Pathways to Recovery will dedicate up to 25% of the revenue from a 0.1% local sales tax increase to behavioral health and public safety programs.

While critics said throwing money at the problem won’t fix anything, Nelson argued, “Throwing money at the right problem is the right thing to do.”

She explained on “The John Curley Show” that the bill is in anticipation of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell implementing the 0.1% increase in sales tax for public safety, which was authorized by the state legislature.

“If the mayor goes ahead and sends that legislation down, I’m taking a claim to 25% of that revenue, and then that’s anticipated to be about $10 million, because it would generate maybe $40 million, for this list of recovery-based services and housing,” Nelson said.

Nelson also noted that while addressing addiction is important, she is not for an increase in sales tax.

“This is an increase in the sales tax — that’s not what is dear to me. What is very important to me is talking about recovery and the importance of addressing addiction in public policy,” Nelson remarked.

“Addiction is a problem that has been unaddressed for so long,” she added.

Seattle City Council president’s bill will go toward addiction treatment

Nelson’s initiative would also go toward expanding the use of treatments to manage opioid dependence, supporting diversion programs, upgrading treatment facilities, working with King County to increase crisis responders who refer people to detox centers, and paying for on-demand treatment.

“Our case workers, if they encounter someone who wants to go to treatment, then they refer them to Lakeside-Milam. Right now, it can be up to five different treatment centers, and then the city just pays the bill. Easy peasy. Pay-As-You-Go. That’s what we need to do to remove barriers for people to get into inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment,” Nelson shared.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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“So I’m still trying to figure out on YouTube how to make my own gasoline,” Curley said on “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio. “Or go to Idaho and get a big tanker. Maybe have a little convenience store out front, pumpkins and sunflowers and beef jerky, and then I’ll have some Monster drinks and Zins or something.”

Gas in Washington currently costs $1.25 more per gallon than the national average, according to AAA.

“Our gas prices are now a whole dollar more than the average cost of gas in the United States,” Curley said.

WA gas prices rank 3rd in U.S.

Washington has the third-highest gas tax in the nation, behind California (61.2 cents per gallon) and Pennsylvania (57.6 cents).

The state’s average gas price also ranks third nationally, with Washington drivers paying $4.43 per gallon. Only California ($4.59) and Hawaii ($4.47) have higher averages.

Washington’s average is nearly 40 cents more than Oregon, which ranks fourth at $4.05 per gallon.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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Although the National Weather Service (NWS) , locals insisted no one saw the floods coming.

“The National Weather Service did get forecasts that provided very useful warnings, the day before they were talking about flash floods,” University of Washington (UW) Atmospheric Sciences Professor Cliff Mass explained on “The John Curley Show.” “Hours before the major disaster happened, they put out extremely strong warnings of the potential for flash flooding.”

Mass noted the area near the Guadalupe River has flooded many times historically.

When asked if people ignored the flood warnings, Mass responded, “There are other camps that did get out of the way, so some people listened to the forecasts, and they pulled back from the water.

“They should have been following, very closely, the forecast that evening, and when the weather service went all out three hours before, calling it an emergency situation, they should have gotten people out. I mean, there was a number of opportunities to save the people near that river,” he added.

Cliff Mass: Texas floods were not connected to climate change

Mass also emphasized that the floods had no connection to climate change.

“The climate change connection is non-existent. There is no trend in heavier precipitation in this region. There is no upward trend in floods,” he explained. “In fact, the EPA, in their climate page, they showed where flooding is increasing and decreasing, and they showed it actually decreasing in this area.”

Mass said that although people blame climate change for natural disasters, such as the Maui wildfires and Los Angeles fires, there’s more to the story.

“The real story is weather predictions become immensely more accurate, and society is not using it to stop these kinds of disasters. That’s the really interesting story here,” Mass noted.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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Nelson spoke about her deeply rooted awareness of Seattle’s drug and mental health epidemic on “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio.

Sara Nelson’s drug treatment initiative

“For this initiative, I’m talking about up to 25% of $35-40 million. Let’s say $10 million, just to round it up,” Nelson said. “I want to be clear that we have not raised the sales tax yet, but it’s anticipated that Seattle will take advantage of that opportunity, because the legislature gave the authority for cities to do that.”

