Severe Storms Kill 8 in Iowa, Minnesota

Severe Storms Kill 8 in Iowa, Minnesota

PARKERSBURG, Iowa Severe thunderstorms packing large hail and tornadoes rumbled across the nation's midsection on Sunday, killing at least eight people and damaging dozens of homes, authorities said.

Iowa Homeland Security administrator Dave Miller said seven of the dead were killed by a tornado in northeast Iowa -- five from Parkersburg, 80 miles northeast of Des Moines, and two from nearby New Hartford. At least 50 injuries were reported.

Witnesses reported parts of Parkersburg -- particularly the town's southside -- were reduced to rubble, including most of the town's high school and homes.

At least 20 people were unaccounted for in Minnesota after a swift storm blew through the St. Paul suburb of Hugo, damaging about four dozen homes, City Administrator Mike Ericson said.

A 2-year-old child was killed and the child's sibling was critically injured and taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton said. The children's parents also were hospitalized with injuries sustained in the family home.

Rove Says He Didn't Intervene in Case

President Bush's former chief political adviser denied intervening in the Justice Department's prosecution of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman (D) and said the courts will have to resolve a congressional subpoena for his testimony.

"Congress, the House Judiciary Committee, wants to be able to call presidential aides on its whim up to testify," Karl Rove said on ABC's "This Week." "It's going to be tied up in court and settled in court."

Last week, the committee ordered Rove to appear July 10. Lawmakers want to ask him about the White House's role in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 and in Siegelman's prosecution for bribery.

Rove brushed off suggestions that he meddled in Siegelman's case.

"I found out about Don Siegelman's investigation and indictment by reading about it in the newspaper," he said. "I heard about it, read about it, learned about it for the first time by reading about it in the newspaper."

Bride, Groom Are Shot; Guests Aid in Arrest

LITTLE ROCK -- An apparent stranger shot the bride, the groom and two other people at an outdoor wedding in rural Arkansas and then was arrested after being chased by outraged guests, a sheriff's official said.

The wedding was just ending when the suspect approached with a 9mm pistol and opened fire, Pope County sheriff's Lt. Aaron DuVall said. The bride, groom and a third victim remained hospitalized.

Police arrested Patrick Paul Duvall, 29, after he was chased into a Russellville, Ark., restaurant parking lot, said the sheriff's lieutenant, who is not related to the suspect.

-- From News Services