Hello, I'm Melisse Hinkle in for Kristin Volk with a UPI top news update on this 12 day of June, 2008. Three Boy Scouts and one Scout staff member are dead following a tornado that hit their camp in western Iowa this morning. Forty-eight other children and adults were injured. The Scouts at the ranch were reportedly advanced Scouts between the ages of 13 and 18 and were there for a week of training. Possible tornadoes also struck parts of Kansas killing at least two people and damaging buildings at Kansas State University. A key member of Senator Barack Obama's vice presidential search team is stepping down. Jim Johnson has decided to resign after he received criticism over a mortgage. Republicans have been hammering Johnson for nearly a week after news broke that he got a good deal on a mortgage from Countrywide because of his friendship with the company's CEO. His rival, Senator John McCain said the resignation raises questions about Obama's judgment. For days, the presumptive Democratic nominee pushed back against attacks on Johnson. But news of Johnson's resignation doesn't seem to be affecting Senator Obama's general election campaign. A new poll out shows that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has a six-point lead over Republican John McCain. Obama is at 47 percent compared to McCain at 41 percent. In late April, the Illinois Senator led the Arizona Senator by only three points. The poll found Obama leading among African-Americans, Hispanics, women and blue-collar workers. McCain leads among white men. The House has passed a nearly $15 billion Amtrak bill at a time when Americans are grappling with soaring gas prices. The bi-partisan bill which passed by a veto-proof margin would authorize funding for the national passenger railroad over the next five years. Some of the money will go to a program of matching grants to help states set up or expand rail service. Amtrak's last authorization expired in 2002. That's all for now. Check out our new special segment on upi.com called Students say 'I do' to wedding class. Thanks for watching.
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