Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, March 22, 2013
www.issaquahreporter.com
Decision reached Examiner rules in favor of Sammamish Muslim Association BY KEVIN ENDEJAN KENDEJAN@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
Laurie Carlisle, Truitt’s owner and trainer, speaks to residents at Issaquah Nursing and Rehabilitation. Carlisle has had Truitt since he was 7-weeksold. Below, Truitt comforts resident June Evans. LINDA BALL, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
HEALING PAWS
Issaquah therapy dog warms hearts of hospital patients around the region LBALL@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
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ssaquah resident Laurie Carlisle’s 5-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, Truitt, is a wonder dog. Not only has the Sheltie won more than 100 ribbons for his expertise in agility competitions, but he also is a therapy dog, who regularly visits patients at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Swedish Hospital in Issaquah and nursing homes.
In his second appearance at Issaquah Nursing and Rehabilitation March 13, Truitt, as usual, was a big hit, adorned with a green St.
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Patrick’s Day scarf and shiny shamrock. “They (patients) forget where they are once they are with him,” Carlisle said. “He comforts them.”
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Once, Carlisle recalled, a large man who had been in a terrible accident, asked if Carlisle could put Truitt on his hospital bed. He thanked her over and over. When it was time to go, Truitt wouldn’t move. He sensed that the man was in severe pain and didn’t want to leave him, Carlisle said, fighting back tears. Truitt also has comforted soldiers returning from war, and their families. Carlisle took him to a weekend warrior event on Bainbridge Island, where returning vets reunite with their families. “The kids went crazy,” she said. She said hospital staff love him, too, because they also are stressed out. The orthopedic unit at Overlake keeps treats on hand just for Truitt. SEE TRUITT, 12
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BY LINDA BALL
A hearing examiner has dismissed an appeal by a neighborhood group to allow a 44-space parking lot for the Sammamish Muslim Association’s prayer center in the 22000 block of Southeast 20th Street. The appellants, “Friends of SE 20th,” voiced a variety of concerns at a mid-February hearing, noting they don’t believe it’s compatible with the surrounding vicinity. “The thing that brings concern to me is the intensity, it’s five times a day, it’s 365 days a year, there is no day of rest for me from that scenario,” said Don Allaire, president of the neighborhood group during the Feb. 11 hearing. Examiner John Galt, ruled there was not enough evidence to back many of the environmental and traffic concerns voiced by “Friends of SE 20th.” Galt did ask the Sammamish Muslim Association create a 3-foot tall berm to the north and east of the parking lot, and build a 6-foot fence along the east side of the lot to limit sound and noise to the adjacent neighbor, Allaire. The organization agreed. “Friends of SE 20th” were opposed to the parking lot since the SMA first applied for permits in March 2011. The city gave its conditional approval in September 2012. Galt’s decision is subject to the right of reconsideration and to the right of judicial appeal in superior court.