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Tornado touchdown damages Minnesota towns

PARK RAPIDS, Minnesota (AP) — A strong storm packing at least one tornado raked a half-mile-wide path of destruction in northwestern Minnesota, ripping up roofs and trees and pushing cars off the road Friday, the National Weather Service said.

Hubbard County emergency officials said there were no reports of any injuries in the storm, which caused widespread damage in Park Rapids and Emmaville.

Emmaville resident Drew Huntziger said every tree in his yard was uprooted and his mobile home was damaged. His neighbor lost a big metal shed.

The weather service also reported damage in the towns of Menahga and Pickerel Lake.

Forecasters warned that Friday’s weather could be packed with strong storms.

Runoff from heavy rain early Friday forced the evacuation of about a dozen homes in Cambridge, in central Iowa. The evacuations were along two streets in a low-lying area in the town. Residents fled about 3 a.m., and no injuries were reported.

The ground is just fully saturated. The runoff from the community just all comes to that part of town. This is probably the worst it’s ever been, said Lori Morrissey, the emergency management coordinator for Story County.

Morrissey said that more than 2 inches of rain fell in storms that began Thursday night in the region. Flooding remains the top concern.

Frank Boska, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Johnston, Iowa, said that 3.7 inches of rain fell overnight at Des Moines International Airport. Streets downtown were covered with water, and several manhole covers popped off.

In Kansas, some homes and businesses were damaged, and two circus elephants were rattled by storms in WaKeeney. One of the animals entered a backyard less than a mile from fairgrounds in town and was blocked off by fire trucks until trainers could coax it onto a truck, Trego County Sheriff Richard Schneider said.

I guess it got tired of walking around, he said.

The second elephant was tranquilized in another backyard, coaxed into a truck and returned to the circus, which was already packing up to head to the next town, Schneider said. Watch as elephant is recaptured

A twister in Clay County in north-central Kansas destroyed a home, damaged several other buildings and toppled trees and power lines, sheriff’s dispatcher Cat Dallinga said. Storms also damaged roofs at the Pratt County airport in south-central Kansas and overturned tractor-trailers along Interstate 29, officials said.

Wind and hail caused extensive roof damage in Collyer, near WaKeeney, Schneider said.

In Virginia and Maryland, crews were working to restore power to homes and businesses that lost power in Wednesday’s storm. The weather service confirmed tornadoes knocking down trees and tearing roofs off several homes and a restaurant.

found here.

Rescuers scour sea for lost European divers

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) — Rescue teams were Friday searching for a group of European vacationers who disappeared while on a scuba diving trip in treacherous waters off a remote tropical island in eastern Indonesia.

The divers were exploring waters in the Komodo National Park, between the islands of Flores and Sumbawa, when they failed to return from a trip, according to an employee of Reefseekers diving center, which organized the expedition.

Reefseekers named dive master Kathleen Mitchinson, who was leading the group, among the missing. British, French and Swedish citizens were among those missing, the Komodo Divers Association added.

The diving center employee said two groups had entered the waters, which are a popular draw for divers keen to explore an area of unspoiled coral reefs teeming with marine life, but only one returned.

When an initial search failed to locate the second group, authorities were alerted and police and rescue teams called in.

Mitchinson’s husband Ernest Leandowski, another dive master who runs Reefseekers, told the AFP news agency that a lack of fuel for aircraft was hampering the search.

We’ve got a big search operation happening here but we’re having trouble getting aircraft to fly because of fuel problems, he said.

Time is critical. It’s absolutely blistering hot out there.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed three British nationals have been reported missing off the coast of Indonesia. It said it was providing consular assistance and liaising with local authorities involved in the search.

found here.

Zippy house-hunter: Joseph Lashinsky

(CNN) — Joseph P. Lashinsky wants to move you to a new home at the click of a button. He’s the CEO of ZipRealty, an online house-hunting service with annual sales of more than 100 million dollars. The company maintains an online database of homes for sale in more than 30 metropolitan areas for both buyers and sellers. And while you’ll hear plenty about how tough the U.S. housing market is right now, Lashinsky is optimistic.

Maggie Lake: Were you concerned the housing downturn would actually make it difficult for the company to survive?

