Joey Chestnut has become the Michael Jordan of the men’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, and the 37-year-old competitive eater will be vying for his 14th Mustard Belt in 15 years on Sunday for the annual Independence Day event. 

But his dominance has left little suspense over the last several years. His ascension to the top of the sport was fueled with a rivalry and excitement, while an upset loss of Chestnut in 2015 stands as one of the most exciting eating contests.

Sure, we enjoy watching Chestnut eating 75 dogs (his world record in 2020) and debate whether his prowess is on par with Rafael Nadal’s 13 French Open titles. But the

Elsa, the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic storm season, was downgraded to a tropical storm Saturday and was on track to impact Florida by early next week.

“We do feel pretty confident that we are going to be experiencing at least a tropical storm that’s going to impact a lot of communities in Florida,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference in Surfside early Saturday.

“You’re looking at a track that is going to go, probably, pass over the western portion of Cuba, end up in the Florida Straits and then start impacting Florida with the eye of the storm looking to be, right now, on the west side of Florida,”

Fourth of July celebrations may be back to normal for Americans as U.S. coronavirus cases drop and more than half (57%) of American adults are fully vaccinated. With typical holiday celebrations comes fireworks, barbecues and lots of food. 

Several food experts are warning Americans not to let the holiday excitement distract them from food safety protocols. Bacteria, food poisoning and poorly cooked meals can easily ruin a celebration.

“Rates of foodborne illness tend to increase during the summer months because germs grow faster in warmer, more humid weather. People also cook and eat outside, making shortcuts to food safety tempting because they are away from the convenience of soap and running

USA TODAY reporter Romina Ruiz-Goiriena was at the Surfside condominium collapse site just a couple hours after first light last Thursday. Much of the building had crashed to the earth during the night.

Fire trucks filled the streets, but it was eerily quiet.

Police tape was up, but no one stopped her.

She walked right up to the rubble – and went to work.

She quickly learned that families were being directed to a unification center up the street. She walked toward the center while interviewing a health aide headed there too. She was one of the first and remained one of the only reporters in the center all day.

Missouri is requesting help from new COVID-19 federal response teams as the delta variant continues to spread, with surging case numbers and hospitalizations throughout the state.

The “surge response teams,” announced in a White House press conference Thursday, will be dispatched to emerging COVID-19 hotspots around the country, where vaccination rates remain low. They’ll aim to boost testing and vaccinations, as well as track down and treat those who have fallen ill.

Missouri has reported 4,271 new COVID-19 cases in the past week, and 945 people throughout the state are currently hospitalized. Of those hospitalized, 265 are in the intensive care unit and 121 are on ventilators, according to state data.

Southwest Missouri

The governor’s office denied reports it asked Trump organizers to postpone the Sarasota rally.DeSantis has discouraged talk of a 2024 White House run, saying he’s focused on his current job.Trump, who’s hinted at a presidential re-run in 2024, has expressed annoyance at DeSantis’ rise.

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s campaign-style rally in Florida Saturday comes at a fraught time for the former president: While the organization bearing his name in New York was indicted this week, he is also facing a potential rivalry with Florida governor and protege Ron DeSantis.

Trump revisits Florida, a state he won twice, with some Republicans already talking about the 2024 presidential race – and expressing support for DeSantis for the

An eruption of noise on a June night startled Rajah as the dog played in her South Carolina backyard. It was fireworks.

The piercing crackling unnerved Rajah, and she bolted for the yard’s fence and leapt right over it, leaving her worried owners behind, according to multiple reports. 

Rajah eventually found her way back home, as documented in a now-viral late-night doorbell video, but the dog is far from alone in having a frantic reaction to fireworks. It’s a recurring problem for pets every Fourth of July, and this year is shaping up to be especially bad.

That’s because many Americans are looking forward to a more normal — and much louder — Fourth of July this year after pandemic restrictions canceled

INDIANAPOLIS —  History is happening on Pearl Street. Yes, Pearl Street is really just an alley. What, you think the path into history should be beautiful?

Not this path.

Turn onto the alley and keep walking under the fire escape snaking down from that big red brick building. Keep walking until you can turn left.

Now look up.

There you go. There’s your beauty, high up on the wall of a law office building. 

Once upon a time, before he died penniless in a Chicago hospital charity ward, before he was given a pauper’s burial, Major Taylor was the fastest man alive. That’s what people called him, because it was true. He was from

On the heels of America’s 76th birthday, Frederick Douglass, a renowned orator, abolitionist and former slave, criticized the United States for celebrating its political freedom while millions of Black Americans were still enslaved.

Douglass delivered his “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” speech July 5, 1852, at the historic Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. The Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society had invited Douglass to speak on the Fourth of July, but he declined because, as he explained to an audience of roughly 600 free, white people:

“The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life