Sculptor Chris Kane with his wife, Angela, and son, Gio.

By Dani Elle Brissette

PAWTUCKET – As we all prepare for the New Year, we bid farewell to 2007 and the events that made headlines in the papers and many that made permanent memories in our minds.

Alonzo Shelton and Barry Offley were arrested for the murder of 24-year-old Pawtucket resident Jessica Imran after the two men walked into the home and shot the woman behind the ear. Imran’s roommate, Julie Lange, was shot multiple times but managed to escape and contact the police.

Henry Duah, Gabriel Clark, and Jack Appiah were charged with the rape of a 17-year-old Attleboro woman. The men reportedly offered the teen an open wine cooler which made her feel faint and shortly thereafter, the three men sexually assaulted her. All three men were charged with first degree sexual assault.

Two top executives for Woonsocket-based CVS Pharmacies were indicted on 23 counts of conspiracy, fraud and bribery. John R. Kramer, a senior vice president, and Carlos Ortiz, a company vice president, were accused of giving former state Sen. John Celona more than $40,000 and other goods in order to bribe Celona to pass legislation in CVS’ favor.

The Journal Register Company sold it’s reserve of Rhode Island newspapers including The Times of Pawtucket, The Call of Woonsocket, the Kent County Daily Times and the Warwick Daily Times as well as Northwest Neighbors and Lincoln-Cumberland Neighbors to R.I.S.N. Operations Inc. for $7.6 million.

Gov. Donald Carcieri nominated Pawtucket resident William E. Carnes Jr. to be an associate judge of the Superior Court, citing Carnes’ long career as a police officer and attorney as benefits that would make him an asset to the state’s judiciary.

Police were alerted by a caller who reported a 1998 BMW 23A driving erratically through Central Falls. The tip sent Sgt. Craig Horton and Officer Maximiliano Gonzales into a chase of the vehicle, which was reported stolen, and of the two Central Falls residents, 20-year-old Jason Charpentier and a 16-year-old juvenile, inside it. The incident concluded with the two occupants being arrested after crashing the vehicle into a fence in Pawtucket.

In keeping up with modern technology, the state of Rhode Island and the Department of Labor and Training eliminated the use of paper checks to distribute unemployment benefits. The new payment system features an electronic VISA card that can be used at ATM machines or as a debit card anywhere VISA is accepted. This innovative approach to dispersing unemployment benefits was implemented to save the state approximately half a million dollars annually and to offer more convenience to unemployment recipients.

Former Cumberland tax collector Darlene Blanchette 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.

A woman trying to escape the police was struck by a car while crossing Interstate 195 in Seekonk. The woman was one of two people wanted by Seekonk Police as part of a shoplifting complaint received just before the accident. While running across Route 195, the woman was struck by a 2007 Volvo sedan driven by Warren resident Cheryl Silva and was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in serious condition.

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.

Students at Lincoln’s William M. Davies Jr. Career & Technical High School stood in line for free haircuts which resulted in numerous donations to the Locks of Love Organization in Florida.

Pawtucket resident and Russian native, 25-year-old Max Malyuta died suddenly from viral meningitis. Malyuta was a self-taught chess wizard who emigrated from Russia just five years earlier and was trying to pursue a chess scholarship.

Former state representative Donald O. Reilly of Cumberland was arrested after Cumberland police responded to a disturbance at his home. Reilly was charged with one misdemeanor count of domestic simple assault and one count of domestic disorderly conduct against his spouse.

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

Julie Lange, the roommate of slain Pawtucket resident Jessica Imran, testified against her former boyfriend, Alonzo Shelton who was charged with murdering Imran and shooting Lange. Shelton was later convicted and sentenced to two life terms for the crimes.

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.

The Cumberland Town Council voted to name the police station after one of “Cumberland’s favorite sons,” the late John J. Partington, because of the impact of his work in law enforcement in both local and national levels.

Seekonk High School bid farewell to 193 seniors at their Class of 2007 commencement exercises.

Two families lost their homes when a fire erupted from a three-family tenement house on Sylvian Street in Central Falls.

Three people were stabbed outside Jenks Junior High School during a disagreement following the Fourth of July fireworks display at McCoy Stadium. Two juvenile males, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old, began arguing outside the school. The father of the 17-year-old attempted to break up the fight and a friend of the 15-year-old stabbed the father, then the 15-year-old and then the 17-year old, according to police.

Representing William M. Davies Jr. Career& Technical Center in Lincoln, 11 students flew to the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City, MO and student Peter Navarro placed sixth in the competition.

After more than three years and close to $8 million dollars, the Martin Street Bridge that links Lincoln and the Berkeley section of Cumberland was officially opened to the public.

Former Central Falls Mayor Carlos Silva and his wife Linda escaped from a fire at their residence in Lincoln, which displaced the couple and claimed their house and pets.

When Kara A. Machado of Pawtucket started talking on her cell phone, it resulted in power outages that affected hundreds of homes and businesses in the city. Machado claimed to lose control of her 2003 Cadillac sedan and it struck a utility pole, snapping it at its base and knocking down several wires.

Patrons of Pawtucket Credit Union dealt with issues to their bottom line when the credit union’s computer systems malfunctioned. Deposits and withdrawals did not post to customer’s accounts, and though the matter was cleared up within a few days, the credit union dealt with numerous customer complaints.

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

The 19-month and $220 million dollar transformation of Lincoln Park into Twin River was finally completed, unveiling the facility as a high-end gaming, dining and entertainment venue.

Adelino Duarte, the Pawtucket man who admitted to killing his estranged girlfriend, Elizabeth Orellana, as well as her daughter, and her boyfriend, was sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms. Duarte pleaded guilty to four of the seven counts for which he was indicted for in December.

A 3-year-old girl was found wandering by herself on Mineral Spring Avenue in Pawtucket. The Department of Children, Youth and Families began investigating the matter when RIPTA bus driver Walter Jackson notified police because he was concerned for the child’s safety.

In the rear parking lot of American Legion Post No. 14 on Broad St. in Cumberland, the body of Central Falls resident Arthur Hyatt, 57, was found dead underneath his 1991 Ford Explorer.

Gerard Martineau, former House Majority Leader, 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.

The 35-year-old Lincoln woman, Katie Corcoran, who was missing since September was found alive and well in Baltimore, more than nine weeks after she walked away from a Providence psychiatric hospital and disappeared.

Central Falls City Councilman Luis Gil was arrested in Providence on a charge of third-degree sexual assault after being found in a parked car with his genital exposed, accompanied by a 15-year-old boy.

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.