Local News

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.

 

The Grants Pass City Council will prepare for the upcoming budget season and explore downtown parking options during its bi-weekly workshop session today. The City Council will open the workshop with a Grants Pass Budget Committee orientation. The budget panel is comprised of all eight Council members as well as citizen appointees who will collaborate on the spending plan for Fiscal Year 2025. Next on the agenda is A Street Parking Options followed by a review of the agenda for Wednesday night's regular meeting. Mayor Sara Bristol will then adjourn the workshop and convene a Special Meeting in Executive Session. The closed-door meeting is being held for labor negotiations. Today's workshop begins at 11:45 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at Grants Pass City Hall, 101 NW A Street.

 

An exterior panel of a Boeing 737 carrying passengers on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Medford appears to have torn off mid-flight Friday, marking the latest in a string of recent high-profile mishaps for Boeing planes. A photo of the plane shows a hole in the fuselage, exposing what appears to be mechanical components of the aircraft. United said the panel was missing from a spot where one of the wings meets the aircraft's body, near the landing gear. United did not answer questions about what caused the panel to fall off. The Oregonian reports the plane is a Boeing 737-800, according to United, though the FAA lists it as a Boeing 737-824. It is not a Boeing 737 Max 9, which is the model of plane that made an emergency landing in Portland after a door plug flew off of the Alaska Airlines aircraft about six minutes into a January 5th flight. Friday's Flight 433 landed shortly before noon as scheduled at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, said Airport Director Amber Judd. United said none of the 139 passengers and six crew members were injured. Judd said it was only after the plane was on the ground that the problem was found. United confirmed that the pilots didn't declare an emergency before landing in Medford because "there was no indication of the damage during the flight."

 

Grants Pass police officers and firefighters adjusted well to Daylight Saving Time with a strong effort in community protection last week. According to the Weekly Report filed by Grants Pass City Manager Aaron Cubic, police officers responded to a total of 633 calls for service along with 263 officer-initiated calls that resulted in 57 arrests, 33 citations, 41 warnings and four highly- intoxicated people being lodged at the Sobering Center. Cubic also reported that officers conducted a total of 54 traffic stops in the city and made a total of 22 referrals to the Oregon Department of Human Services. The GPPD Community Response Team (CRT) made a total of 126 contacts with potential trouble-makers while arresting four people, citing 36 more and warning 46 others. The CRT unit also trespassed 21 individuals, posted 63 transient camps and removed trash from 10 campsites. Grants Pass Fire & Rescue responded to a total of 110 calls last week including 46 calls for emergency medical service, three for fire or smoke, 12 lift assists, five rescue situations, three assists to other agencies and eight false alarms. The 9-1-1 Dispatch Center fielded a total of 987 emergency calls.

 

The Parks Division of the Grants Pass Community Development Department has been busy preparing for the upcoming outdoor recreation seasons. According to Grants Pass City Manager Aaron Cubic, contractors have begun the process of dismantling the outdated play structure at Reinhart Volunteer Park. He said the project is advancing steadily and the anticipated completion is in April. Cubic said park staff removed a dead tree at the Grants Pass Police Department and replanted two new American Hornbeams in front of the main entrance last week. They will provide a nice splash of red color in the fall. A big thank you goes out to the Rogue Pickleball Club who generously contributed two new sets of bench components to the parks. Staff painted the lumber and put together the new bench additions. Another shout out goes to the Rogue Valley Rose Society who made their annual pruning trek to Riverside Park. Park officials said this volunteer group does a fantastic job every year diligently pruning the park's roses to maintain a quality appearance as well as the health of the roses.