According to a note on the website of "Editor and Publisher" a new comic strip, which uses a diner as the main point of contact between three professionals, is being launched September 5th by King Features Syndicates.

The strip will be called, "A Lawyer, a Doctor and a Cop." The diner where the three will meet up is owned by the "cop" characters sister, Sophie.

The recent Supreme Court decision which essentially allows government entities to sweep aside homes and businesses under the guise of eminent domain is clearly a brutal blow to the property rights of all of us.

The only caveat in terms of a "taking" seems to be that there must be some kind of "comprehensive plan" in place for a proposed development. Well, this is, of course, ridiculous. Over the past 40 years local zoning, planning and environmental regulations have mandated comprehensive plans for just about everything. You can't alter your garage without them. For large scale projects, these plans are immense. But that doesn't mean they are right-minded.

When I was in school during the early 1970's, a group of urban planners visited us one day. We were hearded into the auditorium and shown grand plans about how the "Main Mall" in Poughkeepsie, New York was going to transform the city. It sure as hell did. Within a few short years, it was clear that the concept was a dismal failure. Hundreds of businesses scattered for the suburbs and it took 20 years for the community to even begin to try to rebuild its core.

In Pittsburgh, where TheAmericanRoadside.com site is based, the same sort of thing happened in East Liberty and the Lower Hill. Across the nation, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of similar sad stories. And in each and every case, there was indeed a "comprehensive plan."

John Tierney, columnist for the New York Times, dealt with this issue in a recent column and I urge you to read it. His eloquence and insight on the issue speaks volumnes.

Read it here.

(NOTE: You may have to sign up, but I believe it's free)

For the fifth straight year, it was a victory Takeru Kobayashi could truly relish.

Kobayashi, 27, captured the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest Monday, gobbling a nauseating 49 dogs in 12 minutes _ but missing his own world record of 53{, set at last year's July Fourth competition.

The win means the coveted Mustard Yellow Belt will return to Japan for the ninth year out of the past 10. New Jersey's Steve Keiner, who won in 1999, is the only American to capture the title in the past decade.

Altoona, PA - Every few days, Robert Lamont is in the back kitchen of his small restaurant here on 12th Avenue, stirring two huge, heavy-gauge aluminum kettles. Into each, he dumps 40 pounds of lean ground beef that has been browned twice and as many as 11 different spices. Then, he lets it all simmer for six hours.

By the end of the day, he has 80 pounds of his famous chili sauce to top the 700-plus all-beef, specially made hot dogs the shop sells each day.

Lamont, 49, can't make the chili in smaller quantities.

"I tried one time, and I couldn't do it," he said.

Lititz, PA - A Lititz institution is ready to take its place back on Broad Street Saturday afternoon after a month of uncertainty about its future.

Rosey’s Lunch Wagon, a weekend lunchtime staple for more than 70 years, will re-appear after a month-long investigation in which the Pennsylvania Department of Health reviewed the restaurant on wheels to make sure it was up to code.

Walter Ream, the owner of the lunch wagon for the past 18 years, said he wanted to let people in the community know that he is ready to come back to town, and several improvements have been made with his business.

With its glowing neon sign and location on U.S. 49 South, the Beverly Drive-In is more than just a movie theater to the generations of area residents who grew up going there. It's a landmark.

And that's why the city of Hattiesburg is trying to place it on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mark Ely, Historic Preservation Planner for the city of Hattiesburg, recommended the Beverly for the National Register.

"Giving (a place) national status assists in the social awareness of historic places, It's (the Beverly) a rare and unique relic of our past, one of a few in the state, and one of the few in the country," he said.

The last drive-in theater in Lancaster County could be closing in a matter of months, ending an era that began a half century ago when that quintessentially American form of movie-watching was reaching its peak.

The 17-acre tract that includes the Columbia Drive-In was bought in mid-June by Hogan Development Co. for $895,000 from Columbia brothers Gardiner T. Murphy Jr. and Michael P. Murphy.

One of the partners who manages the theater said there’s a 90 percent chance the current season will be the drive-in’s last.

You can't get more American than apple pie, or shakes and burgers at the Victory Diner.

Japanese TV viewers with an appetite for Americana got a heaping portion yesterday, broadcast live from the legendary Dongan Hills snack shack.

The shoot, which celebrated the unique style of diner cuisine, was for "New York Uplink," a weekly segment on the Japanese news show "Morning Satellite," which airs on TV Tokyo throughout Japan.