What a great party!

Awestruck by an awesome and beautiful event: magical generosity of time, energy, creativity... Many thanks are due for a tremendous outpouring of support. We raised enough to cover Scott's court and legal expenses. We look forward to providing more details soon, with tremendous gratitude and appreciation, the Friends of Scotty Yoos

Silent Auction Item List

Some really terrific items have been pledged for the silent auction this Sunday at Traditions--and with low starting bids. We're warmly looking forward to it! Please arrive at 6:30 to peruse the offerings. Buy something for yourself or as a gift for someone you love.

Lodging

Two-night stay at Fertile Ground Guesthouse in Olympia (includes breakfast).
Donors: Gail O'Sullivan and Karen Nelson

One-night stay at Olympia Bungalow (sleeps 3). Donor: Ellen Turner

Art/Photography/Jewelry

Matted print/colored pencil: Queen Zucchini's Bee Dance (donor: Julia Moore)

Matted print/colored pencil: Full Moon Gourd Goddess (donor: Julia Moore)

Framed batik (donor Julia Moore)

Framed woodcut of coffee cup and grounds. Donor: Lee Miller

Two matted photographs of nature. Donor: Daniel Bernstein

Box of 8 blank greeting cards. Photos by Daniel Bernstein

Beaded bracelet. Donor: Rebecca Geislinger

Five small beaded creations with magnets. Donor Rebecca Geislinger

Massage/Bodywork

One-hour Relaxation Massage. Donor: Laura Schleyer

1/2-hour Neck and Shoulder Chair Massages (four separate certificates).
            Donor: Sandia Slaby

Reflexology treatment - 1/2 hour. Donor: Monika Conte

Books

Alex Grey -- Net of Being. Donor: Lloyd Moore

The Second Coming of Christ by Paramahansa Yogananda (two-volume set, hardcover).      Donor: Lloyd Moore

Books donated by Rachel Corrie Foundation

Miscellaneous

Loving Pet Care, certificate for services. Donor: Desdra Dawning

Several bottles of olive oil from Palestine. Donor: Rachel Corrie Foundation

Ornate Mirror, new, tags still on. Donor: Maggie Reardon

Two passes for two to Capitol Theater, with popcorn. Donor: Olympia Film Society

Three-month ad in Works in Progress. Size: 7-1/4 x 4-3/4. For new advertisers only. Donor: Works in Progress

Four asparagus plates. Donor: Janet Jordan

Blue and White Flowered Vase with autumn dry-able foliage. Donor: Sandia Slaby

Clothing

Beautiful silk Japanese Kimono (medium-large) from Glenn Richards Asian Furniture, Seattle. Donor: Sue Langhans

Reversible women's jacket (small); new, with tags. Donor: Maggie Reardon

Music CDs

Citizens Band, Just Desserts (10 CDs). Donor: Harry Cohen

Bonnie Raitt, Souls Alike. Donor: Wendy Tanowitz

Ani DiFranco at Carnegie Hall, 2004. Donor: Wendy Tanowitz

Gardening/Plants
Garden Cart, wood, four wheels

Organic Gardening Consultation - two hours. Donor: Sandia Slaby

Three-year-old “Desert King” fig tree. Includes consultation. Donor: Sandia Slaby

Fresh-Cut Tulips ($25 Gift Certificate) -- to be picked up April 2014 at Olympia Farmers Market. Donor: Independence Valley Farm

Figs: 20 fresh "Desert King" local figs -- August, 2014

Music & Silent Auction to benefit Legal Defense Fund

We are very hopeful that we can raise enough money to put this whole ordeal, which has been very trying for Scott and many of his friends, behind us once and for all. 

Link to the Facebook Page for the event, here. And if you would like to contribute to the silent auction, and you are looking for a list of items to jog your imagination, go here. 

Please join us, Sunday 15 September 2013, from 6:30 to 9pm, at Traditions Fair Trade Cafe. To liberation! 

Congratulations, the hellaciousness is over!!!

Legal proceedings lasted over two years (two years, two months, and seven days to be exact,) over what one supporter lovingly referred to as a terrible interaction between four cops, one activist living with significant disabilities, and a dumpster. This morning of Wednesday the 7th of August 2013 brought what was for many a none too soon ending.

Courtroom photo from Wednesday 7 August 2013 Status Hearing

Scott accepted a plea bargain in exchange for modest fines, and explained it was an Alford Plea, under which he maintains his innocence but believes that his cause wouldn't stand up under trial by jury. 

