ST. PAUL, Minn. -- In what it calls an enhanced and "innovative approach" to consumer counseling, the $705 million Hiway Federal Credit Union said Monday its year-old program with a Minnesota agency to offer free sessions and services including at home phoning has doubled participation and cut costs 40%.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- In what it calls an enhanced and "innovative approach" to consumer counseling, the $705 million Hiway Federal Credit Union said Monday its year-old program with a Minnesota agency to offer free sessions and services including at home phoning has doubled participation and cut costs 40%.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The industry's enviable financial position amidst the economic gloom provides an ideal opportunity now for credit unions to "shine and grow," the president/CEO of the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association wrote Thursday in a candid "Letter to Members" message appearing on the trade group's Web site.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A restrictive anti-credit union bill backed by the Kentucky Bankers Association placing burdensome rules and limits on CU branches is apparently dead for this session, the Kentucky Credit Union League said Thursday.

CHICAGO -- The state's newly appointed credit union regulator, Robert Meza, a Chicago attorney, said Thursday payday lending and the role credit unions can play in serving those consumer needs will be among his priorities.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- Eight Montana credit unions, which make up the Great Springs Chapter of the Montana Credit Union Network, are finding themselves in national competition this month for putting together an unusual and prize-winning "can sculpture" made up of 3,000 food cans destined for a local food bank.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- One of the prospective California bidders for the failed Cal State 9 Credit Union is making a case this week that NCUA, like it apparently did in Colorado on Norlarco CU, reject any bank suitors.

In a ramped up anti-credit union attack by bankers on Community Reinvestment Act compliance, the Wisconsin Bankers Association said last week it has introduced a bill in the state legislature aimed at the "large, nontraditional Wisconsin credit unions" that need to document serving low income and minorities.