Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a man while recovering a stolen vehicle on the west side of the city last weekend. According to the Police Department, officers were patrolling Lincoln Road on Sunday evening when they spotted a silver Chevrolet Impala that had been reported stolen out of Jackson County. Police said they turned around and followed the stolen car to the Short Stop Market on SW Bridge Street. Two male occupants exited the car and entered the store. The car was blocked in and officers called for backup. The two men exited the store and were detained. They were cooperative and said they had no idea the vehicle had been stolen. The driver -- 53-year-old Robert Allen Gardner, Jr. -- said his roommate let him drive the car because he had loaned his larger vehicle to a woman who needed it to tow another vehicle. She reportedly left the stolen car behind for them to use. Gardner's driving privileges had been suspended and he was found to be in possession of both methamphetamine and heroin. He was lodged in jail for those criminal offenses. The stolen vehicle investigation was continuing and the Impala was towed to a local impound yard.

 

The Grants Pass School Board of Education is inviting interested patrons to apply for one vacant position on the District 7 Budget Committee. This position is for a three-year term ending June 30, 2028. The Budget Committee consists of seven members of the Board of Education plus an equal number of qualified electors of the District. The Board will appoint the new committee member, filling the vacancy from the list of those who applied. To be eligible for the appointment, the candidate must live in the Grants Pass School District, must not be an officer or employee of District 7, and must be qualified to vote in Josephine County within the School District. Interested patrons can stop by the District 7 Office at 725 NE Dean Drive in Grants Pass to obtain an application. Forms may also be downloaded from the District's website. The completed form must be received by the District Office no later than 4 p.m. on Monday, December 9th. The appointment will be made at the regularly scheduled Grants Pass School Board meeting on January 14, 2025. For more information, call (541)-474-5700. E-mail correspondence may be sent to "tdoane@grantspass.k12.or.us."

 

The Grants Pass City Council may decide whether to help the Mobile Integrative Navigation Team (MINT) buy a property on which to develop a permanent year-round shelter for the unhoused population currently residing in two resting places. During its workshop session on Monday, the City Council discussed community dissatisfaction with the current unmanaged temporary campsites on NE 7th Street and SE J Street as well as next steps moving forward. City Manager Aaron Cubic and Police Chief Warren Hensman both commented that criminal incidents are on the rise at the two resting places since they opened earlier this year. Hensman said his officers are performing more frequent patrol checks and 24/7 surveillance camera monitoring of the sites is now underway. During a recent Request for Proposals (RFP), MINT was the only organization to apply to establish a winter weather shelter for the homeless. The volunteer group has also expressed its interest in opening a year-round, managed shelter, but it would need the City of Grants Pass to help it purchase a permanent location. In other business, the City Council authorized a $3,000 sponsorship of this year's Christmas parade with the money being paid directly to event security. The annual holiday parade is set for December 7th at 7 p.m. in downtown Grants Pass.

 

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has announced that three Southern Oregon farms are among the recipients of the Farm to School Producer Equipment and Infrastructure Grant Program. Farm to School is the first state-funded grant program to help producers and processors overcome financial barriers to entering or expanding into the school marketplace. The goal of this competitive grant program is to provide financial resources for Oregon farmers, ranchers, seafood harvesters and processors with specific equipment and infrastructure needs, and who intend to sell food produced or processed in Oregon to school districts and other child service organizations. ODA received approximately $1 million in requested funds from 22 qualified applicants. Of the 12 projects selected for funding, most are growers who produce fresh crops or minimally-processed products for school meals. Whistling Duck Farm of Grants Pass received a $47,400 Farm to School grant while Terra Sol Organics of Williams received $43,185 and Rusted Gate Farm of Central Point got $10,064.

 

D & H Logging Company of Coos Bay has been chosen as Operator of the Year for Southwest Oregon by a regional advisory committee to the Oregon Board of Forestry. D & H Logging will be recognized in Salem at the January meeting of the Board along with the two other regional Oregon honorees from Eastern and Northwest Oregon. The Operator of the Year award recognizes forest operators who while harvesting timber or doing other forestry work protect natural resources at a level that consistently meets or exceeds requirements of the Oregon Forest Practices Act. The law requires people to manage forests responsibly and protect streams and water quality. The law also requires landowners to replant forests after harvesting. A Merit Award was also given to Brothers Excavation and Construction, LLC. They protected water quality in Jumpoff Joe Creek north of Grants Pass during the upgrade of an old mining road needed to access a timber harvest and local homes.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman for violating terms of her probation by returning to a residence where she was not welcome at the start of the weekend. According to the Police Department, officers responded to a disturbance at a home in the 500-block of SE M Street late Friday afternoon. Police said they received a call from a man who reported that 30-year-old Kristina Rose Barker was at his house and he had been told to call law enforcement by her corrections officer. She was on probation after she was arrested on October 8th for Unlawful Use of a Weapon and Strangulation. The caller wasn't sure if Barker had been formally trespassed from his home. He advised officers that she left and was heading toward the downtown 7-Eleven. That's where officers located Barker and placed her into custody. She was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Felony Probation Violation and was being held on a no-bail detainer.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a well-known offender on a local warrant at one of the city's designated campgrounds late last week. The Police Department reports officers contacted 33-year-old Kyle Flury Palomino at the SE J Street campground on Friday afternoon. Police said they were performing a patrol check at the designated campsite when they spotted Palomino and knew that he was wanted on a Grants Pass felony warrant for failing to appear in court for Probation Violation related to a previous arrest for Methamphetamine Possession. According to the report, a 4th-Degree Assault charge listed on the warrant had been dismissed by the District Attorney's Office. Palomino was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on $25,000 bail.

 

A car-clouting investigation at a Grants Pass city park resulted in the arrest of a woman on two local warrants. According to the Police Department, officers responded to a report of a vehicle break-in at Tussing Park around midday Friday. Police said responded to the park and contacted 38-year-old Brittany Rae Adams, who matched the description of the suspect. They said she was determined not to be the suspect in the case, but she was wanted on two Grants Pass warrants for failing to appear in court for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass. Adams was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Cave Junction motorist for impaired driving following a weekend traffic stop in the Illinois Valley. According to OSP, troopers pulled over a black Chevrolet Silverado pickup driven by a 44-year-old male subject on Caves Highway near Holland Loop Road on Friday around 11:30 p.m.. Police said they stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation and the driver displayed signs of impairment. They said he performed poorly in field sobriety tests and was taken to the Cave Junction Substation where he provided a breath sample that was well over the legal driving limit. The suspect was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants and Reckless Driving. He was cited to appear in court and released, but his pickup was impounded.