Deceased cat gets voter registration application in mail
ATLANTA: In a presidential election year, there’s always a push to get people registered to vote. For one Atlanta family, that push got a little interesting.
Ron Tims said he checked his mail on Wednesday and found a voter registration application addressed to Cody Tims — his cat, who died 12 years ago.
“A great cat, indoor and outdoor, loved his family, loved his neighborhood. He was 18 and a half when he passed away,” Carol Tims told WAGA-TV.
The Tims were surprised, and a bit amused when they saw what Cody received in the mail.
“There’s a huge push but if they’re trying to register cats, I’m not sure who else they’re trying to register. I’m not sure if they’re trying to register dogs, mice, snakes,” Carol Tims said.
The Secretary of State’s Office said the application did not come from its office and that third-party groups often use mailing lists to get names and addresses.
“Third-party groups all over the country are targeting Georgia to help register qualified individuals,” the Secretary of State’s Office said in a statement. “This group makes you wonder what these out-of-town activists are really doing. Make no mistake about it, this office is dedicated to investigating all types of fraud.”
The Secretary of State’s Office said it’s quite sure that even if Cody were still alive and showed up at the polls, he wouldn’t be allowed to vote since he does not have a license or state ID.
If you’re wondering how Cody would have voted if he could go to the polls. His owner said he was a DemoCAT. (AP)
Vintage Super Mario Bros. video game sells for $114,000
DALLAS: An unopened copy of a vintage Super Mario Bros. video game has been sold for $114,000 in an auction that underscored the enduring popularity of entertainment created decades ago.
A bidder who wished to remain anonymous snapped up an early version of the pioneering Super Mario Bros. game released in 1985 for Nintendo’s NES console during an auction conducted Friday by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. The $114,000 price eclipsed Heritage Auctions’ previous record amount for a video game, which was a $100,150 bid made early last year for an unopened copy of the same game.
The Super Mario Bros. copy that sold for a new record was part of a collection of video games from the 1980s and 1990s that sold to various buyers for nearly $700,000, which was well above Heritage Auction’s initial target of about $500,000. Other titles auctioned off included “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!” a 1987 video game based on the former former heavyweight boxing champion, that sold for $50,400. (AP)
US Navy welcomes 1st Black female Tactical Aircraft pilot
Kingsville (US), Jul 12 (AP) The US Navy has welcomed its first Black female Tactical Aircraft pilot.
“MAKING HISTORY!” the US Navy tweeted on Thursday in response to a post that Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle had completed naval flight school and would later this month receive the flight officer insignia known as the “Wings of Gold”.
The Naval Air Training Command tweeted that Swegle is the Navy’s “first known Black female TACAIR pilot”.
According to Stars and Stripes, Swegle is from Burke, Virginia, and graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2017. Officials said she is assigned to the Redhawks of Training Squadron 21 in Kingsville, Texas.
Swegle’s milestone comes more than 45 years after Rosemary Mariner in 1974 became the first woman to fly a tactical fighter jet, according to news outlets. (AP)