Imagine volunteering to take over the local Little League baseball program with the best of intentions and plans to clean up the fields and make sure all the kids have fun, thinking your only real worry is that enough parents sign up for the after-game snacks. And then in your first month in the post you discover other leagues say they have dibs on the fields, some parents (the ones who never volunteer their time) are planning to sue because Johnny isn't getting enough innings, and oh, one of the coaches' names just showed up on a list of sexual predators.

PORTLAND, MAINE - If there is one thing that most of those interviewed for this report agreed on it was that credit unions are, indeed, at a crossroads.

PEWAUKEE, WIS. - The Wisconsin Credit Union League is questioning a study commissioned by the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) over credit union mortgage lending and branches. The WBA is using the study as a basis to call for an end to the credit union tax exemption. "Why do banks insist on increasing the tax burden of Wisconsin families," asked WCUL CEO Brett Thompson. "That is exactly what would happen if a major recommendation of the study-taxing large credit unions-would be implemented. A tax on credit unions is a tax on their members-working families throughout Wisconsin."

ST. LOUIS - A new white paper from design/build and retail services firm NewGround examines why the cost of building financial institutions is on the rise.

WASHINGTON - As the credit union movement struggles with conversions, unsolicited merger bids and other cooperative issues, one of the potential casualties is the integrity, credibility and image of the industry on Capitol Hill.

NAPANOCH, N.Y. - Eastern New York FCU has launched a new branding initiative called "Dream Defenders" featuring three "superheroes."

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA - As much as (C) $60 million is being allocated here by the government of New Brunswick to help prop up the Caisses Populaire de Shippagan, a credit union that has suffered financial difficulties for the past three years.

MIAMI, FLA. - Nicaraguans living in the United States select remittance providers based on word of mouth, according to a survey conducted by World Council of Credit Unions and Central de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito Financieras de Nicaragua, R.L.

Credit Unions In The News:

AUBURN, MAINE - Maine's credit unions honored the memory of the Founder of the Good Shepherd Food-Bank, JoAnn Pike, by making a $10,500 donation to the Good Shepherd Food-Bank. Pike began the Good Shepherd nearly 28 years ago and served as its Executive Director until February of 2004 when she resigned. Three years ago this month, JoAnn passed away of cancer. With this donation, Maine's credit unions have now contributed more than $50,000 in Pike's memory since she passed away on March 17, 2004. Currently, Good Shepherd Food Bank, the largest food bank north of Boston, works with and provides food to more than 600 hunger agencies across the state from Kittery to Madawaska, and everywhere in between. Good Shepherd has distribution centers in Auburn, which serves southern, central, western and midcoast Maine, and Brewer, which serves eastern and northern Maine.

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA - The Bolivian credit union sector boasts eight new rural credit union branches, a shared branching network with 64 points of service, remittance distribution and several new savings and credit products thanks to the success of World Council of Credit Unions' Rural Credit Union Growth Program, which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - A study released by the Community Financial Services Association, a national trade group for the payday advance industry, said payday loans are not a "welfare reducing" form of credit.

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FORT MILL, S.C. - The best way to grow: don't focus on growth.

MOUNT KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA - A group of 32 people, including representatives of United Nations agencies, the United Nations FCU, and World Council of Credit Unions, scaled the heights of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and funds for UN-HABITAT, which supports urban safety projects for at-risk youth in East Africa.

As part of an ongoing effort to offer strategies that help you make 2007 a success, the CU Journal has launched its "7 in 07" series, chock full of ideas for your CU to implement.

New York's SEFCU to Serve Non-Members

WHAT: Credit Union Journal's Business Development & SEG Conference

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLA. - If nothing else, Wings Financial's decision to take its proposal to the membership of Continental FCU puts the emphasis where it belongs: the members.

It's Spring Cleaning time, and Credit Union Journal asked a variety of experts what cobwebs credit unions should be sweeping away. From moldy policies that need some serious sprucing up to literally cleaning up the branch, here's a look at what these experts suggest credit unions need to be cleaning out in order to clean up.