The Bruins won the Stanley Cup. US troops finally exited Iraq. And pent-up animosity over Wall Street greed and a still-sluggish economy played out in protests across the country. These stories were all big news in Dorchester, of course, but there were scores of other headlines over stories that hit closer to home, some of which will stay with us well into the new year. Following is a look back at some of the more remarkable stories that played out in our pages over the last 12 months:

Big Changes recorded at the Carney, Codman Square

The year began with major changes at the top at Dorchester’s only hospital and one if its leading health centers. Steward Health Care System, the new owners of the Carney Hospital, persuaded Bill Walczak— the co-founder and longtime director of the Codman Square Health Center— to leave Codman Square and take the helm at the Carney. It was a tough call for Walczak, a 56-year-old Savin Hill resident who is known as an innovator within the community health field, but also as a fierce critic of  the existing health care industry in the US. Walczak said he was ultimately lured to Carney with the promise of an aggressive round of investment from Steward, which has committed to make the Carney a viable institution going forward.

The transition was eased by the steady hand of Sandra Cotterell, a longtime Codman health center executive who took the reins after Walczak’s departure in February. She had served as Codman’s chief operating officer under Walczak and has shown a firm command on the inner workings of the health center’s many departments.

“I have a great staff at Codman and being able to turn it over to Sandra Cotterell, a person who is so capable and beloved by everybody,” Walczak said at the time. “I know Codman Square will be fine.”

Boy, 4, wounded by gunshot at Harambee Park

One of the year’s most outrageous events locally occurred on June 27 with the shooting of a four-year-old boy who was playing at Harambee Park in Franklin Field. The victim, identified simply as A.J., survived the injury, but will likely have lifelong health problems as a result. The Boston Police have been frustrated in their efforts to find the shooter and Commissioner Ed Davis has repeatedly scolded family members of the victim for not being more cooperative in the investigation. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Boston officials launched a crack-down on motorized dirt bikes, which may have been used by two of the shooters’ intended victims to escape the scene. The bikes had become a scourge in the Franklin Park area prior to the shooting.

This week, BPD spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said that the probe into A.J.’s shooting remains active. ”Detectives will aggressively pursue any new leads,” she said. “We have received limited cooperation, which has been frustrating for detectives. Investigators would welcome any new tips including anonymous information.”

Baker winsDistrict 3 race sent a message

The race to replace Maureen Feeney as the next city councillor in District 3 dominated much of the political coverage in the Reporter from Memorial Day to November 8. The hard-fought contest ended in a ringing voter endorsement of Frank Baker, a 43-year-old former city printing press worker who broke out of the pack of seven candidates to win two elections and secure the seat. Next week, the man who once pushed a broom as a City Hall custodian will be sworn in as one of Dorchester’s three district councilors. Baker’s election was an affirmation of his campaign’s key themes, including his talk of uniting a neighborhood often fractured across a north-south axis— and a more subtle message that he’ll be more independent of the Menino administration that had early-on backed his chief opponent, John O’Toole.

The Reporter’s Gin Dumcius offers a longer look at the D-3 contest in his political year-in-review compilation on Page 2 of this edition, but the long council campaign stands as one of the top news stories of the year, in part, because Baker’s win was also seen as another setback for Tom Menino’s political apparatus with implications for future citywide elections.

Food stamp use seen rising sharply

An investigative report by the Northeastern University’s Watchdog New England team, in conjunction with the Dorchester Reporter, found that there has been a sharp rise in the number of Dorchester households using food stamps. The report— published in February— found that almost 17,000 Dorchester residents had signed up for public food assistance in the previous four years. The increased participation— which has been surging nationally in the midst of a prolonged recession– means that nearly one-third of those living in Dorchester are dependent on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy groceries for their families.

The report found that Dorchester residents received $57.7 million worth of provisions in food stamps in 2010, up from $40.5 million in 2008, a 42 percent rise in two years.  The food stamp program, which was established in 1939 to help feed families during the Great Depression, has grown to the point where its budget in 2010 was $64.7 billion.