Scott hopes to have the guilty record expunged as soon as possible. While on the stand,  with the help of an interpreter, Miss Brenda House, Scott explained his belief that had the OPD vehicles and/or officers' uniforms been outfitted with audio/video surveillance devices, he would not have had to undergo the ordeal. He also explained that his hearing is perfectly okay. Scott's inability to speak stems from an assault he suffered in 1984 when he was hitchhiking and mugged by a group that picked him up. He nearly lost his life in that attack, and suffered serious head injury, and lost the physical ability to form words, due to physical damage to his speaking apparatus. (*update, Scott writes in to correct: "
the reason for my Mute-ness, ...It's not that my 'talk-box' got broken, but rather that I suffered a severe head-injury, which effected my brain's speech-center.")

Scotty Support

Readiness Hearing

Latest News: there is a readiness hearing scheduled for next week, Wednesday the 7th. Please stay tuned for updates.

Motion to Dismiss

Quick note to say that we were not able to see the speedy cessation of this terrible ordeal at Tuesday's hearing on the Motion to Dismiss. The motion was based on alleged discriminatory treatment regarding the OPD officers' treatment of Scott as someone who lives with disabilities.

There was a good crowd of supporters. Here are some pictures from the day, and we'll post another update for what is next step in the saga.

Next and hopefully final hearing for the Motion to Dismiss

The next and hopefully final hearing on the Motion to Dismiss Scott's case is scheduled to be heard on:
Tuesday, July 23 @ 9:00 a.m.
Thurston County Superior Court, Bldg. 2
2000 Lakeridge Dr. SW, Olympia, WA 98502
(actual courtroom will be posted downstairs)

Supporters will gather at 8:20 am to vigil Be ready to go through security by 8:50 in order to enter the courtroom by the 9:00 start time.
 
Please check this page on July 22 for updates, in case of changes in the hearing date.
 
Thank you!

Friends of Scotty Yoos

Police Low-Life Commentary

Scotty asked that this to be posted, his situation was mentioned in this letter to Olympia Power and Light, by Bruce Wilkinson:

"Thumbs up on improving the OP&L website. Your local news content, articles on music and performance as well as the cartoons by Chelsea Baker are all good. I consistently hate the Olympia lowlife police blotter. It has nothing of redeeming value to it. This column confirms that OP&L doesn't have a deep analysis of the problems of mainstream media. This section is not news, is not entertaining, provides no insight into Olympia crime and basically lacks any redeeming value. It is a feel good about the police section when the mainstream media floods us with feel good about police media. If I wanted to hear about dumb criminals and how great cops were I would open the Olympian, turn on the TV, watch the dozens of Law and Order spinoffs or watch movies like End of Watch."

The Latest

The latest is that the next hearing date will likely not be until July. To hear other news of the latest, check Scott's latest nupdate. Thanks! Friends of Scotty

Motion to Dismiss Hearing Delay

One of the Prosecutor's key witnesses is unavailable for the next week Tuesday hearing date of 16 April. The hearing has been delayed and continued, and the next hearing date has not been set.

This page will be updated as soon as possible with the new next hearing date. Thank you for your patience!

Next Motion to Dismiss Hearing Date

After a day-long hearing on March 13--on a Motion to Dismiss
the charges against Scott--the hearing was continued to Tuesday,
April 16, 2013. 

The Motion to Dismiss is based on the allegation that Scotty was subjected to discriminatory treatment based on his disabilities, living without the ability to speak, as well as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.) These injuries primarily stem from when Scott was attacked while hitch-hiking, many years ago.

Supporters will gather at 8:15 am to vigil and be ready to enter the courtroom promptly by the 9:00 am start time.

Same place, Thurston County Courthouse, 2000 Lakeridge Dr. SW, Olympia, WA 98502

Pre-hearing vigil, we raise public awareness and rally supporter solidarity.

Scotty takes the stand and explains how, on the night of the incident, he wore his reflective bicycle safety vest, as well as a red taillight.

Prosecutor Toynbee and OPD Policer Office Randy Wilson.
Officer Wilson has been in the courtroom for the entirety
of the hearing on the Motion to Dismiss, while three other
officers have been in the hallway; they were joined for a
short while by Officer Hinrichs, who was the first to testify.
All the officers are being paid their regular salary -- some are receiving overtime.

Scotty on the stand, once again. Last week, there were two interpreters.

This is the entirety of the written exchange between Olympia Police Department Officer Randy Wilson and Scott Yoos:

Officer Wilson:

DO YOU HAVE ID?

WRITE YOUR NAME AND BIRTHDAY DOWN.

Scott: (Upside down)

What have I done wrong?

Officer Wilson:

CRIMINAL TRESPASS

Scott (next page)

-I threw away a bag, is that illegal?

You'd rather I littered?

This is a copy of Washington Courts statement about access to interpreters.

Courtroom Scene

Officer Wilson takes the stand, two or three different officers took the stand during last week's segment of the hearing.

See you in April!

Next Hearing Date set for March 13

Next hearing date: 

 Wednesday, 13 March, 2013 at 9am 
 Pre-hearing support vigil starting at 8:15am. 

