In-N-Out Burger, Hikers Jailed in Iran to be Freed, and More in Chad’s Steaming Pile

Here are just a few things in Chad’s Pile that you will hear on Lubbock’s First News this morning. Give Chad your feedback on the steaming topics.

1. In-N-Out Burger is pretty good

Well, I'm back and one of the first things I'm going to write about is food. You have all probably heard of In-N-Out Burger even though we don't have one in Lubbock. A few have sprung up in the Dallas area and at some point I bet we will see one here. While driving through Arizona last week, my wife and I pulled over to have of the best known burgers in America. People have raved about In-N-Out for a long time so I was looking forward to comparing it to my favorite fast food burger joint, Whataburger.

The verdict? In-N-Out has a pretty good burger. I was a bit iffy on their special sauce at first, but it grew on me. The burger was made to order which is always a plus. The fries? Eh. I didn't think they were that good and it knocked down the overall experience for me. However, the burger was still great.

With that said, it still falls behind Whataburger. In-N-Out is number two in my fast food burger book while Whataburger reigns.

2. Iran will free the US Hikers (link)

For just $1 million dollars, Iran will free the captured US hikers:

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said in interviews Tuesday that Iran would release two US hikers jailed for spying in a couple of days on bail which their lawyer said had been set at $500,000 each.

"I am helping to arrange for their release in a couple of days so they will be able to return home. This is of course going to be a unilateral humanitarian gesture," Ahmadinejad told The Washington Post.

"It is a unilateral pardon" of the hikers, he added.

In a separate interview with US network NBC News, Ahmadinejad said Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal would be released "in two days" but their lawyer Masoud Shafii told AFP that they would be freed only when bail had been paid.

The pair, who were detained in 2009, were both sentenced to eight years in jail last month on charges of espionage and illegal entry in a case that has further strained relations between Washington and Tehran.

3. Obama's poor America (link)

The number of poor American's has hit a new record and that's not good for them, our country, or President Obama. According to Reuters:

The Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty and health insurance coverage said the national poverty rate climbed for a third consecutive year to 15.1 percent in 2010 as the economy struggled to recover from the recession that began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.

That marked a 0.8 percent increase from 2009, when there were 43.6 million Americans living in poverty.

The number of poor Americans in 2010 was the largest in the 52 years that the Census Bureau has been publishing poverty estimates, the report said, while the poverty rate was the highest since 1993.

The specter of economic deterioration also afflicted working Americans who saw their median income decline 2.3 percent to an annual $49,445.

Change.

These and many more topics coming up on Wednesday’s edition of Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty. Tune in mornings 6-9am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App.