Other top stories:

n Teenager Dan Azad left behind war-torn Iraq for Thomas College thanks to philanthropist Paul Schupf, who saw an ABC News story about the boy.

n Republican legislator Abigail Holman died in a skiing accident at Sugarloaf in April.

n Six-year-old Zyah Denis drowned in June a backyard swimming pool in Waterville.

n In August a car skidded out of control and killed Bernard R. Currier, 87, while he was riding a lawnmower at his Skowhegan home. James J. Paine, 18, of Norridgewock was charged with manslaughter.

n In October, the public weighed in on a proposal by TransCanada to rezone a mountain in Franklin County to build the Kibby Wind Power Project. The wind farm would produce enough power for every household in Franklin, Oxford and Somerset counties.

n In July, a truck loaded with 24 tons of smelly chicken manure overturned in the yard of Norridgewock resident Richard White, splattering his mobile home and two vehicles. "It was like a tsunami wave of hot chicken (manure)," White said.

n In March Bill Exner of Waterville made national news shows with his "man vs. mouse" crusade against a rodent that stole his lower dentures and hid them inside a wall. Exner, 68, of Oakland Street, said he didn't want to kill the mouse; he just wanted to take him for a ride to the country.

n "Fame Forever," the sequel to the movie and musical by the same name, had its U.S. debut in September at the Waterville Opera House.

n This past summer, Waterville dentist Denise A. Nadeau sought to regain her license after suspension for variety of infractions, including selling sex aids by telephone.

n Construction began during the summer on a new $30 million Somerset County Jail in East Madison.

n In December, 85-year-old Ruth Adams from Norridgewock survived six hours in a snowbank in temperatures down to 16 degrees.

Her body temperature dropped to 74.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

n In January, Jenny the Donkey made headlines when she went on the lam from a farm in Pittsfield.

After eluding human pursuers for a month, the donkey simply walked back into captivity, led by a trusted friend.

n An arrest on Dec. 8 brought to a conclusion an investigation into one of three attacks on women in the Colby College area since October.

Police have said the three cases are unrelated.

Benjamin F. Oakes was charged with assault after allegedly having accosted a woman on a walking trail near the college. In two prior, unconnected incidents, young women were grabbed by a man while walking on campus.