Local News

AllCare Health has announced a $20,000 grant award to the Josephine County Chapter of the American Legion. The grant is designed to improve food security for veterans, their families and prioritized vulnerable people by creating a remodeled kitchen at American Legion Post #28 in Grants Pass. The grant will fund a code-compliant kitchen so volunteers can provide hot meals in a safe location, decreasing risks of isolation in a trauma-informed setting. Food security is crucial to community health and well-being, and contributes to reducing the community burden of illness, disease and behavioral health challenges. American Legion Post #28 has provided important services to veterans and others for more than 80 years. This grant is part of AllCare Health pledge of $2.7 million in 2024 for improving the health and well-being of Southern Oregon communities. AllCare Health is an innovative, physician-owned and locally-operated healthcare organization.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested an O'Brien man on an outstanding warrant during a weekend traffic stop on Redwood Highway in Selma. OSP reports troopers pulled over a Chevrolet Silverado driven by a 36-year-old motorist on US Highway 199 near Illinois River Road on Saturday at 12:14 p.m.. Troopers said they stopped the motorist for traffic violations and discovered that he was wanted on a local bench warrant for failing to appear in court for Driving While Suspended. He was placed into custody and transported to the Josephine County Jail where he was lodged on the warrant. According to OSP, the pickup was left with a friend who arrived at the traffic stop location.

 

A Cave Junction man was arrested for drug possession during a weekend traffic stop in Selma. The Oregon State Police reports troopers pulled over a Cadillac sedan driven by a 54-year-old motorist in the 100-block of Deer Creek Road at 11 a.m. Saturday. Troopers said they stopped the motorist for traffic violations at the Ray's Food Place in Selma. They said drug paraphernalia was observed in plain sight inside the car. A consent search was conducted, the drug paraphernalia was seized as evidence and the man was detained. The suspect was cited to appear in court for the narcotics violation and released. He was also given a phone number to call for drug treatment.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Grants Pass motorist for impaired driving after a weekend traffic stop in the Redwood area. According to OSP, troopers pulled over a Honda CRV driven by a 42-year-old woman on Redwood Avenue near Southgate Way on Saturday at 5:37 p.m.. Troopers said they stopped the motorist after observing her failing to maintain the travel lane multiple times. They said she displayed signs of impairment and also performed poorly in field sobriety tests. The suspect was taken to the Grants Pass Sobering Center where she provided a positive breath sample for alcohol impairment. She was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants and her vehicle was impounded.

 

Authorities were investigating the cause of several small fires that broke out along the railroad tracks in the Wolf Creek area yesterday. On Sunday afternoon, Rural Metro Fire Department assisted the Wolf Creek Rural Fire Protection District with extinguishing the railroad fires. Rural Metro officials said there were at least a dozen railroad ties burning as well as a 1/10th of an acre spot fire burning in nearby vegetation. Access to the fires was off the 100-block of Warner Road. By late afternoon, all the fires were contained and crews were engaged in mop-up operations. The cause of the fires had not been disclosed as of this morning.

 

A tragic weekend mishap claimed the life of a young girl in a south Grants Pass parking lot. On Saturday at 11:24 a.m., the 9-1-1 Dispatch Center received multiple calls about a child who was struck by a vehicle in the parking lot of a business on Fruitdale Drive near Williams Highway. Grants Pass police officers responded to the scene along with the Josephine County Sheriff's Office, Grants Pass Fire & Rescue and American Medical Response. A five-year-old girl was found seriously injured and emergency aid was immediately rendered. The child was transported by AMR to Three Rivers Medical Center where -- despite medical efforts -- she succumbed to her injuries. With the assistance of witnesses, Grants Pass police detectives determined the vehicle that struck the girl was unoccupied. The 74-year-old owner of the truck had parked the vehicle and exited it in the parking lot. The man quickly realized his truck was rolling backwards and he attempted to open the door to stop it, but was unable to do so before it struck the girl and came to rest against a parked vehicle. Detectives said the man has cooperated with the investigation, and alcohol or other controlled substances were not believed to be a factor. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to contact the Grants Pass Police Department at (541)-450-6260.

 

A motorcyclist died over the weekend after colliding head-on with a passenger truck near Trail. Dispatchers from Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon (ECSO) received a call about the fatal crash on Saturday at 12:53 p.m.. Sheriff's deputies responded to the accident near milepost 8 of Elk Creek Road. The Jackson County Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) team also responded to investigate. Preliminary findings indicated a Yamaha motorcycle ridden by a 21-year-old man was traveling south on Elk Creek when it failed to negotiate a curve and drove into the oncoming lane, striking a northbound Chevrolet Colorado. Life-saving measures were attempted on the motorcyclist, but he was pronounced deceased at the scene. Out of respect for grieving family and friends, the Sheriff's Office said it would not be releasing the name of the deceased. Investigators said speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the fatal crash. They said driver of the truck -- who was not hurt -- was fully cooperative with the investigation and impairment was not a factor. The collision is under further investigation and no more information is available at this time.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office jailed a man for attacking his mother at a Colonial Valley residence over the weekend. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies responded to a domestic disturbance in the 200-block of Grouse Creek Road on Saturday around noon. Deputies said the call was transferred from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, which received information from the victim's ex-husband who had just received a call from her regarding the attack. She stated that her 35-year-old son was highly intoxicated when he threw her to the ground inside his residence on the property. Upon arrival, deputies contacted the woman who was holding her right side and advised that her left ear hurt and she could not hear out of it after hitting her head. The victim declined transport to the hospital because she had no insurance. She promised to visit an urgent care center as soon as possible. The suspect's biological father showed up and led deputies into the suspect's house where they found him passed out on the floor. A struggle ensued while walking the suspect out of the residence to the patrol vehicle. The man threatened to head-butt deputies and began resisting, but he was taken to the ground and subdued. The suspect was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Felony 4th-Degree Domestic Assault and Resisting Arrest. He was being held without bail.

 

No one was hurt in a multi-vehicle weekend crash on Redwood Highway near O'Brien. On Saturday at 2:09 p.m., the Illinois Valley Fire District, American Medical Response and Josephine County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the three-vehicle collision on US Highway 199 at Gene Brown Road. No other information about the crash was disclosed, but IVFD officials said there were no injuries reported and at least one of the vehicles was towed to Cave Junction. The Sheriff's Office was conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash.