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USA
celebrates
Independence
Day with
fireworks,
parades
The
Associated
Press
Americans
celebrated
239
years as
an
independent
nation
on
Saturday
with
extravagant
fireworks
displays,
rock and
classical
concerts
and
parades
both big
and
small.
Here
were
some
highlights
of
Independence
Day
festivities
around
the
nation:
---
SPECTATORS
BRAVE
TIGHT
SECURITY
FOR NYC
FIREWORKS
SHOW
Hundreds
of
thousands
of
people
braved
tight
security
along
New York
City's
East
River to
watch
the
annual
Macy's
Fourth
of July
fireworks
display.
Minneapolis
resident
Joe
Cunningham
said
Saturday's
fireworks
show was
"awesome"
and
lived up
to his
family's
expectations.
Cunningham
said New
York's
show
will be
the
benchmark
for all
other
fireworks
displays.
Macy's
said the
25-minute
show
featured
more
than
50,000
shells
set off
from
five
barges
on the
river.
The
fireworks
show was
broadcast
on NBC.
The
tight
security
included
officers
searching
backpacks
and
purses.
Other
officers
used
hand-held
radiation
detectors
to scan
baby
carriages
and
large
suitcases.
---
OBAMA
TELLS
SERVICE
MEMBERS
FREEDOM
IS PAID
FOR BY
MILITARY
MEN,
WOMEN
President
Barack
Obama
says
U.S.
service
members
make it
possible
to enjoy
the
"incredible
blessings"
in the
greatest
country
on
earth.
He says
"freedom
is not
free"
but is
paid for
by all
the men
and
women of
the
military,
including
those
who
blanketed
the
White
House
South
Lawn for
a
concert
in their
honor by
Bruno
Mars.
Obama
spoke
minutes
before
the
annual
Fourth
of July
fireworks
lit up
the
night
sky over
the
National
Mall. He
was
accompanied
by
Michelle
Obama.
Heavy
rain
that
soaked
Washington
all day
forced
the
White
House to
cancel
its
annual
Fourth
of July
picnic
for
members
of the
military
and
their
families.
The USO
military
service
organization
sponsored
the
concert
that
featured
a
performance
by Mars.
---
GAY
RIGHTS
ACTIVISTS
MARK
LANDMARK
1965
DEMONSTRATION
Gay
rights
activists
gathered
in front
of
Independence
Hall in
Philadelphia
on the
Fourth
of July
to mark
the
progress
of their
movement
and pay
tribute
to those
who
launched
it a
half-century
ago.
But they
also
made it
clear
that the
fight
for
equality
was far
from
over.
LGBT
activist
Aisha
Moodie-Mills
hailed
the
recent
U.S.
Supreme
Court
decision
legalizing
same-sex
marriages
nationwide,
but said
in many
places
"you can
still
get
married
on
Sunday
and then
fired on
Monday."
Organizers
remembered
some of
the
earliest
gay
rights
marches,
including
a
gathering
of about
40
protesters
in the
same
location
on July
5, 1965
calling
for
equality.
They
called
that a
bold and
courageous
act by
the
standards
of the
day,
when
homosexuals
could be
arrested
for
intimate
acts
even in
the
privacy
of their
own
homes.
---
PIT
SPITTING
A
15-year-old
girl won
the
women's
division
of the
42nd
annual
cherry
spitting
contest
in Eau
Claire,
Michigan,
by
sending
a pit
farther
than
anyone
else: 49
1/4
feet.
"I just
took a
deep
breath
and
pushed
hard,"
said
Megan
Ankrapp
of
Buchanan.
"I was
shocked."
Kevin
Bartz
won the
championship
with a
spit of
48 feet
and 8
inches.
Ankrapp
was not
allowed
to
participate
in the
overall
championship
round
because
her
earlier
spits
were too
short to
qualify.
Bartz
said he
was
excited
to
finally
beat
Brian
Krause,
the 2014
champ,
but then
realized
a
teenager
had sent
a pit
farther
than he
did.
