War and politics dominated the national news in 2004, and it was no different here in western Maine. Fires at downtown Lewiston landmarks, the rebuilding of the city’s southern gateway and a new trial for a convicted killer also made the Sun Journal’s Top 10 list.

1. Mainers at war

In January, there were parades and ceremonies as Mainers watched 500 local soldiers leave for war. There were hasty marriages and private parties before the men and women of the Maine National Guard’s 133rd Engineer Battalion were shipped to Iraq and other parts of the world.

Locally, people watched with concern and pride as 100 of these part-time soldiers from Oxford and Androscoggin counties went off to join the war effort in the Middle East. But with service comes sacrifice, and it was only a few months before the news turned grim.

In mid-April, a Maine soldier was killed and three others were wounded when their convoy was attacked in northern Iraq.

Spc. Christopher D. Gelineau, 23, of Portland, was killed when a roadside bomb exploded as a convoy from the 133rd was traveling near Mosul. Fellow guardsmen Spc. Dwight Nickles, 22, of Union, Spc. Sok San Pao, 22, of Portland, and Spc. Craig Ardry of Pittsfield were injured in the attack by insurgents.

In December, a few days before Christmas, there was more tragic news from the Middle East. Two Mainers of the 133rd were killed and 10 others injured in a suicide bombing in Mosul.

Spc. Thomas Dostie, 20, of Somerville, and Sgt. Lynn R. Poulin Sr., 47, of Freedom, died in the attack on their dining hall tent. In all, 22 people were killed. Days later, three more members of the 133rd were wounded, one of them seriously.

By the end of 2004, 10 Mainers had been killed in action. Members of the 133rd battalion are expected to return home in the spring.

2. The Red Sox? No way!

In October, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series. Repeat that sentence as many times as you’d like. It still sounds unreal.

At home or in bars, Mainers in the fall watched with high hopes as the Sox went to the American League playoffs for the second straight year. They groaned and flung their hands up with disgust as the Sox dropped three games straight to the loathed New York Yankees.

But 2004 was truly a miracle year for the Bosox. As if winning the series weren’t enough, the “band of idiots” staged an unprecedented comeback to do it.

Curt Schilling pitched with blood soaking into his sock. Johnny Damon finally started to hit and David Ortiz pounded key home runs. An 86-year curse was coming to an end in storybook style.

The night the Red Sox won Game 7 of the American League series was as euphoric here as it was across the rest of New England. At Fast Breaks in Lewiston, where dozens of people screamed and hugged complete strangers after the final out, the sense of disbelief was beginning.

After the drama of that series, the World Series was almost an anti-climax. The Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four straight games. Even three months later, it sounds too fantastic to be real: In October, the Red Sox won the World Series.

3. Tax cap, bear referendums defeated

For most of the year, two issues galvanized voters in Maine as passionate supporters and opponents made their arguments.

The so-called Palesky tax cap promised to ease the burden of property taxes, or to result in complete chaos for some cities and towns.

In the end, it was the notion of fewer police and firefighters, sharply reduced school services and the loss of amenities such as snow removal that made the difference. The 1 percent tax cap measure went down by a ratio of nearly 2-1.

Another ballot question asked: Do you want to make it a crime to hunt bears with bait, traps or dogs, except to protect property, public safety or for research?

Animal rights groups insisted that the practice of bear trapping is cruel and unfair. Hunting groups described it as a necessity for controlling wildlife populations.

When all the votes were in, 53 percent of Mainers had voted against the proposed restrictions on bear hunting.

4. John Kerry takes Maine, loses bid for White House

If it were true that the nation follows Maine’s lead, John Kerry would soon be running the country and George Bush would be moving back to Texas.

Kerry won Maine by roughly 8 percentage points after both candidates campaigned heavily here. In Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, Kerry’s five-point win over Bush was more than double the 2 percent advantage given to Al Gore in 2000.

The overwhelming numbers may have surprised the Bush camp, which spent time and money in Maine, believing it would swing to their candidate this year.

Why did Kerry fare so well?

Campaign officials say issues such as abortion and gay marriage did not energize Bush voters the way they did in some of the Southern states and the Midwest.

Christian Potholm, a Republican pollster and professor of government at Bowdoin College, said campaign strategies that worked in other parts of the country may have been wasted on Maine voters.

Others said Kerry appealed to a majority of Mainers on “kitchen table” issues, such as jobs, health care and concern over the war in Iraq.

5. Cities upgrade their downtowns

Last year around this time, we brought you news about great plans in the Twin Cities. We reported that Lewiston’s lower Lisbon Street would soon be home to a new cable company and a college. We told you Auburn would have a new city hall in renovated space on Court Street.

What were plans then are realities now.

In October, Auburn Hall was opened to the public. New offices, new furniture and new scenery greeted citizens and city councilors. The new city hall is located at the corner of Court Street and Mechanics Row, a quick walk from a new parking garage.

