DENVER - During its Annual Conference here, the National Association of CU Supervisory Auditing Committees recognized one individual and one organization for their accomplishments:

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. - The Richard Myles Johnson Foundation is celebrating 50 years of supporting financial education.

BERLIN, N.H. - Guardian Angel Credit Union here has filed suit against MetaBank claiming a $99,000 CD it purchased from the bank in 2005 was phony. The action follows similar suits by two Texas banks alleging the same thing. In its filing, GACU alleges that a former employee of MetaBank, identified as Charlene M. Pickhinke, sold fraudulent CDs to investors by actually depositing the funds in her own account. An earlier SEC filing by MetaBank said as much as $4.2-million may be outstanding as the result of Pickhinke’s alleged actions. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

PHOENIX - The Arizona CU System (ACUS) has signed a partnership agreement with the Antigua & Barbuda Cooperative Credit Union League to help the Caribbean island nation better serve its affiliated credit unions. The partnership agreement was arranged through World Council of Credit Unions’ International Partnership Program. Representatives from the Arizona league visited Antigua in June 2007 was the first step toward an international partnership agreement. Recently, ACUS hosted a delegation of five representatives from the Antigua League. Ellis Southwell, president of the Antigua League, and Scott Earl, CEO of ACUS, signed a mutual agreement to make the partnership official.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

FORT WORTH - The $740-million EECU was named Best Local Bank/Credit Union in a poll of readers of the Star-Telegram here. "It's a strong testament to EECU's mission to serve the needs of Members, maintain good stewardship and stay involved in community events,” said CEO Lonnie Nicholson.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

SAN FRANCISCO - Two CU employees are headed to the Olympics in Beijing after winning a promotion sponsored by Elan and Visa. Kendra Richards from Desert Schools FCU in Phoenix and Lisa Short from USA CU in Troy, Mich. were selected as part of the two-month-long Visa Olympic Games promotion. Each employee who sold five or more approved and booked credit cards during the promotion was entered in to a random drawing to win one of the two trips to the Olympic Games. The trips include airfare and accommodations, along with tickets to Olympic events, a $500 Visa gift card and VIP hospitality.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

PEORIA, Ill. – The future of Peoria Highway CU is "tenuous" because the assistant manager embezzled more than $525,000, the chairman of the board told a federal judge this week.

WASHINGTON – The House Financial Services Committee voted last night to ban a variety of credit card practices, most of them targeted at low-income cardholders, but action on the bill was too late for passage in this Congress.

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – CU Mortgage Alliance Network, a multi-credit union CUSO, yesterday said it has signed an affinity deal with HomeSold Inc.

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Workers’ CU said it contributed $10,000 to support Mount Wachusett Community College's Summer Up program.

WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. – A former teller for West Branch FCU yesterday pleaded guilty to stealing $30,000 from the credit union.

VISTA, Calif. – Bluepoint Solutions, a provider of Check21 and multi-factor identification software technology for financial institutions, said it has agreed to acquire Avalon International, a provider of .Net technology solutions for image payment and advanced item processing.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Check printer Deluxe Corp. yesterday reported a 9% decline in second quarter earnings to $32.6 million, or 63 cents a share, fueled by an 8% fall in revenues.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard yesterday said it lost $747 million, or $5.74 a share, in the second quarter due to a $1 billion after-tax charge related to antitrust settlement with American Express.

McLEAN, Va. – Home loan rates dipped this week, after jumping to their highest in more than a year the week before, according to Freddie Mac.

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Authorities are investigating Monday’s suicide of an 82-year-old broker who handled investments for New London Security FCU, just hours after NCUA seized the $13 million institution.

SHREVEPORT, La. – An employee of WESLA FCU as arrested yesterday on charges she manipulated customer accounts to steal more than $211,000 she used to pay personal bills and buy lottery tickets.

HAMILTON, Ohio – A former loan officer for Chaco CU yesterday pleaded guilty to stealing $30,000 from the credit union.

LOS ANGELES – Xceed FCU, known until recently as Xerox FCU, yesterday said it has selected Captive Indoor Media’s CaptiveMeetings as its platform to be used for its corporate web conferencing tool.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Unitus Community CU teamed up with local bicycle shops and custom bicycle frame builders to offer a low, fixed-rate loan for bicycles.