WHAT HAPPENED: Raleigh's four-block heart reopened to cars in July after 30 years of hibernation as a lonely pedestrian mall. The city celebrated Fayetteville Street's $10 million makeover by sending Mayor Charles Meeker down the fresh asphalt in a black classic Chevy as people stood 10-deep on the sidewalk, cheering. By day's end, an estimated 60,000 people flooded downtown, sipping coffee and beer at cafe tables-- a rarity, even an impossibility -- on a typical Saturday night downtown. The celebration capped a year of painful construction downtown and helped end widespread skepticism about tearing out the mall.

WHAT'S THE LATEST: Tonight, about 50,000 people are expected to welcome the new year downtown, where they can watch Raleigh's acorn sculpture drop on Fayetteville Street for the first time since it reopened.

MARCH 14, 2006: NIGHT A WOMAN CLAIMS SHE WAS GANG-RAPED AT A PARTY OF DUKE LACROSSE PLAYERS.

WHAT HAPPENED: A lacrosse player hired dancers from escort services for a party that began the evening of March 13. A dancer later said she was raped, sodomized, beaten and strangled in the bathroom of the house at 610 N. Buchanan Boulevard. The team's coach resigned, the season was canceled, and Duke University launched an examination into campus culture and the lacrosse program. The allegations led to criminal indictments against three players. All three said they were innocent.

WHAT'S THE LATEST: Rape charges against the three players were dropped Dec. 22. They still face charges of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault. The N.C. State Bar has filed a complaint against Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, accusing him of conduct "prejudicial to the administration of justice" during media interviews about the case. He could be removed from the court case or lose his law license. At a Feb. 5 hearing, a judge will consider if the woman's identification of lacrosse players should be thrown out as evidence.

MARCH 30, 2006: STATE LOTTERY OPENS; AFTER AN EXCITING START, SALES SLOW.

OVERHEARD

WHAT HAPPENED: At 6 a.m., Howard Lee, chairman of the state Board of Education, used a crisp $5 bill to purchase the first lottery tickets sold in the state since the Colonial era. Hundreds of thousands of people joined in across the state, and the lottery was off and running. After years of debate in living rooms, on campaign trails and in church sanctuaries, North Carolina had become the last state on the East Coast to offer the games of chance. Within months, the state added a national jackpot game, Powerball, as well as daily Pick 3 and Cash 5 games. The games are designed to raise money for education programs.

WHAT'S THE LATEST: There are signs the games aren't bringing in the cash that Gov. Mike Easley -- the lottery's major champion -- had predicted. From the beginning, sales have lagged the official forecasts, and now it appears the state likely will have to use $50 million from a lottery reserve fund to cover its expected payouts for education this year. The slower sales have led to talk of altering some aspects of the games, including beefing up prize amounts. The lottery's first chairman, Charles Sanders of Durham, stepped down in September as planned after a year in charge.

AUG. 18, 2006: TRIANGLE TRANSIT AUTHORITY STOWS PLANS FOR COMMUTER RAIL.

WHAT HAPPENED: The Triangle Transit Authority's 11-year push to build a 28-mile commuter train service for Raleigh, Research Triangle Park and Durham came to a screeching halt. TTA shelved its bid for 60 percent federal funding after officials in Washington concluded that it would not serve enough riders to justify the $810 million taxpayer investment.

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