Nelson is working to allocate funds toward support for Seattle’s drug and mental health crisis, and will provide treatment, namely rehab, for the city’s homeless population.

“The bill that was passed in Washington, , would raise the 1.1% for public safety, but it is defined broadly in the bill to include behavioral health,” Nelson said. “It might even say treatment as well.”

House Bill 2015 established a grant program that includes $100 million for public safety within the legislature’s 2025-2027 operating budget.

“How’s it going? You’re pushing the rock up the hill. Is it going to stay?” Curley asked. “Will this go through, and then what metrics will you use to determine if it’s working or not, and adjust how to provide treatment?”

“I’m pushing this rock up the hill for this reason, because the fentanyl epidemic and addiction in general are inextricably linked to our chronic homelessness and our public safety problems in Seattle,” Nelson answered. “By focusing more on treatment, we would be addressing two problems at once. The city has to start focusing on treatment and not keep deferring this critical investment.”

There have been 494 fatal drug overdoses in King County so far in 2025, and an additional 34 probable overdoses pending toxicology reports, according to the .

Drug treatment program cost

“What does it cost, on average, to take somebody homeless and drug addicted into a program that leads to the point where the drugs are not part of their life every day?” Curley asked.

“A month of inpatient treatment is about $15,000. Then, you should have aftercare and counseling, etc.,” Nelson said. “That’s pretty cheap when you consider some of the activity that these folks are engaged in, and also the fact that a lot of people are dying right and left from fentanyl. So I think that it’s money very well spent.”

King County nearly doubled its count of fatal drug overdoses between 2021 (710) and 2023 (1,340). Additionally, 1,086 of the fatal overdoses in 2023 were a result of fentanyl.

“Treatment works better if they want help. The fact that treatment is available on demand makes all the difference,” Nelson said. “Your listeners would be surprised how many people out there are using and want to change their lives, but there aren’t the resources available.”

According to the , fentanyl addiction treatment, including medication-assisted treatment and intensive counseling, returns a 25-35% success rate.

“We’re not talking about forcing people into treatment. We are responding to people who are sick of it; they’re tired of overdosing,” Nelson said. “They want to change their lives. They just don’t know what the next steps are.”

The success rate for alcohol addiction is listed as a 50-60% success rate, which includes the duration of treatment, aftercare programs, and family involvement.

“Do you believe the mayor will help you, or the rest of the council will say, ‘Yes, let’s go along with Sarah Nelson’s idea. We’ll slice off a chunk of that and we’ll see how it goes.’ Are you succeeding?” Curley asked.

“We do have a pretty big deficit next year. I think it’s $240 million or something, but what I’m talking about is, if you spend the money on some treatment now, you’re not spending the money on arresting someone for committing a crime, because they’re trying to support their habit,” Nelson said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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“I realized, if every car on the road is a driverless car, then there is no penalty whatsoever to pedestrians misbehaving,” he said in by the Wall Street Journal.

After hearing the theory, ����Xվ host John Curley said there would need to be a deterrent to prevent humans from interfering with the cars.

“Technology will have to step in and have to create deterrence for the people that are in the way of the car,” he said on “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio.

Curley’s idea was for the car to take a photograph of the person, who would then receive a citation in the mail.

“Or in some way, they would have to enforce you behaving in a proper manner,” he added.

Gladwell said that in a city full of Waymos, kids wouldn’t fear being hit by a car and would play games in the street — forcing the Waymos to wait until they finished before moving on.

“People are always saying the problem with driverless cars is they’ll make mistakes. No, they don’t make mistakes, and that’s the problem,” he said in the Wall Street Journal’s video.

Driverless cars in Seattle next?

Curley pointed to people blocking traffic for protests in Seattle.

“We don’t do anything about them. So they continue to behave the way they do, because there’s no deterrent to them. We don’t arrest them. We don’t in any way stop them. So they just block traffic,” he said.

In the Los Angeles anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots, several Waymos were targets of graffiti and vandalism, reported in June.

Curley noted with no owner present, driverless cars would be more vulnerable.

