Major news events of the year

September 2006

The Indianapolis Zoo's new baby elephant Zahara, shown with her mother Ivory, makes her public debut. Matt Detrich / the Star

Sept. 1 - Trucker Robert F. Spencer, 37, Michigan, was arrested and charged with five counts of reckless homicide and four counts of criminal recklessness in connection with the April 26 crash that killed four Taylor University students and a staff member.

Sept. 4 - "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, 44, died while shooting a TV program on the Great Barrier Reed, when he was pierced in the heart with the barb of a stingray.

Sept. 5 - Katie Couric, the first woman solo anchor of a network evening newscast, made her debut on the CBS Evening News.

Sept. 5 - Two months after the election, Felipe Calderon was officially declared president-elect of Mexico.

Sept. 6 - Japanese Princess Kiko gave birth to a boy, giving the royal family its first male heir in more than 40 years and quelling efforts to change the rules of succession to include females.

Sept. 7 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose popularity plummeted because of his commitment to President Bush and the war in Iraq, promised to resign within a year.

Sept. 8 - A week after Troy Hoppes was hired to direct the troubled Marion County Juvenile Detentrion Center, the job offer was withdrawn after it was discovered his master's degree came from a diploma mill that had been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.

Sept. 9 - Skydiver Jay Stokes broke his own world record for parachute jumps with 640 jumps in 24 hours at the Greensburg Municipal Airport.

Sept. 9 - Pfc. Anthony P. Seig, 19, Sunman, became the latest HOOSIER TO DIE IN IRAQ.

Sept. 10 - The Justice Department reported that a decade-long decline in homicides and gun violence ended in 2005 with a 4.8 percent increase in murders nationwide.

Sept. 11 - On the 5th annviversary of the SEPT 11 TERRORIST ATTACKS, solemn ceremonies were held throughout the country.

Sept. 11 - GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay $3.4 billion in a settlement with the IRS over its profits in the 1980s. It was the largest tax settlement in U.S. history.

Sept. 12 - Incurring the ire of Muslims, Pope Benedict XVI, during a speech in Germany, made reference to the beliefs of a Byzantine emperor who thought some teachings of the Prophet Muhammad were "evil and inhuman".

Sept. 13 - The Institute for Medicine predicted that by 2010, one-fifth of children would be obese.

Anna Shults reacts to being named Indiana's Teacher of the Year. Steve Sanchez / Ledger Newspapers

Sept. 13 - Less than a year after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor, Indiana University football coach Terry Hoeppner had a second surgery.

Sept. 14 - Anna Shults, a third-grade teacher at Fall Creek Elementary School in Fishers, was named Indiana's Teacher of the Year.

Sept. 14 - Health officials warned against eating fresh bagged spinach after an outbreak of E. coli in eight states, including Indiana, which sickened more than 50 people and killed one. The outbreak, traced to two produce companies in California, eventually affected 26 states and nearly 200 people - at least three of which died.

Sept. 15 - Ford Motor Co. unveiled a sweeping restructuring plan which added two more plants to its closing list and called for cutting one-third of its white-collar jobs in addition to offering buyouts to 75,000 hourly workers.

Sept. 16 - German violinist Augustin Hadelich won the quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

Sept. 16 - Two premature babies died after six infants were given an accidental overdose of heparin at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Sept. 18 - The FBI said that violent crime rose 2.3% in 2005 - the first increase since 2001 and the largest increase since 1991.

Sept. 18 - The Indianapolis City-County Council passed a 2007 budget of $1.1 billion. It included a 17 percent increase for public safety.

Sept. 19 - Former Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Board member David Bowell agreed to plead guilty to felony conflict of interest in connection with a contract awarded for work on the Central Library expansion.

Sept. 19 - Thailand's military overthrew the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was in New York at the United Nations.

Sept. 19 - A third baby who had been given an overdose of heparin at Methodist Hospital died.

Sept. 21 - The director of Indiana's Department of Natural Resources announced a change in rules to allow licensed handgun owners to take their weapons into state parks.

Sept. 22 - The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that refused to block Medicaid investigators from taking documents from Planned Parenthood of Indiana centers. Confiscated documents were ordered to be returned.

Sept. 22 - Marsh Supermarkets was officially turned over to its new owners, Sun Capital Partners.

Sept. 23 - The deaths of U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan surpassed 2,973 - the number of those killed in the SEPT 11 TERRORIST ATTACKS.

Sept. 26 - Shinzo Abe, 52, was chosen Prime Minister of Japan.

Sept. 26 - Effective today, the Transportation Safety Administration approved some changes to the rules barring all liquids from being carried onto airplanes.

Sept. 27 - Joel Silverman, the embattled commissioner of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, announced his resignation effective Oct. 16.

Sept. 27 - Duane Morrison, 53, took six girls hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Colorado and sexually assaulted them before killing one of them and fatally shooting himself.

Sept. 28 - Robert Penn of Fishers, In., and two relatives in Virginia, were implicated in an alleged multistate mortgage scheme involving close to 400 properties in Indianapolis and Hamilton County, Ind.

Sept. 29 - Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida resigned after sexually explicit emails and text messages he sent to teenage male pages were made public.

Sept. 29 - A Brazilian jetliner crashed into the Amazon jungle killing all 155 people onboard. The Boeing 737-800 crashed after being clipped by a small plane.