Local News

The Grants Pass City Council during its Monday workshop adjusted the rules governing the public comment period of the official business sessions. Individual times to speak is reduced from three minutes to two minutes with the total time allotted for the public is 30 minutes. The blue cards must be submitted to be allowed to speak and they must be in place prior to the public comment period. The cards will indicate the topic to be discussed must be related to city business.

 

The Grants Pass City Council voted to pursue a partnership with the YMCA on a new pool/recreation facility south of the Rogue River on the 10-acre Allen Creek reserve property that is designated for a park area. The YMCA asked for a long-term lease for 100 years at one dollar a year. The envisioned facility would cost approximately $65 million dollars. The YMCA estimated fund raising, planning, and building the facility to opening would be approximately four years. The vote was irrespective of any final decision on the future of the Caveman Pool. A base estimate of cost for renovating the pool is $13.5 million, slightly more for enhancing the pool.

 

An Oregon State Trooper stopped a gray Honda Civic Friday night at the intersection of Agness and the Grants Pass Parkway for the illegal alteration of a license plate and discovered the driver had a statewide felony warrant from the Parole Board. The 38-year-old driver was lodged in the Josephine County Jail. Saturday night at 5:30 Troopers in the Fish and Wildlife Division received a call from a Cave Junction landowner that had just shot a nuisance bear that was damaging his property and attacking his livestock. The bear was destroyed and was salvaged. Early Sunday morning a Trooper stopped a gray Chevrolet that was the subject of a driving complaint at 10th and “L” Street. The driver, a 50-year-old woman, was found to have an active felony arrest warrant. She was cited and given a court date and time. A two-vehicle rollover crash at the intersection of Robertson Bridge Road and Azalea Drive drew a Trooper response Sunday night at 9:20. A white Ford truck was traveling on Azalea when a maroon Nissan truck entered the intersection, failing to stop at the stop sign. The Ford, that had the right of way, struck the Nissan on the right rear side causing it to roll onto its side. Both drivers denied medical attention and the Nissan was towed. There was no mention of a citation in the Trooper’s statement.

 

Grants Pass City Police arrested a 30-year-old man Sunday evening following an altercation with his girlfriend. The initial 911 call came at 7:45 p.m. reporting a woman screaming for help in a white van with a blue tarp because a man was attacking her in the parking lot above the boat ramp near the end of Vista Drive. According to the police log the man was throwing things in the back of the van at the woman. The woman advised he threw a metal jug at her. The man walked away and was contacted at the entrance to Baker Park. The police narrative stated the woman was placed in fear of her serious injury when her boyfriend lost his temper and began throwing thin

 

A relatively long agenda is awaiting the Grants Pass City Council when it convenes its weekly workshop this morning at 11:45. The Council will discuss minimum density and multi-family permits and how system development charges can affect builder’s incentives. A discussion on the future of the Caveman pool is second on the agenda. The third item is consideration of public comment rules and procedures for Council’s business sessions, which have become lengthy and occasionally raucous. Councilors will review upcoming agendas before reconvening in executive session for labor negotiations and real property transactions.

 

A Shady Cove man is in the Jackson County Jail charged with 2nd degree murder following a Saturday homicide. Jackson County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call Saturday at 11:03 a.m. in rural Shady Cove. Dispatch received the call for a possible homicide with an armed suspect on scene at a property in the 23000 block of Highway 62 north of Shady Cove. Deputies arrived with the SWAT Bearcat to locate the armed suspect. Dispatch received a 2nd 911 call for the potential suspect at the Trail Market. Deputies responded and took the suspect into custody without incident. The victim’s name will be released pending next-of-kin notification. Medical Examiners arrived at the scene to begin the death investigation. Cause of death is pending the autopsy by an Oregon State Police forensic pathologist. Jackson County Detectives from and Central Point Police responded to assume the homicide investigation. The suspect, Travis Clayton Driver, 34, of Shady Cove, is in custody charged with second-degree murder. He is lodged in the Jackson County Jail.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff’s office has reported the first drowning of the season. A call to 911 Saturday morning at 11:53 reported the incident in the Illinois River at Forks State Park in Cave Junction. The Sheriff’s Office along with OSP, IV Fire, and AMR responded to find Zeke Grant, 39, of Cave Junction had drowned while swimming at a popular swimming hole accessed from the park. Witnesses at the park had seen Grant swimming in the water but then found him submerged approximately 15 minutes later. There were no witnesses when the drowning occurred. Next of kin have been notified and no further information will be released by the Sheriff's Office at this time.

 

The Grants Pass City Police jailed three individuals on weapons charges over the weekend in separate incidents. Saturday afternoon at 3:36 Police were notified of two shop lifters detained at Walmart. The suspects were cooperative however a 33-year-old woman was arrested and lodged in jail for the theft amounting to $33.96. On being searched incident to the arrest the woman was found to have a concealed firearm without a permit. She is facing charges of theft III and unlawful possession of a firearm. Just before 7 p.m. due to multiple calls, Police were alerted to a man in front of the Josephine County Courthouse pointing a firearm at oncoming traffic. Units arrived, deployed a contact team and took the 47-year-old man into custody without incident and recovered a “replica” firearm, later logged into evidence. The man was jailed on charges of menacing/intimidation and disorderly conduct II. It was the suspects 6th incarceration since September. Later that evening, at approximately 8:23 p.m., a 911 caller reported a suspected verbal altercation between a male and female in the 600 block of 7th street. Responding officers contacted the man walking away from the incident towards the High School. The 36-year-old man was determined to be a convicted felon and found to be in possession of two daggers and a baton that, with centrifugal force, could open to 24 inches. He was lodged in jail on a charge of being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon and carrying concealed.

 

Alert Law enforcement officers corralled three fugitives Saturday. Saturday morning just before 6 a.m. a Josephine County Deputy observed a figure behind a restaurant in the 200 block of Redwood Highway headed north behind Bigfoot. The suspect of contacted and found to have a “do not cite and release warrant due to overcrowding” warrant on two charges of failure to appear on animal abandonment and two charges of animal neglect II. The 43-year-old man was lodged in the County Jail. At 7:32 a.m. Saturday, a Grants Pass Police officer observed a man he knew to have an outstanding warrant and arrested the 31-year-old man and lodged him on the warrant for failure to report as a sex offender. This was the 4th arrest for the same charge since January. Saturday at 12:23 p.m. a City Police officer recognized a man known to have an active warrant and took him into custody, lodging him in the County Jail. The 37-year-old man was wanted on a charge of theft III. It was his third arrest since September of last year.