Dana Tindall and her 16-year-old daughter Corey Tindall were among those who died in the Alaska plane crash overnight on Monday.

Tindall, 48, of Anchorage, Alaska, was an executive at General Communication Inc. (GCI), a major company in the Alaskan telecom industry, and was memorialized by former state regular Nan Thompson as a “brilliant strategist.”

GCI said in a statement:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – GCI has confirmed that Dana L. Tindall, GCI’s senior vice president of legal, regulatory and governmental affairs, is a confirmed fatality aboard the GCI-owned plane that crashed yesterday near Dillingham. Dana’s 16-year-old daughter, Corey Tindall, was also aboard the flight and did not survive the crash. Dana leaves behind a husband, Virgil Peachey, and a son, Connor Tindall.
“Our hearts are with Dana’s family,” said GCI President and CEO Ron Duncan. “Dana and her daughter Corey were a big part of our GCI family and we are devastated by the news of their passing.”

The plane crash also killed former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.

The Alaska Department of Public Safety announced that pilot Theoren Smith and former Stevens aid William Phillips Sr. also died in the crash. Four survived the accident.

Fantasia Barrino’s overdose on aspirin and a sleep aid Monday night was classified in an initial police report as a suicide attempt, according to WCNC News, though that could change based on what’s learned during the follow-up investigation. A statement released Tuesday by her manager confirmed the overdose but did not address whether it was a suicide attempt.

Manager Brian Dickens was the one who called authorities, according to a police report obtained by Radar Online. In his statement, Show Tracker reports, he said Fantasia was “heartbroken and is sorry for any pain she may have caused” through her on-again, off-again relationship with Antwuan Cook, whose wife, Paula Cook, filed for divorce last week, accusing the singer of committing adultery with Antwuan and occasionally taping their sexual activity.

(The YBF has pictures of Antwuan, as well as a shot from last year of “Cook” tattooed on Fantasia’s neck.)

“She believed him when he told her he and Mrs. Cook separated in the late summer of 2009,” said the statement, published in full by WCNC. Dinkins said Barrino on Monday read the full divorce complaint, which had been filed Aug. 4. He said she was “overwhelmed by the lawsuit and the allegations.”

Fantasia’s lawyer Gena Morris on Tuesday accused Paula Cook of “gratuitously” including …

… references to the “American Idol” winner to sensationalize and publicize her divorce filing.
A production crew for the upcoming series “Fantasia for Real” had been at the singer’s North Carolina home on Monday, and VH1 told Show Tracker on Tuesday, “We support Fantasia 100% and look forward to working with her again soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with her at this difficult time.”

Her father, Joseph Barrino, told Radar Online on Wednesday that “she’s doing fine.” Reports on Tuesday said the overdose was not life-threatening.

Fantasia has been at Carolinas Medical Center-Pineville in Charlotte, N.C.

Her new album, “Back to Me,” is out Aug. 24.

This is shaping up to be a great year for Alanis Morissette. In May, the singer tied the knot with rapper Mario “Souleye” Treadwell, and now the couple is expecting their first child, her rep confirmed to People.

The 36-year-old songstress took to Twitter to share her joy. “Yes, happy news….i’m pregnant we’re so excited to start our family…. xo a,” she tweeted on Wednesday (August 11). The baby’s due date is unknown.

Fans should be used to the singer sharing her big news over the Internet. Just four months ago, she told fans about her marriage to the fellow musician on Facebook. “Hi guys! So happy to share with you that my man Souleye and I got married. We’re very excited to embark on this journey with each other….sending love…connect soon xo — Alanis,” she wrote.

But she hasn’t always been keen on letting her inner romantic out. Morrisette revealed back in 2004 that it was her then-fiancé Ryan Reynolds who helped her prepare for love. “I’m ready to commit to someone and ready to do the work. And I’m ready to allow that part of myself to come out,” she said. “I think for a long time, because of my compulsively wanting to be viewed as an überfeminist, I would really stay away from things like being a hopeless romantic, being dependent on a man, or even wanting to be with a man, frankly.”

And while the news of Morisette’s pregnancy might push back any music projects she may have on her plate, the Canadian singer did release a new song, “I Remain,” earlier this year. It served as the theme song for adventure film “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.”

The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) has announced that major highways are closed due to recent flooding, they will be added to the list of county roads and city streets affected.

