Local News

Due to recent cool and wet weather, the Oregon Department of Transportation has pushed back the start of the Redwood Highway chip seal project until tomorrow morning. ODOT Public Information Officer Dan Latham said chip seals should be performed when the weather is warm and sunny, and today's temperature forecast for the O'Brien area is a little below what they would like. On Tuesday morning, the contractor plans to begin work at the south end of the project area at the California border and gradually work their way north through O'Brien to the milepost 36 marker. This means on the first day, they will work on the southernmost two miles between mileposts 41 and 40, resurfacing one lane and then the other. The contractor will repeat the process on Wednesday, resurfacing the highway between mileposts 39 and 38, and then the final two miles from mileposts 37 to 36 on Thursday. They hope to complete the chip seal project in three days, though Friday may be a catchup day. The ODOT contractor could begin work each day as early as 6 a.m. and continue as late as 8 p.m..

 

A well-known Jackson County drug dealer was sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison after law enforcement located large quantities of drugs -- including fentanyl -- and a firearm in his abandoned vehicle. According to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, 36-year-old Anthony Ross Minneci was sentenced this month to 188 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. According to court documents, following his release from prison for drug trafficking and possessing a firearm in January 2019, Minneci resumed selling drugs throughout Southern Oregon. From early 2019 to March 2022, the suspect was charged in multiple cases in Jackson and Josephine County Circuit Courts for drug trafficking, illegally possessing firearms and eluding police. On January 1, 2022, a Jackson County sheriff's deputy observed a vehicle failing to stop at an intersection and driving at a high rate of speed. The deputy identified Minneci as the driver and pursued him briefly before he got away. Later that evening, investigators found the vehicle unoccupied in a rural area, but were unable to locate the suspect. Four days later, investigators executed a search warrant on the vehicle and located fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine as well as a firearm, ammunition and drug paraphernalia. They also found Minneci's driver's license and other identifying items.

 

Local firefighters were busy with two weekend fires in the New Hope area of south Grants Pass. On Friday at 5 p.m., Rural Metro Fire Department and the Oregon Department of Forestry were dispatched to a large vehicle fire on Stringer Gap Road. Upon arrival, crews found a fully-involved truck camper that was abandoned and had been sitting in a turnout for a few days. The fire had spread to 1/100th of an acre of wildland. Both blazes were quickly knocked down and mopped up. The cause of the incident was unknown. On Saturday at noon, Rural Metro and Grants Pass Fire & Rescue responded to a structure fire in the 1800-block of Lonnon Road. Arriving units found smoke from an exterior wall of a residence. Crews had to dismantle the siding to access the fire and prevent further damage to the structure. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested a motorist for impaired driving during a weekend traffic stop near Merlin. According to the Sheriff's Office, deputies pulled over a white Toyota pickup driven by a 29-year-old man in the 300-block of Merlin Road on Friday at 10:34 p.m.. Deputies said they stopped the motorist for a traffic violation and he displayed signs of impairment. They said his driving privileges had also been suspended after a previous impaired driving arrest in 2020. The suspect was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on charges of Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, Reckless Driving and Driving While Suspended. His pickup was impounded and towed to Grants Pass.

 

A motorist and their dogs escaped injury when their vehicle crashed on Caves Highway near Cave Junction early yesterday. On Sunday at 10:03 a.m., the Illinois Valley Fire District, American Medical Response and Oregon State Police responded to the single-vehicle accident on State Route 46 at Bear Creek Road. Few details were disclosed about the crash, but IVFD officials said the occupant and dogs were not injured. They called friends to remove the vehicle from the scene. OSP was conducting an investigation into the cause of the wreck.

 

The Grants Pass City Council will take up the topics of city surplus properties and land use public noticing during its bi-weekly workshop session today. The City Council is scheduled to open the workshop with a staff presentation on city-owned surplus properties followed by discussion on what to do with them. The Council will also receive a staff presentation on the radius of land use public notices. The panel will then discuss how far away from subject properties public notices should be sent. A review of the agenda for Wednesday night's regular meeting will conclude the session. Today's workshop begins at 11:45 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at Grants Pass City Hall, 101 NW A Street.

 

After two completed sessions in central and northeast Oregon, residents are being reminded of four remaining open houses about the state's new community wildfire risk reduction programs. The next two are in Jackson and Josephine counties. This week's scheduled Oregon Department of Forestry events are in Central Point and Grants Pass. They are set for tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jackson County Expo Park and for Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Grants Pass High School. The resource-fair style open houses are being held in the communities that have some of the highest levels of wildfire hazards within the wildland-urban interface. Each open house will begin with a short presentation and introductions, but visitors may stop in at any point during the event to get questions answered about the draft hazard map and associated community wildfire programs. Representatives from multiple agencies will be present to have one-on-one or small group conversations to help people understand the statewide wildfire programs. Those agencies include ODF, Oregon State University, Oregon State Fire Marshal, Oregon Building Codes Division, Oregon Division of Financial Regulation and Oregon Wildfire Programs Advisory Council.

 

Grants Pass police officers and firefighters are gearing up for summer when they protect both residents and visitors in this community. According to the Weekly Report filed by Grants Pass City Manager Aaron Cubic, police officers responded to a total of 627 calls for service last week along with 230 officer-initiated calls that resulted in 51 arrests, 43 citations, 60 warnings and three highly-intoxicated people being lodged at the Sobering Center. Cubic also reported that officers conducted a total of 84 traffic stops in the city and they made 27 referrals to the Oregon Department of Human Services. The GPPD Community Response Team (CRT) contacted a total of 166 potential troublemakers while arresting two people, citing 32 more and warning 75 others. The CRT unit also trespassed 26 individuals, posted 78 transient camps and removed trash from four campsites. Grants Pass Fire & Rescue responded to a total of 109 calls last week including 33 for emergency medical service, six reports of fire or smoke, 11 lift assists, five rescue situations, nine assists to other agencies and eight false alarms. The 9-1-1 Dispatch Center fielded a total of 1,220 emergency calls.

 

Paying a bill to the City of Grants Pass has never been easier. By following links on the city website, users can pay a variety of bills generated by Grants Pass. Bookmark and follow the mentioned links for easy access to online bill-paying portals. You'll need your customer account number to pay utility bills or your citation number for paying a parking ticket. For Grants Pass utility bills, visit "grantspassoregon.selectpaytoday.com." To pay city parking tickets, go to "grantspassormrpt.myrelayview.com." The city's website homepage at "grantspassoregon.gov" also has easy-to-use icons for accessing both portals.