Major news events of the year

March 2006

Forrest Lucas, owner of Lucas Oil Products, speaks during a Mar. 1 press conference to introduce the new sponsor of the new Colts stadium. Matt Detrich / The Star

Mar. 1 - Indianapolis Public Schools officials confirmed that, because of a $24 million budget shortfall, as many as 300 teachers could be laid off.

Mar. 1 - A smoking ban affecting most public places in Indianapolis went into effect.

Mar. 1 - Sixty-one former employees of Guidant Corp. filed a federal lawsuit charging the company with age discrimination.

Mar. 2 - Four 15-year-old students at Center Grove High School in Greenwood, were arrested after another student reported overhearing a conversation in which they plotted to use guns to seize control of the school.

Mar. 2 - Former President George H.W. Bush spoke at Butler University in Indianapolis, urging his audience to get involved in public service.

Mar. 3 - Northwest Airlines and members of the Air Line Pilots Association reached a tentative paycut agreement, averting a possible strike.

Mar. 3 - Dana Corp., with several plants and employees in Indiana, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Mar. 4 - The Army announced that it would launch a criminal investigation into the April 2004 friendly fire death in Afghanistan of former NFL player Pat Tillman.

Mar. 4 - The winners of the Indiana High School Girls Basketball Championships were Heritage Christian, Castle, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers and Lafayette Catholic.

Mar. 5 - An Indianapolis Star poll showed that 51% of Hoosiers felt Gov. MITCH DANIELS was making too many changes too quickly, giving him only a 37% approval rating - down from 55% in April. The approval rating for President Bush was also only 37%.

Mar. 5 - At the Academy Awards, the six major awards went to six different films with Crash the surprise winner of Best Picture.

Mar. 5 - AT&T said it was buying BellSouth Corp. for $67 billion in stock, giving AT&T total control of Cingular Wireless LLC.

Mar. 6 - Gov. Mike Rounds of South Dakota signed into law the nation's strictest abortion ban, intentionally setting up a direct legal challenge to the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

In his State of the City address, Mayor Bart Peterson pledged to plant 100,000 trees. Charlie Nye / The Star

Mar. 7 - Indianapolis Mayor BART PETERSON gave his State of the City address promising to help beautify the city by planting 100,000 trees over 10 years.

Mar. 7 - Dana Reeve, the widow of Christopher Reeve, who was known worldwide for her role as a caregiver and activist for spinal cord research, died at the age of 44 of lung cancer.

Mar. 8 - Gov. Mitch Daniels announced that Indiana would be the site of the world's largest biodiesel plant, to be built by Louis Dreyfus Corp. in Kosciusko County.

Mar. 9 - Under pressure from Congress and the public, Dubai-owned DP World abandoned plans to take over management of U.S. ports, transferring the operation to a U.S. entity.

Mar. 9 - A pre-tornado season test of the emergency sirens in Marion County showed that about one third of them failed.

Mar. 10 - The body of American Christian activist Tom Fox of Virginia was found in Iraq. Fox had been kidnapped along with three other activists nearly four months earlier.

Mar. 11 - A family of six, Rodney and Beth Montgomery and their four children, died in a fire in Shoals, Ind.

Mar. 11 - Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Yugoslavia, was found dead in his cell in The Hague, Netherlands where he was on trial for war crimes.

Mar. 11 - Michelle Bachelet was sworn in as the first female president of Chile and the first directly elected Latin American woman president who was not the widow of a politician.

Mar. 12 -Free agent Edgerrin James, the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS all-time rushing leader, agreed to a four-year, $30 million, deal with the Arizona Cardinals.

Mar. 12 - Four U.S. soldiers died in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, including Spc. Joshua Hill, 24, of Fairmont, Ind.

Mar. 13 - Toyota announced a deal in which they would invest $230 million in the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Ind., to manufacture the Camry. The company also pledged to create 1,000 jobs by 2008.

Mar. 13 - Retired federal Judge S. Hugh Dillin, who ordered the integration of Indianapolis Public Schools, died at age 91.

