Local News
How’d your holiday go? Research shows that 150 million hot dogs are eaten on July 4. If those hot dogs weren’t beef hot dogs, they may have come from Iowa. Thirty-three percent of all hot dogs come from Iowa. Americans also like baked beans on the 4th of July. The U.S. Dry Bean Council says July is baked bean month. The council said that in 2009, about 50 million pounds of baked beans were eaten in July. The number is still being quoted by various sources so the number must not have changed that much. Food and recipe websites list corn on the cob as a staple for July 4 cookouts. Americans also like coleslaw, potato salad and watermelon on July 4.
Joey Chestnut captured his eighth consecutive Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest, eating 62 hog dogs on Tuesday. Geoffrey Esper was runner for the third consecutive year with 49 hot dogs. It’s Chestnut’s 16th victory since 2007 when he unseated six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi.
An Iowa man may be well on his way to an official world record — for pencils. Aaron Bartholmey has been collecting wooden advertising pencils since he was a child. Now, he claims to own more than 70,000. That’s substantially more than the Guinness World Record for the largest pencil collection — 24,000, held by Emilio Arenas from Uruguay since 2020. He’s waiting to hear if the count is approved by Guinness, which estimated the review process could take up to three months.
The Metro Nashville Police Department arrested a teen Monday night after officers reportedly caught him aiming a green laser at a helicopter. The 15-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated assault against the two officers who were on board the helicopter in the area of South 4th and Fatherland Streets. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), some high-powered lasers can completely incapacitate pilots who at times may be carrying hundreds of passengers. In total, there have been 26 “laser incidents” reported out of the Nashville International Airport this year from Jan. 1 through May 31. Thousands more have been reported across the United States, according to the FAA.
