Local News

The Christmas tree in downtown Grants Pass is decorated and ready for the tree-lighting ceremony in the Holiday Plaza this evening. The theme for this year's event is "Holiday Cosplay Downtown" and people are encouraged to attend wearing holiday-themed cosplay. The City of Grants Pass has announced that SW G Street will close at 3 p.m. and horse-drawn carriage rides will be available from 4 to 5:30 p.m.. From 5 to 9 p.m., there will be a "Letters to Santa Workshop" at the Downtown Welcome Center on the corner of 6th and G streets. The choir from Hidden Valley High School will be strolling along G Street from 5:15 to 6 p.m., the HVHS Jazz Band will perform from 6 to 6:30, and the Rogue Singers will perform from 6:30 until 7 when Santa arrives to turn on the lights. After the tree-lighting ceremony, Santa will be escorted to the Welcome Center for visits until 9 p.m..

 

A motorist was forced to spend Tuesday night in their vehicle after crashing off Galice Road near Almeda County Park. Rural Metro Fire Department reports a civilian passerby made the discovery in the 14,000-block of Galice Road on Wednesday around 9:30 a.m.. Rural Metro officials said the driver was attempting to turn around at the barricade when they backed their vehicle off the roadway and it rolled down an embankment and into a tree above the Rogue River. Due to a lack of cell service in that area, the driver was unable to call 9-1-1 for assistance. Uninjured but also unable to exit the vehicle, the driver remained inside until they were discovered. A Josephine County BLM deputy was the first to arrive on scene, confirming the need for emergency assistance due to the steep slope and precarious position of the vehicle. Bulldog Towing responded and secured the vehicle from falling further downhill and possibly into the river. Rescue crews then were able to successfully extricate the driver out of the vehicle and up to the road. The driver was transported by American Medical Response to Three Rivers Medical Center for evaluation of overnight exposure to the cold and wet weather.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a man for vandalizing a woman's vehicle and then fighting with officers who responded to arrest him early yesterday. The Police Department reports officers eventually arrested 49-year-old Daniel Reese Wise, Jr., by deploying a Taser near the corner of 6th and G streets at 7:05 a.m. Wednesday. Police said Wise had kicked the front of a woman's vehicle in the 1300-block of NW 6th Street, intentionally causing more than $100 in damage. The woman said the suspect was carrying a big stick on the handle of his bicycle, and was punching her window and kicking her car. She was afraid to get out of her vehicle due to concerns that he might come back. Officers contacted Wise a short time later and informed him he was under arrest. He refused to comply with lawful commands and physically resisted being placed into custody before the Taser was deployed and he was subdued. Daniel Wise was initially taken to Three Rivers Medical Center for an evaluation. He was medically cleared and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Mischief and Resisting Arrest. He was being held without bail.

 

A welfare check in the Redwood area of Grants Pass last night led to the arrest of a man for violating a court order. The Grants Pass Police Department reports officers responded to the incident near the corner of Dowell Road and Redwood Avenue on Wednesday around 8:30 p.m.. Police said 28-year-old Rayne Allen Teague was traveling south on Dowell Road when his vehicle ran out of gas. They said witnesses advised he was slumped over the wheel and that his vehicle was partially blocking the roadway, so officers were sent to check it out. Upon contact, Teague denied medical attention but he admitted to being in contact with a woman who is legally protected from him in a valid restraining order. He was placed into custody. Rayne Teague was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Contempt of Court-Restraining Order Violation and was being held without bail. His vehicle was towed due to it being a hazard.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Wilderville man for impaired driving and an outstanding warrant last night during a traffic stop on Redwood Highway in the Illinois Valley. According to OSP, troopers pulled over a Dodge Ram 2500 driven by 35-year-old Jason Adam Post on US Highway 199 near Finch Road at 10:27 p.m. Wednesday. Troopers said they stopped Post for a traffic violation and he displayed strong signs of impairment. They said he performed poorly in field sobriety tests and was found to have a local warrant for his arrest. He was taken to the Cave Junction Substation where he provided a breath sample that was well over the legal driving limit. Jason Post was then transported to the Grants Pass Sobering Center where he was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Reckless Driving. He was criminally cited to appear in court and released to the Sobering Center staff.

