The power outage in part of Arcata this morning (including the Journal office) was caused by a pair of crows shorting out a transformer according to PG&E spokesperson Jana Morris, who called KHUM in response to an inquiry from DJ Mike Dronkers.

Since there were two crows, Dronkers surmised that the electrocution was perhaps related to the notion that crows mate for life . He invited listeners to write a song about the crow lovers and, remarkably, had two songs submitted within hours.

The winner of his crow contest was Arcata songwriter Chris Parreira with his short but sweet number,

Incidentally, Parreira played a gig at Six Rivers Brewery last night, ironically, opening for a Texas songwriter who calls himself Matt the Electrician . (Thanks to failed mayoral candidate Larry Trask for the info.)