The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 59

(0 toy Serving Hamilton, Boone and Madison counties The Indianapolis Star www.lndyStar.com Tuesday, March 5, 2002 Section InfoLine: 624-INFO (4636) NYC firefighter recounts Sept. 11 tragedyN2 Tournament week was full of surprisesN4 INBRIEF NORTH 4 4 Ploa baigaln js possible. Obi jgf A Richard L. Doucette has received a plea offer, but the details are not public yet, says a deputy prosecutor. I Ill, Kelly Wilkinson staff photos Tender touch: Rhonda McCoige and her daughter, Rachel, have a quiet moment together at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Rachel was born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, which is characterized by developmental delays and orthopedic problems. She celebrates her fifth birthday this month. Youngster's 5th birthday is cause for celebration A new attorney files motion noting plea is being discussed by county and former soccer coach. By Diane Frederick diane.frederickindystar.com NOBLESVILLE, Ind. A plea agreement Is in the works just a week before former Carmel High School freshman boys soccer coach Richard L.

Doucette is scheduled to be tried on charges that he had sex with a 15-year-old boy. The possible plea bargain came to light Monday when a new lawyer Doucette hired, Robert W. Hammerle, filed court papers. While registering as Dou- NOBLESVILLE cette's new attorney, Hammerle also sought a continuance of his client's March 11 trial in Hamilton Superior Court 1 on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor and obscene performance. Defense attorney William Wendling Jr.

said Monday that he will file a motion to withdraw as Doucette's legal counsel. Hammerle's motion for a continuance indicated that a plea agreement is in the works. Doucette, 54. of Indianapolis is charged with three felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and a misdemeanor count of obscene performance. If convicted on all charges, Doucette, who has no criminal record faces up to 61 years in prison.

Hammerle's motion said in part, "(M)y agreement to enter an appearance was not done for purposes of delaying this matter, but only to continue ongoing discussions and facilitate a resolution in this matter short of trial." Hamilton County Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Wehmueller confirmed that a plea offer had been made to Doucette but declined to discuss details. "We're going to make sure that Mr. Doucette is held appropriately accountable." Carmel Police Officer Robert Locke said he caught Doucette performing a sex act on the boy In Doucette's car at Elliotts Mohawk Place, 620 S. Range Line Road, about 10:30 p.m. July 23.

Doucette was charged with one count of Class felony sexual misconduct with a minor. Later, Wehmueller filed two more felony misconduct charges and a misdemeanor obscene performance against Doucette. Those charges allege previous sexual encounters with the boy. Doucette had coached at Carmel on a seasonal contract since 1995. After his arrest, his contract was not renewed.

He taught religion 20 years at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, where he also coached soccer and wrestling. He then was director of admissions at St. Richard's School in Indianapolis for a year. Call Diane Frederick at 1-317-816-4424. Judge denies defendant's request for gag order Anderson A Madison County judge has rejected a motion for a gag order sought by a woman accused of being an accomplice In the death of John F.

Miller. Circuit Judge Fredrick Spencer refused to bar police, attorneys and potential witnesses in the trial of Amy N. Whitaker from talking to reporters. Spencer said he would reconsider if news coverage Interferes with her right to a fair trial. Whitaker's lawyer, Mark May-nard, had asked for the gag order until after jury selection In Whitaker's trial on charges of aiding, inducing or causing the Jan.

18 robbery and death of Miller, 63, of Anderson. Prosecutor Rodney Cummings had objected to the request. Whitaker, 21, also is charged with conspiring with Amanda Horton, 21, and Michael A. Martin, 22, to rob Miller. Horton faces the same charges as Whitaker.

Martin was charged with murder, robbery and conspiracy. His Amanda J. Cooper, 18, was charged with robbery, cy and false Informing. Meeting at high school to focus on meth labs Lebanon A community meeting on methamphetamine and clandestine drug labs will be at 7 p.m. March 26 at Lebanon High School.

The event will be sponsored by Indiana State Police Lt. Jeff Heck. The speaker will be Jane Clark, whose son, Matt, died after chemicals used to make methamphetamine exploded at a Lebanon apartment where he was staying. Methamphetamine can be -made in makeshift laboratories with ingredients that can be purchased over the counter, Heck said. The State Police Clandestine Lab Enforcement Team has responded to 32 labs in Boone County in the last two years.

Property owners to meet about airport expansion Zionsville Boone-Hamilton Property Owners Association will meet at 7 p.m. today at Union Elementary School to discuss the proposed expansion of Terry Airport. Montgomery Aviation Is seeking to build a hangar able to house five six- to eight-passenger jets and one 12- to 14-pas-senger jet. Cynthia Ellis, chairwoman of the association, said the association believes a permit originally issued to Montgomery Aviation for construction of the facility was improper because airport officials failed to get zoning clearance. Ellis said the core of the debate is whether Boone County ultimately will maintain control over the airport expansion.

The issue is set to be heard by the Boone County Board of Zoning Appeals at 7 p.m. March 27 at the 4-H Fairgrounds. The association is seeking to require a public hearing on the issue. I It's for food: Rachel McCoige is steadied by her parents as she investigates her intravenous feeding tube. She got a new feeding port Monday and faces further tests at Riley Hospital to try to find the cause of lingering pain, possibly the result of migraine headaches.

Dinner at Ritz Charles seeks to raise awareness of illness affecting child, help pay medical expenses. By Holly VanSlambrook Correspondent CARMEL, Ind. When Rachel McCoige was born March 11, 1997, weighing 3 pounds and suffering serious heart and stomach problems, doctors at St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis told her parents they did not expect her to survive the week. She was diagnosed with Corne- CARMEL lia de Lange Syndrome, a rare birth defect characterized by low birth weight, delayed growth, developmental delays, heart defects, orthopedic problems and digestive system difficulties.

