One year ago, this newspaper noted here that 2006 had been a remarkable year.

In its own way, 2007 has been too, with a general election, a recent surge of crime, Bermuda's first ever participation in the World Cup and the passings of some remarkable people like Dame Lois Browne Evans and Roosevelt Brown.

But what is most striking about 2006 and 2007 is how similar they have been.

A year ago, we predicted there would be a general election, and while the result was not as close as many expected, the fact that Premier Ewart Brown would lead the PLP to victory was not a shock.

We said Dr. Brown was likely to be a divisive figure and it is certainly true that Bermuda is more divided than ever today.

We noted then that there had been two unsolved murders, of Jason Lightbourne and Marcus Gibbings. No one has been brought to justice for those murders, and for now at least, the killers of Shaki Crockwell and Aquil Richardson remain free as well.

Even if crime overall is not increasing, there seem to be no genuine answers from the Government or the Police on how to reduce it, the Mirrors Programme excepted.

In education, we said a year ago that it continued to struggle, and here at least, there is hope. Education Minister Randy Horton and Dr. Brown admitted that education was a problem and set about trying to fix it.

While this newspaper remains concerned that not enough is being done to draw in public support or input, there does seem to be a broad consensus from the political parties, businesses and the unions on the way forward – but individual teachers and parents must support the effort if it is to succeed.

In health, the controversies over the hospital site seem to have been resolved, but behind-the-scenes planning on how to improve health care need to be brought under public scrutiny.

This newspaper supports the Government's plans to make public transport free, not least in the hope it will reduce emissions and increase safety. As it stands now, Bermuda's roads are more dangerous than ever.

A year ago, we said: "Underlying everything is race. Dr. Brown promised to confront the issue and warned it would make some people uncomfortable."

He was right there. The general election campaign was as racially divisive as any in recent memory, and it remains as unclear as it was a year ago whether Dr. Brown wants to widen or narrow the racial divide.

Perhaps this newspaper is out of step with the current mood, but it cannot believe that racial invective and racially based distortion of the facts is the way to bring about racial harmony.

The surest way of bringing the races together, as we said in 2006, is to ensure that more Bermudians – of all races – share in the economy's success, but this must be done in such a way that businesses do not flee into the arms of the Island's competitors.

On a positive note, Bermuda's economy remains in good shape, today's Standard & Poor's warning notwithstanding. This gives Bermuda the wherewithal to tackle some of these problems.

It is to be hoped that the community does so, so that this same editorial is not being written in 12 months time.