On the morning of March 30, police swarmed a Minot Avenue home in Auburn after a man was reported wandering in the yard with what appeared to be an automatic weapon. The body of a woman was sprawled in the driveway behind him.

It didn’t take police long to determine who the dead woman was. It was 76-year-old Margaret Peters, killed from a gun blast. The man with the rifle was soon identified as her son, 42-year-old James Peters, who lived with his mother at 1806 Minot Ave.

What followed was a daylong standoff between James Peters and a Maine State Police tactical team. Shots were fired back and forth during the tense confrontation, and police tried 114 times to negotiate with Peters by telephone.

Peters never responded but police said he occasionally appeared behind windows, holding a weapon and shouting at the officers outside. Police fired tear gas into the home, and it was greeted by gunfire from an AK-47 assault rifle. At least one round struck a tactical police vehicle and debris from the blast struck an officer.

News teams from around the country followed the drama as the standoff ground into the night and then into morning. Then, in daylight, police entered the home and found James Peters dead from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. They also found the AK-47 containing 17 live rounds, a shotgun with two rounds and a hunting rifle with four. Police also found spent shell casings, a clip for the AK-47, 52 rounds for a .357 handgun and 35 rounds for various hunting rifles.

Both bodies were removed and the incident was investigated by the Attorney General’s Office. No reason was uncovered for James Peters’ rampage, although people familiar with the family said there had been tensions between him and his mother over living arrangements.

The A.G.’s Office later cleared the police officers who shot at and ultimately killed James Peters.

2. Career photographer tackles fugitive in city

Sun Journal photographer Russ Dillingham, a 25-year veteran of the news business, went from one side of the camera to the other in October after he tackled a suspect trying to flee Lewiston police.

Dillingham was hailed as a hero by both cops and news reporters when it was learned the photographer captured images of the suspect leaping from a third-floor porch before setting his camera down and getting involved.

The photographer tackled and wrestled down Norman “Bo” Thompson, a 37-year-old Mexico man wanted by police in three counties on suspicion of stealing cars and burglarizing homes.

Dillingham held Thompson to the ground until Lewiston police officers arrived and arrested the suspect. He was hailed immediately by police, but more was to come. After Dillingham’s stunning photographs of Thompson in midair between the porch and the garage he landed on, news agencies around the world wanted to know more about the bold photographer.

An estimated 5.6 million requests for the story rocked the Sun Journal Web site. The story was picked up by news heavyweights like the Drudge Report, Fark.com, Fox News and the Boston Newspapers. Dillingham, who downplayed his role in the capture, was flown to New York to be interviewed on CNN after making the rounds of the local news stations.

The phrase: “Tackle him, Russ. Tackle him!” became a popular favorite around the Twin Cities and shirts were made to commemorate the command.

Meanwhile, the court system came under fire when Thompson was set free on personal recognizance just days after his capture. Ranking police demanded to know why Thompson was released after previous failures to appear in court and after proving he was difficult to arrest.

Weeks later, Thompson was in the news again after he was captured once more following a 14-hour standoff with police at his mother’s home in Mexico. He has since been ordered held without bail at the Oxford County Jail on counts of theft, burglary, criminal mischief and other charges stemming from incidents in three counties.

In December, Thompson was indicted on charges of criminal mischief and trafficking in prison contraband for allegedly taking apart an electrical outlet at the jail and pocketing a portion of it.

3. Boat crash kills two in Harrison

On the night of Aug. 11, a 34-foot speedboat slammed into a smaller boat at 45 mph on Long Lake in Harrison. Rescuers initially believed there had been nobody in the 14-foot motorboat that was struck. And then, three days after the wreck, a grim discovery. The bodies of Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Naples, and Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, of Berwick, were pulled from the lake.

Friends said Trott and Groetzinger had been out on the lake to watch the Perseid meteor shower which peaked that evening. Investigators said the boat that struck them was operated by 38-year-old Robert LaPointe of Medway, Mass. They said he was drunk, his blood alcohol level measured at .11 percent, when his $150,000 boat plowed into the smaller craft, killing Trott and Groetzinger.

LaPointe and a companion, 19-year-old Nichole Randall, of Bridgton, were unhurt in the crash.

In October, a grand jury indicted LaPointe on two counts of manslaughter, four counts of aggravated drunk driving and one count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. LaPointe was booked at the Cumberland County Jail and then set free on bail. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Nov. 27.

In the aftermath of the deadly collision, questions were raised about whether large boats like LaPointe’s – which was powered by two 435-horsepower engines – should be allowed on small bodies of water like Long Lake. A bill proposed to limit the horsepower of boats on that lake and on Brandy Pond in Cumberland County has been revived for debate during the upcoming state legislative session.

4. Daniel Roberts convicted, sentenced for murdering girlfriend

In June, a jury rejected arguments of self-defense and Daniel Roberts, 37, was ordered to spend 55 years in prison for shooting his girlfriend in the back of the head.

Roberts had admitted to shooting 29-year-old Melissa Mendoza on Aug. 15, 2005. However, he insisted he did so because Mendoza had threatened to harm their 2-year-old daughter.

At a three-week trial in February, prosecutors argued that the killing was unprovoked and said Roberts staged a crime scene in an attempt to convince police he had been protecting himself and his daughter. The jury agreed, and Roberts was sent to prison.

In August, Mendoza’s family filed paperwork announcing that they are suing Roberts. The wrongful death suit claims emotional distress, pain and suffering and loss of comfort to Mendoza’s children and other family members.

5. Nielsen admits to four slayings, ordered to prison for life

More than a year after four people were slain in grisly, Labor Day weekend killings in Upton and Newry, 32-year-old Christian Nielsen admitted to the slayings.