"She made lt through the first week, and then she made it the next week. It's been like that ever since," said her father, David McCoige. He and his wife, Rhonda, will celebrate Rachel's fifth birthday March 16 with a dinner at the Ritz Charles in Carmel to raise awareness of the illness. Proceeds from the $75-a-plate event will help pay the staggering $130,000 they owe for Rachel's periodic hospital care, including her latest emergency admission to Riley Hospital for Children, where she has been for three weeks. Rachel underwent surgery Monday in Indianapolis to replace a port used for intravenous feedings.

She will have a further examina- If you go. Zionsville residents want to limit upgrade of bridge BOONE COUNTY tion to try to find the cause of lingering pain. "We know she's still in pain because she's been scratching her face. We think she may be having migraine headaches," said Rhonda McCoige. Dr.

Joseph Fitzgerald, Riley's head of pediatric gastroenterology, has treated Rachel since she was 3 months old. "I walked into the room and saw her In that infant seat. With one look I knew she was a CdLS baby," he said. A feeding tube had been placed In Rachel's stomach, but she still wasn't tolerating the formula. Fitzgerald eventually placed a tube into Rachel's small intestine that bypasses her stomach en-See Illness, Page N2 WHAT: Rainbows for Rachel, a benefit dinner for the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation and CdLS patient Rachel McCoige WHEN: March 16; 7 p.m.

cocktails and silent auction, 7:45 p.m. dinner followed by live band and dancing WHERE: Ritz Charles, 12156 N. Meridian Carmel RESERVATIONS: $75 per person, $600 per corporate table; 1-317-706-0807 For more information about Cornelia de Lange syndrome, contact the foundation at 1-800-753-2357 or at www.cdlsusa.org. By Brad Johnston Correspondent LEBANON, Ind. Nearly 30 Zionsville residents turned out Monday to present the Boone County Commissioners with petitions-supporting a $155,000 limited refurbishment of the Ford Road Bridge instead of a more extensive upgrade using federal transportation dollars.

The petitions had been signed by 370 residents. Michael Cuddy of New Jersey-based Lichtensteln Consulting Engineers presented a 24-page report that proposes replacing the bridge's concrete deck and guardrail system, repairing the eroded north bridge abutment and installing new beams. See Bridge, Page N2 Local idea has blossomed into a widespread referral network METRO NEWS CONTACTS Today that product is called Angie's List and is published in 13 cities, from Milwaukee to Tampa Bay. Although Corbin no longer publishes the newsletter, he continues to write for it. Subscriptions to the newsletter cost $37 per year.

Back in 1988, he decided to focus on his growing printing business, so Corbin sold the newsletter, at the time still restricted to the Indianapolis area. The business was sold again in See Referral, Page N2 By Stuart A. Hirsch stuart. hirsch indystar.com CARMEL, Ind. Bill Corbin was out hustling information door-to-door back in 1974.

His idea has since gone across the Eastern United States. He actually was trying to sell locks and small security systems in Hamilton County, an area where a lot of people were new to their homes. As part of his "marketing plan," Corbin and his partner, Dean Schultz, developed a newsletter with coupons, a classified section. HAMILTON COUNTY home tips and, of course, information about their security systems. They called it Unified Neighbors.

"In truth, there wasn't some blinding flash of inspiration," Corbin recalls. "What they wanted was reliable Information about home improvement and repair sources Within about three weeks, we discovered the real product, which was information. Within a year, we were out of the lock business." 'iB Tim Halcomb staff photo Founder: Bill Corbin is impressed with how Angie's List has grown from a small newsletter to a more widespread brand. "It makes me feel good that a thing I helped conceive has expanded." Metro North sections are published Tuesdays through Saturdays. The Metro North Bureau Is at 1350 S.

Range Line Road, Carmel, IN 46032. Business hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Bureau Chief: David Penticuff's phone number is 1-317-816-4421. His e-mail address is david.penticuff indystar.com Photographer: Tim Halcomb's phone number is 1-317-816-4427.

His e-mail address is tim halcomb indystar.com Retail Advertising: 1-317-816-4432 or 1-317-816-4430. Classified: 1-317-444-7171. Circulation: To subscribe, call 1-317-444-4444 or 1-800-669-7827. News: If you have a story idea or a question, call 1-317-816-4420. Send us a fax at 1-317-816-4440.

Commissioner sees no secrets to stir open meetings lawsuit By James A. Glllaspy james.gillaspyindystar.com LEBANON, Ind. As a vocal proponent of open government, Wendy Brant was stunned when she and other County Commissioners were accused of violating the Indiana Open Door Law. The claim that commissioners were secretly plotting to take over sewer and water services surfaced authority was never addressed publicly before they filed the complaint with the state regulatory agency. The petition accuses the utility of failing to provide sewer and water facilities inside a 4-square-mile area around Indianapolis Road and 1-65.

See Lawsuit, Page N2 sists Brant, who views her support for public oversight as a concept foreign to others in government. "With most elected officials, I'm like a salmon swimming upstream." But Indiana's public access counselor is Just as bewildered by actions the commissioners took without alerting constituents. According to Anne Mullin O'Connor, their route to the commission might well have violated state law. The three of them put their hands to a document that was never discussed in a public meeting," said O'Connor. "And that's going to be the issue here." Boone County Utilities filed the lawsuit Feb.

14 in Boone Superior Court, saying the commissioners' decision to attack the utility's BOONE COUNTY In a lawsuit filed last month by Boone County Utilities. The private company controls the services and was targeted by commissioners in a Nov. 16 complaint to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. "I love the Open Door Law," in-.