Suzanne Bremer will be Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone’s opponent in November after defeating Richard J. Scirocco in today’s primary. According to unofficial election results, Curtatone received 4,652 votes to Bremer’s 822 and Scirocco’s 464. Curtatone walked away with 76 percent of the vote. He will face Bremer in the Nov. 6 general election.

Charles Chisholm will challenge Rebekah L. Gewirtz in the November city elections after beating out Robert Adams in today’s Ward 6  primary for alderman.

By Amy Tennery

On Friday, Sept. 14, Cambridge Portuguese Credit Union (CPCU) CEO Rui F. Domingos and CFO James Roy came to The Somerville News editorial office to discuss significant changes to the nearly 80-year-old CPCU. Originally founded to assist the Portuguese immigrant population, CPCU now affords membership to non-Portuguese residents.

While some may be concerned that such a change could cost the CPCU its identity, Domingos said the CPCU remains vested in the needs of the Cambridge and Somerville community. 
“We’re able to make change a lot faster than other [larger banks]. We’re a lot more reactive to the people’s needs,” said Domingos.

Unlike traditional banks, credit unions are cooperative financial organizations in which the members control every decision made within the institution. Credit unions are non-profit and other banks cannot buy them out — a credit union can only merge with another credit union if the members vote to do so. Additionally, a member-elected Board of Directors set credit union policies regarding interest rates and any profits made are given back to members in the form of interest on deposits.

By William C. Shelton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

There is so much in our past of which Americans can be justly proud, but that we never learn in school—stories of great courage, innovation, endurance, and self-sacrifice. At the same time, we celebrate stories that just aren’t true.

Our national holidays reflect this pattern. In February, we honor our two greatest presidents, Americans who really were extraordinary leaders and extraordinary people.  At Thanksgiving, we retell a feel-good story whose underlying truth is rather more complex. And among our most misleading myths is the one that we repeat on our next national holiday, Columbus Day.

By Doug Holder

Further Fenway Fiction. Edited by Adam Emerson Pachter ( Rounder Books. One Rounder Way. Burlington, Ma. 01803) $17. http://www.rounderbooks.com

Fenway Park would seem to be a natural setting to center works of fiction and poetry around. The stadium is a house of melodrama, history, bipolar highs and lows, all the right stuff for writers to mine. Former Somerville resident and author Adam Emerson Pachter edited an anthology of fiction aptly titled” “Fenway Fiction,” that came out in September 2005. In 2007 a second anthology: “Further Fenway Fiction,” edited by Pachter and released by the local imprint Rounder Books has hit the street, and features poetry and fiction focusing around the old town team. And as always Somerville or Somerville Рconnected writers are represented on these pages. Author Timothy Gager, cofounder of The Somerville News Writers Festival, Steve Almond author of “Candy Freak,” and Festival regular, as well as long-time Somerville resident and novelist Mitch Evich, all have found homes for their work.

By Ethan Backer

Somerville went to the dogs last Saturday as city canines and their owners gathered at Nunziato Field for Responsible Dog Ownership Day. The event was organized by SomDog and the dogs of the city were treated to nail trimmings, massages and professional portraits. Local dog rescue groups, training clubs and businesses that serve the dog-owning community, as well as the Somerville Animal Control Officer helped SomDog kick off their responsible dog ownership campaign: No Pile Left Behind. Attendees signed a pledge to clean up after their dog every time and learned more about organizations that promote responsible dog ownership in Somerville.

By Pam Rosenblatt

A lot has developed for Somerville artist Kelvy Bird since she was interviewed by The Somerville News in May 2006.

In summer 2007, some of her “Pulse” series was published in Salamander Vol. 12, No. 2, a nonprofit literary magazine affiliated with Suffolk University. Her work is on show in the Window Arts Malden project, Malden, through October 7. On the Board of Directors of Somerville Open Studios for 2007 and 2008, Bird helped develop the online registration for SOS 2006 and 2007.

Bird is an abstract painter whose creative art pieces evokes her own inner emotions or outward emotions from her audience. She is a professional graphic facilitator, a career chosen to help make ends meet while she also pursues her artistic career. She is one of about five hundred graphic facilitators in the world. Graphic facilitation is a field she thinks many struggling Somerville artists may like to look into for a profession.