On the Radar: Hot dog contest, Yellowstone cleanup, royal visit
Competitors down hot dogs in last year's contest on Coney Island, New York.
July 4th, 2011
06:22 AM ET

On the Radar: Hot dog contest, Yellowstone cleanup, royal visit

Three things you need to know today.

Hot dog contest: For the first time in the 96-year history of the Nathan's July 4th International Hot Dog Eating Contest, the competition will include men's and women's divisions.

Male and female contestants will vie for equal purses of $20,000. The men's champ gets a mustard-yellow belt, the women's champ a pink belt.

World record holders are Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, who two years ago ate 68 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, and Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas with 41 hot dogs and buns.

Watch live coverage from Coney Island, New York, on ESPN beginning at noon ET.

Yellowstone cleanup: Dozens more workers have joined the effort to clean up an oil spill that dumped hundreds of barrels of crude into Montana's Yellowstone River, ExxonMobil said.

ExxonMobil said between 750 to 1,000 barrels (32,000 to 42,000 gallons) of oil escaped late Friday when a pipeline ruptured beneath the river near Billings. Some of the oil has washed ashore or formed pools of "milky brown" residue in river eddies, Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder said.

High water and a swift current have helped break up the spill, local officials said.

But cleanup efforts have been hampered by flooding that has made it harder to track and clean up the oil, said Linder and Duane Winslow, the county's emergency services director.

Royal trip: Prince William and his wife, Catherine, will tour Prince Edward Island, the fifth day of their Canadian tour.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will start the day with a visit to Province House, the second oldest active legislature building in Canada.

Later, Prince William will emphasize the Canadian military's contributions to the training of search-and-rescue pilots by taking part in a "waterbird" emergency landing exercise in a helicopter at Dalvay-by-the-Sea.

On Monday evening, the royal couple will travel to Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, for the next phase of their trip.

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Filed under: Canada • Food • Montana • New York • On the Radar • Prince William • United Kingdom
soundoff (30 Responses)
  1. Jay Horn

    Learn to spell. You idiot

    July 4, 2011 at 11:39 am | Report abuse |
  2. Dinesh (an alien)

    So far so good, I still get to eat ‘Hot dog’ as of July 4th, 2011, but that day is not too far (unfortunately, in Texas and several southern states) I’d get offered ‘Taco” on July 4, 2021. Good bless America.

    July 4, 2011 at 11:48 am | Report abuse |
    • me

      Its called texmex ya a$$. Im not "unamerican" because I eat a friggin fajita on the fourth. Jeez.

      July 4, 2011 at 4:56 pm | Report abuse |
  3. CSnSC

    @jitterburg. You've never had a Nathans dog. Nothing else like them. Also you cant spell you idiot. Nothing worse than a little knowledge

    July 4, 2011 at 12:16 pm | Report abuse |
  4. itsjustme

    I'd love to grill the winners of each division; I'd rellish knowing what tips they could give all of us, in case we want to enter next year. I'm pretty sure they'll be on a roll with their advice..

    July 4, 2011 at 12:26 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Russ

    Eating contests are not harmless fun. The cholesterol from all those hot dogs does not go away. It sticks to the inside of the arteries, increasing the chance that the contestant will either have a heart attack now, or earlier than he should. And you don't need to be fat to have a heart attack.

    July 4, 2011 at 12:35 pm | Report abuse |
    • ...

      Oh please, you think they don't puke all those up immediately after the contest is over?

      July 4, 2011 at 1:07 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Christine

    @Jitterbug:
    Upton Sinclair wrote about the atrocities of the meat industry of the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was right about what he wrote. Things have changed a lot since then, things are more cleaner now.
    The hot dogs and hamburgers are made from scrap meat. Only poor people ate burgers for many years, until fast food came out and then anyone will eat them.
    I don't eat meat at all, I am vegetarian since birth. I am not missing anything. But I don't judge those who want to eat meat.

    July 4, 2011 at 1:15 pm | Report abuse |
  7. bobcat2u

    BuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrP !!!!!!!!!! Yuck !!!!!!!!!!! It didn't taste like that when I ate it !!

    July 4, 2011 at 3:04 pm | Report abuse |
    • Selim

      For once in my life, I don't feel that weird about not being into sports.Being the red-blooded American male that I am, I think I'll check out some more Mahler Youtubes now. Awwriiiiiiiiiight!

      March 12, 2012 at 1:17 pm | Report abuse |
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