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Seattle artist Paul Castle, guide dog Mr. Maple kicked out of restaurant when worker didn’t believe he was blind

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Seattle artist Paul Castle, guide dog Mr. Maple kicked out of restaurant when worker didn’t believe he was blind


A blind Seattle artist and his guide dog were kicked out of a Seattle restaurant when one of the workers accused the customer of faking his blindness.

Paul Castle, who is legally blind, claimed he entered the unnamed eatery with his service dog, Mr. Maple, but was instantly met by the wary worker.

“I walked in with my guide dog, Mr. Maple, and immediately somebody rushed up to me and said ‘no pets allowed, only service dogs,’” Castle said in a TikTok post on May 7.

“I said ‘It’s ok, he’s a service dog.’” the author said. “He looked at me, he looked at Maple, he said ’emotional support dog?’”

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Paul Castle claims he and his service dog, Mr. Maple, were kicked out of a Seattle restaurant earlier this month, when a worker didn’t believe he was blind. KING5

According to WAFB, Castle has less than 10 percent of his vision.

He insisted that Mr. Maple was a “guide dog for the blind” before showing off the pooch’s designated harness to the worker.

Castle told the employee he was blind, but the man wasn’t buying the artist’s story.

“‘You don’t look blind,” the man stated before Castle explained that “a lot of people in the blind community still have some functional vision.”

“You’re looking right at me,” “Yes but it’s like I have a pinhole of vision, it is all I can see.”

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Castle tried to prove his dog was a service animal by showing off the harness Mr. Maple was wearing. @matthewandpaul /TMX / SWNS
Castle told his story to the “Matthew and Paul” TikTok account, which he shares with his husband. @matthewandpaul /TMX / SWNS

Castle described his vision as “sort of like looking through a straw. I have no peripheral vision, the rest of my visual field is full of static.”

“Listen, this isn’t my first rodeo,” the man reportedly said.

Castle offered to return to the establishment with Mr. Maple’s paperwork, but the employee threatened to call the police if they stepped “foot back in this restaurant.”

Castle and his husband Matthew run the “Matthew and Paul” TikTok account, which has garnered over 2.1 million followers, and was created to give viewers an inside look at the lives of blind people while also spreading awareness about blindness.

“I was speechless, I was shaking,” Castle told the outlet. “I was really upset and disappointed.”

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Castle described his vision as “sort of like looking through a straw. I have no peripheral vision, the rest of my visual field is full of static.” KING5

“When I encounter a situation like this where I’m fully rejected not only for my dog, but because my own disability wasn’t believed, it makes me really sad on top of all the struggles that I already kind of deal with,” Castle said.

Federal law prohibits private businesses that provide goods or services from discriminating against individuals with disabilities including those that need service animals.

The goal of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to goods and services.

The law also disallows businesses from asking for documentation, and animals do not have to wear a vest or harness that indicates they are trained for a specific service.

According to the ADA, To help separate service animals from pets, a business may ask two questions when a person with an animal enters a place of public accommodation:

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  1. Is the animal required because of a disability?
  2. What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
Castle, who is not taking any legal action, didn’t name the restaurant where he was thrown out, because he doesn’t want them to face backlash. Paul Castle

Castle, who is not taking any legal action, didn’t name the restaurant where he was thrown out, because he doesn’t want them to face backlash.

He says he shared his experience for educational purposes and, after his video went viral, reached out to the restaurant where he talked to the manager who was sincerely apologetic and promised to better train the employees.





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Seattle, WA

Storm edged by Dallas Wings 112-110 in overtime heartbreaker

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Storm edged by Dallas Wings 112-110 in overtime heartbreaker


Paige Bueckers scored 27 points, Azzi Fudd added a career-high 26, including the go-ahead basket with 13.2 seconds left in overtime, and the Dallas Wings beat the Seattle Storm 112-110 on Monday night.

Bueckers, who scored 17 of the Wings’ final 24, netted her 1,000th career point in overtime to cap her night and put Dallas ahead 109-108. She tied Elena Delle Donne for the fourth-fastest in WNBA history to reach the milestone at 52 games.

Fudd followed with a go-ahead layup that put Dallas up 111-110 before Jessica Shepard stole the ball, and Aziaha James capped the scoring with a free throw to end it.

Dallas finished with a WNBA record 48 made field goals.

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James scored 18 points off the bench for Dallas (11-6), and Shepard had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Li Yueru scored 10.

Dominique Malonga scored a career-high 37 to go with 12 rebounds for Seattle (3-15). She became the youngest player in league history to reach 200 career field goals at 20 years and 219 days old. Natisha Hiedeman had 21 and 11 assists, and Awa Fam had 18 points.

Dallas trailed 94-88 with 1:24 remaining in regulation before Bueckers rattled off the Wings’ final eight points of regulation, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to help force overtime.

Seattle has lost 11 straight games.

Up next

Wings: Visit the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday.

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Storm: Host the New York Liberty on Thursday.



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CITY COUNCIL: Rescheduled briefing on Seattle Police staffing Tuesday

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CITY COUNCIL: Rescheduled briefing on Seattle Police staffing Tuesday


Two weeks ago, we reported on information prepared for a scheduled meeting of the City Council Public Safety Committee, suggesting that SPD might have to slow its hiring because fewer officers were leaving, which posed a budget dilemma. That briefing scheduled for the committee’s June 9 meeting ultimately was postponed because it was the last item on the agenda and the previous two ran long. It’s now scheduled for tomorrow’s committee meeting (9:30 am Tuesday, June 23), same slide deck, but this time it’s the second item on the agenda, so not likely to be bumped again. It’s a regularly scheduled quarterly update, no votes scheduled nor attached proposals, but it can be viewed in the prism of the city’s looming budget shortfall. The agenda explains how to comment and/or watch, in person or remotely.

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Series win in Seattle shows how tricky this trade deadline will be for the Red Sox

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Series win in Seattle shows how tricky this trade deadline will be for the Red Sox


6 runs in 3 games! That’s all the Red Sox pitching staff surrendered over the weekend, as the Sox bounced back from a grim homestand to take a late-night west coast series. Granted, the Mariners are no one’s idea of an offensive juggernaut, and T-Mobile is no one’s idea of a lyric little bandbox. But […]



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