On the Iowa DOT website we learn that:
“Excessive runoff from heavy rainfall overnight is expected to continue to cause flooding of roadways in many parts of the state. Record flooding is forecast along portions of the South Skunk River from the Ames area to below Colfax. This is a particularly dangerous situation and travelers need to exercise additional caution in these areas.”

The Roads that are currently closed or restricted are:
· Interstate 35 in Story County
· U.S. 30 in Story County
· U.S. 69 in Story County
· Iowa 2 in Fremont County
· Iowa 44 in Dallas County
· Iowa 92 in Mahaska County
· Iowa 92 in Mahaska County
· Iowa 117 in Jasper County
· U.S. 61 in Lee County
· U.S. 63 in Mahaska and Wapello counties

Find all the details on the Iowa DOT Website.

Yesterday, the House of Representatives returned to Washington D.C. from its summer recess to pass a bill to provide Medicaid and education aid to the states. While in town, House Democrats also put forward a bill that would create a fifth tier of federal unemployment benefits. Senate Democrats introduced a similar bill earlier this month.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), would extend to 119 the number of weeks the jobless in states with unemployment rates of higher than 10 percent could collect benefits. Currently, unemployed people in those hardest hit states can collect for up to 99 weeks.

The Washington Independent quotes a statement from McDermott who introduced the bill:
“Right now, there are more long-term jobless Americans than we’ve ever had on record, and we can’t just let them all fall off a cliff. I don’t believe how we can cut and run from helping unemployed workers when there are five of them competing for every available job. You only have to hear from a few unemployed workers to know how hard they are looking for work and to feel their sheer sense of desperation. Are we really prepared to just stand by and watch them sink into abject poverty?”
The legislation to grant the 99ers — those who’ve exhausted all the federal unemployment benefits available — an additional 20 weeks of benefits faces tough odds of actually being passed by Congress though.

Senate Republicans filibustered the latest extension of unemployment benefits that extend eligibility through the end of November because it added to the federal deficit. Any new extensions will face the same opposition.

McDermott didn’t say how much the bill would cost or whether it would be offset. But even if the cost of the bill is offset, Republicans and fiscally conservative Democrats in the Senate and House who are opposed to increased government spending are unlikely to support it.

Also, there seems to be a growing sentiment that extended unemployment benefits are actually making the unemployment problem worse.

An article in Forbes magazine today said that extended benefits tend to cause the jobless to search for new work “with a lower intensity,” increasing the length of time people remain unemployed.

Other economists say that extended benefits are needed in an economy where the unemployed outnumber available jobs by five to one.

We’ll have to wait and see if either the House or Senate versions of these bills actually go anywhere when lawmakers return to work in September.

Tier 5 unemployment extension 2010 may be on its way- 99ers rejoice. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has introduced S3706, which is a measure that will provide unemployment benefits to each and every 99er who has persisted in this battle for benefits. Of course, the battle continues and could still take a while, as support from the GOP will be hard to win over.

The bill will provide an additional 20 weeks of benefits to states with unemployment rates of 7.5% or more. This brings the total unemployment extensions up to 93 weeks. Added to the traditional 26 weeks of state benefits, and people can rest assured for up to 119 weeks.

The measure would also benefit businesses, by extending credits for employers that hire people who have been out of work for at least 60 days.

Those looking for an extension of COBRA subsidies will have to wait for another bill. The 99ers have already exhausted the 18 months of COBRA eligibility and have to find healthcare elsewhere.

Other politicians supporting the bill include: Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Harry Reid (D-NV), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Carl Levin (D-MI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

US President Barack Obama signed into law today an extension of the unemployment benefits. Obama issued a statement saying:

“Americans who are fighting to find a good job and support their families will finally get the support they need to get back on their feet during these tough economic times,”

Apparently, the US House of Representatives voted 272 to 152 just to pass the legislation extending the unemployment cover benefits through the end of November.

If we will try to remember, the extending of unemployment benefits was done to run out June 2 after the Congress failed to approve a new extension bill. Because of this, more than 87,000 Michiganders lost their benefits during the month of June and another 85,000 stood to lose them by the end of this month without the action of the Congress.

“They stood not on the side of, but in the way of millions of Americans,” said U.S. Rep. Sander Levin “During those six weeks over 2.5 million unemployed Americans exhausted their benefits and struggled to stay afloat while continuing to look for work in this difficult economy.”