Thurston County Courthouse 
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW 
Olympia, WA 98502 

personal message from Scott:

Belated Greetings, Dear Friends!:
   -Well, I've JUST now learned from my trusted Atty., Larry Hildes,
that the date which They've set for my
NEXT pre-Trial Hearing is:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013,
beginning @ 9am,
@ the Thurston County Superior Court.
(2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, in Olympia.)
 ...PLEASE mark your calendars, & try to attend, in-support!
*We're scheduling exceptional  weather for this date, so please
try to be there for BOTH this long-awaited Hearing
and  the pre-Hearing Support Vigil, (beginning at 8:15 that morning, outside the Courthouse.)
 I'm looking forward to seeing a good-sized & joy-filled clump of you there,
(if'n y'All can make it!)
Till then...

-Scott Yoos
                                                .. . .. .. .. . .. .

**P.P.S.- For the latest & greatest updates regarding my continuing Prosecution/Persecution,

please glance @ the funky blog site, 

http://www.scottysupport.blogspot.com

 

Hope to see you there!

Olympia Food Co-op Volunteer Profile Features Scotty

The following article appeared in the February/March 2013 Olympia Food Co-op Newsletter:

VOLUNTEER PROFILE
SCOTT YOOS
by Desdra Dawning, Co-op Member

Interviewing Scott Yoos has been an adventure. Because of head injuries suffered from what he now describes as a "rather severe MIS-adventure in hitch-hiking," Scott communicates mostly through sign language and/or by writing his thoughts down for others on a white board--or any scrap of paper he can find. So rather than sit down and talk, I wrote out some interview questions for Scott, and what follows are his very candid answers, interspersed with a few comments of my own.

Perhaps we can start first by explaining in more detail how Scott lost his ability to speak (I can't say "lost his voice" because his "voice" comes from his heart, it's strong and clear and he gets it across in many very creative ways.) Following his high school graduation in 1984, Scott decided to take a trip--much to his parent's dismay--from NY to CA, "via thumb," as he puts it. "Unfortunately, I only made it about half-way across, 'cuz I was pathetically naive in those days, and I dumbly accepted a ride from a carful of drunken thugs. They beat me bloody and robbed me of my gear." Waking up on the shoulder of an old mining road in Leadville, Colorado, he managed to stagger to an auto maintenance shop, and was air-lifted to a hospital where he spent nearly 3 weeks in a coma. That trip, motivated by a desire to assist Gary Hart's presidential campaign against "Ronnie RayGun", was just the beginning of what has come to be a lifelong profession as a political, environmental and social activist.

It is fascinating to see how one event in our lives can lead us in sometimes wonderfully eventful directions. Because of his, as he describes it, "admittedly unusual disability," in the late 80's Scott "was offered and accepted an irresistably-generous 'freebie' first year deal" at The Evergreen State College (TESC). "Of course, I had to cover my rent and other living expenses, but the academic portion of my 1st year was PAID! -Needless to say, this opportunity was VERY seductive, and it is what first brought me to Oly." The following school year, Scott dropped-out of school, and became a staffmember for the Bread and Roses Drop-In Center & Soup Kitchen in downtown Olympia. His childhood, being raised as a "P.K., a Preacher's Kid," made him very leery of religious
organizations, but what he found with Bread and Roses--part of the Catholic Workers' movement--was that they were "strangely palatable, in that they really DO help a lot of downtrodden people...they walk their talk."

Scott's calling to activism led him, (and continues to lead him), in diverse directions. While at TESC he was active with WASHPIRG, published photos and articles in Works in Progress and Slightly West, and participated in a massive anti-nuke protest rally at the Nevada Test Site. Scott also proudly points out that in 1986 he participated "as a 'Marcher' on The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament." Then adds that "NOT shockingly, that March hasn't (yet) achieved its admittedly ambitious stated objective--nearly 3 decades later, and we're STILL tottering at the brink of a fiery-fate, even MORE horrible than a plunge from the dreaded 'Fiscal Cliff'! Nonetheless--the GPM was an awesome and glorious thing to experience. Our route started in Barstow, California, and eventually crossed the entire continent, on-foot, clear to Washingtoon D.C. Just to be a part of that huge, intentional community, an actual "tent city," which re-located every day...now THAT was a 'messy-but-NEAT' thing!"

After a decade-long detour "in rural North Western Maine, living fairly 'primitively,' in a very poorly-insulated, fully non-electric cabin in the woods," losing girlfriends, but holding on to his "magnificent Belgian Shepherd/Husky (named Tovarish)", Scott "returned to Cascadia for the national EARTH FIRST! Round River Rendezvous near Cripple Creek, Oregon." ...Next stop, -Olympia! And here he is, still today. Most of his "BioFam" have now emigrated from Upstate Western New York to the NorthWest: a sister, a brother, 3 nephews, and his mum.