“There’s a sort of level of civility that is, everyone is to take care of themselves first, their own material things, and then that extends to you. The grace extends to you. And this is an interesting idea, that people don’t run any risk, because the thing will not create a risk for them,” Curley said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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Around a dozen organizations in Venice have been protesting the affair with the slogan “No Space for Bezos.” They claim the wedding is a display of wealth in a world full of inequality and argue over-tourism is hurting residents.

have been flown in, including Tom Brady, Oprah Winfrey, the Kardashians, and Ivanka Trump.

Is Bezos-Sánchez’s marriage based on true love?

However, the question ����Xվ fill-in host Greg Tomlin had was, will Bezos and Sánchez’s marriage last?

“Do you think it’s true love?” he asked on “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio.

Fill-in host Angela Poe Russell was optimistic the two would stay together.

“Look, they’ve been together for five years. I’d like to think — but you know what? How often have you seen this happen where couples are together forever, and then they get married and they’re divorced within a year? Like, what’s up with that phenomenon?” she said.

����Xվ producer Joe Wallace said he questioned Sánchez’s motive.

“When he split from MacKenzie [Scott], there were all these reports that he had met Lauren Sánchez at a party, and she had gone to her friends and said, ‘I need, I need to bag me a man like that,'” Joe shared.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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Sean Northrop, CHH land developer, specified how the agreement started and where the dispute between CHH and Cle Elum currently stands on “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio Wednesday.

Cle Elum bankruptcy dispute

Cle Elum entered into a housing development contract with CHH to build 950 homesites across 358 acres north of downtown. At the time, both parties understood that the local housing market may not be ready for such a large development project because it was still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis.

“There was a great opportunity for a public-private partnership that Cle Elum approached us about in the early 2000s. We entered into that agreement, ultimately in 2011,” Northrop said. “Then, in 2019, we started the process of developing that, and the city didn’t see eye to eye with how that was going.

In 2019, when CHH determined it was ready to begin building the community, it appeared Cle Elum was not. The city expressed it was no longer satisfied with the agreement, adding the deal was outdated and claimed it benefited CHH more than the city.

“When you took it to a court, and the judge looked at it, the judge’s ruling was that they intentionally delayed you,” ����Xվ host John Curley said. “There was intentional malice that they threw roadblocks in your way to slow you down and maybe discourage you from going through with this.”

The judge ruled that the City of Cle Elum’s delay caused a violation in the development contract, which caused CHH to lose out on potential profit throughout this time.

“Ultimately, that ended up in litigation in which the court or the arbitrator found that the city was not following the agreement,” Northrop said. “We thought honorable parties would move forward and resolve their differences. The city continued not to follow that agreement, and the last resolution was trying to find some financial mitigation.”

King County judge’s ruling

The decision for bankruptcy followed a ruling by a King County judge, who found the city liable for more than $22 million for damages to CHH, as . However, the City of Cle Elum only has a budget of about $5 million for 2025, as shown in .

“When the city only has a $5 million operating budget, how are they going to come up with $22 million that they owe to the developer?” Curley asked.

“When you look forward in the future, absolutely everybody’s already agreed that if the expectation was that this judgment was paid in cash today, it’s impossible,” Northrop said. “We knew that when the judgment happened.”

The City of Cle Elum publicly stated that it simply cannot afford to pay the money it owes to CHH, or the 12% interest, which amounts to $7,300 a day, also ordered to be paid by Judge Kallas.

“From our perspective, if the city does want to continue good faith negotiations, then that would get concluded. The mediator would be contacted. We would, as parties, have a mini mediation, and go back and forth,” Northrop said.

CHH said it made several attempts to have a conversation, or what they call “direct collaboration,” with Cle Elum’s mayor and city council to work out a payment plan or enter some other sort of deal to get their money and help Cle Elum from entering the bankruptcy process.

“If the intent is rather that the city wants to try and utilize the bankruptcy process to do something different, then obviously we just say we’re going to protect our interests and collect through that process, which is miserable for everybody,” Northrop said.

“We got an immense amount of participation from the city, their planners, engineers, lawyers, council members, and mayor—it appeared very productive,” he continued. “At the end of that, the mediator said, ‘OK, I think the two parties have exchanged the fundamental pieces,’ and we never heard back from the city. Instead, they filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday.”

Listen to the full conversation here.

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Business owner Linda Pruitt’s comments were heard loud and clear by The local organization made a quick move toward helping Lake City with its dire need for change.

