A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California’s central coast Friday, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening a total of more than 4,500 homes.

Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 years in Congress, died Friday. He was 86.

Joey Chestnut has reclaimed the top spot as winner of the annual hot dog eating contest in Coney Island after first tying with archrival Takeru Kobayashi in a 10-minute chow-down and then beating him in a five-dog eat-off.

Here’s what victory will look like for Tour de France organizers: The riders reach the finish line in three weeks with no doping scandals.