Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a man on an out-of-county warrant while performing a welfare check near an eastside fast food restaurant last weekend. According to the Police Department, officers contacted 46-year-old Clayton Anthony Grant in a vacant lot behind the Carl's Jr. located on NE Terry Lane on Sunday shortly after 2 p.m.. Police said they received a call about a male subject with a green jacket and his pants pulled down who was sitting down and talking to himself. Upon contact with Grant, officers discovered that he was wanted on a Florence Police Department warrant for two counts of Disorderly Conduct. He was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the outstanding warrant.

 

Police cited two motorists who were involved in a crash near Grants Pass High School on Monday. The Police Department reports officers and emergency crews responded to the two-vehicle collision at the corner of NE 8th and A streets shortly after 1 p.m. yesterday. Witnesses said both drivers appeared to be GPHS students. Police said an investigation determined the driver of a black pickup was stopped for pedestrians at the intersection. When the pedestrians finished crossing the street, the driver decided to go and struck the passenger side of a gold car that ran through the stop sign. No one was hurt and neither vehicle required towing. Following the investigation, the driver of the car was cited for Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device and the driver of the pickup was cited for No Insurance.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a man on three out-of-state felony warrants last weekend after he tried to purchase lottery tickets with counterfeit $100 bills at a downtown watering hole. The Police Department reports officers arrested 56-year-old Dennis Allen Gross for the incident at the Purple Parrot on SE J Street on Sunday at 6:52 p.m.. Police said an employee called 9-1-1 to report a male subject later identified as Gross had attempted to utter counterfeit C-notes to purchase scratch-it tickets. When told the $100 bills were counterfeit, the suspect reportedly threw them away and walked off -- but the employee retrieved the funny money and called police. Responding officers contacted Gross and discovered that he was wanted on three Sarasota County, Florida, felony warrants for crimes including Forgery, Uttering Forged Counterfeit Bank Bills, Grand Theft and Impersonating Another. Gross was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the out-of-state warrants. He was being held without bail pending extradition proceedings that will likely send him back to Florida.

 

The Oregon State Police jailed a Roseburg man early yesterday for several crimes that he allegedly committed in the Wolf Creek area. OSP reports troopers arrested 39-year-old Jason Ryan Taylor near Interstate 5 on Coyote Creek Road on Monday shortly after midnight. OSP had been notified by the Josephine County Sheriff's Office that a deputy was in contact with an individual whom they knew a trooper had probable cause to arrest. Troopers responded and conducted a field interview before placing Taylor into custody. He had been pulled over by deputies while driving a Kia Optima. No specific information about the alleged incident was released in the OSP report. Taylor was transported to Grants Pass and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for suspicion of 1st-Degree Arson, 1st-Degree Criminal Mischief, Reckless Burning and Tampering with Physical Evidence. He was being held without bail.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested an Illinois Valley man for boorish behavior after he allegedly threatened an elderly employee at the O'Brien General Store. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies responded to the incident at the store in the 33,000-block of Redwood Highway on Saturday afternoon. Deputies said 44-year-old William Bruce Damon, III, was loitering at the general store and was asked to leave by an employee. They said Damon motioned with his arm and fist as if he was preparing to hit the elderly worker. He left the store, but came back several times to harass customers and employees and disrupt business. Upon arrival, deputies contacted Damon and determined he had been drinking. He was uncooperative both before and after being placed into custody. After being loaded into the patrol vehicle, he spat and slammed the cages a few times, telling deputies he was going to fight them when the handcuffs came off. The handcuffs stayed on and Damon was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Menacing and Disorderly Conduct. He was being held without bail.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested a motorist for impaired driving last weekend after he crashed into two parked vehicles in the Williams area. According to the Sheriff's Office, deputies and emergency crews responded to the three-vehicle collision on Williams Highway near Green Meadow Road on Sunday around 9:30 p.m.. Deputies said an investigation determined that a black pickup driven by 37-year-old Taylor Thorp went off the roadway and collided with a Kia and an Infinity before taking out a fence and landing in a ditch near the Williams Grange. No injuries were reported, but all three vehicles sustained minor to moderate damage. Thorp reportedly showed signs of impairment at the scene. He was placed into custody after performing poorly in field sobriety tests. Thorp was subsequently transported to and lodged at the Grants Pass Sobering Center for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants. His truck was impounded.

 

Rural Metro Fire Department extinguished an unattended open burn that escaped in the Murphy area last night. On Monday at 8:20 p.m., Rural Metro crews responded to what was initially reported to be a structure fire in the 700-block of Southside Road. Arriving units found about 1/10th of an acre of hillside blackberries ablaze. No structures were involved and no injuries were reported. Rural Metro officials said this incident serves as a safety reminder that vegetation moisture can change quickly with just a few warm and dry days. They said this is likely to occur again with similar conditions as spring carries us into the upcoming fire season. Thankfully, wet weather is expected to return this week. Most open burns across the region are conducted without any problems by people who follow basic guidelines such as avoiding burning on breezy days, keeping piles a manageable size, staying in attendance of the burn, having available a charged garden hose within reach of the pile, and carrying a shovel and cell phone to react quickly if necessary.

 

The City of Grants Pass has issued a traffic advisory due to a large stormwater and sewer replacement project in the downtown area. Starting this week, Timber Mountain Construction will begin mobilizing on 5th Street from G Street south to the Rogue River. Motorists should be aware of the changing construction zones and street closures. Please make every effort to remove vehicles from the right-of-way and avoid on-street parking during active construction. The contractor will have an onsite traffic control supervisor to assist to the best of their ability in notifying residents and occupants what areas will be under construction and when. For more information, please call Timber Mountain at (541)-956-8700.

 

Now that it's March, eligible people can get an additional dose of the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine, which was first made available in Oregon last September. An additional dose of the latest COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for people ages 65 and older as well as people ages six months and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised or who have weakened immune systems. People in these categories are recommended to receive the additional dose six months after receiving the initial dose of the 2024-25 vaccine. However, it can be given as soon as two months after the first dose offering significant flexibility. People have weakened immune systems because of certain medical conditions, or if they receive medications or treatments that suppress their immune systems. Those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised do not need to show proof to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. In recent years, OHA has bolstered its tracking of communicable diseases such as COVID-19 with the development and modernization of data reporting tools including an interactive, web-based dashboard that visualizes data on COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Doctors' offices and neighborhood pharmacies are great places for getting immunizations.