2009 will be remembered for the tornado that touched down in Oxford
County, and the clash over wind-turbine projects in Franklin and Oxford counties. It will also be remembered for the record summer rainfall.

The town of Norway voted to take the downtown Opera House by eminent
domain. The town manager in Paris was
fired, and four of the five selectmen there became subject to recall
votes.

These were all important stories, but none were the top story of the
year. Below are the Sun Journal’s picks for top local stories of 2009:

1. Cowan Mill arson

The July 15 arson at Cowan Mill was one of the biggest fires ever seen in Lewiston.

Fire was roaring through the mill, which had been listed on the
National Historic Register, within minutes of the first signs of smoke. After 15 minutes, most of the roof had collapsed, spilling bricks into the Androscoggin River, and walls and floors fell, stacking up like pancakes, inside the structure.

The destruction was so violent, embers spewing across Main Street
lit sections of the Bates Mill No. 5 roof on fire.

The fire burned for more than a day and, on July 12, a Superior
Court judge ordered the demolition of the mill because the remaining
structure was so unstable.

No charges have been filed in this case.

2. Bennett fired; Barrett hired

Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett was fired from his post on July 14, something Bennett had openly challenged the City Council to do.

In releasing the city administrator, councilors voted 5-2 to buy out
his contract, paying him a full year’s salary and benefits, amounting to something over $110,000.

Bennett has since accepted a
temporary job as the town manager in nearby Sabattus, and has been
helping selectmen there choose a candidate for the permanent job.

The Lewiston City Council voted in December to hire outgoing Bangor
City Manager Ed Barrett to replace Bennett. Barrett will start his new job Jan. 11. He will be paid $110,000, and receive a $6,000 raise in six months.

3. Dempsey Challenge

The first Dempsey Challenge — to raise money to support the Dempsey
Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center — brought thousands of walkers, runners, cyclists and star-gazers to Lewiston in October to support the fundraising effort and catch a glimpse of “Grey’s Anatomy” star, Patrick Dempsey.

Dempsey, who grew up in Buckfield and Turner, was joined by pro cyclists George Hincapie, David Zabriskie and Ted King.

The one-day event was so successful that registration had to be
capped.

Organizers estimate the event raised over $1 million, and that about
31 percent of the corporate donations went toward operating expenses. All of the donations made by participants went to fund the Dempsey Center’s mission.

4. H1N1 in Maine

The so-called Swine flu hit Maine in April, and has since been blamed for 17 deaths. The first death was in August.

The most recent deaths were recorded in Androscoggin, Kennebec, Knox and Oxford counties.

In each case, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, the patients had serious underlying medical conditions that contributed to their deaths.

According to the Maine CDC, there were 2,201 lab-tested and
confirmed H1N1 cases between April 27 and Dec. 22, with more
unconfirmed cases reported. In all, 215 Maine residents have been
hospitalized for treatment.

5. River Street fire

Nine-year-old Taylor McQueeney died of smoke inhalation after the
apartment where she was being watched by a relative caught fire early in the morning of Aug. 17.

The candle that started the fire was being used for light because
the electricity had been turned off to the apartment for failure to pay the power bill. The fire destroyed two tenement buildings and displaced dozens of River Street residents.

“Everyone knew her and she knew everyone,” said McQueeney’s mother, Rebecca Cote. “She was always happy.”

6. Catholic churches close

Empty pews and climbing costs forced the autumn closure of two of
Lewiston’s five Catholic Churches: St. Joseph’s and St. Patrick’s. The downtown churches filled with good-byes from former parish priests, Bishop Richard Malone and longtime parishioners.

St. Joseph’s, the city’s oldest Catholic Church, drew a
standing-room-only crowd for its final Mass on Oct. 13. A similar crowd followed the closure of St. Patrick’s Church two weeks later.

Both churches are expected to be sold by Maine’s Roman Catholic Diocese.

7. Landmarks close

Some of the most visible local business landmarks closed in 2009,
including Perham’s of West Paris, the Wausau mill in Jay, and Carroll’s Music in Lewiston.

Carroll Poulin Jr. closed his music shop in March, which he had operated on the same corner on Canal Street for 22 years.

In April, Wausau Paper Corp. announced it would close its Maine
operation, putting 90 people out of work. This, after shutting down its No. 10 machine last December, which put 150 people out of work in Jay and Livermore Falls.

And, over the July 4 weekend, Perham’s of West Paris held a
going-out-of-business sale that attracted buyers from as far away as
Florida.

Jane Perham decided to close the family-owned business opened by her
father, Stanley Perham, in 1919, citing the poor economy, difficulties in the gem market and the slowdown of tourism in western Maine.