 

Grants Pass Police cited a motorist for two violations after he crashed his vehicle into a light pole on Redwood Highway near Bi-Mart last night. According to the Police Department, officers and emergency crews responded to the single-vehicle wreck in the 200-block of US Highway 199 on Wednesday at about 7:20 p.m.. Police said Jason Brisbine was traveling southbound on the highway when he lost control of his vehicle and collided with a city street pole. They said his vehicle continued to travel into the center median of the highway and his airbags deployed. Upon arrival, officers found Brisbine's vehicle facing in the wrong direction with minor to moderate damage. The light pole was damaged and city streets crews were notified. There were no signs of impairment. Brisbine was not injured, but he was cited for Driving While Suspended and No Insurance. He was ordered to report to his corrections officer this morning and his vehicle was towed away.

 

Grants Pass Police evicted three campers from two city parks during patrols performed early yesterday. During a patrol check at Baker Park, Derek Hood and Maria Guerrero were cited for Scattering Rubbish and Misuse of Park Open Spaces. Both were trespassed from the park for 30 days. Officers said a camper identified as "Cummings" had two tents at the park and advised he was getting rid of one of them. Two campers identified as "Pitts" and "Jensen" had trash and items outside their tent and they were warned to clean up the mess. A camper identified as "Hills" also had trash outside her tent and she was given one hour to clean it up. A shopping cart was returned to a local store. During a patrol check at Riverside Park, Patrick Gaither was cited for Misuse of Park Open Spaces and Alcohol in a Park. He was given a 30-day exclusion from the park. A woman identified as "Diana Reynolds" was advised that some of her property had been logged into safekeeping during a recent arrest.

 

Authorities have arrested the suspect in the most recent shooting in Medford that wounded a man on Tuesday. The Medford Police Department and other law enforcement agencies arrested 37-year-old Michael Joseph Gregory Seems on Wednesday afternoon in relation to the shooting that occurred at an apartment complex in the 2100-block of Roberts Road. On Wednesday at about 3:30 p.m., a Medford police detective spotted Seems as a passenger in a vehicle in Medford and followed the vehicle as it got onto Interstate 5 northbound. The detective coordinated responding units and police were able to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle in the City of Gold Hill. According to MPD, the vehicle briefly eluded the traffic stop, but eventually stopped on Lampman Road adjacent to the Rogue River. Seems fled from the vehicle down the embankment and into the river. He became trapped on the rocks, partially in the river, and remained uncooperative with police officers who were negotiating with him to exit the river. Officers were eventually able to rescue the suspect and assist him up the bank where he was placed into custody. Michael Seems was lodged at the Jackson County Jail on multiple felony charges including Attempted Murder and Attempted Assault in the First Degree. All known witnesses and participants in this case have been identified and interviewed. The firearm believed to have been used in the shooting has been recovered. Detectives said the victim in this case is recovering from his injuries. They said the shooting resulted from the victim confronting Seems and two others who were loitering near the back of his apartment. MPD would like to thank members of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Central Point Police Department and Oregon State Police who assisted in the capture of the suspect.

 

A Southern Oregon woman was sentenced in federal court this week for using her deceased husband's identity to unlawfully claim federal student aid. The US Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon reports 56-year-old Cynthia Pickering of Central Point was sentenced to 36 months of probation and ordered to pay more than $36,000 in restitution to the US Department of Education. According to court documents, Pickering devised a scheme to use her deceased husband's personally identifiable information to submit multiple applications for federal student aid and enroll her husband at three different universities and colleges in Oregon. These fraudulent applications caused Western Oregon University, Eastern Oregon University and Rogue Community College to disperse $36,341 in federal student aid into Pickering's personal checking account. To conceal her scheme, Pickering attended online classes pretending to be her former husband so that her husband would remain eligible for the student aid. In October 2022, a federal grand jury in Medford returned a nine-count indictment charging Pickering with Wire Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft and Student Loan Fraud. She was arrested at her residence in Central Point on November 15, 2022. In August of this year, Pickering pleaded guilty to three counts of Wire Fraud and three counts of Student Aid Fraud.