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Morning Start: A Texas law allows astronauts to vote from space

Your morning start for Friday, August 14, 2020
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(Natalia Cuevas-Huaico - Kelowna Capital News)

Things are gradually heating up in the Okanagan and Shuswap as we approach a weekend with temperatures in the low to mid 30s. For today, expect a few clouds and highs of around 28 C.

Fun Fact of the day:

At roughly 350 kilometres from earth, the International Space Station is a long way from the voting booth on Election Day.

That’s why, in a democratic nod to astronauts, state legislators in Texas passed a bill in 1997 that made it possible to cast a ballot from space in any local, state or federal election.

One might ask, why Texas? NASA’s Johnson Space Centre is located in Houston, which is therefore where a majority of American Astronauts live.

The first astronaut to do so was David Wolf, when in 1997 he cast his ballot from Russia’s Mir Space Station as it orbited the earth at more than 27,000 km/h!

Weather forecast according to Environment Canada:

In Kelowna:

In Vernon:

In Penticton:

In Salmon Arm:

In case you missed it:

A man who drove an ATV int a crowd at an outdoor music festival near Princeton last summer has been sentenced to 14 months in jail. The 25-year-old Merritt man pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and causing bodily harm in Princeton court on Thursday (Aug. 13).

Video of the day:

Just for fun, see if your mind can withstand this dizzying display of the scale of the universe!

READ MORE: COVID-19 outbreak at Okanagan Correctional Centre, involves 3 staff


Brendan Shykora
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Brendan Shykora

About the Author: Brendan Shykora

I started as a carrier at the age of 8. In 2019 graduated from the Master of Journalism program at Carleton University.
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