"I look
up and
say,
`Wait a
minute.
One of
the
girls
beat
me,'"
said
Bartz,
48.
"It's
not
quite as
exciting."
---
NEW
CITIZENS
SWORN IN
Naturalization
ceremonies
big and
small
were
held
across
the U.S.
The
director
of the
U.S.
Citizenship
and
Immigration
Services'
Baltimore
district
administered
the oath
of
allegiance
to 40
people
from 27
countries
during a
ceremony
at The
Engineers
Club in
Baltimore.
In
Plymouth,
Vermont,
20
people
became
U.S.
citizens
at the
President
Calvin
Coolidge
State
Historic
Site.
The
great-granddaughter
of
President
and Mrs.
Coolidge
sang the
national
anthem.
Officials
say over
4,000
new
citizens
were
welcomed
in more
than 50
naturalization
ceremonies
across
the
country
from
July 1
through
July 4.
---
PRESIDENTIAL
HOPEFULS
CAMPAIGN
IN
PARADES
Parades
across
Iowa and
New
Hampshire
were
clear
reminders
of the
race for
the
White
House:
Red
balloons
promoting
"Jeb!
2016," a
tractor
draped
in a
Rick
Perry
banner
and
dutiful
volunteers
holding
signs
and
chanting.
Former
Govs.
Jeb Bush
of
Florida,
Rick
Perry of
Texas
and
Lincoln
Chafee
of Rhode
Island
as well
as South
Carolina
Sen.
Lindsey
Graham
worked
the
crowd in
Amherst,
while
Hillary
Rodham
Clinton
marched
in a
parade
in New
Hampshire's
North
Country.
New
Jersey
Gov.
Chris
Christie
and
Florida
Sen.
Marco
Rubio
spent
the
holiday
in New
Hampshire's
Lakes
Region,
as
Louisiana
Gov.
Bobby
Jindal,
Vermont
Sen.
Bernie
Sanders
and
former
Maryland
Gov.
Martin
O'Malley
met
voters
in Iowa.
---
NATHAN'S
HOT DOG
EATING
CONTEST
Matt
Stonie
devoured
62
wieners
and buns
in 10
minutes
to upset
Joey
"Jaws"
Chestnut
in the
annual
hot dog
eating
contest
at
Nathan's
Famous
in Coney
Island,
breaking
Chestnut's
bid for
a ninth
straight
victory.
Stonie
beat
Chestnut
by two
wieners.
Both are
from San
Jose,
California.
The
third-place
finisher
ate 35
hot
dogs.
Defending
champion
Miki
Sudo won
the
women's
division
by
devouring
38
wieners
and buns
in 10
minutes.
She
downed
four
more hot
dogs
than
last
year and
bested
Sonya
"Black
Widow"
Thomas
of
Alexandria,
Virginia,
who ate
31
wieners.
---
This
story
has been
corrected
to show
that
third-place
finisher
in men's
contest
ate 35
hot
dogs,
not 32.
---
A
HISTORIC
CANDY
DROP
A pilot
who
delivered
candy to
children
in
Berlin
at the
end of
World
War II
parachuted
sweets
down to
Orem,
Utah, to
celebrate
Independence
Day.
Gail
Halvorsen,
94, also
known as
the
"Candy
Bomber,"
dropped
1,000
chocolate
bars
attached
to tiny
parachutes
at Scera
Park on
Friday.
He flew
over the
area
three
times
before
releasing
the
cargo
into the
hands of
the
children
below.
Deb
Jackson,
co-chair
of the
event,
estimated
more
than
50,000
people
stood in
100-degree
Fahrenheit
temperatures
to watch
the 4
p.m.
drop.
Halvorsen
flew in
a
fixed-wing
bomber
from
World
War II
with two
escort
planes
attending,
the
Daily
Herald
of Provo
reported.
Washington.
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