As of the latest reports, the retroactive payments are already in progress for the unemployment benefits due to HR4213. It was noted there that there are currently 5 million unemployed American across the country and an approximately half of these persons were recently cut out benefits when the insurance ran out and no extension bill was even granted.

Some people now, also known as the 99ers awaits for the tier 5 extension of the federal unemployment benefits. With this kind of issues and concerns, the local government now are being pressured of many who wants their reps to add a new category for extended unemployment compensation.

As of this writing, only two senators have expressed their full support for the Tier 5 unemployment extension bill.

Unemployment Extension benefits Tier 5 for 99ers need of the hour. Long at last the unemployment benefits have been approved. But the passage of the bill has been torturous with Republicans trying to block it. For more than six months there was standoff of on the issue between the Democrats and Republicans.

Republicans had wanted more time on it whereas the Democrats were not willing to budge. They were in a rush to get it passed as soon as possible.

They were under intense pressure to act on this important front because they had come to power by making the promise to sort out unemployment. They knew that a delay will only hamper their popularity. That is why the effort to get it passed was being spearheaded by President Barack Obama.

He kept on his work to convince the Senate about the importance of this bill that would help some 2 million workers who had lost job in the last six months following recession. During the voting, two Republicans also sided with the Democrats.

The bill now has been turned into a law and now jobless Americans are eligible for up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits until early June. The time has come for different states to dispatch the money to the needy people. Unemployment extensions were first introduced in 1958 and since then it has been granted six times.

Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Bill Petition Rises: 99ers Want Unemployment Benefits – The clamor for the passage of a Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Bill in the Congress continues. The recent HR 4213 Unemployment Extension Bill does not involve unemployment benefits for those 99ers or those that have received 99 weeks of their unemployment benefits. What will happen to these unemployed individuals now?

Without a Tier 5, these unemployed Americans will have to rely on federal TANF or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program which offers just over $500 each month. However, before you can avail this benefit, you must first prove that you’re capable of paying your rent. Apart from it, the only benefit available to those 99ers are food stamps.

Aside from the usual argument of the Republicans that the costs associated with the passage of a Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Bill will just add to the current huge deficit of the government, it is also being said that it creates a disincentive for a job seeking behavior. That means, if an unemployed individual is expecting to get unemployment benefits, then they will be less likely to get motivated to find a job. While some maybe in this kind of attitude, the majority are actually looking for jobs but there are just no work available in the market. In effect, they are continuously losing their homes, their resources, their food, and their dignity.

Several groups and organizations have set up various petition sites for 99ers. Change.org has this “The 99ers need a Tier 5 added to Unemployment Benefits“; The Petition Site has this “We need a Tier 5 Federal Unemployment Extension“; and Saver 99ers has this “Petittion to Save the 99ers”

Our politicians, especially the Republicans, need not to wait for crime rates to increase before they can address this issue immediately. Participate in any of these petitions for 99ers and let your voices be heard. Keep sending letters, emails, and phone calls to your senators. You can also contact the White House directly here and send your concerns to President Obama. America needs to take care of America.

This morning, the news pertaining to the jobless rate was higher than expected, and this underscored the need for the extended unemployment insurance benefits, which Obama signed later on in the day.

This site has written on this topic before, but we have to continue to do so because of the importance in light of the economic doldrums that we are going through.

For weeks, the Republicans and the Democrats have been fighting about the extension, positing their respective positions. But in the end, the Democrats mustered enough votes to allow the extension.

President Obama, on his part, used his “bully pulpit” to garner the needed support and votes… resulting in his singing of the unemployment extension.

The Washington Post is reporting that the President signed a six month extension, which restored benefits that were cut off since June for some 3 Million folks. These people have been out of work and are depending on these benefits. The extension will cost some $34 billion and the bill passed by a count of 272 to 152. The Republicans wanted the extension, but wanted the cost not to be borne by our treasury – the Democrats basically said not to worry about the deficit because there were people hurting here and now.

The truth is this is a temporary measure and we cannot keep going back to the well before the water is finished. President Obama must find a way to produce jobs – no blaming of President George Bush, even if warranted, will longer suffice. The broken vessel is now yours, Mr. President and you must put the pieces back together.