Local News

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is investigating a suspicious death after skeletal remains were discovered last weekend in the southern Applegate Valley. Detectives and medical examiners responded to the location outside Jacksonville to investigate on Sunday. Jackson County Public Information Officer Aaron Lewis said the rugged terrain and remote area required the Search & Rescue team to assist in recovering the remains. He said due to the ongoing investigation, the exact location will not be released at this time. Investigators are working to identify the subject as well as the cause and manner of death. Due to the advanced stages of decomposition, state medical examiners will conduct additional testing. The cause is under further investigation with detectives following additional leads. No further information is available at this time.

 

Two people were hospitalized early yesterday for injuries sustained in a southwest Grants Pass structure fire. Grants Pass Fire & Rescue, Rural Metro Fire Department, American Medical Response and the Grants Pass Police Department were dispatched to a house fire in the 1400-block of Shady Lane off Redwood Avenue. Grants Pass fire officials said arriving units found the single-story home heavily involved with flames. They said firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control by 6 a.m. and the extensive overhaul effort continued until about 11 a.m.. Two occupants were able to exit the structure prior to the arrival of firefighters and they were transported by ambulance to Three Rivers Medical Center for treatment of unspecified injuries. Officials said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Grants Pass man on an outstanding warrant this week while he was fishing along the Rogue River. OSP reports Fish & Game troopers contacted the 29-year-old angler near the intersection of Robertson Bridge Road and Azalea Drive on Tuesday morning. Troopers said they observed the man fishing and he admitted that he did not have a fishing license. The subject was run through a routine records check and it was discovered that he was wanted on a local warrant regarding an unspecified crime. The suspect was cited to appear in court and then released.

 

Firefighters from Rural Metro and Jackson County Fire District #1 took to the calm water at the Grants Pass Family YMCA last weekend to refresh the skills they might need in much different water this summer. Joining the training session were 10 lifeguards from the Y. Under the guidance of two of Rural Metro's fire professionals, an internationally known rescue instructor and a retired US Coast Guard rescue swimmer, tasks included flipping an overturned raft, contact rescues of a panicked and combative victim, and the extraction of an unconscious or injured victim using a backboard. Warmer weather is coming soon and so will the urge to swim in deceptively cold and swift water -- especially in the Rogue River. Every year, tragedy strikes those who are not prepared, sometimes with fatal consequences. As an "all-hazard" service provider, Rural Metro's mission is to be as prepared as possible for when the call for help is made.

 

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Rogue Valley held a celebratory "Switch-On" event last week as its new solar power installation on the Illinois Valley clubhouse in Kerby is complete. Board members, community members and special guests joined representatives from Pacific Power, which helped fund the installation through a Blue Sky award. The event featured a mock switch-on celebration as the panels already had been generating electricity since last December. As part of their ongoing support in STEAM education and career-based learning in after-school programs, Pacific Power representatives assisted club members in a hands-on STEAM project focused on renewable energy. STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math.

 

The Grants Pass City Council last night moved an ordinance slated for action to an upcoming executive session. The ordinance pertains to the Regulation of Humanitarian Service Events on Publicly Owned Property. It would create a registration process to use city parks while prohibiting individuals, nonprofits or charitable organizations of engaging in the dissemination of drug paraphernalia and combustible materials. The City Council then approved the annexation of two parcels at 3322 Leonard Road into the city limits. The vote was 5-1 for the annexation. Planned future development of the parcels includes the creation of 54 separate lots for single dwelling residential units. Since the approval of the ordinance was not unanimous, it will appear before the panel at their next regular meeting. The five-year Annual Action Plan-required public hearing to obtain Community Development Block Grants from the federal government was held. The plan will be submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development this summer. Councilors approved designating two Dawn Redwood trees as Heritage Trees, with one located at 1995 NW Vine Street and one at Riverside Park. Councilors also approved the naming of the baseball stadium at Agnew-Lytle Field in Reinhart Volunteer Park as Chapman-Reese Stadium.

 

The Grants Pass City Council last night unanimously approved a special use permit for the Mobile Integrated Navigation Team (MINT) to operate a resource center and place pallet shelters for the unhoused population at 218 Redwood Highway. This single lot is located in the General Commercial zoning district and is under private ownership of Thomas Parker. The site is known to Grants Pass residents as Parker's Place. MINT has acquired a one-year lease at the site with an agreement to eventually gain ownership of the property. Some improvements to the building have already been accomplished to meet state and city requirements. The existing building on the site will serve as the navigation center for support services to the unsheltered while the land behind the building will be the location for what is projected to be 15 pallet shelters. According to MINT, those shelters would be reserved for the elderly or infirm when living in a park or on public property would create an unhealthy and undue hardship.

 

The Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved five ordinances that update the Josephine County Code. Following five brief public hearings, the Board voted unanimously to adopt the ordinances that were previously approved on April 3rd. Four of the ordinances repealed Josephine County participation in the Urban Area Planning Commission, Jackson/Josephine Regional Board, Jefferson Behavioral Health and the Job Council. The City of Grants Pass makes appointments to the UAPC and conducts its meetings while the Regional Board, Jefferson Behavioral Health and Job Council no longer exist. The fifth ordinance amends the Code pertaining to the Solid Waste Agency, which was founded in 2001 by Josephine County and the City of Grants Pass. The City of Cave Junction has since joined the organization, which is now called the Josephine County Solid Waste Agency.

 

The Mobile Integrative Navigation Team, known as MINT, applied to the City for a special use permit to operate a resource center and place pallet shelters at 218 Redwood Highway and was approved unanimously. This single lot is located the General Commercial zoning district and is under private ownership of Thomas Parker. The location known to Grants Pass residents as Parker’s Place. MINT has acquired a one-year lease on the property and an agreement to continue in the location eventually gaining ownership of the location. Some improvements have already been accomplished to the building to meet state and city requirements. The north building on the site would serve as the navigation center including support services to the unsheltered while the property at the rear of the building would be the site for what is projected to be 15 pallet shelters. According to MINT, those shelters would be reserved for the elderly or infirm that living in a park or on public property would create an unhealthy and undue hardship.