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FanDuel and DraftKings are among the books that have announced refunds, giving back money on any straight bets for Chestnut to eat more than 74.5 hot dogs. Chestnut finished with 63 hot dogs Monday, good enough to hand him his 15th title but well short of last year’s record of 76. It was Chestnut’s worst showing since 2015...Midway through the contest, with Chestnut just getting going at 17 hot dogs, a protester in a Darth Vader mask rushed the Coney Island stage and unfurled a sign next to Chestnut. Chestnut quickly put the protester in a headlock before organizers took...

Joey Chestnut wins for the 16th time. Downs 63 hot dogs. He said he was going for 80...but he's still the champ.

..... Today, Rusty Weston is in stable condition at D.C. General Hospital, shackled to his bed, recovering from gunshot wounds he suffered in the Capitol shootout. A federal judge in Washington last week granted his mother, father, sister and brother-in-law permission to visit him in the hospital, but his mother said the family likely would not make the 750-mile trip for several more days. In a way, Rusty's work mirrored his personality. He was perfectly normal, for a while, until the passage of time revealed a penchant for wild stories and wacky theories. His behavior alienated people. He was a...

Joey Chestnut wins 12th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest

CONEY ISLAND — San Jose resident and record-breaking competitive eater Joey Chestnut has done it again — eating 71 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes Thursday to retain his title as champion of the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. It was his 12th title overall. Chestnut fell short of his world record last year of 74 hot dogs. He was aiming for a new record, having consumed 75 hot dogs in a practice round. But he handily beat the runner-up, Darron Breedon, who wolfed down 50 frankfurters.

Since 2007, Joey Chestnut has dominated the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, winning the event 10 times in the last 11 years. The 34-year-old professional competitive eater, nicknamed Jaws, will look to defend his title this Wednesday and win the $10,000 top prize in New York City. Chestnut is a -550 favorite on the hot dog eating contest odds with the field going off at +325 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. In the days leading up to the event, Chestnut has shown plenty of confidence, claiming that he will be shooting for the world record in this event on...

Joey Chestnut downed 69 franks and devoured his own record in the men's Fourth of July hot dog eating contest while Sonya Thomas defended her title in the women's competition. The San Jose, Calif., man known as Jaws ate one more wiener than his previous record to capture the mustard-yellow champion's belt. He said afterward that he was motivated by the prestige, not the $10,000 prize money. "I'd do this for nothing," he said. Thomas, a 100-pound dynamo known as the "Black Widow" of competitive eating, wolfed down nearly 37 wieners to narrowly eke out her own victory. Chestnut, 29,...

Chestnuthill Township supervisors will consider whether a township ordinance prohibiting guns in the township park should be repealed. The ordinance may conflict with a state law that says that municipalities don't have the authority to limit the rights of gun owners as long as the owners act in accordance with state gun laws. The possible conflict of local and state laws was brought to the township's attention by Brodheadsville resident William Gray. Gray doesn't want to fear being punished if he carries a firearm into Chestnuthill Park, he said. Gray said that, among other reasons, he'd like to have a...

U.S. woman eats 183 chicken wings in 12 minutesCBC – 6 hours ago The Black Widow of eating contests has scarfed down 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes to break her own world record set last year in Buffalo, N.Y. Sonya Thomas took home first place Sunday at the 10th annual National Buffalo Wings Festival. She beat eating marvel Joey (Jaws) Chestnut, who came in second with 174 wings. **SNIP** Thomas is nicknamed the Black Widow becomes she often beats male competitors in eating contests.

Sonna no uso da! Fuzakeruna yo! Were those the words of ex-champ Takeru Kobayahsi as he brazenly stormed the stage at the ninety-fifth annual Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest yesterday? Poor Takeru! Joey “Jaws” Chestnut had just crammed 54 franks down his gullet in 10 minutes and was being awarded his fourth consecutive Mustard-Yellow Belt, when the crazed Kobayashi ran up the dais and went all anime. By which I mean, he stood rock still and expostulated and expostulated and expostulated. The only thing that was missing were his tentacles. But New York’s Finest were there—thank you, boys!—and, after a...

THE HAGUE (AFP) - A diseased chestnut tree that was fondly described by Anne Frank in her diary about life in hiding under Nazi occupation will be cut down next week, Amsterdam officials said Tuesday. "Initially the tree had been granted a reprieve until January but a new report last week showed that only 28 percent of the wood in the trunk was healthy," Ton Boon of the Amsterdam Centrum borough told AFP. "It is irresponsible to leave it standing. The report shows the tree doesn't even need a storm to snap in two," he explained. Although a licence to...

Joey CHestnut wins the coveted Mustard Yellow Belt with a World Record 66 Hotdogs bring the belt home to the USAfor the first time in 6 years!

She was called the diarist, the grande dame, the confidante of the Civil War. She moved in the highest circles, and was personally acquainted with Varina Davis, wife of the president of the Confederacy. Mary Boykin Chesnut was all that and more: She brought the war to life as did no other of the time. For her writings and her insight at the most critical time in the history of the United States, she is a heroine of the Confederacy. She was born to Southern aristocracy: Her father was Stephen Decatur Miller, a lawyer and later governor of South Carolina...

ALBANY, Ga. - A stand of American chestnut trees that somehow escaped a blight that killed off nearly all their kind in the early 1900s has been discovered along a hiking trail not far from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Little White House at Warm Springs. The find has stirred excitement among those working to restore the American chestnut, and raised hopes that scientists might be able to use the pollen to breed hardier chestnut trees. "There's something about this place that has allowed them to endure the blight," said Nathan Klaus, a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources...

Designing Trees The same, often controversial gene-tweaking techniques that brought uspest-resistant fruits and vegetables now have a new target: trees. By Naomi Lubick Image: Courtesy of S. MerkleUNTIL THE BLIGHT, majestic American Chestnut trees dominated many U.S. forests. This image was taken in 1910 in the Great Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. To gain an appreciation for the promise--and perils--of genetically modified trees, consider the case of the American chestnut. Few trees have had such a remarkable presence and impact on the American landscape and ecosystem as the chestnut. Mature trees grew to 100 feet tall and their trunks...