Local News

For the fourth time in four days, the Illinois Valley Fire District extinguished an illegal outdoor burn. On Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., IVFD was dispatched to an open burn on Hathaway Drive in Kerby. Officials said the burn was small, but it contained household trash and roofing materials. The fire was put out and a citation was issued. On Tuesday at 8:37 p.m., IVFD responded to a grass fire on Takilma Road. Crews put out the unlawful blaze, which was described as a controlled burn. The occupant was educated on appropriate burn hours. Last Saturday night, IVFD crews were dispatched to an illegal open burn on White Schoolhouse Road. The blaze was doused and the property owner was cited. Last Sunday night, crews responded to an illegal open burn off Redwood Highway in Kerby. The fire was put out and the occupant was issued a written warning. IVFD officials said all outdoor debris burning requires a permit, there is no burning allowed at night and/or burning of illegal materials. They encourage residents to get their free burn permits online or in person and to follow the directions.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a Jackson County man for engaging in violent behavior while wielding a machete in a city park this week. The Police Department reports officers arrested a 36-year-old White City man for the incident at Tussing Park on Monday night. Police said they were alerted to a male subject waving a machete in the park and causing public alarm. The suspect struck one man in the arm, causing a 3-4 inch laceration. The victim was uncooperative and refused medical attention. The suspect initially complied with emergency lights of the patrol vehicle for a moment before he chose to flee the scene. He did not comply with lawful orders to stop and led officers down West Park Street to the parking lot at Duo Gym where he refused to exit the Chevrolet Tahoe he was driving. It took the deployment of multiple bean bag rounds and a pepper ball to force him to surrender to police. Grants Pass Fire & Rescue was called in to wash the non-lethal pepper off the suspect who was transported by ambulance to Three Rivers Medical Center for an evaluation. He was then lodged at the Josephine County Jail on charges of Felony Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Attempt to Elude Police and Disorderly Conduct.

 

The Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement (MADGE) team has been busy removing dangerous drugs and firearms from the local area over the past several months. In October 2023, MADGE investigators made contact with a suspect in the north Medford Walmart parking lot as a result of a months-long investigation. A search of the suspect's vehicle resulted in the seizure of nine pounds of methamphetamine and cash. The arrestees were identified as 52-year-old Angela Rehberger and 51-year-old Stacy Carlisle, both of Grants Pass. In January 2024, MADGE detectives made contact with two subjects in the south Medford Walmart parking lot as a result of a month-long investigation. The two suspects were found to be in possession of 10 pounds of methamphetamine, six ounces of fentanyl and cash. In February of this year, MADGE served a search warrant at the Motel 6 in north Medford as a result of a months-long investigation involving Honduran nationals delivering drugs to the Rogue Valley from the California Bay Area. During execution of the search warrant, 10 pounds of meth and a loaded handgun were seized.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested an out-of-compliance sex offender this week after responding to a trespassing complaint at a home in the Redwood area. According to the Police Department, officers were alerted to an incident in the 1700-block of Medart Lane around midday Monday. Police said the female occupant of the residence saw her 59-year-old father on the property with a ring camera and the man had been trespassed from his daughter's home in December. The woman's 14-year-old son was home alone and unaware his grandfather was outside. Officers arrived on scene and contacted the suspect who admitted to recalling the trespass warning, but said he needed to get some water. He was found to be out of compliance with his sex offender registration by three days. The suspect was placed into custody lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass and Failure to Report as a Sex Offender. He was being held without bail.

 

The Oregon State Police cited a truck driver for crashing into a fire hydrant and leaving the scene in north Grants Pass this week. According to OSP, troopers responded to an attempt to locate from the Grants Pass Police Department on Monday afternoon. Troopers said a Freightliner semi-truck driven by a 32-year-old California man struck a fire hydrant at the corner of 6th Street and Hillcrest Drive. They said the truck driver did not stop and he was eventually located on southbound Interstate 5 near the City of Rogue River. The truck driver was cited for Hit-and-Run Causing Property Damage and then released. The incident occurred near Les Schwab Tire Center. The victim was identified as the City of Grants Pass. The semi was registered to Opportunity Truck Lines, Inc., of Citrus Heights, California.

