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november 26, 2015
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Turkey Trot honors Marty O’Connor, Page 8
Approval of Sahalee Way project likely on hold until 2016 By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com Sammamish residents seem to have proven beyond any doubt that they have a keen interest in the planned $15.6 million rehabilitation of Sahalee Way. They jammed a Nov. 4 open house on the topic and flooded the city with comments. Due to the number of those comments, city officials have postponed a report on the open house, likely until early next year.
“The main reason is we got an awful lot of data from the … open house,” said John Cunningham, the city’s interim public works director. Staff members were originally expected to provide a report on the open house at the Nov. 17 Sammamish City Council meeting. Cunningham said staff may take their results to a council committee before the end of 2015, but likely won’t be reporting to the full council until the middle of January. See SAHALEE, Page 2
Coyotes may have killed pets on city’s Through silence, Renaissance students lift up homeless voices northern border By Neil Pierson
Students Nicole Kabat (left) and Sophie Snyder, with tape covering their mouths as part of “We Are Silent” day, ake peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for homeless residents at Camp Unity Eastside on Nov. 17 at Renaissance School of Art and Reasoning in Sammamish.
By Neil Pierson npierson@sammamishreview.com Most middle-school teachers can relate to the verbal overload that comes from working with groups of preteens for several hours each day. At Renaissance School of Art and Reasoning, however, there’s one day per year where the students make silence their goal, and they do it for a good cause. The choice middle school in Sammamish held its annual “We Are Silent” day on Nov. 18. Students pledged to go the entire day without talking, many going so far as to cover their mouths with tape. The purpose? To raise awareness for homelessness, an issue they’re learning about as part of a schoolwide volunteer project. “They become involved,” said Karen Amaya, the school’s lead teacher, “and even the kids who talk all day long during class, they’re able to stay silent because they really, really believe in what they’re doing, and it’s wonderful to see that. “The duct tape, I think, helps a little bit.” The problem of homelessness is growing in King County, which in a 2013 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report had the nation’s third-highest homeless population. This year’s One Night Count from the county’s homeless coalition found more than 3,700 people with-
out shelter, a 21-percent jump from 2014. It’s an unescapable reality, even for children in affluent communities. “I’ve never personally seen anyone who is homeless before, but I’m pretty sure others have and we’re all aware of it,” said Karen Song, a Renaissance seventh-grader. As part of “We Are Silent” day, the school invited Trevor Marshall, a Friends of Youth outreach manager, to speak about the causes and solutions for homelessness. Marshall works at the Youth Service Center, a 20-bed facility in Redmond for young adults ages 18-24, with daytime assistance programs for teens as young as 15. The center connects them with food, clothing and a safe place to live, as well as options for education and employment. “We also do what we can to reconnect them with family or a safe adult,” Marshall said. “Statistics show that’s going to be the best thing to keep somebody successful and on a good path, is that they actually have natural supports and family that can help them along the way, because growing up is tough.” Prior to Marshall speaking and answering some written questions, students watched a video. In it, a Seattle man recorded cell-phone footage of his walk to work in which he passed scores of people See SILENCE, Page 3
By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com A widow, Jane Rabay lives in the Hidden Ridge subdivision near the northern edge of Sammamish. Until recently, she had her 8-year-old poodle and terrier mix Rio to keep her company. On the morning of Nov. 15, Rabay said she let Rio out into the yard to do her business, just as she has done many, many times before. It was the last time she ever saw her dog. Based on comments from neighbors, as well as what she has seen personally, Rabay is convinced a coyote took her dog. Rabay added she watched a coyote come right up to her back door. All in all, at least four other pets are missing from her neighborhood, she said. “The city and state, or whoever, are not paying attention to this and the homeowners are left on their
own,” Rabay said. Unfortunately, these types of incidents are not uncommon, said Mike Smith, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, King County District 12. Coyote sightings and related incidents are so common, the state generally does not even investigate them. Coyotes have been spotted all over King County, from semi-rural areas such as Issaquah and Sammamish to downtown Seattle, Smith added. The state recommends you keep an eye on your pet when See COYOTES, Page 2 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER
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