Lashinsky: We believe that our model has great service, agents who are local in the market. We give rebates back to consumers, we give complete transparency, we think those things will enable us to differentiate ourselves — and we have a much lower cost structure than a traditional real estate broker, so we think we have some advantages with this model over our competitors.

Lake: How difficult is this? You are trying to disrupt a business model that has been around for a long time. People traditionally use real estate brokers to buy a house, now you are trying to get them to shop online. How hard is it to change people’s behavior?

Lashinsky: This is a very difficult market to change. First of all, there are over a million, 200,000 realtors out there who are doing business one way. And we’re a small, growing company that has 2,300 agents that are trying to do business a little different. We focus on the consumer instead of on the agents. And it’s a business that hasn’t really changed since Eisenhower was President. The commissions haven’t changed, the way the business is done hasn’t changed. So it’s very difficult, it’s very slow-moving, there’s lots of entrenchment that’s going on. And we have to work with them on everything we do, ’cause they’re on the other side.

(Lashinsky had never worked in real estate before — his background was in consumer products at the likes of General Mills. But personal experience led him to the online home business.)

Lashinsky: I just could not believe that here’s an industry where, you know, I’ve talked to consumers who say, I’ve had a better time buying a tire, or buying a purse, than I did buying my house. I found it so stressful, I couldn’t believe it. And I just thought there was a better way to do it.

found here.

Obama, Clinton meet for ‘unity’ talks, sources say

(CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama met late Thursday with Sen. Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C. — their first meeting since Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama met tonight and had a productive discussion about the important work that needs to be done to succeed in November, a joint statement from the two sides said.

CNN’s Candy Crowley confirmed that the two met to discuss plans for bringing the campaigns together in unity for the party.

Earlier, reporters on Obama’s press plane learned that the presumed Democratic nominee for president was not aboard when it departed Virginia, where he had been campaigning. Aides said staff members scheduled him some meetings in Washington.

The meeting originally was believed to be at Clinton’s D.C. home, but sources later said the two met elsewhere in Washington.

A group that is urging Obama and select Clinton as his running mate praised the meeting. We are thrilled to hear that Senators Obama and Clinton are meeting already, said a statement from VoteBoth. We hope that Thursday night’s conversation is a step toward an Obama-Clinton ticket that will unify the party.

Also Thursday, Clinton thanked supporters in an e-mail and pledged to help Obama capture the White House after eight years of Republican control. Clinton also plans to thank supporters in person at a Washington event Saturday.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Sen. Obama if he were the Democratic Party’s nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise, the e-mail read.

This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Sen. Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Sen. [John] McCain and the Republicans. Read Clinton’s message to supporters (PDF)

Clinton plans to suspend her campaign within days, her campaign said. By suspending instead of dropping out, Clinton would technically remain a candidate, entitled to keep statewide pledged delegates and district-level delegates. Watch why it’s all over for Clinton

Democrats nationwide have coalesced around Obama since he received enough delegates to win the nomination Tuesday evening.

Top Democrats from Clinton’s home state of New York plan to endorse the Illinois senator, congressional staffers and Obama campaign insiders said.

The New York Democratic congressional delegation embraced Obama’s candidacy Thursday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. iReport.com: Should Obama pick Clinton?

On Friday, Democratic leaders in New York, including Gov. David Paterson, state legislators and city council members, plan to endorse Obama at a 1 p.m. news conference at New York’s City Hall, the sources said.

Obama earned enough delegates Tuesday to clinch the nomination, but Clinton did not concede defeat that night. Instead, she asked supporters to visit her Web site and give her advice on how to proceed.

Since then, Clinton supporters have stepped up efforts to get her the vice presidential slot.

Billionaire Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, said he plans to ask the Congressional Black Caucus to urge Obama to offer Clinton the vice presidential slot. And Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, said that putting Clinton on the ticket would help unify the party.

A lot of her supporters are still brokenhearted, but if we see that her candidacy is treated with respect and that we’re going to have one ticket — the Obama/Clinton ticket — I think that would bring us together like no other political incentive, he said. Watch what Clinton wants

Both campaigns deny that discussions on the subject have begun.

