May 1: The month began with senior school students facing the prospect of sitting crucial exams at 5.30 a.m. after the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance in England imposed strict rules to prevent cheating across timelines. Education Minister Randy Horton described it as unfair, while parents at Bermuda High School for Girls wrote a letter of protest to the exam board. The exams eventually began at 6.30 a.m.

May 2: World Press Freedom Day was celebrated by The Royal Gazette — and a survey commissioned by the newspaper found that more than 90 percent of people felt the freedom of the press was important.

Editor Bill Zuill wrote in an editorial that day about the paper coming under attack from public figures in the wake of our A Right to Know: Giving People Power campaign for freedom of information. "Journalists jealously guard the freedom of the press, both on their own behalf and on behalf of the public whom we serve," he wrote.

The death knell was sounded for Bermuda Creamery ice cream at the start of the month. The company, producer of Freeza Fresh and Bermuda Creamery ice creams as well as Simmons sherbets for more than 20 years, said rising importation costs had forced a rethink on business strategy and local products would no longer be produced as of May 31.

May 4: Tourists and locals were stranded around the Island on after about 170 bus drivers and clerical and maintenance workers attended a union meeting to discuss the sacking of a driver. Herbert Russell was fired after a row with a female motorist who did not give way to him as he pulled out of the central bus terminal. Union chiefs convinced the Public Transportation Board to allow him to keep his job but have a nine-day suspension and the strike ended.

May 13: Government revealed plans for "clusters" of schools — throwing doubt on the future of aided schools and their boards of trustees. Worried parents at St. George's Preparatory School packed out a meeting on the issue, with one telling Education Minister Randy Horton: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Cluster boards were to be responsible for federations of schools, with the aim of delivering a more consistent curriculum across the system.

May 11: Mother-of-two Mindy Jordan, from New Jersey, plunged to her death from the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship as it headed for Bermuda from the States. Norwegian Cruise Line said video surveillance footage showed Ms Jordan climbing from balcony to balcony on the ship in windy conditions before she fell into the water. FBI agents boarded the ship once it reached the Island and later concluded that no foul play was involved.

May 13: A 45-year-old woman was rushed to intensive care after she was stabbed in an apartment above a shop in Palmetto Road, Pembroke. Drug addict Jamel Fray was later jailed for five-and-a-half years for stabbing his girlfriend eight times in the head, chest and face during the attack.

May 20: Whitney Middle School faced closure after its board of trustees wrote to the Ministry of Education to say they were not prepared to put the safety of children and teachers at risk any longer in the termite-infested building. It emerged that a multi-million dollar refurbishment programme had stalled and users of the school were dealing with termites and rats, bad plumbing, slippery floors, lack of disabled access, a faulty fire alarm and unstable light fixtures.

May 23: Premier Ewart Brown "shut down" debate in the House of Assembly on Coco Reef — a move described by Opposition Leader Kim Swan as an "affront to our democracy".

Criticism also came in May when Dr. Brown attended a lavish charity gambling tournament at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, with the proceeds going to an organisation run by his son Kevin. Tourism Minister Dr. Brown handed out prizes, with the Ministry donating three trips to the Island in partnership with the Elbow Beach Hotel.

May 31: The month ended on a tragic note with the death of 14-year-old CedarBridge student Rhiana Moore. The teenager's body was found on May 31 in the mangroves at Blue Hole Hill Park nature reserve, St. George's.