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Credit Union Executives Society and Credit Union Journal are in discussions to combine two of the most popular conference and learning events in the industry – CUES Experience and the Journal’s Grow Show.

WASHINGTON – Home loan rates fell significantly this week after jumping last week, according to Freddie Mac.

DETROIT – State leaders are calling on credit unions and banks to help troubled homeowners in a new program that will funnel $154 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, funds to local lenders in an effort to keep troubled borrowers in their homes.

MONTOURSVILLE, Penn. – The former manager of Montoursville Area FCU this week admitted in federal court to stealing at least $31,000 from the tiny credit union she said was to help protect her grandson from what turned out to be a phony threat to collect on a drug debt.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Employees FCU donated $3,256 to the Food Finders Food Bank in Lafayette that supplies children with nutritious food for the weekend.

LEOMINISTER, Mass. – Leominister CU has contributed $50,000 to the Mount Wachusett Community College Foundation, Inc., to be used for scholarships and student services.

BATON ROUGE, La. – La Capitol FCU has acquired the CU Service Center branch here, making the Louisiana shared branch network an all outlet environment.

NEW ORLEANS – Greater New Orleans FCU has launched a mobile banking and account alert service.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Village CU has been chosen by the Iowa CU League’s Credit Union Family Partnership Program to participate in its individual development account, or IDA, program.

ALBANY, N.Y. – SEFCU, a $2 billion capital city credit union, is moving its local operations to a new commercial building in downtown Schenectady, and will rename the $4.5 million building SEFCU Square.

SEATTLE – Prevail CU, a $230 million product of eight earlier mergers, on Wednesday said it has agreed to acquire Transportation Northwest CU.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services said it is paying its members a $22.2 million patronage dividend for 2009, including $12.2 million of it in cash.