House committee advances plan to fund new Colts stadium\nINDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana House committee advanced a proposal Wednesday to fund a new stadium for the Indianapolis Colts through a mix that includes hotel and gambling tax increases and a surcharge on game tickets.\nThe move keeps the legislation alive even though Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and others had concerns about the plan.\nThe House Ways and Means Committee voted 17-5 to advance the bill, which would provide $44 million a year for a proposed 63,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium to replace the RCA Dome estimated to cost between $550 million and $700 million.\nSome lawmakers had concerns about parts of the plan, and Peterson pointed out it did not include funding for what he says is a needed expansion of the Indiana Convention Center. But legislators and Peterson said it was important to pass the bill out of committee to have a chance at meeting a Tuesday deadline for legislation to be passed by the House.\n"It keeps the issue alive," Peterson said after the vote. "We'll just keep talking."\nThe proposal made by committee Chairman Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, draws its $44 million from four sources:\n• $14 million from Colts players and fans through a 2 percent excise tax on professional football players' salaries and a ticket charge of up to $10 per seat.\n• $15 million from the city of Indianapolis, largely through an increase in the hotel tax and auto rental tax.\n• $8 million in state funds from raising the wagering tax on some riverboat casinos.\n• $7 million the state would allow the city to keep from taxes collected in its professional sports development area.
Teen brought loaded handgun to Lafayette school, police say\nLAFAYETTE -- A teenager who brought a loaded handgun to school was arrested without incident after someone called the school to report that the student might be carrying a weapon, authorities said.\nPolice officers reported finding Christopher J. Zeese, 18, with the gun duct-taped to his leg after the senior was removed from class Tuesday at Jefferson High School. Zeese was being held Wednesday in the Tippecanoe County Jail on preliminary felony charges that included possession of a firearm on school property.\nZeese, who has been on the school's honor roll and active in football, track and baseball, had not been in any significant trouble at school before, Principal Vince Bertram said.\nOfficials said Zeese might have been carrying the gun because of a confrontation he had with another student Monday evening in the school's parking lot.
"I'm not sure why. I've not gotten an answer why," said city police Officer Mike McIver, who works at the high school. "As far as I know, there were no threats made to anybody"
