BENSENVILLE, Ill. - Stories of seniors being taken advantage of are rampant, so one CU decided to help seniors take back their finances by opening a branch inside a retirement community.

WASHINGTON - Credit union economists are still loathe to use the dreaded “R” word, but they are ready with advice on just what it could mean for CUs if the nation slips into a recession.

NEW YORK - There is one corner of credit union land that is a whole lot more colorful than its mainstream counterparts: the National Federation of Community Development Credit unions.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - NCUA, which is reviewing a proposed merger between a credit union and a bank, will begin collecting public input on rules to govern such unusual combinations.

Figuring out the direction of interest rates is a daunting task. You cannot press a button on a mathematical model and get the answer. Interest rates are historic phenomena. They depend crucially on forces peculiar to the economy at the time. Interest rates hit modern highs in 1981 because Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker needed to turn the corner on double-digit inflation. Tight money did the trick. Interest rates hit multi-decade lows in 2003 as Chairman Alan Greenspan eased monetary policy to take out insurance against a Japanese style deflation. Today the economy is in a wholly different configuration. The largest housing bubble in U.S. history has burst, with serious repercussions for credit markets and economic growth. A credit crunch of indeterminate proportions is underway. The cat of falling interest rates is out of the bag.

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - The Washington CU League is pushing for a bill expected to be introduced in the state legislature soon that would make the costs associated with data breaches like the massive TJX debacle a responsibility of the merchant.

WASHINGTON - The significant losses being reported by some banks and investment firms as a result of deep problems in the mortgage markets are not being realized on the balance sheets of corporate credit unions, according to the association that represents those CUs.

KILDARE, Ireland - CUs here have joined a program aimed at educating teens about the dangers of getting involved with certain moneylenders. The problem is considered especially critical in this city, where the local office of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) said it has been taking on up to 500 new clients per year, according to the Kildare Nationalist.

Holub Elected AACUL Chair

ST. LOUIS - Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which conducts numerous auto sales with credit unions, and its subsidiaries, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, have launched a customer carbon offset program.

IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. - Police were hunting for a man who held up the ESL FCU branch then carjacked a woman to make his getaway.

DURHAM, N.C. - What’s white, male and bald all over? That would be credit union leadership, according to one credit union CEO who doesn’t fit that mold.

Public Service CU Wins Bidding for Norlarco

GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio - Ohio Catholic FCU, the state’s largest faith-based credit union, has hired Randall Trimm, most recently a wealth manager with United Bank of Switzerland, as its president and CEO.

DAYTON, Ohio - What started out as a routine traffic stop led to the arrest of two men suspected of two armed robberies, including one at Wright-Patt Credit Union.

McLEAN, Va. - Mortgage rates continued to decline with the average for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan, falling to their lowest in almost 30 months, according to Freddie Mac.

Mrs. Jouett Shouse, sponsor, and R.A. Vinson, president of the Florida Credit Union League, smash a champagne bottle across the bow, launching the U.S.S. Edward A. Filene in June 1944. The liberty ship, financed with credit union support and donations, is one of a number of military vehicles supported by credit unions that contributed to the Allied victory in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

BURBANK, Calif. - Lockheed FCU has launched the LFCU Community Stars Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization. LFCU said the foundation was developed by its employees and was started to provide support to charities selected by LFCU employees through financial donations and volunteerism.

WASHINGTON - NAFCU and online security provider Digital Defense are inviting credit union security professionals to compete in the first Credit Union Extreme Hacker Challenge that will highlight new and emerging security measures during NAFCU’s annual Technology and Security Conference in Las Vegas next month.

INDIANAPOLIS - Seeking to spark greater innovation within this state’s credit unions, a working group of CU executives is planning its first-ever meeting.