A call for help from Lake City

“Thursday was a great example of the impact of radio,” ����Xվ fill-in host Tim Gaydos said. “In Lake City, they’re seeing this kind of dystopian society where small business owners, and immigrant business owners are all moving out.”

Gaydos referred to the prolonged presence of Tent City 4 in the neighborhood, which has contributed to increased crime.

“Someone who was listening to ‘The John Curley Show,’ that had started an organization called We Heart Seattle, heard the Lake City business owner and called in to say they want to expand its program to Lake City,” Gaydos said.

We Heart Seattle is a local program dedicated to community outreach and has cleared more than 1.7 million pounds of trash from parks and shared spaces.

“Now those small business owners, along with We Heart Seattle, are working today on a new outreach program in Lake City,” Gaydos said. “How cool is that, within a few days, someone listening to the show is now helping out in Lake City, and the business owners are excited.”

����Xվ hosts’ personal connections to Lake City

Spike recalled a personal connection he had with Lake City and the importance of safety in a thriving economy.

“I have a friend who owns a small business in Lake City. The problem is everywhere,” Spike said. “People need to feel welcome and safe to come in and shop; if you eliminate their ability to do business, it’s just a downward spiral.”

Gaydos shared his link to Lake City as well.

“I live in Lake City, and I’ve seen the downward shift over the last 10 years; it’s pretty ugly when you go up there and compare it to what it was 10 years ago,” Gaydos said.

Pruitt gave a detailed view of the impact Tent City 4 has had on the businesses in the neighborhood.

“Many owners, unfortunately, have left our district because they just couldn’t make it work anymore,” Pruitt said. “Too many issues of vandalism, break-ins, or declining business because people don’t feel safe, they don’t come here to shop any longer.”

State legislators’ handling of Lake City

Lake City business owners reached out via email to Washington State Representative Julia Reed, outlining their issues, and Gaydos narrated Reed’s response.

“Reed said, ‘My home parish was proud to host Tent City in an earlier year,’ kind of shaming and gaslighting the people of Lake City,” Gaydos read from Reed’s email. “I hope the folks who jumped in at the last minute to derail the carefully planned relocation will continue to share their thoughts with us.”

The Lake City community had previously stated that they feel like they’ve been good hosts for the Tent City residents, but they have overstayed their welcome.

“I’m all for local legislation getting things done for the community that they serve. That being said, Lake City is not getting any benefit from its local legislators,” Spike said.

Pruitt had also requested support from the city council, the mayor, and the police department to support its public safety needs.

“A lot of the issues that not only Lake City has seen, but can be seen across Seattle neighborhoods, are due to bad policy,” Gaydos said. “Then what our elected officials do is try to throw more money at the problem.”

A town hall was held at Nathan Hale High School, and state legislators confirmed that they secured funding in the state budget for Lake City.

“Money is often believed to be the solution to the problem, but throwing paper money on a fire never seemed to put out the fire before,” Spike said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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“What is the cost to deport them? What is the cost to put them through the court system? So I don’t know what the total cost is, but that’s part. You have to press that number,” he said on “The John Curley Show.” “And then you look at, if the person stays here, and if they’re productive in that they’re working and they’re generating money, and they’re paying their taxes, so then what’s that number?”

Once you figure out the number of people who snuck in and are harmful to society, you get them to come forward. But how do you do that? Curley said you either A, fine the businesses for harboring illegal employees, or B, incentivize the businesses to bring them forward.

“We’ll give you some sort of tax break if you take your employees that you have there, and we’ll take good care, and we’re not going to deport them, but we need them to come forward. Need them to register. So we’re going to incentivize the employers, because right now there’s no incentive for those guys,” he said.

Incentivize businesses and immigrants, says Curley

And not only do you incentivize the businesses, Curley said, but also the immigrants.

“If you come forward within this amount of time, we’re going to do this and this for you. There’s carrot, carrot, carrot. If you wait 120 days, there’s going to be less carrots. And then if you wait two years or a year, it’s going to be all stick. You have to either give the carrot or the stick to incentivize the behavior that you want,” he explained.

Curley said the other part of controlling illegal immigration is securing the border.

