hWorld champ in grits

hWorld champ in grits

BOSSIER CITY, La. — He’ll never want breakfast again. Pat Bertoletti, above, a mohawk-sporting chef from Chicago, gulped down 21 pounds of buttery, goopy grits in 10 minutes to win $4,000 in the first World Grits Eating Championship at Louisiana Downs on Saturday. The grits were presented in 2-pound trays, each about 8 inches by 6 inches and 11⁄2 inches deep, said Ryan Nerz, a spokesman for Major League Eating. Bertoletti said the race “tested our stomach capacity like no other.” The buzz going in was that a lot of grits would go down because they are so easy to eat, Nerz said. There were nine contestants, and the top three ate a combined 60 pounds. The top seven eaters split $10,000 in prize money. Grainy grits — dried, ground corn that is then cooked back into mush or the soupy consistency used for the championship — are a Southern staple.

Detained and then dead

PHOENIX — A woman late to her plane became irate, was put in handcuffs and was later found dead in a holding cell, police said. Authorities were investigating Saturday if the woman choked herself while trying to get free from the handcuffs. Carol Ann Gotbaum, 45, of New York, was arrested Friday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a conflict with gate crews who refused to allow her to board a plane, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman. The airline said the plane was already preparing to depart. She was rebooked on the next flight, but “she became extremely irate, apparently running up and down the gate area,” US Airways spokesman Derek Hanna said Saturday. Officers handcuffed her and took her to the holding room, where she kept screaming, authorities said.

Fossett search goes on

RENO, Nev. — Dozens of searchers set off into the rugged Nevada backcountry Saturday after analysts scanning radar and satellite images spotted what may be clues to the whereabouts of missing adventurer Steve Fossett. Fossett has been missing since his plane went down 27 days ago. The formal aerial search by the Civil Air Patrol and Nevada National Guard helicopters ended Sept. 19 after pilots spent more than two weeks scouring an area twice the size of New Jersey. A new Air Force analysis of radar and satellite images led to this weekend’s ground search, plus with three Civil Air Patrol planes flying over the mountainous area. Volunteers on the ground planned to search during the day Saturday and today, officials said.

Woman, 61, arrested
in 30-year-old killing

BOISE, Idaho — Police arrested a 61-year-old woman and charged her with a killing they say took place nearly three decades ago but went undiscovered until now. Judy Gough, 61, was charged with first-degree murder and felony use of a firearm on Friday, then moved to a jail in Boise, said police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower. Authorities spent Saturday searching the woman’s former home, where they say the slaying took place. Officers learned of the killing recently, and police officials refused to release the name of the person killed, saying it was an ongoing investigation and that family members had not yet been notified.

Lorenzo’s waters recede

VERACRUZ, Mexico — Floodwaters from Hurricane Lorenzo were receding Saturday after rains caused mudslides and floods that killed at least five people and drove tens of thousands from their homes in eastern Mexico. Meanwhile, a new tropical storm, Melissa, formed in the eastern Atlantic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It had winds of 40 mph, but posed no immediate threat to land. In the eastern Pacific, a tropical depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Juliette but remained nearly 500 miles off the coast of central Mexico on Saturday afternoon.

Associated Press