 

The Board of Commissioners will consider making several adjustments to the Josephine County Code during its weekly business session this morning. The Board will hold five public hearings -- four repealing chapters of the code pertaining to the Urban Area Planning Commission, Jackson-Josephine Region Board, Jefferson Behavioral Health and the Job Council, and one amending the Code related to the Solid Waste Agency. The first four ordinances will remove those advisory bodies from the Code because they no longer exist. The fifth ordinance officially renames the agency. Second readings and approvals of the ordinances are scheduled for April 17th. As usual, there will be Requests and Comments from Citizens when participants are given three minutes to address the Commissioners on just about any topic. Today's public meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Anne G. Basker Auditorium.

 

A group of Grants Pass voters have dropped their lawsuit seeking to keep State Representative Christine Goodwin off the May Republican primary ballot for Senate District 2. The Oregonian reports four voters and Josephine County Commissioner John West still contend that Goodwin is not eligible to represent the district because they allege she lives at a home just north of the district's boundaries — a claim Goodwin rejects. But it's too late to keep Goodwin off the ballot, the plaintiffs said in a filing to voluntarily dismiss the case, which was to have its first hearing in Josephine County Circuit Court this Friday. The group will pick up their legal challenge again if Goodwin wins the primary, attorney Steve Joncus wrote in his motion to dismiss the case. In a press release, Goodwin celebrated the development. She is running in the Republican state senate primary against Noah Robinson, the son of State Senator Art Robinson, who represents District 2 but is barred from running for reelection because he was among the Republican senators who boycotted work in 2023. Late last week, Joncus told The Oregonian that his clients had dropped the part of their lawsuit that sought to remove Goodwin from her House seat representing District 4 over their residency allegations. Attorneys from the Oregon Department of Justice argued in court filings that Oregon's Secretary of State can't disqualify a sitting lawmaker.

 

The Grants Pass & Josephine County Chamber of Commerce is excited to host the 2024 "Concerts in the Park" series in Grants Pass this summer. Join the Chamber on Tuesday evenings for five weeks of free community concerts running from June 18th through July 23rd from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.. No concert is scheduled on July 2nd. Until completion of the permanent bandshell at Riverside Park, the Chamber will continue to host the concerts at the Josephine County Fairgrounds' Midway Park. This open grassy location offers shade trees, an abundance of parking, accessible facilities and optimal vendor space. The 2024 Concerts in the Park lineup includes Nashville recording artist Jessie Leigh on June 18th, the Salsa Brava Dance Band on June 25th, the Danielle Kelly Soul Project on July 9th, Trevor Hanks & The Blackburn Rebels on July 16th and the Rogue Suspects on July 23rd. Make a night of it by bringing the entire family for great music, delicious food and fun for all ages. This family-friendly event features local food trucks, kid activities, vendor booths and the Wild River Brewing Tap Trailer. For more information, call the Chamber at (541)-476-7717.

 

Red Cross volunteers and members of Jackson County Fire District #3 will team up to install more than 300 free smoke detectors for local families vulnerable to home fires during a "Sound the Alarm" event this Saturday in White City. This effort is part of the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which has helped save at least 2,060 lives -- including 24 lives in the Cascades Region -- since launching in October 2014. The goal of the "Sound the Alarm" initiative is to install 50,000 free smoke alarms with partners in more than 50 at-risk communities across the country. Saturday's event starts at 9 a.m. with guest speakers at Jackson County Fire District #3 on Agate Road in White City. Smoke alarm installations in selected homes will continue until around 3:30 p.m.. Red Cross officials said this work is made possible by generous regional partners such as Tektronix, Mountain Home and Leatherman.