Ponaganset High School wins the Division III Super Bowl.

By DANI ELLE BRISSETTE

WOONSOCKET – As 2007 comes to an end, the events that made Woonsocket’s headlines are compiled to offer a recap of the last 12 months.

Cumberland resident Tawanna N. Sampson, 31, pleaded guilty Tuesday one count of second-degree murder guilty and one count of conspiracy to commit murder for the 2005 killing of Stacy Ann Brissett. Sampson agreed to a maximum sentence of 50 years, with 40 years to serve at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

North Smithfield area school nurses and health professionals watched for new cases of a serious variation of mycoplasma bacteria-related pneumonia, which was believed to be the cause of bacterial meningitis and encephalitis that took the life of 7-year-old Dylan Gleavy of Warwick and left two other Kent County students extremely ill.

Col. Steven M. Pare retired from the state police after more than 25 years on the force and five years as superintendent.

Two Burrillville kids, 10-year-old John, and 8-year-old Joseph Rodrigues helped save the life of 16-year-old Eric Haringa after his ATV cracked through the ice on Wallum Lake. The Rodrigues’ told their mother, Tanya Lunn, to call the police and even attempted to rescue Haringa while waiting for authorities.

Robin L. Sevigny, 36 Woonsocket and her 14-year-old daughter each faced one count of simple assault for the alleged attack on another 14-year-old girl at a bus stop on South Main Street, marking the second incident in under a month that a mother and teenage daughter face criminal charges for assaulting a schoolmate.

The body of a Lincoln resident, 50-year-old Mark Cardozo, was retrieved from Olney Pond by scuba divers. Cardozo had apparently fallen through the ice a day earlier when he was walking his dogs through Lincoln Woods State Park.

Darlene Blanchette, former Cumberland tax collector, was accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the Cumberland Hill Fire District. Blanchette pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement and paid back $95,000.

Massachusetts resident Edward Lima faced one count each of obtaining money under false pretenses and impersonating a police officer after soliciting donations for a veteran’s fundraiser.

The Rhode Island Ethics Commission fined Gov. Donald Carcieri $1,000 for soliciting political contributions from state employees during 2006’s election campaign.

Blackstone Collector/Treasurer Diane Warren defeated Kevin G. DeLeo during town-wide elections by a margin of 660-508.

Millville elected Charles Poulin and Karin Furno as new selectmen. Poulin defeated Bob Baker, 360-207, for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen and Furno beat John Laura, 311-255, in a race for a partial term.

The body of Woonsocket resident Louis J. Gauthier III was found in the Blackstone River. Gauthier was last seen alive by police in Jan. when he reportedly ran from police after a routine traffic stop.

Twin River, the establishment formerly known as Lincoln Park, unveiled their new event center as part of the $220 million dollar renovation project.

After a vote of 49-12, the House of Representatives approved making Rhode Island’s medical marijuana law permanent.

Chepachet resident William Spivey was arrested by State Police and charged with hiring a hit-man to murder the boyfriend of his ex-wife.

The city of Woonsocket was portrayed on-screen as Providence when various city locations were used during the filming of the cable-television series “Brotherhood”.

Four Woonsocket boys, ages 12, 13, and two 15-year-old brothers set fire to Woonsocket’s Roller Kingdom. The boys confessed to setting the fire that destroyed the building and admitted to regularly using the establishment as their own private clubhouse.

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani visited Providence to explain his position on abortion and draw in money for his GOP presidential primary race. Giuliani responded to comments made by Bishop Thomas Tobin in the diocesan newspaper after Tobin bashed Giuliani’s opinions surrounding abortion rights.

Bellingham firefighters worked intensely to control a fire that broke out at Coyle’s Auction House on Westminster St. The flames consumed the building and the antiques and collectibles contained within it before officials were able to fully extinguish it.

Capt. Dennis L. Smith retired from the North Smithfield police department after 27 years on the force.

Woonsocket High School commemorated 348 students at Barry Field during the Class of 2007 commencement ceremonies.

Richard Lepine of Cumberland was named grand marshal for Woonsocket’s longstanding Autumnfest parade.