Clinton and Obama spoke by phone about two hours after Obama claimed victory in the nominating fight. They spoke again on Wednesday, at the annual conference of AIPAC, an influential pro-Israel lobbying group.

In her remarks to the group, Clinton heaped effusive praise on Obama.

Let me be very clear, Clinton said. I know that Sen. Obama will be a good friend to Israel. I know that Sen. Obama shares my view that the next president must be ready to say to the world America’s position is unchanging, our resolve unyielding, our stance nonnegotiable.

Obama has named Caroline Kennedy and former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to a vice presidential selection team led by former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson. Watch the options available to Obama

Clinton looked toward the general election in the e-mail Thursday.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama, the message said. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

found here.

Obama, Clinton meet for ‘unity’ talks, sources say

(CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama met late Thursday with Sen. Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C. — their first meeting since Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama met tonight and had a productive discussion about the important work that needs to be done to succeed in November, a joint statement from the two sides said.

CNN’s Candy Crowley confirmed that the two met to discuss plans for bringing the campaigns together in unity for the party.

Earlier, reporters on Obama’s press plane learned that the presumed Democratic nominee for president was not aboard when it departed Virginia, where he had been campaigning. Aides said staff members scheduled him some meetings in Washington.

The meeting originally was believed to be at Clinton’s D.C. home, but sources later said the two met elsewhere in Washington.

A group that is urging Obama and select Clinton as his running mate praised the meeting. We are thrilled to hear that Senators Obama and Clinton are meeting already, said a statement from VoteBoth. We hope that Thursday night’s conversation is a step toward an Obama-Clinton ticket that will unify the party.

Also Thursday, Clinton thanked supporters in an e-mail and pledged to help Obama capture the White House after eight years of Republican control. Clinton also plans to thank supporters in person at a Washington event Saturday.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Sen. Obama if he were the Democratic Party’s nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise, the e-mail read.

This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Sen. Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Sen. [John] McCain and the Republicans. Read Clinton’s message to supporters (PDF)

Clinton plans to suspend her campaign within days, her campaign said. By suspending instead of dropping out, Clinton would technically remain a candidate, entitled to keep statewide pledged delegates and district-level delegates. Watch why it’s all over for Clinton

Democrats nationwide have coalesced around Obama since he received enough delegates to win the nomination Tuesday evening.

Top Democrats from Clinton’s home state of New York plan to endorse the Illinois senator, congressional staffers and Obama campaign insiders said.

The New York Democratic congressional delegation embraced Obama’s candidacy Thursday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. iReport.com: Should Obama pick Clinton?

On Friday, Democratic leaders in New York, including Gov. David Paterson, state legislators and city council members, plan to endorse Obama at a 1 p.m. news conference at New York’s City Hall, the sources said.

Obama earned enough delegates Tuesday to clinch the nomination, but Clinton did not concede defeat that night. Instead, she asked supporters to visit her Web site and give her advice on how to proceed.

Since then, Clinton supporters have stepped up efforts to get her the vice presidential slot.

Billionaire Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, said he plans to ask the Congressional Black Caucus to urge Obama to offer Clinton the vice presidential slot. And Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, said that putting Clinton on the ticket would help unify the party.

A lot of her supporters are still brokenhearted, but if we see that her candidacy is treated with respect and that we’re going to have one ticket — the Obama/Clinton ticket — I think that would bring us together like no other political incentive, he said. Watch what Clinton wants

Both campaigns deny that discussions on the subject have begun.

Clinton and Obama spoke by phone about two hours after Obama claimed victory in the nominating fight. They spoke again on Wednesday, at the annual conference of AIPAC, an influential pro-Israel lobbying group.

In her remarks to the group, Clinton heaped effusive praise on Obama.

Let me be very clear, Clinton said. I know that Sen. Obama will be a good friend to Israel. I know that Sen. Obama shares my view that the next president must be ready to say to the world America’s position is unchanging, our resolve unyielding, our stance nonnegotiable.

Obama has named Caroline Kennedy and former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to a vice presidential selection team led by former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson. Watch the options available to Obama

Clinton looked toward the general election in the e-mail Thursday.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama, the message said. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

found here.