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The Associated Press TheUnitedStatesmarks 238 years as an indepen- dent nation as it celebrates the Fourth of July with fire- works, food and music. Na- ture and politics also play a role this year, with Hurri- cane Arthur crashing holi- day parties along the East Coast and subdued festivi- ties in Moscow amid grow- ing anti-American sen- timent over the crisis in Ukraine. Here are some highlights of Independence Day celebrations across the globe: Fireinthesky The Macy's Fourth of July fireworks show in New York City is the nation's largest. Macy's says more than 1,600 shells will be launched per minute during the 25-minute display over the East River. Among the celebrities performing at the event are the Zac Brown Band, Enrique Iglesias and Ariana Grande. Other ma- jor fireworks shows are be- ing held in Chicago on Lake Michigan and in San Fran- cisco over the bay. Weather worries The first hurricane of the season, Arthur, forced many East Coast cities to switch the dates of their Fourth of July celebrations. Boston officials moved the annual Boston Pops July 4 concert and fireworks from Friday to Thursday. Then they cut short the concerts so the fireworks could be- gin. Shortly after the daz- zling display thundered to a close, a drenching rain began falling. Meanwhile, several cities in Maine, New Hampshire and New Jersey moved their fire- works shows to either Sat- urday or Sunday. Augusta, Maine, moved its fireworks to Aug. 2. When it crossed North Carolina's Outer Banks late Thursday, Arthur narrowly missed becoming the first hurricane to make land- fall on July Fourth, accord- ing to National Hurricane Center research that dates to the 1850s. In Phoenix, the first dust storm of the summer ar- rived with blinding winds that forced the cancellation of holiday plans, knocked out power to thousands and grounded numerous flights. Inspiring music In Washington, com- poser John Williams is to debut a new arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Ban- ner" featuring choirs, trum- pets, an orchestra and can- nons on the National Mall. Thisyearmarksthe200th anniversary of the national anthem. Francis Scott Key was inspired by the sight of the flag over Baltimore's Fort McHenry in September 1814 after a 25-hour British bom- bardment. Gluttony on the Fourth High-ranking chow- hound Joey "Jaws" Chest- nut dropped to one knee and proposed to his long- time girlfriend before Fri- day's annual Coney Island hot dog eating contest, then packed away 61 franks and buns to hold onto his cov- eted mustard yellow win- ner's belt. The San Jose, Cal- ifornia, man fell far short of his record last year of 69 dogs and buns, but he still easily beat second-place finisher Matt Stonie, also of San Jose, who downed just 56. Independence Hall Vice President Joe Biden, addressing the annual "Cel- ebration of Freedom" cere- mony at Independence Hall, said the lessons of the civil rights movement show that the struggle for freedom that began in Philadelphia more than two centuries ago is not over. Ex-Pats in Canada Julie Buchanan, trea- surer of Democrats Abroad, planned to celebrate at a To- ronto bar with red, white and blue sparklers, about 125 of her American ex-pat friends, and life-size cut- outs of President Barack Obama and the first lady. "We really miss the patri- otism of America; so many of us crave that sense of pride and camaraderie from back home," said Bu- chanan, an Alabama na- tive who moved to Toronto from Memphis, Tennessee, in 2000. Moscow parties The national anthems of both Russia and the United States played at the tradi- tional July 4 garden party held at the stately resi- dence of the American am- bassador in Moscow. But far fewer Russians than usual came, either because they were unwilling to be seen associating with American diplomats or because their anti-American statements had gotten them scratched off of the guest list. The other big Indepen- dence Day party in Moscow, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, takes place Sunday and, in a break from tradition, is being held at a private golf and polo club instead of a city park. Security appears to have been a concern for the change. HOLIDAY Fireworks,hotdogs,hurricanehelpmarkJuly4th THESUNNEWS,CHARLESSLATE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS People wave from a boat during the 31st annual Fourth of July Boat Parade on Friday in Murrells Inlet, S.C. By Julie Walker The Associated Press NEW YORK High-ranking chowhound Joey "Jaws" Chestnut dropped to one knee and proposed to his longtime girlfriend be- fore Friday's annual hot dog eating contest, then packed away 61 franks and buns to hold onto his cov- eted mustard yellow win- ner's belt. The San Jose, Califor- nia, man fell far short of his record last year of 69 dogs and buns, but he still easily beat second-place finisher Matt Stonie, also of San Jose, who downed just 56. Chestnut, 30, took a quick timeout before the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island to make it official with his longtime girl- friend, Neslie Ricasa, who is also a competitive eater. In the women's divi- sion, defending cham- pion Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas lost her title to Miki Sudo. Sudo, of Las Vegas, wolfed down 34 franks and buns. Thomas, of Alex- andria, Virginia, was only able to devour 27 . Chestnut has won eight times in a row now. In 2010, his former rival, Tak- eru Kobayashi, Kobayashi refused to sign an exclu- sive contract with Major League Eating, the