LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Gwinnett FCU has established an annual scholarship fund for Georgia Gwinnett College students majoring in early childhood education, special education or another major leading to teacher certification.

VANCOUVER, Wash. – TwinStar CU said it plans to combine two of its local branches into a facility it bought last month from First Independent Bank in the Vancouver Mall.

FLINT, Mich. – Financial Plus FCU has joined several other local financial institutions in offering free electronic check recovery services to business checking or commercial customers.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A federal bankruptcy court last week denied a proposed reaffirmation agreement on a credit union car loan, ruling that the member of First Educational CU, who represented himself in the negotiations, did not complete the Chapter 7 Individual Debtor's Statement of Intention required of debtors without lawyers.

ARLINGTON, Va. – NAFCU is expected to report another strong year for 2009, with net income around $200,000, when it issues its financial report in the next few weeks.

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are putting together a plan that would abolish bankrupt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and replace them with a new system of government-backed mortgage financing, a leading member of Congress said Friday.

WASHINGTON – Regulators on Friday shut down banks in Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, bringing to nine the number of bank failures so far in 2010, following 140 closures last year.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – As it puts the final touches on its 2009 financial audit, NCUA is still struggling to finalize the books for 2008 – 13 months after the end of the fiscal year.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Thousands of credit unions are expected to report losses for last year in the coming days, the fallout from the continuing recession and from the deterioration of the corporate credit union network.

Dealing with Loan LossesSAN DIEGO-This year credit unions can add to growth by subtracting, contends Ann Legg, VP-marketing at the $190-million Cabrillo CU here, noting the loan losses affecting many credit unions have required attention.

IMGCAP(1)]

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A man who allegedly robbed a Star CU branch Wednesday was arrested minutes later after a bystander followed him home – across the street from the branch.

PHILADELPHIA – Freedom CU will award four $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors and undergraduate college students who are Freedom members.

HERSHEY, Penn. – Hershey FCU donated $5,531 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Pennsylvania.

PITTSFIIELD, Maine – A recent revival of the Sebasticook Valley Opry sponsored by Sebasticook Valley CU netted almost $16,000 for food pantries in the area.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – VyStar CU, which serves 15 Florida counties, has applied to state regulators to add two more, Hamilton and Suwannee.

WASHINGTON – The benchmark 30-year mortgage rate slipped below 5% this week for the first time since mid-December, according to Freddie Mac.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – State legislators are thinking locally about financial institutions, with some supporting a bill that would require the state to deposit its funds into locally owned credit unions and banks.

CHICAGO – A former Chicago police officer was convicted Wednesday of attempting to deposit a counterfeit $1 million check into her account at Chicago Patrolmen’s FCU.

DEARBORN, Mich. – DFCU Financial, the state’s biggest credit union, gave its members what it is calling its own economic stimulus earlier this month – a credit union-record $19 million special dividend.