JOHN CURLEY

Curley worries about a super raccoon roaming the city

May 11, 2016, 1:35 PM

Seattle City Light says power went out to nearly 39,000 homes and businesses at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday...

Seattle City Light says power went out to nearly 39,000 homes and businesses at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. (Flickr, David Slater)

(Flickr, David Slater)

A raccoon has been blamed for knocking out the power of more than 38,000 Seattle City Light customers in Magnolia, Fremont, Queen Anne and Ballard. But KIRO Radio’s John Curley is more concerned about whether the raccoon is dead or alive. And if it is alive, what kind of damage this potentially superhuman mammal might cause next.

“Didn’t Spiderman get bitten by a spider that was radioactive?” Curley said. “Can’t this raccoon get stronger and more powerful in some way and effect us.”

Related: Fire breaks out at Kurt Cobain’s former home

Seattle City Light said the raccoon entered a substation in Ballard and caused a disruption in service for 38,778 customers at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. Power was restored later that morning.

Neighbor Jeff Pierce told KIRO 7 that he heard an explosion and then saw city workers trying to get a dazed raccoon that he thought had been shocked inside the substation to move on. Pierce said the city workers told him the animal caused the outage, but Seattle City Light later said they found the charred remains of another raccoon, according to KIRO 7.

Curley was skeptical that any animal could survive such a shock.

“That thing gets shocked with enough electricity, didn’t kill it, but knocked out all of Fremont, Ballard and Magnolia?” he asked.

Co-host Tom Tangney welcomes this potential super-critter to the city, in part because it’s already got a built in alter-ego.

“Rocky Raccoon!,” he sang. “We could make him a superhero; we’ve already got a name for him.”

John Curley on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM
  • listen to tom and curleyTune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 3pm for The John Curley Show.

John Curley

John Curley

ferry (1)...

John Curley Show

‘This shouldn’t have come as a surprise’: Transportation analyst ties ferry staffing crisis to COVID-19 vaccine mandates

Washington Policy Center transportation director Charles Prestrud argued that Washington’s ferry disruptions were years in the making.

3 hours ago

millionaire's tax I-645...

John Curley Show

Curley urges listeners to vote to repeal ‘millionaire’s tax’: ‘They’re not going to keep it just for millionaires’

Washington voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to repeal the state's new 9.9% tax on household income above $1 million, and KIRO host John Curley is urging listeners to vote yes.

13 hours ago

Follow @https://twitter.com/jcurleyshow...

John Curley Show

‘America needs to start waking up’: Former USS Cole commander warns U.S. infrastructure needs better protection against drone threats

Former USS Cole commander urges better protection for U.S. infrastructure against increasing drone threats to ensure national security.

3 days ago

millionaires' tax (1)...

John Curley Show

‘It’s incredibly out of touch’: Senator rejects expanding WA’s millionaires’ tax to $250K earners

Washington Sen. Jesse Salomon defended his support for the millionaires' tax but pushed back against his Democratic opponent.

3 days ago

daycare...

John Curley Show

‘They basically pled the Fifth to us’: WA Rep. Travis Couture rips state’s response to alleged daycare fraud

Rep. Travis Couture accused state officials of dodging questions about childcare subsidy payments, arguing that taxpayers deserve investigations.

5 days ago

seattle wilson police hiring...

John Curley Show

‘We’re kind of backsliding’: Kettle cautions that Wilson’s budget flatlines Seattle police hiring

Seattle Councilmember Bob Kettle says headlines about Mayor Katie Wilson adding police are misleading and that her budget freezes SPD staffing at 1,250.

5 days ago

Curley worries about a super raccoon roaming the city