8. Murder in Oxford County

• Victor Reed Sheldon, 22, and Roger Leroy Day Jr., 48, were shot to
death on Pine Street in Rumford on the night of Aug. 3. It was a
murder-for-hire crime.

Eric Hamel, 19, and Richard Moulton, 20, both of Mexico, confessed
to planning and carrying out the killings, with Moulton hiring his
friend Hamel to shoot the men.

The suspects told police the slayings were payback for an assault against Moulton’s girlfriend, who is Sheldon’s estranged wife.

Hamel and Moulton are awaiting trial for the double murder in Oxford County Superior Court.

• Scott Libby, 25, of Raymond was beaten and strangled before he was
found dead in his car on railroad tracks in Bethel in February. The
body was found when Libby’s car was hit by a train.

Twelve days later, police arrested Agostino Samson, 23, of Bethel and Windham, and charged him with murder.

In September, after a little more than a day of deliberation, an
Oxford County jury found Agostino not guilty and he was released.

9. Holland Street standoff, suicide

On the morning of Sept. 2, 49-year-old Daniel Bussiere refused to come out of his home on Holland Street after police went there to speak with him.

What followed was a standoff that rousted dozens from their homes and lasted almost a full day.

In the end, the findings were grim: Bussiere had committed suicide
inside his apartment by shooting himself with a hunting rifle.

Police had
been trying to speak with Bussiere after a neighbor, 21-year-old Justin Lord, had told them Bussiere had assaulted him and threatened him with handgun.

But in the aftermath, when investigators searched Bussiere’s home, they found no handgun as described by Lord.

10. Turmoil in hockey town

The year saw plenty of changes — and one important constant — with the Lewiston Maineiacs.

Coach and GM Ed Harding was fired in January. Roger Shannon replaced
him as the team’s GM and Don MacAdam as the team’s head coach. Over the summer, assistant Jeff Guay took a leave of absence, and fellow
Lewiston native Jamie Dumont stepped in as assistant coach.

After a good start to the 2009-10 season, the Maineiacs fell into a
slump and, in December, the team again changed coaches. MacAdam and
Dumont were out, and Guay returned for three games as interim head
coach. Jean-Francois Houle was hired full time and became the team’s
fourth bench boss of 2009.

When the team changed coaches in December, Colisee owner Jim Cain was added to the Maineiacs’ front office, as well.

The wall of the Cowan Mill crumbles during the mill fire.

Lewiston firefighters battle the Cowan Mill Fire.

Former Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett hugs Joline Boulay as he prepares to leave the city building for the final time on the afternoon of July, 15. “I have total respect for you,” said Boulay as she wished Bennett good luck and good-bye.

Patrick Dempsey gives a thumbs up as begins the Dempsey Challenge in Lewiston.

A worker adjusts a face mask at a hospital equipment factory in Spain on Thursday, April 30, 2009.

 A pack of markers rest on Taylor McQueeney’s casket for friends and family to writes messages during the funeral service held at Pinette And Lynch Funeral Home in Lewiston Friday. Nine year old Taylor McQueeney died in an apartment fire on River st Lewiston Monday August 17.In back a family member Mark Rideout reads some of the messages on the casket.

Lorraine Chouinard, left, and Helen Palange talk in the church sacracy during a reception after Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lewiston. St. Joseph’s closed its doors. “I felt like I was going to cry when I walked in this morning,” said the 79-year-old Palange. “All these beautiful memories are going. But, that’s life,” said Palange. “You have to go with the changes,” added Palange, who has been attending St. Joseph’s “for as long as I can remember.” Chouinard has been a parishioner at St. Joseph’s for 45 years. The reception featured refreshments and historic photographs. The picture shown here is St. Joseph’s decorated for Christmas in 1933.

Sonny Newcomb, a Wausau Paper mill worker in Jay, stands outside the mill entrance prior to the start of his shift. “I have been here 32 years and two weeks,” Newcomb said. “I love this mill; it has given me a great life. Most of all, I will miss the people.”

Zimmie’s Comics, on the corner of Main and Park Street in Lewiston, closed its doors.

Richard Moulton, Jr., is lead into Oxford Superior Court for his initial appearance on the August 3 shooting deaths of Victor Sheldon and Roger Day, Jr..

Agostino Samson reacts after being found not guilty of killing his former employer, 25-year-old Scott Libby of Raymond, last February in Bethel.

The Maine State Police Tactical Squad enters 181 Holland Street in Lewiston during a standoff.

Jennifer Sherwood of Sabattus celebrates following a Lewiston Maineiacs goal against Chicoutimi in Lewiston.