“Keep the wall up, or build the wall, stop people from coming in, and just make it harder for those that do sneak in to be able to get employment,” he said. “The reason they’re here, the majority, is because they can get a job here, and they have a better life here. That’s the incentive. So they’re already here, the cost is too high. Get out of the shadows. Come on in and vote Republican. That’s the most important thing.”

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Linda Pruitt joined “The John Curley Show” and detailed the rampant crime that has plagued her Seattle neighborhood after Tent City 4’s overextended stay.

Lake City homeless issues

Tent City 4 was previously located at the Seattle Mennonite Church in Lake City, home to more than 100 homeless residents, which recently moved to the Lake City Community Center in May.

“We’ve had a significant amount of new development, much of it intended for low-income housing, and also services that are intended for the homeless, unhoused, and struggling part of our population,” Pruitt said.

Many different services can be provided for the homeless population, which include housing, food, showers, and substance abuse treatment.

“As Lake City residents, we want to be good hosts, but we feel a little overwhelmed by what we have been experiencing here over the last decade,” Pruitt said. “The support from the city side to help us.”

In 2024, Washington had the third-highest homeless population in the nation, behind California and New York, reported.

“The availability of these services attracts bad actors,” Pruitt said. “We need support from the city council, from the mayor, from our police department to respond to growing public safety needs.”

Pruitt mentioned that past business owners have left altogether as a result of the homeless crimes in Lake City.

“Many owners, unfortunately, have left our district because they just couldn’t make it work anymore,” Pruitt said. “Too many issues of vandalism, break-ins, or declining business because people don’t feel safe, they don’t come here to shop any longer.”

Pruitt reported that residents of Lake City have been uncomfortable outside of their homes.

“We have a huge immigrant population, and there are wonderful immigrant families with children who have come here to make a better life for themselves,” she said. “They’re scared to go outside. It’s not safe to take their children to the playground because they don’t know what could happen.”

Pruitt’s ideas for a better future in Lake City

Pruitt is calling on Seattle to aid her neighborhood.

“We can’t survive like this; we need help from the city right now,” Pruitt said. “We have some empty buildings right here in downtown Lake City that could easily house a satellite police precinct. I’d like to see that happen immediately.”

Pruitt recalled a specific incident where local police failed to hold a homeless man accountable.

“I just heard today that one of the big commercial properties here that is vacant had a break-in,” she shared. “It took two and a half hours for the police to arrive, and it was a mentally ill homeless man, and essentially nothing happened because he was mentally ill. They didn’t have a place to take him, and so they turned him back out on the street. How does this help our business district?”

Pruitt expressed that the city has provided good hospitality, but the homeless in the area have overstayed their welcome.

“There’s no reason they should be here any longer. We have done our part in being good hosts, and they need to find another location,” she said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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: Homeland Security just deployed some kind of green smoke around the DHS office to disperse the violent crowd in Tukwila, WA. Antifa militants are starting to retreat.|

— FRONTLINES (@FrontlinesTPUSA)

Independent journalist was there documenting Saturday’s events when she was attacked. She explained on “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio that Antifa members assaulted her outside a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facility.

“It took 30 seconds from the time I arrived for them to call me out, identify me, and to mob me,” Kruse said.

Brandi Kruse details attack at Tukwila protest

Kruse said she was there to cover the protest, but was immediately surrounded.

“At first, they were just dumping water on me, which is assault, but it could be worse. Or, I guess, what I really hope was water,” she shared. “We tried to de-escalate, just walk away. That’s when they started hurling stuff at me from behind.”

Kruse was then sprayed in the face with hornet and wasp killer.

“It was really painful,” she added. “All this is happening, and we continue, with my security, just to try to walk away, and they’re not interested in letting us do that. It was very clear. They were interested in assaulting me. They were interested in shutting me up and stopping my ability to document their criminal conduct.”

Kruse mentioned a man, who appeared to be undercover, came over and said he had video of what happened. However, Kruse said, as soon as the Antifa group realized he wasn’t one of them, they began assaulting him.

“Six or seven Antifa, all black-clad, jumped on him. He’s on the ground, in a fetal position. They’re kicking him. They’re stomping him. Just insane stuff, “she said. “That’s when I told my security, I said, ‘Help him.’ And he jumped in. And that’s when he was threatened. A guy threatened to pull a gun on him.”

Due to the seriousness of the attacks, Kruse and her team filed reports with the Tukwila Police Department.

