WASHINGTON - With chances of them regaining control of Congress dwindling, top Republicans continued to make their way to the exits last week, with Senate Majority Whip Trent Lott, of Mississippi, announcing his immediate retirement.

WASHINGTON - Legislation introduced in the Senate last month would establish a requirement for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to serve the underserved and set aside millions of dollars each year to fund housing projects for low- and moderate-income homebuyers.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A portion of Interstate 70 was closed for about five hours after a man who allegedly robbed CME FCU led police on a wild chase that reached speeds of 100 miles per hour. The suspect, identified as 58-year-old Herman Hawkins, crashed into a tanker truck, spilling diesel onto the interstate, forcing its closure. He later said he was trying to claim his own life because he didn't want to go back to prison, where he had spent 34 years. Hawkins was cornered after he pulled off the highway. When he refused to get out of his car, police used a Taser to subdue him. A large amount of money and a gun were recovered from the car, police said. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Have a problem or question you need resolved? Ask your question and get both the left and right perspective-left or right BRAIN that is. The left brain way of thinking is represented by Roger Ball, CEO of Call FCU, Richmond, Va., or as Kelley Parks calls him, the "bean-counting, bottom-line driven, fact-finding, never-ending filibuster." The right brain way of thinking is represented by Parks, VP of Marketing & Business Development at Call FCU, or, as Roger calls her, the "creative, head-in-the-clouds, wishy-washy insomniac."

Planning your summer vacation for 2008? Here's how one CEO spent his this year, and he offers some fodder for those longing for something more meaningful than a frozen margarita machine and a week next to the timeshare pool.

JOLIET, Ill. – A man who robbed NuMark CU of $25,000, then used the money to buy a car just hours later, was sentenced Friday to three years in prison.

DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Credit Union of Dodge City is opening a new branch in the old Maytag building which will offer a new payday loan to the area’s residents.

AUGUSTA, Maine – A local relief worker completed her cross-state walk on behalf of the Maine CU League's annual Ending Hunger Walking Tour last Thursday, raising $25,000 along the way.

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Two Federal Way High School students were expelled and five others are being investigated for an alleged scheme to deposit and cash checks using BECU debit cards and PINs.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees CU on Friday announced it has added a payment option to its mortgage program that will allow homeowners to make semi-monthly payments.

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Gavin Newsom last week called on the city’s major lenders to help forestall thousands of expected foreclosures in the coming months by reaching out to at-risk borrowers and modifying loan terms for those who have made timely mortgage payments.

SAN DIEGO – USA FCU, which reported a third quarter loss of more than $1.1 million, last week said it laid off 30 employees, about 10% of its workforce.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Credit Union 24 this week will announce the addition of the entire Allpoint network to its CU HERE surcharge-free program, creating what is says will be the largest surcharge-free ATM network in the United States.

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration on Friday announced it plans to nominate Michael Fryzel, a Chicago attorney and former director of the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions, as chairman of the NCUA Board.

SAN FRANCISCO – Taking a page from social networking sites Facebook and YouTube, six credit unions this week will unveil to the United States a new person-to-person lending initiative called “Zopa” that promises to remake the relationship between credit unions and their members.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – TJX Cos. announced today it has agreed to pay Visa as much as $41 million which will be used to reimburse credit unions and banks for one of the biggest data breaches ever.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – TJX Cos. announced today it has agreed to pay Visa as much as $41 million which will be used to reimburse credit unions and banks for one of the biggest data breaches ever.

Two Madison, Wis., credit unions have announced a merger deal that would create the state's largest credit union.

BETHLEHEM, Penn. – Edentify, one of the leaders in online security systems, has agreed to acquire Orbis Systems and ViewTrade Securities, providers of online trading platforms and related financial products.

TAMPA, Fla. – A former database analyst for Fidelity National Information Services on Wednesday pleaded guilty to stealing confidential financial records of more than 8.4 million consumers from Fidelity’s Certegy Check Services unit and selling the consumer data to a broker.