For Mattahunt Center, a bright new era dawns

Mattahunt Center re-opened in October, now run by Wheelock CollegeThe Mattahunt Community Center, tucked away in a heavily residential section of Mattapan, re-opened last fall under new management. Once staffed by the city of Boston’s Center for Youth and Families, the Mattahunt was one of several community centers that was shut down in the summer of 2010. The center won a new lease on life this year, thanks to Wheelock College, which agreed to take over programming at the center in a unique partnership with the city, which still owns the facility.

Wheelock College’s President Jackie Jenkins-Scott has taken a keen personal interest in serving Mattapan and building the college’s relationships in city neighborhoods. Together with a task force made up largely of Mattapan residents, Wheelock formulated a plan for operating the center, which features a swimming pool and basketball court among other amenities. City officials hope their partnership with Wheelock College will become a model for transitioning other city-owned community centers into privately managed facilities. Whether that can or will be replicated elsewhere is an open question, but so far the Wheelock partnership has been a big improvement for folks in Mattapan.

Kroc Center opens on Dudley Street

There was good news on the community center front when the long-awaited Kroc Corps Community Center opened in April. The sprawling facility on Dudley Street near Uphams Corner replaces a collection of forlorn vacant lots with the largest facility of its kind in New England. Privately run by the Salvation Army, the Kroc Center charges a range of fees for membership and as of November boasted some 2,000 members— with plans to double that number by next June. The facility hosts after-school and summer activities for kids and programs for adults.

Two murders leave Questions -- and outrage

There were fewer homicides on the streets of Dorchester and Mattapan this year (34 as of Dec. 28, compared with 39 in 2010), but the pace of shootings continued to alarm and frustrate residents and police. In September, a broad-daylight ambush on Geneva Avenue left two boys — ages 16 and 14— wounded. One of the two, 16-year-old Jaivon Blake died from his injuries. Police and prosecutors say that he and a younger friend were targeted by gang members from Levant Street. Five men have now been charged for their roles in the attack, including Nyasani Watt, who is alleged to have fired the gun. Watt and a second 18 year old, Sheldon Mattis, are being held without bail as they await trial.

A month later, a 36-year-old Irish immigrant was found shot to death on the street outside his apartment on Nahant Avenue, a side street near Adams Corner that rarely makes its way onto the police logs. The murder of Ciaran Conneely alarmed residents who were already on edge after a reported armed robbery by a group of teens on Ashmont Street. In December, a Suffolk County grand jury delivered welcome, if disturbing news: a 17 year old from Dorchester had been indicted and charged with killing Conneely during a street robbery. The young suspect, John Graham, is alleged to have shot two other men in an incident on Monsignor Lydon Way about two weeks after Conneely was killed.

Related: The year in homicides in Dorchester and Mattapan, 2011

Proposed Latin Academy move sparked protest, and a reversal

A plan to relocate Boston Latin Academy was abandoned in the fall in the face of intense resistance from students, parents, and alumni. The initial proposal to relocate BLA to a Hyde Park building resulted in two demonstrations on school grounds and loud protests at numerous School Committee meetings during a five-month campaign aimed at stopping the move. The pressure worked: In October, BPS Superintendent Carol Johnson said that the exam school’s 1,700-student body will stay put at its current location on Townsend Street, while seven other city schools will be shifted to new locations for the 2012-2013 academic year.

Beanpot bonanza for the Hayes brothers

Before the Bruins stole our hearts in the spring, the big hockey stars in town were the Hayes brothers of Westglow Street, Jimmy and Kevin. The pair both skated for BC last season, and celebrated a dream come when the team won the coveted Beanpot trophy for the Eagles on 6-foot-5 Jimmy’s overtime goal against Northeastern. Jimmy is now playing for the Rockford Icehogs, the minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, the same team that drafted his younger brother to the NHL last year. Kevin continues to skate for BC, where he is a sophomore.