Local News

Grants Pass Police used surveillance footage to identify a man who broke into a vehicle at a downtown auto parts store this week. The Police Department reports officers responded to a "car-clouting" incident at Quality Automotive Parts on SW G Street on Wednesday night. Police said the store manager called 9-1-1 after seeing a male subject enter an employee's Dodge Durango that was parked at the store. They said the caller was watching on a remote camera and reported the same vehicle was broken into last weekend as well. The surveillance video was sent to the Police Department as evidence and officers were able to identify the suspect as 41-year-old David Wesley Jones. They rushed to the scene and placed the suspect into custody. David Jones was booked into the Josephine County Jail for Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle.

 

A motorist wound up wet but uninjured after crashing a vehicle off Redwood Highway into a pond in the Wonder area yesterday. Rural Metro Fire Department, American Medical Response and the Oregon State Police were dispatched to the accident on US Highway 199 at Slate Creek Road on Thursday at 2:14 p.m.. For reasons being investigated by OSP, the vehicle landed in a pond after a crash with another vehicle at the intersection. The law enforcement agency did not have any new information on the incident today. The unidentified driver was able to self-extricate from the fully-submerged vehicle and there were no injuries reported. Traffic was temporarily impacted while rescuers processed the crash scene. The Oregon Department of Transportation provided traffic control.

 

The National Park Service has threatened to terminate its contract with international hospitality company Aramark at Crater Lake National Park, following a rash of management issues at the Oregon destination over the last five years. The Oregonian reports Crater Lake Hospitality -- a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Aramark -- is contracted to run concessions at Crater Lake and the Oregon Caves National Monument through 2030. However, a park service spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that the federal agency will terminate the contract unless the company "shows cause as to why NPS should not do so." Park officials did not offer a timeline for the company to respond, and did not say how a termination would affect park operations like Crater Lake Lodge and boat tours. Officials declined to say how Aramark was informed or exactly what was communicated, but agency guidelines require written notice. The announcement comes just two months after US Senator Ron Wyden issued a public letter to the National Park Service, raising a litany of "serious concerns" about Crater Lake Hospitality and asking the federal agency to "take immediate action to prevent concessionaire mismanagement from continuing to threaten Crater Lake National Park, its visitors, or the employees who live and work there."

 

The Oregonian reports drive-thru chain Dutch Bros said this week it will spend as much as $41 million on relocation costs, severance benefits and capital expenses when it relocates 40% of its corporate jobs from its Grants Pass headquarters to the company's office in Arizona. Dutch Bros announced the move last month, saying it wanted more corporate employees to be working closer to a major airport and closer to the company's rapidly growing markets in the South and Southwest. The company hasn't said publicly how many jobs are going to Arizona, but some who decline to make the move will lose their jobs. "Employees asked to move to Phoenix will receive a financial package regardless of their decision," the company said in a written statement. Employees who decline to move will receive severance payments and those who relocate will receive bonuses. In a regulatory filing Wednesday, Dutch Bros said it will spend between $19 million and $26 million on those costs. The company said it will spend another $5 million in consulting fees and other costs, and between $6 million and $10 million to expand the Phoenix office. New Dutch Bros CEO Christine Barone lives in Arizona but the company’s headquarters will remain in Grants Pass, where co-founder and chairman Travis Boersma lives.

 

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds help eliminate blight and meet urgent community needs that pose a serious threat to the health, safety and welfare of citizens. The City of Grants Pass is beginning the annual process for developing and adopting the 2024-25 Year 5 Annual Action Plan to fund activities and projects to address priorities identified in the 2020-2024 5-Year Consolidated Plan. This process follows timelines specified in the city's Citizen Participation Plan and federal law. In the last few years, the City of Grants Pass has sent out a survey for community response. The city prepared the survey to ascertain the community's needs and priorities. These ideas and suggestions will help develop the Year 5 Action Plan. Please take some time to fill out the survey, which is available at: "surveymonkey.com/r/FFQKGMM." The deadline for completing the survey is March 29th.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man for failing to register as a convicted sex offender last night after an incident at a north-city motel. According to the Police Department, officers responded to a complaint involving 48-year-old Christopher Allen Blodgett at Motel 6 on NE 7th Street on Wednesday shortly after 7 p.m.. Police said Blodgett was staying with a friend at the motel and he locked the door so his roommate could not enter. They said the roommate was the registered guest and he called 9-1-1 for law enforcement backup in order to remove his belongings from the room. Responding officers contacted both men and discovered that Blodgett was out of compliance with his mandatory sex offender registration. The suspect actively used physical force to resist being placed into custody, but he was eventually subdued. Christopher Blodgett was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Failure to Report as a Sex Offender, Resisting Arrest and the resulting Felony Parole Violation. He was being held on a no-bail detainer.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a woman for threatening her ex-husband with a knife at a trailer park on Rogue River Highway late yesterday. The Police Department reports officers arrested 37-year-old Joyce-Ann Nicole Mills at the park in the 1200-block of Highway 99 on Wednesday at 5:21 p.m.. Police said an investigation determined Mills brandished a knife in a threatening manner at her ex during a domestic dispute. They said she also used the knife to stab a PlayStation in the presence of the victim and she threw a phone at him, striking him in the back of the head. The victim was not seriously hurt. Officers arrived on scene, interviewed both parties and placed Mills into custody. Joyce-Ann Mills was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Domestic Menacing and she was being held without bail.

 

A Josephine County corrections client was arrested yesterday for breaking into a vacant northeast Grants Pass residence and attempting to live there. Grants Pass Police were alerted to the incident involving 30-year-old Edward Leslie Jenkins by his corrections officer. Officers responded to the Community Corrections Office on NW 4th Street on Wednesday shortly after 10 a.m.. Police said Jenkins admitted to his officer that he had damaged a vacant home in the 1100-block of NE Beacon Drive while trying to gain access to live there. The property owner was contacted and wished to pursue criminal charges. Some of the suspect's belongings were still inside the house. Edward Jenkins was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Criminal Mischief and Criminal Trespass -- both in the 2nd-Degree -- plus the resulting Probation Violation related to past arrests for Robbery, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Menacing and Driving While Suspended. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police used surveillance footage to identify a man who broke into a vehicle at a downtown auto parts store last night. The Police Department reports officers responded to a "car-clouting" incident at Quality Automotive Parts on SW G Street on Wednesday around 8:10 p.m.. Police said the store manager called 9-1-1 after seeing a male subject enter an employee's Dodge Durango that was parked at the store. They said the caller was watching on a remote camera and reported the same vehicle was broken into last weekend as well. The surveillance video was sent to the Police Department as evidence and officers were able to identify the suspect as 41-year-old David Wesley Jones. They rushed to the scene and placed the suspect into custody. David Jones was booked into the Josephine County Jail for Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle.