By Gary Robertson RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - A car driven by an elderly man who may have lost consciousness plowed through a small-town parade of hiking enthusiasts in southwestern Virginia on Saturday, injuring dozens of people, nine seriously enough to be sent to hospitals, authorities said. The incident occurred in the Appalachian town of Damascus at the start of the annual Trail Days festival, as the main street was filled with hikers making their way from one end of town to a park at the other, volunteer fire department chief Ben Sanders told Reuters. ...

By Gary Robertson RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - Virginia Republicans on Saturday formally nominated Ken Cuccinelli for governor in the nation's marquee 2013 political race, and the conservative attorney general wasted no time reminding voters of the scandals facing President Barack Obama. "I am not a true conservative because I have not been investigated by the IRS," joked Cuccinelli, referring to the controversy that has engulfed the federal tax collection agency over its targeting of conservative Tea Party groups. ...

A series of 16 violent tornadoes ransacked north Texas this week, killing six people and flattening entire neighborhoods. Seven people who were reported missing early Friday morning have now been accounted for, but the storms aren't over yet. Severe thunderstorms are expected late Friday in Alabama and Mississippi, and the Plains and the Midwest face [...]