Around the Region

Civil case could head to jurors\nLAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Jurors could begin deciding whether Indiana Gas Co. is at fault for a 1998 gas explosion that killed a Lafayette woman.\nClosing arguments in the civil trial were expected to begin Tuesday afternoon before the case goes to the jury.\nStephanie Ramirez Brogan, 25, died eight days after the July 15, 1998, explosion which caused severe burns to most of her body. Her husband and 7-year-old son were not home at the time of the blast.\nInvestigators determined that an uncapped gas line to a utility room had gone undiscovered when a serviceman for Indiana Gas turned on the gas at the rental house.\nBrogan called the gas company to report the smell of gas, but the house blew up moments later.\nRuth Aretz, the owner of the home that exploded, disclosed Monday that she was dismissed as a defendant in the case after settling for $325,000.\n"I am innocent. I paid because I do not want to be here," Aretz said when asked why she settled out of court before the trial began.\nA third defendant, H.H. Gregg Appliances and Electronics Inc., reached a confidential out-of-court settlement last week, two days into the trial.\nNorman T. Funk, an attorney for Indiana Gas, has admitted the company is partially to blame, but said Aretz and H.H. Gregg should share responsibility.\nAn H.H. Gregg delivery man installing an electric dryer in the home noticed a gas line sticking out of the wall of the laundry room but pushed it back through the hole in the wall, hiding it from view, according to testimony.\nAnd Aretz is liable because some of the gas lines in the house were not properly installed, and the hidden gas line wasn't pointed out to the Brogans prior to moving in, according to Indiana Gas.\nTeen accused of attacking police officer may face adult trial\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Marion County prosecutors are seeking to have a 16-year-old boy accused of attacking a policeman with a machete tried in adult court.\nThe boy, who was shot during the incident, was released from Wishard Hospital on Saturday and appeared in juvenile court Monday. He is being held in the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center.\nProsecutors said the boy has a prior record in juvenile court and has served time in the Department of Correction.\n"Our position is he's beyond rehabilitation and, for the sake of public safety, he needs to go to the adult court," said Deputy Prosecutor Gary Chavers. A hearing on the waiver request was set for Aug. 24.\nThe teen is charged with attempted murder, attempted battery and criminal mischief in connection with the July 19 attack on Lawrence Police Officer Mikel Sharpe.\nThe teen's mother called Lawrence police about 12:30 p.m. and said the boy had caused damage by swinging a 2-1/2 foot long machete inside their apartment.\nThe boy allegedly rushed at Sharpe as he arrived. When Sharpe ducked inside his patrol car and closed the door, the boy began hacking at the car with a machete, damaging a side mirror and a spotlight and breaking the window, police said.\nThe boy clung to the car as Sharpe tried to drive away, and Sharpe fired one shot through the window, striking the boy in the chest.\n"The officer did a good job. He used restraint," said Lawrence police Capt. Jack Bailey. "He tried to retreat and the kid wouldn't let him. He was just trying to back off and de-escalate the situation."\nMan pleads guilty to escape attempt\nMUNCIE, Ind. -- A Muncie man recently sentenced to 60 years in prison has pleaded guilty to trying to escape from the Delaware County jail.\nVeshon M. Hicks, 27, pleaded guilty Monday to attempted escape, a felony that carries a four-year prison term. However, Hicks will face a maximum two-year sentence under the terms of a plea agreement.\nSentencing is set for Aug. 23.\nAuthorities said Hicks used a bolt removed from a heater to loosen concrete blocks around his cell window in late January.\nHicks and his co-defendant, Terry G. Smith, had planned to try to escape during the Super Bowl on Jan. 28, believing the game would district jailers and other inmates, according to authorities.\nHicks is serving a 60-year prison term for 14 burglary-related convictions.\nAuthorities have dismissed an attempted-escape charge against Smith, 39, of Muncie, who was sentenced to 15 years in March for child molesting.\nSewer proposal would restrict new hookups\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Environmentalists are asking the state to restrict new sewer hookups in 106 Indiana communities that have problems keeping sewage out of rivers and streams when it rains.\nThe proposal by five environmental groups would allow developers to connect new sewers only if they build storage facilities that can retain new sewage until after it rains, said Tom Neltner, head of one of the groups, Improving Kids Environment.\n"This isn't a ban on new sewer hookups," Neltner said.\nThe communities targeted by the proposal, including Indianapolis, are under the gun from federal and state authorities to come up with long-term plans to fix combined storm and sanitary sewer systems -- a job expected to cost more than $5 billion over the next 20 years.\nThe proposal before the Indiana Water Pollution Control Board would allow developers and city officials to offset new hookups by reducing sewage loads elsewhere.\nHowever, a designer of sewer systems said such holding areas are impractical.\nSewage quickly becomes septic when deprived of air, which means the rules would almost require building a primary treatment plant, said Ed Tinkle, president of Commonwealth Engineers.\n"That is incredibly expensive," Tinkle said, adding that if the environmental groups succeed, "Why not just put a sign on all of the interstates that says, 'Indiana is closed'?"\nTim Method, deputy commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, said the wording of the proposal probably would not permit his agency to approve new hookups.