ODESSA, Texas - Credit unions apparently won one and lost one last week in the battle to deter defections to mutual savings bank charters.

STOCKTON, Calif. - What went up (California housing prices) most assuredly has come back down, and this San Joaquin Valley city has been feeling the effects in the form of numerous foreclosed homes.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A successful 18-month legislative effort culminated in the November 1971 signing of three Alabama CU League-sponsored bills by Gov. George Wallace (seated). Among the provisions of the new laws are the creation of a state bureau of CUs, appointment of loan officers by CUs, a new reserves formula, “interlending” among CUs, and others. Present at the signing were (from left) William E. Jordan, assistant league managing director; Charles Therrell, member of the Alabama House and league director; Fred Jones, Alabama House member and league president; and Gary B. Wolter, league managing director. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

WASHINGTON - The rapid build-up in credit union liquidity raised credit union investments in the Trust for Credit Unions Money Market Portfolio to $1.047 billion earlier this month, up $687 million from the previous year, according to Callahan Financial Services, a subsidiary of Callahan & Associates.

The Credit Union Associations of Colorado and Wyoming, Arvada, Colo., named Timothy Dore senior vice president of government affairs.

UN FCU Commits $500K To CDCUs

HILLSBORO, Ore. - Oregon First Community CU last week said it is offering members property and casualty insurance.

SILVER SPRING, Md. - The National Foundation for Credit Counseling has developed a website at www.HousingHelpNow.org aimed at helping consumers determine their foreclosure risk level through a self-diagnostic tool called Mortgage Reality Check.

FEBRUARY

NEW YORK CITY - Organizers have set a target date of May for opening a credit union to serve New York City’s police officers.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - State regulators told Qualstar CU its plans to charge prepayment penalties in home equity lines of credit are impermissible under state law.

The GROW Show

MIRAMAR, Fla. - Even a $2-billion credit union sometimes has to think small.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - CU Journal gives readers the opportunity to weigh in on a variety of issues. Below are results of a recent online poll. To add your two cents or see past surveys, visit www.cujournal.com.

SAN ANTONIO -

The story about a member depositing methamphetamine into an ATM instead of cash raises concerns about risks arising from contaminated or unhealthy materials being deposited into ATMs, possibly exposing employees to unhealthy substances (CU Journal, Feb. 18). In opening up a deposit envelope like the one in this story, would airborne particles of illegally-refined meth pose a serious health hazard to the cashier servicing the ATM? What if the deposit was enclosed in a plastic zip-lock bag damaged during insertion into the ATM?

Someday, some smart person will coin a phrase that goes something like “what goes around comes around” or “those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” or sayings to that effect. And someday those two scenarios will intersect.

Recently, U.S. Central has received its share of headlines regarding our financial performance during 2007 and the impact it has had on our debt ratings from Standard & Poor’s (S&P), Moody’s and Fitch. But despite these headlines, one point remains clear: As the only wholesale corporate credit union, U.S. Central is an important investment alternative and liquidity provider to its member corporates.

As a CEO, I am shocked to hear that so many credit unions are on the financial ropes, even in a taxless environment.

WASHINGTON – The credit union lobby will work to keep the focus on subprime mortgages and try to exempt most credit union loans from a bill that would give bankruptcy courts the power to amend mortgages, that is expected to be voted by the full Senate this week.