Rita Roadrunner Recuses Herself from Chili Cook-Off Citing Pozole Bias

TUMBLEWEED TERRACE— Rita Roadrunner, Mesquite Festival crown holder and Thursday greeter at the depot, recused herself from judging the annual chili cook-off after admitting “a lifelong and specific love of pozole that may impair numeric scoring.” She instead served as tally clerk, a role requiring fast legs and neutral eyebrows, both of which she supplied.

Competition was fierce: twelve entries, three vegetarian contingents, and one mysterious white chili defended by the Historical Jackrabbit Society as “tradition with cream.” Mayor Tortoise sampled a diplomatic bowl from each station and declared the event “heated in the best civic sense.”

Winner Ms. Quail credited Sunrock Skillet techniques learned during last summer’s heat-wave breakfast pop-up. Runner-up Jolene Jackrabbit dedicated her batch to Butterscotch, who cannot eat chili but appreciates aroma. Proceeds fund the marching band caps that pie auction season started—uniforms, like neighborliness, finish one fundraiser at a time.

Rita will judge pie instead at the spring social, where her only known bias is toward lattice crust. Fair warning to entrants: she notices everything.