“These people hide their faces, but we filed a report with the hopes that maybe we can get some better video, we can get some surveillance video, or something that will give us some identifying information on these individuals, specifically a man who threatened us with a gun and then the individual who unleashed the spray into our eyes,” she shared.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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The teacher, Matthew Mastronardi, overheard students in his class at discussing the Harper Lee novel and how another teacher told them to skip over the controversial slur within the text. Mastronardi disagreed with that decision.

“I expressed my disagreement with having to skip over words, especially words that prevent a conversation there,” Mastronardi said on “The John Curley Show.” “We can confront history, even if it’s difficult, and we’re supposed to be helping kids learn how to think about the world and how to think critically. We do them a disservice when we just tell them to skip over their word.”

According to Mastronardi, a student asked him, “If you were reading the book, would you read the word?” He responded with, “If I were reading from the book, I would read every single word.” This conversation captured the attention of a few other classmates, including one of my favorite students who whipped out the book, turned to the page, and said, “OK, then do it.”

“I’m sure in your head, you’re thinking, I can’t be a hypocrite. I said I would read it,” ����Xվ host John Curley said. “It’s important to stand up for the word that you speak to these kids, because if you don’t, if you start to back up a little bit, they start to question your character, right?”

“Absolutely. These kids will not learn from somebody who they believe is a coward or a hypocrite,” Mastronardi replied. “I tried to make it a teaching moment about context, about history, about how intent matters, and it undermines the author’s intent when we don’t use historically accurate language. You’re not a racist if you read a book.”

Mastronardi’s dismissal

On April 28, Mastronardi was given a verbal warning, claiming the incident violated the district’s Civility and Professional Staff Student Boundaries policy. Approximately a week later, Mastronardi was called for a meeting with Human Resources and Principal Mulvey. During this meeting, he was informed he had two options: to voluntarily resign or to expect his contract not to be renewed once it expires.

“I really don’t think (the students) meant any harm. I think (they) were trying to be funny, because let’s be real, none of my students lost any sleep over this,” Mastronardi said. “Anybody who’s pretending that they are super offended, it’s just optics. The kids don’t care. I hear what type of music they listen to. I hear how they speak out in the hallways. We have to teach them how to think correctly about the world.”

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“You got two guys that don’t give a rip about anything, because they’re some of the most powerful guys in the world,” John Curley, host of “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio, said. “They’re just letting loose. It is nuts.”

Musk vs. Trump social media battle

The battle over social media included Trump referring to Musk’s hatred for cutting the EV Mandate.

“Then it gets personal. Bad. I mean, then all of a sudden, the gloves come off, and Elon is getting really personal. ‘Trump would not have won without me,’ he also said, ‘Impeach Trump,'” Curley explained.

Musk then hinted at Trump’s potential ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Time to drop the really big bomb: is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.

Have a nice day, DJT!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

“Probably the biggest bomb that went out, and he even described it as a big bomb, which was the reason the Epstein file has not been released completely, is because Trump is in it,” Curley said. “If Trump really was in there, they would have made that thing public, right? They would have been all over with that.”

Listen to the full conversation here.

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“Spiritual, rhythmic, infinite, peaceful. You’re in for a treat. My wife and I are going to enjoy it with you,” Harrell said Monday night along Pier 62 before pivoting to politics. “One Seattle! We’re all here together to fight for the city. Fight against Trump. Fight for diversity. Fight for inclusion. Fight for LGBTQ+. Our values. We will fight, fight, fight. But tonight, we’re going to listen and come together as one. One Seattle!”

Eight other candidates have announced their intention to run for mayor in Seattle. Joe Mallahan, a former T-Mobile executive, is taking a second swing at running for Seattle mayor, while Katie Wilson, the co-founder and executive director of the Transit Riders Union, has raised the second-most money, trailing only the incumbent Harrell.

The other candidates are Ry Armstrong, a transgender community organizer and labor leader; Joe Malloy, a homeless man who wants to confront the homeless crisis; Thaddeus Whelan, an Army veteran and a project management analyst for the FAA; Clinton Bliss, a medical doctor; Isaiah Willoughby, a former protestor who was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for starting a fire outside a police presinct during CHOP; and Alexander Barickman, according to .

