Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know You Needed

Women only at competitive pigout

This year's Fourth of July race to stuff your face with hot dogs has a new feminine taste Nathan's Famous women-only pigout.

Known as "The Black Widow" of competitive eating, Thomas set a women's world record July 4, 2009, by stuffing 41 hot dogs into her 105-pound frame in 10 minutes.

Thomas and nine other women will compete Monday on Coney Island just before the men's stomach-churning feast, which this year again features world champion Chestnut, nicknamed "Jaws." The 27-year-old from San Jose, Calif., ate his way to a fourth consecutive championship last year by downing 54 hot dogs for the $20,000 purse.

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Bank robber steals cash and then hands some back to teller

Indiana police say a man who robbed a South Bend bank surprised a teller by handing her some of the loot before he fled.

South Bend police say the man in his early 20s told the teller "Here's some of the tens back ... you gave me too many tens" before he ran out of the Fifth Third Bank.

The teller whose identity was not released told police she "knew something was wrong" when the man entered the bank wearing a sweatshirt on a day when the temperature hovered near 80.

Police say the man said he had a weapon when he handed the teller a note demanding cash. Bank officials have not disclosed the amount taken, but the teller handed him $100, $50 and $10 bills.

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Man reports theft of $1,000 in pennies

A 70-year-old Des Moines man has told police that burglars lugged off about $1,000 in pennies he'd collected in a 5-gallon jug.

Robert Schooley reported that the jug was stolen from his garage. The estimated weight of the pennies was about 550 pounds.

Schooley also says about $22 worth of gasoline was stolen from a container, which was left behind.

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Man swipes Bentley during test drive

Police in Florida said they are searching for a man accused of taking a $100,000 Bentley for a test drive and not bringing it back.

Police said Justin William Durbin arranged an off-site meeting on Davis Boulevard in Naples with sales consultant Garrett Rick of Ambassador Auto Sales and sped off from the meeting place in the gray 2007 Bentley Continental GT.

Rick said Durbin took the car for what he believed to be a test drive and he became concerned when Durbin did not return after about 10 minutes.

Nick Garulay, owner and president of the dealership, said the red 2011 Mercedes-Benz GLK 350 sport-utility vehicle Durbin drove to the meeting was found to have been stolen from a dealership in Missouri.

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