In Lewiston, Oxford Networks has settled into the downtown area known as the city’s southern gateway. Down the road is Andover College. VIP Discount Auto Center is settled in there and city officials launched a $2.48 million capital campaign to renovate the Public Theatre inside and out.

A more ambitious and controversial plan, the Heritage Initiative, aims to revitalize the downtown and to build a connector road between Lincoln and Birch streets. The 10-year plan has drawn fire from many people who believe it will leave some homeless and clog the inner city with traffic and exhaust.

6. Marco’s burns

It was almost a state of mourning in the Twin Cities when the legendary Marco’s Restaurant was destroyed in a July 6 blaze.

The fire started on the upper floor of the 177 Lisbon St. eatery, but the blaze burned for hours. Flames shot high above the building, visible across the downtown area and over the bridge in Auburn. An hour after the fire was first discovered, the roof of the three-story building collapsed. By the time it was over, Marco’s was a blackened mess that could not be saved.

For days after the fire, people wandered to Lisbon Street at all hours to look at the remains of a restaurant that had been serving the community since 1978.

Shortly after the fire, owners Steve Taylor and Duane Arnold announced that they would probably move to a new location. But plans remain foggy.

In December, the Lisbon Street property was sold to local landlord Richard Breton. Taylor and Arnold told reporters they had found a new site outside the downtown area where they plan to rebuild. They would not say where.

7. Blast rocks Lewiston

Two buildings were blown apart, five people were hurt and windows blew out of nearby businesses when an explosion rocked the downtown on Jan. 12.

The afternoon blast at Lewiston Radiator Works hurled debris for hundreds of yards. A vacant building next to it crumbled to the ground. The explosion sent a mushroom-shaped cloud billowing high into the sky over the city.

Two hours after the blast tore through the Radiator Works and the former Hotel Holly, the buildings burst into flames. The fire, visible for miles, sent rescue crews scrambling. Traffic was snarled for hours in both Lewiston and Auburn.

For days after, the scene resembled a combat zone as traffic was diverted and investigators searched for a cause. It turned out to be natural gas, which apparently leaked from an abandoned gas line and seeped into the basement of the Hotel Holly.

After the explosion, city officials worked with gas crews to make repairs to underground gas lines.

8. Accused killer to get a second chance

In December, Brandon Thongsavanh was returned to the Maine State Prison to await his second trial.

The 21-year-old was convicted of killing a Bates College student, but in October the Maine Supreme Judicial Court overturned his conviction and granted him a new trial.

It remained uncertain at the end of the year whether he would remain at the state’s maximum-security prison in Warren or be transferred to the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn.

Thongsavanh was serving a 58-year sentence in an Arizona state prison for the 2002 murder of Bates College senior Morgan McDuffee.

He was sent to Arizona in May 2004 after Maine agreed to exchange one of its high-risk prisoners for an Arizona inmate involved in a 15-day hostage standoff at a prison there.

Thongsavanh’s second trial is tentatively scheduled for April.

9. High-speed tragedy

In October, 15-year-old Ryan Quinn became the face of teenage angst, the debate over police chases and avoidable tragedy.

The Litchfield teenager was killed in an early morning crash Oct. 19 on Sabattus Street while driving a stolen car.

The Subaru Outback he was driving sheared through a utility pole and ripped in half. Investigators believe the car struck the pole at approximately 70 mph.

At the time of the wreck, Lewiston police were trying to stop the car after it was reported stolen from Oak Hill High School in Wales. Quinn was a student at the school.

In the aftermath of the deadly wreck, Quinn’s parents demanded an explanation from police and announced plans to possibly sue.

However, all investigations of the wreck determined that police had not acted irresponsibly. Police did not know the age or identity of the driver when they tried to pull over the Subaru.

10. Two police chiefs fired

Police departments in Bethel and Norway saw their leaders fired amid scandal and accusations.

Bethel Police Chief Darren Tripp was dismissed in February after he was accused of job deficiencies, poor judgment, lack of ethics and lack of respect for the law.

At the top of the list of allegations against him, Tripp was accused of failing to maintain contact with dispatchers in times of emergency. He was accused of failing to respond from the police station for 12 minutes after he was alerted to an armed robbery.

Tripp has denied the claims and is appealing a federal court decision to dismiss a lawsuit he filed against the town of Bethel.

In Norway, Police Chief Tim Richards was fired in April after a relationship with a co-worker went bad and tales of a ruined romance circulated through town.

The controversy began Feb. 20, when former Norway Patrol Officer Cynthia M. Mitchell got a temporary protection-from-abuse order against Richards, whom she had been dating since 2001.

Mitchell alleged that Richards assaulted her in August of 2002 and harassed her in early 2004 after their relationship ended.

At a hearing April 7, Norway selectmen ruled that Richards had shown “extremely poor judgment in having a relationship with a subordinate employee.”

– Compiled by staff writer Mark LaFlamme