Mar. 14 - The Indiana Legislature narrowly passed Gov. MITCH DANIELS Major Moves package to allow him to privatize the Indiana Toll Road with the money going to road projects - including the I-69 extension.

Mar. 14 - The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit hit a record $804.9 billion in 2005.

Mar. 15 - The Census Bureau ranked Hamilton County, Ind., as the 18th fastest-growing county in the U.S. with an estimated increase in population of 32% from 2000 to 2005.

Mar. 16 - The U.S. military launched Operation Swarmer north of Baghdad in Iraq, which they said was the largest airborne assault since April 2003. Meanwhile, inside the Green Zone in Baghdad, the new Iraqi Parliament met for the first time.

Fireworks of Glass, a 43-foot tall glass sculpture, opened Mar. 18. Frank Espich / The Star

Mar. 17 - The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage foreclosures in Indiana reached a new high with more than 7,000 in the last quarter of 2005. Once again, Indiana ranked #1 in the nation with a foreclosure rate of 0.98 percent.

Mar. 17 - Gerald Jakubowski was named president of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology beginning July 1.

Mar. 18 - A $4.5 million glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly was unveiled at The Children's Museum in Indianapolis.

Mar. 18 - Amber Harris of Indianapolis' North Central High School was named Indiana Miss Basketball for 2006.

Mar. 21 - On the second day of spring, the Indianapolis area received more than 5 inches of snow which caused more than 250 accidents and snarled morning rush hour traffic.

Mar. 21 - Antoine McKinzie, 25, of Indianapolis was the LATEST HOOSIER TO DIE IN IRAQ. He was killed while on patrol in Baghdad.

Mar. 21 - Greg Oden, of Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, was named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year.

Mar. 23 - James DeVoe, founder and head of Carmel-based J.S. Byrider Systems - the nation's largest used car chain, died in a plane crash in Florida along with his son-in-law Steele Gudal and the pilot.

Mar. 23 - Staff Sgt. Brock A. Beery, 30, a native of Warsaw. Ind., was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near Al Habbaniyah, Iraq.

Mar. 24 - President George W. Bush visited Indianapolis where he spoke at a fund-raiser for Rep. Mike Sodrel.

Mar 24 - Dane Miller resigned after 29 years as chief executive officer of Biomet.

Mar. 25 - Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis won a record-tying third straight state basketball title in Class 4A, defeating Muncie Central 80-56. The Class 3A winner was New Castle; the Class 2A winner was Forest Park and Hauser won the Class A title.

Mar. 26 - Indy Racing League driver Paul Dana, 30, died following an accident during practice for the Toyota Indy 300 in Homestead, Fla.

Mar. 26 - The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced that Maxwell Anderson had been chosen as the new director and chief executive officer.

The Conrad Hotel in Downtown Indianapolis opened Mar. 27. Kelly Wilkinson / The Star

Mar. 27 - Testifying at his trial, Zacarias Moussaoui said he was to have hijacked a fifth plane on SEPT. 11, 2001 and, with would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid, fly it into the White House. His testimony conflicted with earlier claims as well as with information from alleged terrorist mastermind Khalid Monammed.

Mar. 27 - The Conrad Hotel in Downtown Indianapolis officially opened for business, just in time for the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament.

Mar. 28 - President Bush announced that, after 5 1/2 years as White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card was resigning and would be replaced by Joshua Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Mar. 29 - Indiana University introduced new basketball Kelvin Sampson, formerly the head basketball coach at the University of Oklahoma.

Mar. 29 - The Indiana Chamber of Commerce issued its annual economic performance report card for the State of Indiana with the state receiving a C-.

Mar. 30 - Gus B. Nuckols III, a leader in a conspiracy to drive up concrete prices in Indianapolis, agreed to plead guilty to price-fixing.

Mar. 30 - American journalist Jill Carroll was released in Iraq after being held captive for 82 days.

Mar 30 - REGGIE MILLER's #31 was retired in a ceremony during the Indiana Pacers game.

Mar. 31 - Delphi unveiled a restructuring plan that could mean a loss of more than 8,500 jobs - 1,000 of them in Indiana, but that would spare the Kokomo plant that employs 3,500.