WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas, the outgoing Republican chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, expressed satisfaction with NCUA's recently issued report on credit union services to their members. The report, which cost NCUA an estimated $1.3-million to compile from some 14 million records, was done largely at the behest of the congressional tax-writer, who expressed some reservations last year about whether various non-profits, including credit unions, continue to deserve a federal tax exemption.

A man who escaped from police after being treated at the hospital was arrested days later while his girlfriend was withdrawing cash from her New Mexico Educators FCU account.

Credit unions are duking it out with a whole host of competitors, not just banks, so if you aren't selling insurance to your members, your competition down the street will be only too happy to do it for you.

World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. recently welcomed nine credit union professionals into its International Executive Volunteer Corps (IEVC) in recognition of their volunteer service to aid international credit union development.

WASHINGTON - Dissident members of Lafayette FCU were racing to force a special meeting of the credit union for employees of US AID and several other federal agencies, as management was preparing a final vote to convert to a mutual savings bank.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - A suspect arrested and charged with the recent armed robbery at Carolina Postal CU may want to re-think his strategy next time.

The World Council of CUs has received another federal grant for its Afghanistan development project, this one an $8.3-million gift from the Microfinance Support Facility for Afghanistan. The funds will be combined with a $19.4-million grant from US Agency for International Development to help develop a system of microfinancing, in an effort to wean the war-torn country off growing opium.

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is back to full strength, thanks to Gulf Winds FCU.

The global economy is "doing very well," and, despite what people might have heard or read recently, the U.S. economy is in good shape, also.

The World Council of Credit Unions honored David Low, director of audit and compliance at OSU FCU, for his volunteer work in Uzbekistan. In a letter presented to the state conference of the Credit Union Association of Oregon, WOCCU CEO Pete Crear praised Low for his contributions to credit union members in the central Asian republic.

WASHINGTON - Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said they will maintain the same limits on all conforming loans, that is, the ones they will buy for the secondary market, despite the first drop in average home prices in 13 years.

Boiled peanuts, sweet tea, NASCAR, and pickup trucks-you know you're in the South. On a crisp October day I took a three-hour drive from Atlanta through the rolling hills of western Alabama to Limestone Springs Golf Club to attend America's First FCU's Annual Charity Golf Tournament.

U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas, the outgoing Republican chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, expressed satisfaction with NCUA's recently issued report on credit union services to their members. The report, which cost NCUA an estimated $1.3-million to compile from some 14 million records, was done largely at the behest of the congressional tax-writer, who expressed some reservations last year about whether various non-profits, including credit unions, continue to deserve a federal tax exemption.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Credit unions weathered one of their toughest quarters in recent memory between July 1 and Sept. 31, with virtually no growth in deposits or assets, and another 80 credit unions disappearing through merger or liquidation, NCUA reported.

WASHINGTON - The consumer lobby met here last week to set a financial services agenda for the next Congress and left a new opening for credit unions to regain some of the lost comity they had with the groups over the bankruptcy reform bill.

CU Pitches In After Tornado

Prison Term for Series of Kidnap-Robberies

MADISON, Wis. - World Council of Credit Unions has donated $5,000 toward the African American Credit Union Coalition's fundraising campaign in support of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial being built in Washington.

BURNSVILLE, Minn. - US Federal Credit Union kicked off its charity effort for the 2006 Combined Federal Campaign with a spoof of the popular game show, "Deal or No Deal."

Representatives from India's National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks & Credit Societies, Ltd. visited the United States and Canada to expand their knowledge of the credit union system and explore the possibility of becoming a World Council member.