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File updated: 1-1-2001
Major
news events of the year
December
2000
Supporters of both Al Gore and George
W. Bush gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court while their lawyers plead
their cases.
AP photo
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Dec. 1 -- The U.S. Supreme Court heard from lawyers for both Al
Gore and George W. Bush about Florida's disputed presidential votes
Dec. 1 -- St. Vincent Hospitals and Health Services announced plans
to expand pediatric beds and services.
Dec. 1 -- Vicente Fox was sworn in as president of Mexico. He is
the first president in 71 years who is not a member of the Institutional Revolutionary
Party.
Dec. 2 -- Hundreds of people turned out for an auction of the estate
of Tony Bettenhausen,
Jr., and his wife Shirley, who were killed in a February plane crash.
Dec. 4 -- The U.S. Supreme Court set aside a Florida Supreme Court ruling
that extended the time for manual recount of ballots. And, in another blow for
Al Gore, Florida Judge N. Sanders Sauls ruled that there was no "credible
statistical evidence", or any other proof of a flaw, in the certified election
results.
Chris Slate scoops up dead fish from
the White River following a chemical spill in December 1999.
Staff photo / Matt Detrich
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Dec. 4-- Bindley Western Industries agreed to sell out to rival
Cardinal Health of Dublin, Ohio, for about $2.1 billion.
Dec. 4 -- PepsiCo Inc. acquired Quaker Oats Co. in a $13.8 billion
all-stock deal.
Dec. 5 -- A report, ordered by the Indiana General Assembly in the
aftermath of a massive
White River fish kill, was released. The six-page report failed to address
several key concerns and concluded that the state's regulations were adequate.
Dec. 5 -- The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved natural
gas rate increases but, in an unprecedented move, limited them only to the
month of December.
Dec. 5 -- Texas executed Garry Dean Miller in the 38th execution
there this year - the most by any state in one year in U.S. history.
Dec. 6 -- Edmond Pope, the first American convicted of espionage
in Russia since 1960, was sentenced to 20 years at hard labor.
Dec. 7 -- Dennis Hurt of Indianapolis, shot to death his 8-year-old
daughter and 4-year-old son before killing himself. His wife and three other children
had fled the home earlier in the day. The Hurt's had a history of domestic
violence.
Chris Weinke with his Heisman Trophy.
AP Photo
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Dec. 8 -- The Florida Supreme Court voted 4-3 to award Al Gore
hundreds of recounted votes from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties that were
not included in the official state tally. The court also ordered a new manual
recount to begin immediately in all Floridda counties where machines had trouble
reading the ballots. Lawyers for George W. Bush immediately appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court
.Dec. 9 -- The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a halt to the Florida recount,
delaying a decision on the legality of the recount until after both sides could
make oral arguments on Dec.11.
Dec. 9 -- Chris Weinke, Florida State quarterback, won the Heisman Trophy
in one of the closest votes in the history of the award. Purdue's Drew Brees finished
third.
Dec. 9 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced he would resign,
forcing an emergency election within 60 days.
Dec. 11 -- U.S. Supreme Court Justices heard from lawyers for both
Al Gore and George W. Bush about whether to call off the manual recount of disputed
ballots in Florida.
Dec. 11 -- Indiana state Health Commissioner Richard Feldman resigned,
citing an inability to devote more time to the job.
Dec. 11 -- Cathedral High School's Otis Shannon was named Indiana's
Mr. Football for 2000.
A V-22 Osprey, like this one shown
in an undated handout photo, crashed in North Carolina Dec. 11.
AP Photo
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Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to reverse a Florida
Supreme Court decision ordering recounts.
Dec. 12 -- The Pentagon halted all flights of its Osprey troop carrier
after a crash in North Carolina which killed 4 crewmen. It was the second
fatal Osprey accident this year, and the fourth in the project's 24-year history.
Osprey engines are made at Rolls Royce in Indianapolis.
Dec. 12 -- General Motors announced a restructuring which would,
among other moves, eliminate their Oldsmobile division.
Dec. 12 -- Conseco
Inc.'s board of directors ousted two members, Dennis E. Murray Sr. and
Dr. David R. Decatur, because they owed more than $128 million on stock loans
guaranteed by the company.
Dec. 13 -- Al Gore conceded the presidential
election to George W. Bush. Both men addressed the American public, pledging
unity.
Dec. 14 -- Lilly Endowment pledged $105 million to Indiana University
for genetics research. It was the largest gift IU had ever received, and the
largest the endowment had ever awarded.
Hawaii's four electors, who voted
for Al Gore, were the last in the nation to cast their ballots.
AP Photo
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Dec. 16 -- Retired Gen. Colin L. Powell was nominated by George
W. Bush to be secretary of state.
Dec. 18 -- Members of the Electoral College nationwide officially
elected George W. Bush president.
Dec. 19 -- Cummins Inc. announced it will cut 1,500 jobs worldwide
(800 of them in Indiana), eliminating 5.3 percent of its workforce.
Dec. 20 -- One year after environmental inspectors began looking into the
White River fish kill
it was reported that an estimated 4.6 million fish had died, and measurable
expenses related to the spill had totaled more than $2 million.
Dec. 21 -- Six Democrats, including Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. Tim Roemer
of Indiana, met with president-elect George W. Bush about education reform,
warning him that any package including school vouchers would fail.
Dec. 21 -- The U.S. economy hit a four-year low in growth of just
2.2 percent, for the July-September quarter.
Dec. 22 -- President-elect George W. Bush nominated Mitch Daniels
as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Michael McDermott
AP Photo
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Dec. 24 -- The
Indianapolis Colts defeated the Minnesota Vikings 31-10, earning
a trip to the NFL postseason.
Dec. 26 -- Michael McDermott, a software tester, shot and killed
seven co-workers at the Wakefield, Mass. firm where he worked. McDermott,
who was arrested at the scene, was thought to be enraged because his salary was
about to be garnisheed to satisfy IRS tax claims.
Dec. 27 -- Pedophile Eric Franklin Rosser, formerly of Bloomington,
Ind., was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List.
Dec. 28-- The Census Bureau released the first detailed data from the
2000 census. U.S. population grew to 281.4 million, contributing to the shift
of 24 congressional seats in 18 states. In Indiana, despite population growth
of 9.7 percent, a seat was lost.
Dec. 28 -- Federal judge Richard Matsch agreed to a request by Timothy
McVeigh to drop all appeals in the Oklahoma City bombing and set an execution
date. McVeigh has until Jan. 11 to change his mind.
A dejected Colts bench following a
23-17 loss to Miami.
Staff photo / Matt Kryger
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Dec. 28 -- Montgomery Ward announced they will file bankruptcy,
and shut down after 128 years in business. The retailer began operating in
1926 in Plymouth, Ind.
Dec. 30 -- Readers of The Indianapolis Star chose the top ten Indiana
stories for 2000, with the firing of Bob
Knight coming in first.
Dec. 30 -- The Indianapolis
Colts season ended with a 23-17 overtime loss to the Dolphins in a wildcard
playoff game at Miami.
Dec. 31 -- The last day of the millennium was celebrated with much
less pomp and fuss than last year, with many people choosing to stay home.
Dec. 31 -- Indianapolis ended the year with 101 homicides - a 15
percent drop from the 119 homicides in 1999.
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