KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – UT (University of Tennessee) FCU will donate $1 to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, up to $3,000, for each member of Facebook to join the credit union.

BOISE, Idaho – Capital Educators FCU has broken ground on a new branch, its seventh, in nearby Eagle.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said it has approved mergers of several ailing credit unions, including $13 million First State FCU in Dover, Del., and $11 million Community FCU in Tacoma, Wash.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA, which approved only 27 underserved expansions last year, okayed five for the month of February, including several large ones.

LATRHUP VILLAGE, Mich. – Michigan First CU continues to expand its presence in the Detroit metro area with today’s opening of its second in-store branch, inside the Meijer store in Lincoln Park.

LOWELL, Mass. – Northern Massachusetts Telephone Workers' CU said it purchased a former Haverhill Bank branch in nearby Haverhill, one of two branches that belonged to a one-time credit union acquired by the bank in 2008.

LAS VEGAS – Two men yesterday were charged in a federal indictment with last September’s hold up at a Mountain America CU branch here, when assailants made off with almost $172,000.

WASHINGTON – The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday proposed new rules for the issuance of asset-backed securities, including mortgage-backed issues popular with credit unions, that would require the issuer to retain at least 5% of the credit risk of assets being securitized.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – NCUA has entered the local real estate market here in a big way as it struggles to sell hundreds of properties it ended up holding from three large credit union failures: Norlarco FCU, Huron River Area FCU and New Horizons Community FCU.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Home Loan Banks are offering $500 million of bonds linked to mortgage prepayments.

PHOENIX – Desert Schools FCU raised $217,000 to benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Miracle Network during the credit union’s 12th-annual CMN Golf Tournament at Blackstone Country Club at Vistancia.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A man who took an employee hostage Jan. 25 at TwinStar CU in Centralia and threatened her life was convicted of first-degree burglary, kidnapping and attempted robbery based on DNA evidence he left at the scene.

WINDSOR, Conn. – Shares in SS&C Technologies, a provider of financial management software for credit unions and banks, slumped to $15 each yesterday, after debuting in an initial public offering last week at $16.

ATLANTA – Credit bureau Equifax said it agreed to sell its Appro Systems online lending operations to Italy’s CRIF Corp. for $72.4 million, five years after paying $92 million to buy Appro.

PLEASANTON, Calif. – 1st United Services CU will donate $25 to the Eden Medical Center Foundation for every qualifying direct-deposit checking account opened by residents of Alameda and Contra Costa counties during 2010.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – ESL FCU, still unpacking from its move into its new headquarters, opened its first downtown branch in this upstate New York city this week as part of the $52 million project.

YORK, Penn. – Five area credit unions and Enterprise Car Sales will hold a used car sale and blood drive Saturday at the Toyota Arena of the York Expo Center.

GLEN ROCK, N.J. – With the corporate credit union system still in flux, a number of providers are stressing they offer alternative solutions for share draft processing. Among them is Financial Services, Inc., here, which also provides core processing systems, Internet banking and other services.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Fort Worth Telegram Employees FCU has applied to state regulators to merge into nearby EECU, at least the fourth newspaper credit union calling it quits in recent months.

DALLAS – Texans CU has appealed a $21 million bankruptcy court estimation of claims for its Texans Insurance Group CUSO to the U.S. District Court, one of a number of ongoing battles the Texas credit union giant is fighting in the courts.