FORT WAYNE, Ind.-Even though it hasn't had a marketing department chief for months, one credit union here has been able to take control of its message in the local media and turned one into a strong relationship with a TV station.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-The Golden 1 CU said Friday it is acquiring U.S. First CU, a $110 million credit union that reported a $3 million loss for the first quarter. The deal will give The Golden 1, one of the nation's largest credit unions with more than $7 billion in assets, two additional branches, in San Francisco and San Mateo. San Francisco-based U.S. First was chartered in 1937 and serves more than 11,000 members.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio-Associated School Employees CU has agreed to acquire Greater Warren Community FCU, its second merger of the year. The two mergers will double the CU's assets to more than $140 million. In April ASECU acquired Cavalier FCU with $20 million in assets. Greater Warren Community FCU has $60 million in assets.

KINGSPORT, Tenn.-One member of Kinsport CU may think better of expressing his anger at the drive-thru: 68-year-old Harry Boyer, who was "flipping the bird" at tellers in the drive-thru window was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. The member had just left a nearby convenience store where he cussed out employees, then walked through the CU's drive-thru while "giving the finger" to employees." It was all witnessed by an off-duty police officer who called central dispatch to have Boyer was arrested.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.-The New Mexico's Secretary of State is teaming up with CUs around the state to register voters. Through the end of August, about 90 CUs will have registration cards available for people to register or update existing voter registration. The Secretary of State's office will train and certify CU workers to help. There are no state or federal elections in 2009, but state officials hope to avoid for the next elections last year's crisis when county clerks around the state were overwhelmed with voter registrations in the final weeks before the races.

MADISON, Wis.-Another $6 billion of new savings flowed into credit unions in May, putting 2009 on pace for one of the best years of credit union share growth, according to CUNA.

LAS VEGAS-It is time to get back the fundamentals of lending and finance, according to Brad Beal, president/CEO of Nevada FCU.

SOUTH AUGUSTA, S.C.-While many credit unions are citing the advantage of being conservative in the current economy, at least one CU has learned it can pull too hard on the reins.

ENDICOTT, N.Y.-A regional recession in upstate New York that lasted for nearly 15 years well-prepared Visions FCU for the current economic downturn.

MECHANICSBURG, Penn.-If there is a lesson for credit union CEOs a generation from now who may have to lead their institutions through a recession, it is that such downturns prove the value of the credit union business model.

Altura CU, Riverside, Calif., named Kathy Thayer as its new Controller.

THERMOPOLIS, Wyo.-Bank of Wyoming was closed by state regulators, bringing the total number of failed banks this year to 53, the FDIC said.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Credit unions will have to wait longer still to close their books for 2008 because U.S. Central FCU, being operated since March 20 by NCUA under conservatorship, said it still is not ready to issue its audited financials for the year.

WASHINGTON-NAFCU called on key senators to exempt credit unions and other insured depositories from the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, even as senators from both parties were lining up behind the Obama administration proposal.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The NCUA Board last week began a hurried bid to stop credit unions from converting to private deposit insurance in order to escape assessments for the corporate credit union bailout.

The July 9, 2009 CU Journal online article "Documents Show NCUA Miscalculated U.S. Central Losses," regarding the minutes of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Jan. 28 Closed Board Meeting, contains several inaccuracies and mischaracterizations that warrant correction.

The choice of a programmatic or manual conversion of the merging credit union's data depends upon several factors.

The history of the finance industry has been punctuated with ups and downs, with many of the "downs" providing the impetus for strong organizations to rise to the top. During the recession in 2000, 40% organizations that had been top performers fell out of that bracket, leaving a huge void for new organizations to fill.

Question: do incentives really work, and is money the answer?

While speaking to the staff at a Midwest CU recently, I asked the question, "How many of you have someone in your direct family who is unemployed?" More than half the hands went up.