News
Alaska town’s mayor is a fancy feline
The mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska is a really cool cat because, well, he really is a cat. Stubbs has been honorary mayor of the sleepy town for 15 years, when he was elected as a write-in candidate, according to The Associated Press (AP). Voters didn’t like any of the humans running.
Mayor Stubbs, a part-Manx cat so-named because of his stubby tail, has become something of a tourist attraction for Talkeetna, a town of about 900 residents set at the base of Mount McKinley. The general store where the mayor holds court gets dozens of tourists a day asking for him.
“Oh my gosh, we probably have 30 to 40 people a day come in who are tourists wanting to see him,” Lauri Stec, who works at Nagley’s General Store, told KTUU-TV. “He was just in the Alaska Magazine, and he’s been featured in a few different things.”
The best time to catch up with the mayor is during his standard afternoon appointment at Nagley’s. “Every day he goes in there and has catnip in a wine glass,” resident Jerry Roach told the television station.
Mayor Stubbs’ tenure seems secure. “I’m very confident that Talkeetna will be A-Ok as long as we have Stubbs around,” said Nagley’s employee Skye Farrar.