John Curley weighs in on Harrell’s re-election bid

“Vote for me! Vote for me! I hate Trump,” ����Xվ host John Curley mockingly said. “That’s the first time he’s been in public where he’s spoken out since a bunch of folks that don’t believe in First Amendment rights, if you’re a Christian, disrupted (an event), and then they had the big thing at City Hall on Tuesday. Hadn’t heard from the mayor.” (The mayor attended and provided remarks at a Pride Month flag raising event last Saturday, per the Office of Mayor Bruce Harrell. He also attended a 5k Run on the Waterfront the morning before the concert, while his office has provided several statements to media, including to ����Xվ Newsradio)

Curley was referencing when counterprotestors stormed a Christian group’s rally two weekends ago in Cal Anderson Park, leading to multiple arrests. Russell Johnson, the lead pastor at Pursuit NW, the church that held the event, stated that Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell should resign after the disruption and his subsequent comments that insulted the church. The church held a rally at City Hall the following Tuesday, which was met with more counterprotesters.

“Russell Johnson said, ‘Hey, we want the mayor to resign or want him to apologize.’ We hadn’t heard anything,” Curley said. “So the mayor comes out, he shows up at this concert, and then does, ‘Fight, fight, fight,’ quoting Donald Trump when he was nearly assassinated, and just basically getting a chance to throw some red meat at people. ‘Hey, vote for me. I hate Trump. You hate Trump.’ We’re all about inclusion, except if you don’t have the same values we have, which is we don’t really respect you. If you happen to be Christian, then you’re a fascist.”

If Harrell is re-elected as mayor, he would become Seattle’s first two-term mayor since Greg Nickels in 2009.

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on ����Xվ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

A recent study published by theestimates there is a 15% chance a magnitude 8.0 earthquake could strike the , a fault line that stretches from Northern Vancouver Island all the way to Northern California. The potential quake could drown cities like Seattle, with coastal land predicted to sink more than 6 feet. Experts believe this will happen sometime in the next 50 years.

“It’s all about the movement of the North America plate right now, it’s steady and quiet and locked in place… and even though the Cascadia subduction zone is actually supposed to be an inward movement, I am suspecting it could be triggered by a northward displacement, which could disturb the dormancy,” Brent Dmitruk said on “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio.

Despite not having a formal education in seismology, Dmitruk is an earthquake researcher with a history of accurately predicting seismic events on social media. In 2024, he predicted an earthquake in Northern California two months prior to the 7.0 shake, garnering thousands of internet followers and online support.

“What is it about you?” asked John Curley. “Not a scientist, a guy from Canada now living in the middle of the Amazon, that you have world leaders waiting to see what you tweet about earthquakes?”

Dmitruk said that he is mostly skilled in “pattern recognition,” but what sets him apart is his gut feeling.

Social media earthquake predictor gets his start after Philippines earthquake

He first started making predictions after an experience in 2019.

“I was living in this humble little hotel in the southern Philippines—when suddenly, boom first came a major earthquake, and then they started coming one after the other, and the hotel shook really strongly,” Dmitruk said. “But then I started getting these vibes from these earthquakes.”

Now, Dmitruk warns Washingtonians to be prepared; he senses “the big one” could be sooner than we think.

“There’s a very elevated chance that it happens by summer of next year,” Dmitruk said. “I’ve been seeing stronger signs that it could be between summer of this year and summer of next year, is what I’ve been feeling.”

An earthquake of this size has not hit the fault line since the year 1700.

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Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on ����Xվ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here

Alan submitted his resume for review after an eight-month job hunt. During the segment, Curley asked Alan to share what he’s been seeing in the current job market.

“It’s brutal out there—extremely challenging,” Alan said. “And it’s not just here in the Northwest. I’m seeing people across YouTube and TikTok saying the same thing all over the country.”

Alan’s job hunt experiences

Alan shared his experience searching for a job in tech sales amid of Microsoft laying off 3% of its workforce.

“I’m sure when you go and apply, you know 1000 other people are applying for the same job,” Curley said, “you read Microsoft cutting back 3%, they’re all tightening up, so what is it like? Are you getting any response from these applications?”

Alan said the response rates were low. Due to the layoffs increasing the competition, his search for work has been difficult.

