Illinois Man Dies in Crash; Wife Leaves Car, Vanishes

Woman vanishes after crash that killed husband
A set of snowy footprints are the only trace of an Illinois mother who vanished from a car crash that killed her husband. Police continued a search Tuesday for Tanya Shannon, a mother of four who mysteriously vanished Sunday near Ransom, Ill., according to the LaSalle County Sheriff's Office. Shannon, 40, and husband Dale Shannon, 41, were last seen at a Christmas Party Saturday night until officers discovered the body of Dale inside the couple's vehicle, which reportedly slammed into a pole on ...

Police Baffled by Tanya Shannon's Disappearance Following Car Crash
(Dec. 8) -- Authorities in northern Illinois are trying to determine what happened to a mother of four who mysteriously vanished following a weekend car accident that killed her husband. Was she the Victim of a tragic circumstance, or is something far more sinister responsible for her disappearance? "It is a bizarre case, to say the least," LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton told AOL News. Tanya Shannon of Ransom, Ill., vanished after a car crash that killed her husband. A deputy found the wr...

Small town rallies for missing mom's 4 girls
Plastic jugs draped with a picture of four smiling Shannon daughters and messages about their plight rest along the bar at neighboring taverns in tiny Ransom. The girls, ages 4 to 15, lost their father in a car crash Sunday in rural LaSalle County. Their mother apparently walked away and vanished, leaving behind only a slipper in a snowy footprint. A three-day search for Tanya Shannon through miles of icy farm fields has yielded few clues. Police suspended the search Tuesday evening to wait fo...

Small town rallies for missing mom's 4 girls
Plastic jugs draped with a picture of four smiling Shannon daughters and messages about their plight rest along the bar at neighboring taverns in tiny Ransom. The girls, ages 4 to 15, lost their father in a car crash Sunday in rural LaSalle County. Their mother apparently walked away and vanished, leaving behind only a slipper in a snowy footprint. A three-day search for Tanya Shannon through miles of icy farm fields has yielded few clues. Police suspended the search Tuesday evening to wait for...

Clues in Ill. mom's disappearance include slipper
In this undated family photo provided Dec. 7, 2010 by Corinne Johnson, is... RANSOM, Ill. (AP) - The clues surrounding Tanya Shannon sound like the makings of a fairytale: a red dress, a lone slipper, footprints in the snow. For friends and relatives of the northern Illinois mother of four, who vanished after a weekend car crash killed her husband, they're the makings of a nightmare. Shannon was last seen leaving a friend's holiday party in her red dress and was believed to be riding with her h...

Baxter teen dies when vehicle leaves road
Baxter, Ia. — A Baxter teenager has died of injuries sustained in an apparent one-vehicle crash. Jasper County Sheriff's officials investigated an incident just after midnight Sunday on County Road F17, where a motorist reported finding debris on the road. The sheriff's office said Jacob Moorman, 17, of Baxter apparently lost control of his vehicle after entering the shoulder of the road near Baxter. It rolled several times, and Moorman was ejected. Moorman was taken to a Hospital in Des Moine...

N.J. Nuclear Plant Closing Early
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The nation's oldest Nuclear Power plant will close in 2019 — 10 years earlier than planned — but will not have to build costly cooling towers, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The people, who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the plans ahead of an announcement expected Thursday, said the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in the Forked River se...

WikiLeaks’ mad attack on Canada
In February of last year, U.S. diplomatic posts were given one month by Washington to compile and forward an inventory of critical infrastructure and key resources in their respective reporting areas “whose loss could critically impact the Public Health, economic security, and/or national and Homeland Security of the United States.” The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa – and the string of American consulates across Canada – were included in this “action request.” Yeste...

Report urges more gov't support for nuclear energy
The report — by the Energy Department's Idaho National Laboratory and the Centrist-Democratic group Third Way — urges Congress to increase money for loan guarantees for Nuclear Power plant construction. It says the Federal Government should support nuclear research and development and help export U.S. nuclear designs. And it suggests that new agencies could be enlisted, such as the Commerce and State Departments, to help the nuclear industry compete with foreign industries. Energy Se...

Report: Development Killing NJ Waterways
TRENTON, N.J. (AP/WCBS 880) - Rapid development is killing New Jersey’s waterways by dumping tons of Fertilizer, Pesticides and other pollutants into rivers, bays and the Atlantic Ocean, according to a report released Wednesday by the state’s leading environmental groups. The study, mainly written by Environment New Jersey, called for the state to limit the amount of nitrogen in Fertilizer, reduce storm water runoff into drains, and upgrade water treatment plants. The repo...

N.J. Nuclear Plant Closing Early [Oyster Creek, nation's oldest nuclear power plant]
Source: New York Times TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The nation's oldest Nuclear Power plant will close in 2019 — 10 years earlier than planned — but will not have to build costly cooling towers, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The people, who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the plans ahead of an announcement expected Thursday, said the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in the Forked R

Nuclear summit urges wider use of atomic power
WASHINGTON — In the absence of any government action to cap carbon emissions, new nuclear plants in this country will need loan guarantees and a promise of stable future prices and customers if America is to move forward as a leader in the worldwide nuclear renaissance, panelists at a Nuclear Power conference said Tuesday. Energy Secretary Steven Chu called for Nuclear Power to be part of the mix as the nation moves toward mandating that power companies use more clean and renewable energ...

EU wants body-wide green power scheme
Published: Dec. 7, 2010 at 4:16 PM Uproar over climate funding? Brussels, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The European Commission wants to pressure Germany into accepting a harmonization of Europe's Renewable Energy trade. Brussels wants to introduce continent-wide renewable power trading, which would save "billions of euros," according to an Energy Policy paper prepared by the commission, German newspaper Die Welt reports. European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger also shoots for a body-wide renewable en...

