CAPITOLA, Calif. – Bay FCU on Friday said it awarded $5,000 grants to Kinship Support Services and New Life Community Services.

WOODLAND, Calif. – The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco on Friday announced it has awarded Yolo FCU a $100,000 grant through its Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership, or WISH, program.

BERKLEY, Mich. – Telcom CU has agreed to donate $7,500 to the city here in exchange for having its logo and name featured on community publications and at recreational events.

LIVONIA, Mich. – Community Choice CU last week announced that its president, Roberta Bava, will succeed CEO Catherine Roberts, who is retiring June 30.

WICHITA, Kan. – A bill restricting expansion for community chartered credit unions was signed into law by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Friday.

WASHINGTON – Chances of the Senate confirming a successor to NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson are dwindling as the nomination of Michael Fryzel continues to languish before the Senate Banking Committee, four months after it was sent there by President Bush.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A four-year legal battle appeared near an end last week, when the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich agreed to give back millions of dollars it raided from segregated trust funds for credit unions, banks and thrifts, in order to be able to use as much as $50.5 million of the funds for the state’s general operating expenses.

WASHINGTON - A controversial measure that would have allowed troubled homeowners to file for bankruptcy to get their mortgages rewritten was quietly put to death last week when the Senate voted to remove it from its mortgage rescue package.

WALL STREET - Last month’s landmark initial public offering for Visa couldn’t have come at a better time for credit unions, many of whom received shares in the IPO.

RACINE, Wis. - Educators CU is appealing the state regulator’s order to shut down its successful used auto sales, following complaints from the auto dealers’ lobby.

CHICAGO - A group of 30 credit union leaders, all under the age of 30, joined here recently to discuss marketing campaigns, credit union products, and recruiting strategies.

Massachusetts CUs Seek Consumer Lending Parity

LIMA, Peru - Seven women representing U.S. and Canadian credit unions trekked across Peru and Chile to learn more women’s leadership and brought back valuable lessons learned in the midst of abject poverty–and a partnership between the World Council of Credit Unions and Credit Union Journal took readers there with real-time updates at www.cujournal.com. The women’s journey was part of WOCCU’s Women’s Leadership CU Engagement Program. The photo at right shows Peruvian women signing loan documents at San Francisco Huanuco CU. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

DALLAS - Ask Texas’ credit union leaders about their forecasts for their own operations, and most are pretty optimistic. But ask them about the economy or even other CUs, and they are downright pessimistic.

DULUTH, Ga. — The good news: some credit unions have grown anywhere from 10% to 30% in asset size over the last two months. The bad news: what to do with all that extra cash?

DENVER - A federal bankruptcy judge is expected later this month to approve the reorganization of failed subprime auto lender Centrix Financial, but the plan leaves little, if anything, for unsecured creditors, including more than 140 credit unions.

Falk To Succeed Connors At Purdue Employees

MINNEAPOLIS - Albert Hofstede, mayor of Minneapolis, mans the shears with R.V. Atkinson, treasurer-manager of Minneapolis Federal Employes Credit Union, to cut the ribbon at the opening of the credit union's new 1974 headquarters. Looking on (left to right) are builders Larry Black and Robert Nystrom of Nystrom Constructors Inc.; A.M. Feemster director of the Minneapolis Postal Data Center; credit union president J. William Hreha; Minneapolis postmaster M.E. Layer; and credit union director J.H. Strub, the U.S. Weather Service chief at Minneapolis. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

BROOKFIELD, Wis. - Those who go to Grant Johnson’s educational session at the Credit Union Journal’s Grow Show not only will receive a takeaway of pertinent information to improve their marketing efforts, he also promises attendees a free gift!

At press time, the number of co-sponsors on the CURIA bill. 218 are needed to have a majority. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com