The year started with a bang, as the sky over St. George's erupted in a riot of colourful fireworks. Thousands flocked to the Old Town to ring in the New Year. Then Mayor E. Michael Jones said it was the best New Year's Eve party ever. "It was absolutely amazing," he beamed.

From a monster party to a monster exhibit. The latest attraction at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute was unveiled early this month... and it starred 45-foot beasts who ruled the high seas 70 million years ago.

More than 100 staff at the Wyndham Hotel faced an uncertain start to 2006 as it was announced on January 3 that the hotel would close for a winter re-fit. Union leaders looked for reassurances and complained of a lack of notice, in the wake of a management takeover by Cendant Corporation. Plans for a $200 million revamp were later unveiled, as the hotel closed at the end of the summer season until 2009.

The Department of Public Prosecutions confirmed on January 4 that it would review the case of murdered Canadian teenager Rebecca Middleton. DPP director Vinette Graham-Allen said she would look again at the unsolved case after the Cooper twins murder trial finished. That started on January 9 and ended with two men getting life sentences for murdering Jahmal and Jahmil Cooper.

Eyes were down as bingo fever swept Bermuda. Amid predictions the Island could become a hotspot for global players, plans for the world's first linked continuous games were revealed on January 6.

To the horror of animal lovers, news broke in mid-January that a live dog had been chained to two breezeblocks and thrown 50 feet into sea. Wardens said the deliberate drowning was a unique case, as a $5,000 reward was put up to trace the cruel culprits.

We also reported how Police were probing the deaths of two cats poisoned in Spanish Point.

The Police community fell into shock on January 22 after an officer collapsed and died while playing rugby

Friends and colleagues said that Paul Marsden was "one of life's nice guys." The 36-year-old fell to the ground during a match between the Police and Mariners at the National Sports Centre, Prospect.

On January 26, it was confirmed that low-cost airline JetBlue Airways was coming to Bermuda after five years of wooing by the Government. The news came two weeks after Bermuda's Hollywood couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones attended a reception with JetBlue officials at the Grotto Bay Hotel to boost the allure of the Island to the airline.

Election excitement swept the East End as Mariea Caisey was confirmed new Mayor of St. George's after a dramatically close election gave her three more votes than incumbent E. Michael Jones.

In another nail-biting finish involving the two candidates, separated by a mere two votes at the last election in 2003, bank manager Ms Caisey tasted victory ? despite at first thinking she'd been pipped at the post for a second time as she tried to keep a tally of the vote counting.

"I can't believe that I miscounted my own votes, I added them up incorrectly. I thought I'd lost by two votes again," said Ms Caisey deputy mayor until the 2003 election.

The Island's population could balloon to 74,000 by 2030, we reported on January 31. The figure emerged in preliminary findings by the Department of Statistics.