food equivalent of the NFL, and was banned from compe- tition. This year, the Japanese native nicknamed the Tsu- nami will compete against five other competitive eat- ers at a separate event on Fifth Avenue in a quest to down the most hot dogs without buns in 10 min- utes. CELEBRATION Chestnut gets mustard yellow belt and fiancee in hot dog contest By Darlene Superville The Associated Press WASHINGTON Celebrat- ing the ethnic diversity of America, President Barack Obama said more than two dozen foreign-born service members who became U.S. citizens at the White House on the Fourth of July are vivid reminders that wel- coming immigrants "is cen- tral to our way of life." He pleaded anew for new immigration policies, say- ing the vast range of back- grounds and experiences that has made America a melting pot for more than 200 years also makes the country stronger. He ar- gued that the system must be retooled for the U.S. to remain the greatest nation on earth. "The basic idea of wel- coming immigrants to our shores is central to our way of life, it is in our DNA," Obama said after the 25 service members represent- ing 15 countries raised their right hands and pledged allegiance to the United States. "From all these different strands, we make some- thing new here in America. And that's why, if we want to keep attracting the best and brightest from beyond our borders, we're going to have to fix our immigration system, which is broken," he said. "Pass common-sense immigration reform. The immigration is- sue is earning renewed at- tention because of the in- flux to the U.S. of tens of thousands of unaccompa- nied children from Central America. Under U.S. law, they must be returned to their home countries, an- gering immigration advo- cates who already take is- sue with Obama's enforce- ment of deportations. They want Obama to allow the children to stay. At the same time, Obama blames House Republicans for delaying action on leg- islation covering the mil- lions already living in the U.S. illegally. A compre- hensive measure the Sen- ate passed last summer has been blocked by House leaders who also have done little to advance their own immigration proposals. Obama announced ear- lier this week that, as a re- sult of inaction on Capitol Hill, he will pursue non-leg- islative ways he can adjust U.S. immigration policy on his own. He scheduled a trip to Texas next week, mostly to raise money for Democratic candidates, but plans not to visit the bor- der. "I'm going to keep doing everything I can to keep making our immigration system smarter and more efficient," Obama said Fri- day. ETHNIC DIVERSITY Obama: US always has been a nation of immigrants JACQUELYN MARTIN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS People and children take their seats to attend a naturalization ceremony for active duty service members and civilians on Friday in the East Room of the White House in Washington. By Tom Raum The Associated Press WASHINGTON Unions representing government workers are expanding while organized labor has been shedding private sec- tor members over the past half-century. A majority of union mem- bers today now have ties to a government entity, at the federal, state or local levels. Roughly 1-in-3 public sec- tor workers is a union mem- ber, compared with about 1-in-15 for the private sec- tor workforce last year, ac- cording to the Bureau of La- bor Statistics. Overall, 11.3 percent of wage and sal- ary workers in the United States are unionized, down from a peak of 35 percent during the mid-1950s in the strong post-World War II re- covery. The typical union worker now is more likely to be an educator, office worker or food or service indus- try employee rather than a construction worker, auto- worker, electrician or me- chanic. Far more women than men are among the union-label ranks. In a blow to public sector unions, the Supreme Court ruled this week that thou- sands of health care work- ers in Illinois who are paid by the state cannot be re- quired to pay fees that help cover a union's cost of col- lective bargaining. The justices said the practice violates the First Amendment rights of non- members who disagree with stances taken by unions. The ruling was narrowly drawn, but it could rever- berate through the uni- verse of unions that repre- sent government workers. The case involved home- care workers for disabled people who are paid with Medicaid funds adminis- tered by the state. Also in June, a California judge declared unconstitu- tional the state's teacher tenure, dismissal and lay- off laws. The judge ordered a stay of the decision, pend- ing an appeal by the state and teachers union. "The basic structure of the labor union movement has changed, reflecting changes in the economy," said Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rut- gers University. "Manu- facturing is a diminishing segment of the economy. Also, a lot of the manufac- turing that's being done today is being done non- union." Union members con- tinue to be a powerful po- litical force in politics, and Baker said he didn't see the role of unions diminishing. "I just think the colors of the collars are changing," Baker said. In 2013, 14.5 million workers belonged to a union, about the same as the year before. In 1983, the first year for which compa- rable figures are available, there were 17.7 million union workers. Until four years ago, the unionization rate was far higher in the private sec- tor than in the public sec- tor. Now the roles are re- versed. 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