CHICAGO–The U.S. Senate has passed a FHA modernization bill (S. 2338) in response to the housing finance crisis, but there remain significant differences between the Senate bill and companion legislation passed earlier this year by the House (H.R. 1852). It will be up to a conference committee to hammer out the differences.

RALEIGH, N.C.–Coastal Federal Credit Union has launched Daymark Realty, a full-service real estate firm.

EAST PALO ALTO, Calif.–Three years of planning came to fruition with the opening of Community Trust Credit Union here.

FRESNO, Calif.–A former employee of Tucoemas FCU has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly embezzling more than $48,000 from elderly members.

WARNER ROBINS, Ga.—A man charged in an armed robbery of a branch of Warner Robins Credit Union here was caught in Brownsville, Texas, along with an accomplice.

FORT WORTH, Texas—Two more credit unions have announced year-end bonuses for members, including a $10 million payout from American Airlines Federal Credit Union.

NEWARK, N.J.—Prudential Financial, Inc. is offering CU members a simplified issue, term-life insurance policy called “MyTerm” that will be made available through credit unions.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.–Readers of the Credit Union Journal are encouraged to go to http://www.compliancescore.com/sestusstudy.asp and participate in a study on Multi-Factor Authentication.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.–Service Credit Union has launched a new website that, in addition to English, is available in Spanish and German.

ST. LOUIS–Missouri Corporate Credit Union (MCCU) has declared a bonus dividend of $100,000 to be paid to its member credit unions at the end of fiscal year 2007.

MANCHESTER, N.H.–Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is scheduled to make a campaign speech at America’s Credit Union Museum this morning.

WASHINGTON–CUNA is expressing disappointment that credit union concerns were not addressed in a revised white paper on tax reform issues published by the Treasury Department. In response, the trade group has sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson seeking to meet and discuss the “importance of preserving the credit union tax exemption.”

WARNER ROBINS, Ga.—A man charged in an armed robbery of a branch of Warner Robins Credit Union here was caught in Brownsville, Texas, along with an accomplice.

AUSTIN, Texas–The $840-million University FCU said it has stepped in to provide assistance to 10 Hispanic families victimized in a local home purchase fraud.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.–Readers of the Credit Union Journal are encouraged to go to http://www.compliancescore.com/sestusstudy.asp and participate in a study on Multi-Factor Authentication.

HARRISBURG, Penn.–Payday lender Advance America, Cash Advance Centers Inc., said it will pull out of Pennsylvania and close the 66 offices currently operating in the state.

NEW YORK–Santa won’t be coming for some distressed banks hit hard by problems in the mortgage market, or at least not as originally envisioned.

MADISON, Wis.–Credit unions are likely to file a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) as early as the first quarter of 2008, the Credit Union Journal has learned.

WASHINGTON–Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee’s financial institutions subcommittee, is floating a far-reaching credit card bill that would bar several common ways companies charge fees and raise rates.

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas - The Texas Credit Union Foundation (TCUF) received a donation of $17,000 for its Financial Literacy Fund from the Credit Union Twister board.