School initiative top 2007 story Patriot’s Day storm, Verizon 2nd and 3rd

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PORTLAND – The Legislature’s approval of the school consolidation plan championed by Gov. John Baldacci in an effort to curb the growth in state spending was voted the top Maine news story of 2007.

The state counts on saving more than $36 million during the first year alone by slashing the number of school districts from 290 to no more than 80. As the year drew to a close, districts scrambled to complete their reorganization plans and municipalities prepared to vote on whether to approve mergers.

Heading into 2008, the fate of what some see as Baldacci’s most ambitious initiative midway through his second term remains up in the air. Even as lawmakers were pushing to amend the plan, critics began circulating petitions to try to overturn it in a referendum.

The top stories were selected in a year-end poll of Associated Press member newspapers, broadcasters and staff in Maine.

The runner-up in the balloting was the deadly nor’easter that roared into Maine on Patriot’s Day, drenching some areas with 7 inches of rain and lashing the coast with gusts that topped 80 mph. Three people were killed, including a Lebanon woman and her 4-year-old granddaughter who were swept away while trying to cross a road inundated by floodwaters.

The storm, which hit hardest in York County, was described as Maine’s worst since the ice storm of 1998.

The attempt by FairPoint Communications to buy Verizon’s land lines in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont for $2.7 billion was voted the No. 3 story, one that has yet to be resolved.

The agreement was opposed by unions representing Verizon workers, which argued that the relatively tiny North Carolina utility lacked the financial muscle to take on such a large acquisition. Supporters of the deal disagreed, citing FairPoint’s pledge to upgrade broadband infrastructure in underserved areas of Maine.

Ranked fourth in the poll was Christian Nielsen’s guilty plea and life sentence for the 2006 murders of four people over the Labor Day weekend in the woods of Upton and at a bed and breakfast in Newry.

Even as the 32-year-old cook made his first public expression of remorse before heading to prison, his motivation for the killings remained a mystery.

As cold weather gripped the state even before the official start of winter, the soaring price of home heating oil raised fears that needy residents might not be able to afford to keep warm. The story was voted No. 5.

Politicians appealed to the Bush administration for an increase in home heating assistance and state officials were drawing up contingency plans for emergency shelters and other steps to deal with what some were calling a potential crisis.

There was a tie for sixth place between the start of what’s expected to be Maine’s closely watched race for U.S. Senate in 2008 and the vote by the Portland School Committee to provide birth control prescriptions to pupils at one of the city’s middle schools.

Early polls showed Republican incumbent Susan Collins with a sizable lead over Tom Allen, but Allen supporters were banking on the state’s Democratic leanings and frustration with the war in Iraq to narrow the gap. Meanwhile, a tough race also was shaping up for Allen’s congressional seat.

The 7-2 vote to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades six through eight at King Middle School without requiring parental consent became fodder for national talk shows. Critics called for changes in the policy and launched a campaign to recall the board members who approved it.

The No. 8 story was Maine voters’ rejection of a bid by the Passamaquoddy Tribe to develop a harness racetrack with slot machines in Washington County, a project billed as a way to promote economic development in a depressed region of Maine while benefiting the Indians.

As the proposed racino went down to defeat by roughly 5 percentage points, anti-gambling forces said the outcome reflected voter opposition to more slot machines. Baldacci, who opposed the racino, pledged to work for “sustainable” development for the county.

Former President George H.W. Bush’s compound in Kennebunkport has often been a magnet for world leaders and this summer was no exception. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the current President Bush in early July and France’s newly elected Nicolas Sarkozy stopped by for lunch with him the next month while on a New Hampshire vacation. The story was ranked ninth.

Rounding out the top 10 was the August death of two boaters on Long Lake in Harrison whose craft was sliced in half by a high-powered speedboat, a tragedy that spurred debate on whether lawmakers should restrict the use of such boats on Maine lakes.

Authorities said Robert LaPointe was operating recklessly and was intoxicated. The Massachusetts man pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and operating under the influence in a case that could go to trial by next summer.