Just When You Thought You Heard It All News (7-6-2013)

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a wiener!

Yeah, yeah, corny I know! But I couldn't resist.

The annual Nathan's hot-dog eating contest was a cake walk for six-time defending champing Joey Chestnut who downed 69 frankfurters and buns in 10 minutes for his seventh consecutive victory. Joey continues his storied reign as the king of all wienies.

He spent July 5th in the bathroom on his knees vowing not to compete next year.

Probably!

The only competition came from Matt Stonie. The second place finisher consumed 51 dogs and buns at the Coney Island battle of intestinal fortitude.

The 210-pound competitive eating titan known as "Jaws" broke his own record of 68 franks, which he set in 2009 and tied again last year. 

Chestnut, 29, was expected to easily defend his title. Supporters carried him to the stage before the event in a mustard-yellow chair like an Egyptian pharaoh. 

Sonya Thomas, aka "The Black Widow," successfully defended her title in the women's event in an unexpectedly close battle. Thomas, who weighs 100 pounds, ingested 36 and three quarters franks to edge out second place finisher Juliet Lee, who ate 36. 

It's the 97th annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

In the world of competitive eating, the Nathan's hot dog eating contest is the gut-busting and artery-clogging equivalent of the Super Bowl. It's by far, the most coveted eat-off.

The contest, organized by Major League Eating, attracts huge crowds to Nathan's iconic frankfurter stand near the Coney Island boardwalk 

Nathan's is also known for its famous frog legs. Now, that would be a contest.

Coney Island is actually a peninsula at the southern end of Brooklyn, was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy last fall. 

Announcers on ESPN 2 heralded the event's return to the storm-damaged area the way other sports broadcasters said the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl title in 2010 helped the Big Easy heal years after Hurricane Katrina.

A woman angry with a stranger on a bus in Kansas City, Mo., is accused of splashing gasoline on passengers and threatening to light a match.

There was a time when all you had to worry about when you rode the bus was some psycho having a knife, a gun, or extreme body odor.

At about 5:30 a.m. Monday, 32-year-old Ebony D. Williams ”got mad because someone was sitting beside her,” witness Randy Harris told The Kansas City Star. “The bus was crowded, and she asked him to move.”

The man didn’t move, and Williams allegedly responded by whipping out a gasoline-filled water bottle and splashing it on her seatmate, as well as five other passengers nearby, according to the local media.

Police say she threatened to set everyone on fire.

“Right after the gasoline, she pulled out matches and tried to flick it,” Harris said.

A scuffle ensued between Williams and the other passengers, at which point police say she began brandishing a large knife. 

This chick was carrying a knife, and a water bottle full of gasoline?! What type of party was she going to.

The bus driver stopped the bus and ceased the altercation. Passengers were transferred to a different bus.

“The driver absolutely did what she was supposed to. First and foremost is to take her safety and the safety of passengers into consideration,” Area Transportation Authority spokesman B.J. Garcia told KMBC. “As soon as it became apparent that there was a harmful substance on the bus, she pulled the bus over immediately and I can’t even say she pulled over she stopped immediately and opened the doors and had everyone exit the bus.”

No one was injured in the incident. Williams was charged with six counts of assault.

The bus driver is a hero, and THANK GOD there were no injuries.

This next story falls under the category greedy, stupid criminals. Social media can either be your best friend or your worst enemy, depending on how you utilize it. Case in point. Be careful what you Instagram, would-be criminals.This seemingly benign photo of steak at a Morton's in South Florida led to the arrest of Nathaniel Troy Maye and Tiwanna Tenise Thomason, who recently pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft. 

An undercover IRS witness told investigators about a man who claimed to have access to 700,000 identities, which could be used to file fake tax returns. The only problem was how to find him, obviously, the investigation turned to Instagram.

A flash drive the couple gave the witness  which contained 50,000 identities held data that linked it to a Troy Maye, which also happened to be Maye's Instagram handle. Investigators were able to link the steak photo, which was captioned "Morton's," to a meeting between the witness and Maye at the steakhouse chain. 

Really?! All 3 of his followers just had to know that he was having steak?

That meeting and Maye's user ID photo helped investigators make the arrest.

Maye and Thomason are currently awaiting sentencing. Sadly, Maye's Instagram account is now private (OOOPS, too late!), so there are no further clues as to which high-end chain restaurants identity thieves prefer. You can still see his bio, though, which reads: "Good things will come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle!" For Maye and Thomason, the hustle is over.

I hope that steak was good because you can't get Morton's on Cell Block 5.

Be careful out there, would be food photographers. First it turns out taking pictures of your food may be a sign of mental illness. So that must mean that half of my Pinterest friends are crazy. Now Instagram is becoming the playground of criminals. Who knows what doom lurks behind your next snapshot at The Waffle House?

PR