Obama to cave on coal, nuclear power next?
Maybe there’s something to this triangulation strategy after all.  A day after Barack Obama enraged his base by cutting a deal to extend Bush-era Tax Rates for another two years, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu signaled that Obama may agree to Republican proposals for coal and Nuclear Energy as a Compromise energy plan: The Obama Administration may consider caving to GOP demands to include nuclear and some coal production in a “Clean Energy standard,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said T

Report urges more gov't support for nuclear energy
(12-07) 06:07 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top Obama Administration officials and industry leaders are discussing a new report calling for increased support to kickstart the Nuclear Energy industry in the U.S. The report — by the Energy Department's Idaho National Laboratory and the Centrist-Democratic group Third Way — urges Congress to increase money for loan guarantees for Nuclear Power plant construction. It says the Federal Government should support nuclear research and development ...

Court Installs New Security System
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- When you step into the Douglas County Justice Center, in Castle Rock, prepare to be scanned. Visitors and employees must now walk through a contraption many are used to seeing at airports, hold their hands up and wait to have a 3-D holographic image of their body snapped. “It was a little strange ... it was kind of cool though ... felt like it was space age or something,” said Abbi Rosenblum. It’s not quite space age but it is definitely cutting-edge technolo...

Husband of woman missing after crash died of broken neck
A man who died in a crash in rural LaSalle County -- and whose wife apparently walked away and remains missing -- suffered a broken neck, according to preliminary Autopsy results released today. Dale Shannon, 41, of tiny Ransom, about 50 miles southwest of Joliet, was discovered at 1:45 a.m. Sunday behind the wheel of his car on the Grand Ridge Mazon Blacktop between East 26th and East 27th roads in Brookfield Township. The car had spun out and hit a telephone poll about 20 feet off the road. ...

Balloon Boy Dad Richard Heene's Latest Scheme: The 'Bear Scratch' Back Scratcher
(Oct. 28) -- Richard Heene has got the itch to return to the public eye, but this time he's not sending his kid up in a crazy balloon. Now, he's selling "Bear Scratch," a post that attaches to an interior or exterior wall that allows humans to scratch an itchy back the same way bears do in the wild. "If you itch like a 'son of a twitch' there's just one thing to do the job," Heene boasts in a video promotion, in which he describes himself as "an inventor." This new venture comes just one year ...

Four students killed in Conn. car crash
Published: Dec. 8, 2010 at 4:37 PM GRISWOLD, Conn., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Grief counselors were set to be at a Connecticut High School Wednesday after four Students were killed in a one-car crash Tuesday, school officials said. Superintendent of Schools Paul Freeman said Students at Griswold High School were very quiet Wednesday morning and are deeply affected by the incident, The Hartford Courant reported. Police have identified the Students who died as John Clapper, 16, Sativa Cornell, 16, Steven Sz...

CNNs Bash, WSJ reporters honored for Congressional coverage
Romenesko Misc. Dana Bash and Wall Street Journal reporters Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam have won the 2010 Dirksen Awards for Distinguished Coverage of Congress. Bash was cited for her report on Congressional Earmarks and Senatorial “holds,” while the Journal reporters received the award for their articles on Congressional travel. Washington: Dana Bash, senior Congressional correspondent for CNN and reporters Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam of The Wall Street Journal have won the 2010...

Brenda Starr's deadline nears
The deadline is fast approaching for the final edition of the daily comic strip, which ran for more than 70 years and was written by Tribune columnist Mary Schmich for the last 25. It's been a tough time of late for adventurous redheads on the comics pages. Little Orphan Annie ran out of tomorrows six months ago. Now, the deadline is fast approaching for reporter Brenda Starr's final edition. After one last office holiday party on Jan. 2, the seven-day-a-week "Brenda Starr, Reporter" will go the...

Tap Into the Lucrative Tween Market
These customers may be young, but they're old pros when it comes to consuming. Twenty million strong nationwide, tweens — kids ages 8 to 14, who are often called “Generation Z” or “digital natives” — now flex $43 billion worth of annual spending power, according to Larissa Faw, editor at Youth Markets Alert, a trade newsletter based in New York City. The young consumers receive an average weekly allowance of $12 each, up from only $5 in 2009. So despite family...

Thank God for the Recession
Applewood Baptist Church performs Scrooge for the Troops. “Times are tough.” “Have you seen the Unemployment numbers?” “My husband just lost his job.” “We might have to close the doors this year.” “I don’t know how things could get worse. Gift giving isn’t going to happen this Christmas.” Our generation is far from the first to have suffered through hard times. Indeed, these are far from the worst of hard times. Still, thing...

Tribune Names Ashley Messina General Manager of WDCW-TV
CHICAGO, Dec. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Tribune Broadcasting today named Ashley Messina as Vice President/General Manager of WDCW-TV in Washington, DC, effective immediately. Messina has served as the interim general manager for the station since September 2010. "Ashley has earned this appointment by leading the station for the last several months and with her proven track record as general sales manager," said Tribune Broadcasting president Jerry Kersting. "She has a keen sense for what it takes ...

Chicago Tribune: Taylorvilles Not Ready
[The following is a paid advertisement.] November 29, 2010 Dirty and dangerous, coal has a hard time making friends. The proposal for a Taylorville Energy Center in central Illinois isn’t helping. You might think the Taylorville plan would be winning popularity contests all around the state: This wouldn’t be a typical coal plant, of the sort that provides roughly half of America’s electricity today. This would be a “clean” operation, using cutting-edge technology ...