Local News

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners have the May 2026 election and county property on their Tuesday workshop agenda. Along with the election, the Legal Counsel update includes approval of a quitclaim deed regarding a Lower Grave Creek Road property from the September auction, as well as Flying Lark properties, and an invoice and case number mediation. Following department business from Community Justice, Forestry, Airports, Recreation, Facilities, Public Works, IT, and HR, the board will discuss the county property proposed by Pathways to Stability as a potential homeless shelter. After appointments to the Rural Planning Commission and the Josephine County Mining Advisory Committee, as well as advisory questions for the May 2026 ballot, the meeting will adjourn pending other matters of discussion. The County Administration Workshop will be held Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in the BCC Conference Room, and will be streamed live at www.josephinecounty.gov/livestream.

 

The City of Grants Pass will be performing more smoke testing on Wednesday, October 28.

From 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. between 9th & 10th Street, starting at Wharton, working north to include a small portion of NE Josephine and up to NE Cedar, the purpose of the test is to determine the condition of sewer laterals.

The following information will be placed on the doors of all residents in the test area: "These tests will assist us in locating breaks and defects in the sewer system. During the test, you may see smoke coming from vent stacks on buildings or from holes in the ground. Don’t be alarmed. The smoke has no odor, is non-toxic, non-staining, does not create a fire hazard, and will dissipate in a few minutes."

Before conducting the smoke test, the city reminds those in the area to please pour water into your basement floor drains and into any unused sinks. This will seal the drain traps so that smoke will not enter your building through the drain.

If smoke should enter your building during the test, it's possible that there are defects in the plumbing that could allow dangerous sewer gas to enter. Note the location of the smoke and call 541-450-6115. Open doors and windows to ventilate any smoke that enters the building.

Please notify the city before the test is conducted if you have any dogs, birds, or other pets that will be confined alone in the building during the test, a person who will be alone and is an invalid or sleeping during the test, any individuals with respiratory problems who will be in the building, or elderly persons who will be alone and might be alarmed or confused if they see smoke.

For more information, again call (541) 450-6115.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a shoplifter at the local Fred Meyer after she attempted to steal a tent Saturday afternoon.

Loss prevention at the 1101 Grants Pass Parkway store confronted a woman after she passed all points of sale with a tent worth almost $35. She let go of the tent, and left towards F Street south bound on Beacon.

Officers were able to contact the suspect, Corrina White, and take her into custody. She was charged with Third Degree Theft and was lodged at the Josephine County Jail.

 

Grants Pass Police apprehended a trespassing suspect at a local market Saturday afternoon.

At 2:54 p.m., officers were notified by an employee of the Pinnacle 365 at 1044 NW 6th Street that a man was smoking meth in the men's restroom.

The employee requested the suspect be trespassed. He then told officers the man was leaving on a bicycle heading northbound on 6th. Officers tracked the suspect down going westbound on Manzanita Avenue.

The man, identified by officers as Michael Creech, was contacted and advised that he was in violation of his parole. A consent search produced a white powdery substance, which Creech admitted was fentanyl.

Officers placed Creech on a detainer, charged him with Fentanyl Possession, and lodged him in the Josephine County Jail.

 

Dispatch was alerted to a man wanting to turn himself in late Sunday night.

The suspect called at 11:51 p.m., saying he would be at 201 E Park Street wearing a gray hat, black coat, black shirt, and blue pants.

Grants Pass Police officers located the suspect, Robert Elling, and took him into custody. He had an Oregon State Parole Board warrant out for his arrest involving dangerous drugs.

Officers confirmed Elling's identity and the warrant, then transported and lodged him in the Josephine County Jail.

 

Oregon State Police apprehended a suspect hitchhiking on Interstate 5 Sunday afternoon.

Troopers observed Zacharey Costa on the shoulder of I-5 at milepost 77. They knew he was wanted on a felony warrant, so they placed him into custody.

While conducting a search for weapons and means of escape, approximately three grams of methamphetamine were found on Costa's person. He was given a criminal citation for the drugs.

Troopers subsequently lodged Costa in the Josephine County Jail on his warrant for Third Degree Theft and Robbery, and Meth Possession.

 

The second-place finisher for a Grants Pass homeless site grant filed a protest Friday regarding two city councilors and the winning applicant's proposed property. The Daily Courier reports Bernie Woodard of the Roseburg based Elk Island Trading Group sent the protest to the city attorney and city recorder. He asked that Pathways to Stability, the top scoring applicant, be disqualified for not having a site and falsely claiming it was in active negotiations for the property at 1798 SE N Street. In his protest of the city's grant award process, Woodard said Grants Pass City Councilors Victoria Marshall and Erich Schloegl showed bias in favor of Pathways to Stability in social media posts and in their scoring of the nonprofit's application, as well as bias against his company.

 

Grants Pass Police were alerted to a potential knife threat Sunday evening.

Dispatch was notified at 5:14 p.m. that a man had threatened the caller with a knife, but the caller took it from him. The suspect then reportedly fled the scene on a bike toward Tom Pearce Park.

Officers arrived and contacted the suspect, Alejandro Camarena-Torres. After an investigation, the reported menacing was unfounded and no probable cause was developed for an arrest.

Camarena-Torres was, however, found to be wanted on two warrants, one out of the Medford Police Department. He had been charged with Third Degree Robbery and Theft, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Menacing, and Unlawful Possession of Meth.

Camarena-Torres was taken into custody and lodged in the Josephine County Jail on his warrants.

 

Officers with the Grants Pass Police Department were alerted to a verbal dispute complaint Saturday afternoon.

An argument between a man and woman occurred in the 300 block of SW Bridge Street. Upon arrival, officers learned the man had already left and he and the woman were fighting over the phone.

She was yelling and breaking windows to her trailer in the backyard. Officers advised her of the complaint.

Early Sunday morning, at 12:52 a.m., the woman notified dispatch that the man had returned to the property. Officers arrived and contacted the man after he came out the front door with his hands up.

The suspect, Travis Gearlds, was found to be wanted on two separate warrants from the Medford Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. His charges included Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle and two counts of Contempt of Court respectively.

Gearlds was taken into custody on his warrants and lodged in the Josephine County Jail. The woman was warned for Hindering.