ERIE, Penn. – Erie FCU has received a $10,000 grant from the Pennsylvania CU Foundation to fund its community partnership that provides classroom financial education to 7,000 students in 75 schools within 18 school districts of northwest Pennsylvania.

PHOENIX – Desert Schools FCU yesterday presented a check for $10,000 to local non-profit group Arizona Saves in support of continued homebuyer education workshops.

DENVER – Lyndon Property Insurance Co., the one-time insurer for Centrix Financial, has filed a new suit against 37 credit unions claiming they conspired with the failed subprime auto lender to milk more than $120 million in insurance payments from the company.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The former chief financial officer for Buffalo Fire Department FCU was placed on probation for paying back less than half of the more than $130,000 she stole from the credit union.

BEAUMONT, Texas – The president and CEO of MobilOil FCU wouldn’t leave her office at the approach of Hurricane Ike, so she had a rare opportunity to test her credit union’s disaster recovery plan last weekend as the storm washed over the region.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The fallout in the credit markets is expected by some analysts to sweep up credit unions with other financial institutions in new, risk-related regulations that will be atop the legislative agenda when a new administration takes office in Washington.

WASHINGTON – New NCUA Chairman Michael Fryzel yesterday vowed to monitor credit unions closely during the ongoing financial crisis – which is pushing many institutions, including credit unions, to the brink.

WALL STREET – New alarms were set off in the financial markets yesterday when the net asset value of a well-known money market fund fell below the $1 mark, a condition traditionally known as “breaking the buck,” sending new shockwaves through another key liquidity market for credit unions.

MINNEAPOLIS – US Bank said it has agreed to acquire 49 in-store branches in Utah and Nevada from Zions Bank, making it the largest operator of in-store branches in the nation with more than 600 in 19 states.

NORFOLK, Va. – An emergency room clerk at a local hospital yesterday pleaded guilty to stealing patient data that was used to take out $134,000 in car loans from Navy FCU.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Continental Airlines FCU yesterday said it has licensed regulatory compliance software from Compliance Coach Inc. known as CompliancePal.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NARFE Premier FCU yesterday said it has chosen Lending Solutions Inc. to provide it with call center services.

DALLAS – Southwest Corporate FCU yesterday said it has connected to SVPCO’s Image Payments Network.

DALLAS – Credit unions from the Texas coast through the upper Midwest have felt the wrath of Hurricane Ike, which destroyed CU offices, knocked out power, and forced one credit union manager and her two sons to take refuge at the CU.

DENVER – Fast-growing Bellco CU has applied to state regulators to expand its community presence to enable it to serve almost 1.4 million people in three surrounding counties, which would give it one of the broadest charters in the country.

MECHANICSBURG, Penn. – The bankers may have convinced a federal judge to scrap the broad community charter for Members 1st FCU, but that won’t slow down the rapid growth of the $1.4 billion credit union.

WASHINGTON – Members of Congress from both parties agreed on one main lesson they learned from the ongoing financial crisis – the need for regulatory reform as a main priority for the next Congress.

SAN DIEGO – Mission FCU yesterday announced that Debra Schwartz, a long-time member of senior management who has been serving as interim president since April, has been named permanent president and CEO of the $1.8 billion credit union.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve yesterday defied many market observers by keeping short-term interest rates unchanged.

LENEXA, Kan. – The travails of the financial markets the last two weeks have sent a handful of corporate credit unions on an up-and-down ride, lifting prospects, then depressing them, for billions of dollars in underwater mortgage securities they hold.