THORNDALE, Penn. – Citadel FCU filled 40 childrens backpacks with donated school supplies and provided them to the Community Volunteers in Medicine organization, as well as the Maternal and Child Health Consortium for distribution among their clients.

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – BrightStar CU said it plans to re-open its Hollywood branch.

NILES, Mich. – United FCU broke ground on a second Niles branch across from the Wal-Mart on July 13.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A member of ORNL FCU was convicted yesterday of murdering his wife by driving over her in the credit union’s parking lot last year and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

NEW YORK – Grameen America, the U.S. affiliate of micro-financer Grameen Bank, is preparing an application to charter a credit union that will serve a similar clientele in the U.S.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – New Hope Community Development FCU, a tiny credit union serving the impoverished west end of the city, was closed by NCUA yesterday.

SAN DIMAS, Calif. – Credit union executives are angry at the payout of Bob Siravo, the former CEO of WesCorp FCU, who received a $6 million payout after he was fired when NCUA took the $34 billion corporate under conservatorship.

WASHINGTON – NCUA Chairman nominee Deborah Matz promised stronger oversight of the corporate credit union system during confirmation hearings before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday and denied a role in the agency’s easing of corporate restrictions.

RESTON, Va. – Troubled student loan giant Sallie Mae, which has been in and out of the red over the past two years, reported a second quarter loss yesterday of $123 million.

WASHINGTON – Freddie Mac, run under conservatorship by the government since last September, announced yesterday it has hired Charles Haldeman Jr., a former chief executive at mutual fund giant Putnam Investments, as its new CEO.

DALLAS – Fiserv said it has opened a new remittance processing site in Dallas, expanding the company’s national, multi-site lockbox network which has existing locations in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Miami.

MINNEAPOLIS – FICO, formerly known as Fair Isaac & Co., said yesterday it has joined with credit bureau Equifax to offer a new analytic tool to better assess consumer credit risk.

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Addison Avenue FCU newly formed eCommerce division is rolling out a new suite of technology and online banking tools, deemed e2, to better serve its membership.

WASHINGTON – CUNA reported Monday that it made almost $300,000 in campaign contributions in June to 120 members of the House and Senate, as voting is approaching on key legislation.

WHEELING, W.V. – Authorities yesterday seized six vehicles, bank accounts, a home and business they believe were financed by an embezzlement of as much as $8.9 million by the CEO of Center Valley FCU, which was shuttered by NCUA in February.

PASADENA, Calif. –Large credit unions in the Golden State continued to be battered in the second quarter by loan losses, the corporate credit union bailout and charges for their lost capital in WesCorp, according to data released by NCUA this week.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A member of a New Jersey credit union has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against NCUA claiming the credit union regulator failed to enforce anti-discrimination and other consumer laws in her bid for a loan.

SAN FRANCISCO – Visa said it has deposited $700 million into an account earmarked for litigation costs, a move that essentially acts as the repurchase of class B shares owned by credit unions and banks.

TAMPA, Fla. – Suncoast Schools FCU granted $1,000 scholarships to 14 high school graduates through its partnership with The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Members CU has raised more than $48,000 in its school supply campaign to equip children with backpacks and other school supplies.