I asked Scott to share some thoughts on his volunteer work at the Co-op--what he does, what he likes about it: "I can be found "slaving happily" in (or around) the produce aisle of the Westside Store, most every durned Tuesday afternoon! Given the choice, I usually prefer to work 'on-the-floor', doing customer service work, rotating, stocking and
RE-stocking our enormous abundance of organic fruits and veggies." Scott lives in East Olympia, but admits, "If I was more sensible I'd probably do my volunteer shifts at the Eastside branch, which is MUCH closer to my trailer-home, ...but, I'm NOT very 'logical,' and have a definite, long-held bias towards the small but Beauty-FULL Westside store, where I've worked for many years." Scott sings the praises of the PLU #4000 bins in the produce aisle for their bargain prices. "Every single day," he says, "Americans send between 30-50% of all edible food products to the landfills. In a country where Hunger and proper nourishment are still enormous, unresolved challenges, this is a real SHAME. The Co-op's #4000 bins allow 'penniless students' and plain ol' frugal folks (like me) to enjoy 'less-than-Perfect, but still safe-enough-to-eat' organic fruits and vegetables, for the bargain price of just $.50 per pound! (I've scored many an 'ugly' but delicious meal from this highly-unpredictable, low-budget food resource!)"

Scott also enjoys the "treemendous, weekly responsibility of being the indoor plant-waterer for the Westside branch. (Incidentally, did you realize that the Co-op now employs TWO thriving, carnivorous plants at that store...as part of our extensive campaign against the friggin' fruitflies, gnasty gnats, and other pesky insect pests?!? They're well-fed and, frankly, pretty durned COOL!)"

When asked what he appreciates about the Co-op, Scott replied, "Having the opportunity to routinely see and to assist my friends and other community members. I also like having the chance to earn discounted "Volunteer Member" cards, which make shopping at the Co-ops MUCH more-affordable to me! In the produce aisle, I love it when we're able to feature LOCALLY-GROWN eats... from farms, growers and gatherers right here, within our OWN BIOREGION. (-No, ...I'm not going to suggest that we immediately quit importing ALL of our many, exotic delicacies...eventually that just might happen by itself!?) But, I particularly love helping folks to eat good, nourishing, organic grub that's been LOCALLY-GROWN, and is IN-SEASON!"

I wondered if there was anything Scott would like to see changed at the Co-op. His reply? "I'd love to see a decreased reliance on brand-new, 1st-use bags. We usually get PLENTY of 2nd-use shopping bags (and boxes) at the Westside store, and I'm guessing that the Eastside branch has a similar situation. (Geesh...just how hard can it be to remember to carry your bag(s) WITH you?!)"

Scott has been an active volunteer member of many groups in Olympia over the years: Helping to edit and distribute Works In Progress, Books to Prisoners, Food Not Bombs,
the local Free Skool at Media Island (where he has helped co-teach beginners' classes in basic sign language), the Green Party of South Puget Sound, Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and regularly helps with postering for the Olympia Film Society at the Capitol Theater, & for events at Orca Books.

One fateful night, (June 1, 2011), as Scott was riding his bike (his primary source of transportation) home from the theater, he threw some soggy napkins into an open dumpster. As he further describes the event, "Ever-vigilant, the Olympia Police Department promptly stopped and brutally-arrested me, when I responded to their questions with sign language. Now I am accused of trespassing, resisting arrest, and assaulting an officer." His civil rights/criminal defense attorney Larry Hildes, and the Scott Yoos Legal Defense Fund (LDF) have been trying to extricate him from, as Scott puts it, "a nightmarish lesson in perniciously persecutorial police power, 'unquestionable' Authority, and our snail-paced "justice system." Buried under huge legal debt, Scott adds that "this foolishness has been draining me, Thurston County's taxpayers, and my nationwide community of supporters for nearly TWO-YEARS now!" Atty. Hildes has submitted a Motion to Dismiss, which will continue in February. (No date set at the time of this writing).


*If you are interested in learning more about what is happening with Scott's struggle, PLEASE visit: www.scottysupport.blogspot.com and/or "Scott Yoos Ldf" on Facebook.

Donations to his legal defense fund can be made by mail or in person at any branch of the Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU). Checks should be made out to: Scott Yoos LDF, and the envelope should be addressed to: Scott Yoos LDF, c/o WSECU, P.O.B. WSECU, Olympia, WA 98507. One hundred percent of your donations will go directly towards Scott's legal defense.

It has been my great pleasure to share some moments with Scott Yoos, a gentle big-hearted soul, and to learn about his ongoing legal battle. Having attended a recent hearing, and met the diverse and socially-conscious group of people who have gathered to support him, I encourage all Co-op members to learn more about and support him as he continues to stand before our local court system.