“I have not had many responses from applications,” Alan said. “And to your point, it seems like every week you’re hearing about so many 1000s more being laid off, and all that does is increase the competition for what I’m already up against.”

John Curley lends a helping hand

Curley reached out to a friend in tech to help set up a job opportunity for Alan.

“I called a friend of mine (Julie) who was with Microsoft for 35 years. She was a general manager in sales, and I told her about your resume,” Curley said, “I’m going to put you in touch with her, and she wants to meet you and talk about your résumé.”

“Something good is going to come from this, alright? Hang in there,” Curley said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on ����Xվ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

“So basically, this big dome, the big golden dome, would cover all of North America,” John Curley, host of “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio, said. “And then he could charge like South America to get in as well.”

Trump unveils missile defense plan

The program would mark the first time the U.S. deploys weapons in space to intercept missiles during flight, according to The AP. However, Curley is skeptical whether the system would be an effective deterrent. 

“I got news for you, Pete and Donald Trump, destruction is not going to come from a missile,” Curley said. “What they’re going to do, if you read the kill zone or kill chain, China intends to blind all of our technology.”

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on ����Xվ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

John Curley, of the “John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio, weighed in on Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis and whether any information was withheld from the public prior to his departure from office.

“Now, the other story is, was the physician holding back information? When did we know it? Who knew it? When was he diagnosed?” Curley said. “How could the president be getting a check-up every single year, and how could they not test and see there were elevated numbers for his prostate?”

Biden’s medical history

This diagnosis is the latest development in Biden’s ongoing medical history.

“Now you have all these experts saying, well, it could take years, or it could take weeks. So this is just more of the ongoing story of the decline of Joe Biden, and the fact that the press is directly involved, because they knew if we reported on this, Trump would win.” Curley said.

John Curley noted his concern for Biden and his family, but is demanding more answers.

“It’s sad for anybody having to deal with cancer, his wife and his family all have to deal with the fact that here he is, 82 years old with stage four prostate cancer metastasized into his bones, and all anybody wants to know is who knew and why was it not made public?” Curley said.

Listen to the full conversation below:

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on ����Xվ Newsradio, 97.3 FM.

Walsh criticized Democratic leaders, describing the recent legislative sessions as a nonstop house party—an analogy he and Curley used to highlight what they see as a chaotic stream of unusual bills, ranging from tax increases to significant changes in healthcare policy.

While Washington remains a solid blue state in most elections, Republicans are hoping to capitalize on growing discontent in suburban and rural communities. Voters in those areas said they’ve had enough of the political extremes and rising costs.

Jim Walsh vows to extinguish Olympia’s ‘dumpster fire’

“This is your opportunity, Mr. Walsh, because I think people, even those that were, well, I’m a little afraid of Republicans, or Trump scares me, or whatever,” Curley said. “They have to have woken up to the fact that in Olympia, they have put some real crazies in charge.”

Walsh agreed he could have a decent chance due to Olympia’s far-left failures. He specifically lashed out at current leadership over controversial policies regarding tax increases that could add $4,000 annually per household. Walsh highlighted the potential impact of these policies on businesses and the economy, stressing the importance of practical, non-extremist solutions.

“Things have gotten so corkscrewed here in our state that all we have to be is not crazy,” Walsh said. “It’s not running people out of their homes. It’s not putting illegal immigrants ahead of regular citizens. It’s not applauding hardened criminals and busting them out of jail, and letting them roam the streets.”

Listen to the full conversation below: 

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on ����Xվ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

On a recent segment of “The John Curley Show” on ����Xվ Newsradio, Curley discussed the complicated nature of the citizenship debate.

“This is unbelievably complicated, because if these people did get citizenship, if this would overturn that, and what would you do with them?” Curley said. “Where would they go? It’s a mess.”

He mentioned the landmark United States v. Wong Kim Ark case of 1898, suggesting what America needs most right now is clarity regarding case law.

Curley: Trump should work with Congress amid birthright citizenship debate

“All of this could be solved very easily if Donald Trump stopped signing executive orders and instead looked to Congress and said, ‘Hey, you’re the elected officials. I’ll work with you to shape legislation,'” Curley said. “You can write the laws, we can talk about deporting criminals, and you can be involved in that process.”

Listen to the full conversation below: 

Listen to John Curley and Shari Elliker weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on ����Xվ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.