Odd news for Wednesday

LAS VEGAS " Two hot dog eating champs faced an upset " not of the stomach variety " when a Chicago culinary arts student trounced them in eating chicken wings.

Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti skinned champion Joey Chestnut and staved off a comeback by Takeru Kobayashi to win the chicken wing "Chowdown" for Spike TV.

Wriggling his body and gnashing his teeth, the 22-year-old downed 4.1 pounds of chicken meat in eight minutes flat in front of a cheering crowd in downtown Las Vegas Tuesday to win the $25,000 top prize.

Chestnut wolfed 4.05 pounds for second while Kobayashi came in third, inhaling 3.12 pounds.

Bertoletti, who came into the event ranked 3rd by the International Federation of Competitive Eating, said he used his thumb to squish meat off the bone for speedy ingestion, using the "umbrella technique." He credited the Buffalo Wild Wings staff for preparing a tasty meal.

"They were warm enough and they were soft enough. They had the perfect amount of sauce on them," he said. "It was perfect."

Top-ranked Chestnut, 23, was in his first cheek-to-jowl matchup against No. 2 Kobayashi since wresting Nathan's Fourth of July hot dog eating crown from the Japanese eating machine three months ago. He said Tuesday's loss left a bad taste in his mouth.

"It's bittersweet," said Chestnut, of San Jose, Calif. "I beat Kobayashi, but I didn't win."

Kobayashi was the six-time Nathan's champ from 2001-06 and came into the contest nursing a sore jaw. While he downed wings like a cartoon character eating corn on the cob, the 29-year-old from Nagano, Japan, said he was more tentative than usual.

"At first, I was a little worried about my jaw, so I ate scared," he said. "Halfway through I got more excited and ate faster, but there wasn't much time."

BROOMFIELD, Colo. " A hungry 6-year-old grabbed his grandmother's car keys, positioned his child seat behind the steering wheel and tried to drive himself to an Applebee's restaurant.

He didn't get far.

Unable to take the car out of reverse, the boy backed up 75 feet from her house into a transformer Tuesday, knocking out electricity and phone service to dozens of townhouses in this suburb north of Denver.

No one was injured and the boy, whose name was not released, got out of his car and told his grandmother what happened.

"He proceeded to start the car and started backing up," said Sgt. Colleen O'Connell of the Broomfield Police Department. "He went backward about 47 feet, hit the curb, then went backward another 29 feet."

Investigators couldn't figure out how the boy reached the accelerator.

No charges will be filed.

"I have five children of my own, so I know you cannot watch them every minute they're awake," said nearby resident Nancy Hollis, whose power was knocked out by the accident.

DEERFIELD, Mass. " John Carney was dumping a load of brush at the local waste transfer station last week when he noticed a man's gold wedding band partially buried in the sand.

Intrigued by the "Ed and Linda" and "June 9, 1996" engravings inside the band, Carney decided to do some detective work.

With the help of local librarians, the 57-year-old South Deerfield man went through the Deerfield town report for 1996 and looked up weddings. He found a listing for Ed and Linda LaCoille on June 9 of that year.

Last week, he returned the ring to the LaCoilles' house. Ed Lacoille had lost the ring more than six months ago.

"I never expected to find it again," Linda LaCoille said. "It was amazing."

It was the second time in just over a year the ring has been returned after being lost. Ed LaCoille said he lost the same band at a lake in Maine while on vacation. He left a note at the lake house for future renters.

A couple of weeks later, the ring was returned by mail.

LaCoille said he recently lost weight, which may explain why the ring keeps slipping off his finger. He's keeping it in a box now until he can get it resized.

"The chance of it being found a third time is outrageous," he said.