The discoveries of four mutilated bodies Sept. 3, 2006, horrified the community and was covered by media around the country. On Oct. 9 this year, Nielsen pleaded guilty to four counts of murder, admitting that he shot a man and three women connected with the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast, the Newry inn where he’d been living.

In court for sentencing, Nielsen addressed the judge and the families of the victims, saying, “I’m sorry for what I did.”

The judge was not impressed. He called the remarks “grossly insincere” and sentenced Nielsen to life in prison.

Nielsen’s guilty plea and the subsequent sentence seemed to mark the closing of an ugly period. But shortly after the sentence was handed down, his attorneys announced that they were appealing two rulings in the case. If successful, Nielsen could withdraw his guilty pleas and stand trial.

6. Jenkins defies odds, voted in as Auburn mayor

After announcing he would not run for the position of Auburn mayor, John Jenkins was swept into office anyway after a historic write-in campaign emphasized his enormous popularity.

Jenkins won re-election Nov. 6, becoming the first person in Auburn history to win a citywide election as a write-in candidate.

He won an overwhelming victory, taking the lead in each of the city’s five wards. The final vote was Jenkins: 2,166, Eric Samson: 1,305 and Fred Sanborn: 514. Some had questioned how viable a write-in candidate could be. After all, to vote for Jenkins people had to write in his full name and fill in the adjacent circle.

But Jenkins, a motivational speaker who is no stranger to politics, has been known to defy odds before. In the mid-1990s, he became the first black mayor of Lewiston. In December 2006, he became the first black mayor of Auburn, taking office for just a one-year term.

Or so he thought. Weeks after his historic write-in win, Jenkins was sworn in once more as the Auburn mayor.

“I’m so excited. I’m fired up,” the loquacious mayor said. “It’s good to be needed.”

7. Music teacher charged with fondling student

The Auburn school system was rattled and the community stunned in late October when a popular music teacher was charged with groping a 7-year-old student at Park Avenue Elementary School.

Police say James G. Raymond Jr., 26, of Auburn, admitted to them that he sometimes put his hand up the skirts of young girls in his class. He was charged Oct. 30 with unlawful sexual touching after a 7-year-old girl told school staff that she had been fondled.

Raymond was released on bail shortly after his arrest and remains free pending trial. Police said he told investigators he had an attraction to female students from kindergarten age to third grade. He did not deny touching some of them, police said.

Raymond was placed on administrative leave at the school and later resigned. He was ordered by the court to stay away from people under the age of 18.

The arrest shook the community, but school officials promised that popular singing groups Raymond has founded in two Auburn elementary schools would overcome. They announced replacements to pick up leadership with the many projects the disgraced teacher once lead.

In addition to his teaching duties, Raymond was also an assistant marching band instructor at Leavitt Area High School, founder of the Central Maine Children’s Theater Project, and was listed as an instructor of the Central Maine Children’s Chorus, part of the SAD 52 Adult and Community Education Program.

8. Pregnant woman raped, robbed and strangled

Family and friends held out hope after a pregnant Lewiston woman disappeared Oct. 23, leaving her two children perplexed. Police investigated the case but 38-year-old Donna Paradis was not seen or heard from for three weeks.

Then a grim discovery by police searching a wooded area between Lisbon and Lincoln streets. Paradis’ body was found in a shallow grave near an all-terrain trail. Police said Paradis, 7 months pregnant and the mother of two daughters, had been bound with strips of cloth, sexually assaulted and strangled. Money she had withdrawn from a bank earlier in the day was taken from her.

Evidence found at the scene, including a pickax and shovel, led police to 44-year-old Richard Dwyer, a man with a long criminal history, who worked with Paradis at Affiliated Computer Services, a short distance from where the body was found. Police believe Dwyer lured Paradis to the remote area by offering to show her a used car she could buy.

Already in jail on a charge of robbing a Big Apple store in Lewiston when the body was found, Dwyer was arrested and charged with murder, robbery and rape in the killing of Paradis. In early December, he pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains jailed awaiting trial.

9. Maineiacs bring cup to U.S.

The fans believed they could do it. The team was convinced they would do it. And then, on May 10, the Lewiston Maineiacs made believers out of the rest of the league and everyone who follows junior hockey.

After losing only one game during the playoffs, the Maineiacs team got even hotter, sweeping Val-d’ Or Foreurs in four games to win the President’s Cup. It was the first time an American team had achieved the feat.

With the win and with the championship trophy on the way to the United States, a series of celebrations got under way. Local fans had to wait a while to embrace the players, however. Shortly after they won the President’s Cup, the team was off to Vancouver for the Memorial Cup tournament, where they won a game and lost three.

10. Fox with egg on its face after airing bogus ham story

In April, a prank involving a slab of ham at the Lewiston Middle School swelled from local news to a national fiasco after Fox aired a bogus report about the incident.

The truth was complicated enough by itself. A middle school student was suspended for 10 days after he placed the meat in front of five Somali boys on a dare, knowing that the meat was offensive to their religion.

A bogus story about the incident was posted on an online spoof site, featuring wild exaggerations and made-up quotes. That story barely got noticed. But then Fox reported the spoof as fact. The result was a flurry of anger and embarrassment in Lewiston, particularly for school Superintendent Leon Levesque.

In the parody, Levesque was quoted as making outlandish comments about the meat prank, such as: “These children have got to learn that ham is not a toy.”

Levesque never made the comments. Yet when “Fox and Friends” hosts aired the bogus report, they told the audience: “we are not making this up.”

Fox was scolded for airing a fictional story and Levesque announced two months later that he was suing the station and the hosts of the show for libel and slander. In October, Fox denied the charges against them. In fact, at an early hearing, they denied that there had been any broadcast of “Fox and Friends” on the matter at all.

A trial is scheduled for spring.

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