The Burrillville Broncos defeated the Johnston Panthers 15-3, in Game 2 of the RIIL Division II baseball finals at McCoy Stadium to wrap up their first state title since 1965.

The town of Uxbridge suffered when an early morning fire consumed the Bernat Mill Complex off Depot and Mendon streets. Fire fighters from Massachusetts and Rhode Island responded to the scene but were unable to salvage the Complex.

Regardless of his previous defeat, former state representative Todd R. Brien announced that he would be running against Mayor Susan D. Menard in the upcoming Nov. elections.

Residents of Smithfield, North Smithfield, Burrillville, Glocester and Woonsocket listened to the roars of 500 motorcyclists as they road through various towns in support of Patrick Murray, a Marine corporal and John Shurick, Army private, PV2, both casualties of the Iraq war.

The Martin Street Bridge that links Lincoln and the Berkeley section of Cumberland was officially opened to the public at the end of the month after more than three years and a nearly $8 million project.

After a standoff during contract negotiations, the Burrillville Teacher’s Association and the Burrillville School district left students with an “August Snow Day”. Classes were postponed after teachers voted not to return to school, which left administration officials no choice but to postpone classes and gave students an extension on their summer vacations.

Ralph R. Liguori, former captain of the Cumberland Police Department, was appointed as the new town prosecutor by the Cumberland Town Council.

Burrillville’s striking teachers reported to work and schools were opened for students despite the fact that the Burrillville School Department and Burrillville Teacher’s Association failed again to reach a contract agreement.

The Lincoln Police Department, the Rhode Island State Police and Providence Police began investigating the disappearance of 35-year-old Lincoln resident Katie Corcoran, who reportedly was suffering from mental health issues and was last scene entering a taxi at Butler Hospital.

An anonymous accusation of plagiarism is targeted at former human services director for the city of Woonsocket, John R. Dionne when Mayor Susan D. Menard’s congratulatory remarks to Woonsocket High School’s class of 2007 – which Menard stated was penned for her by Dionne – is linked to a near identical oration given by lieutenant governor for the state of Alaska, Sean Parnell.

Woonsocket celebrated its 29^th annual three-day Autumnfest even at World War II Veterans Memorial State Park with temperatures reminiscent of a summer’s day.

Hundreds of volunteers traveled the sidewalks of Woonsocket for Family Resource’s Community Action’s 19^th 5k ShelterWalk Event.

Jeremy Fontaine, a Woonsocket resident and member of the city’s Public Works Department , underwent surgery at Rhode Island hospital after sustaining a work accident that left his left arm partially severed.

A local Blackstone parent becomes enraged after her son's confirmed case of MRSA, a potentially dangerous strain of staph infection, also known as the "superbug," was not reported to the parents of other students at Blackstone-Millville Regional High School.

Former House Majority Leader Gerard Martineau pleaded guilty to taking nearly a million dollars from CVS and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. He was charged with two counts of mail fraud and faces up to 10 years in a federal prison, which will be determined at his sentencing in Feb. of 2008.

Mayor Susan D. Menard remained in her capacity as Woonsocket’s mayor after defeating her second-time challenger, Todd R. Brien, 4,022 votes to 3,088, and securing her record seventh term in the city's top office.

The body of an unidentified woman was discovered by hunters who were walking through the woods of the Black Hut State Management Area off Spring Lake Road in Burrillville. Speculation that the body may be that of Vicki Connolly or Katie Corcoran, two women who had recently gone missing, is initially dismissed by authorities pending further investigation. Shortly after the body is discovered, Katie Corcoran is found alive in well in Baltimore, more than nine weeks after her disappearance.

December

The Ponaganset Chieftains win the Division III Super Bowl after defeating Moses Brown, 13-6, at Bryant University.

Woonsocket firefighters battled a structure fire at 112 Earle St, which is believed to have started in a kitchen of the second floor and quickly spread across the roof and back of the building.

East Woonsocket residents are instructed to boil their water after the city’s Water Division and state Department of Health announced that a main break caused contaminated water and service interruptions for most of the Diamond Hill area.