Local News

Firefighters quickly extinguished a small vehicle fire on Redwood Highway in Cave Junction this week. On Monday afternoon, the Illinois Valley Fire District and Oregon Department of Forestry responded to the incident in the 28,100-block of US Highway 199. IVFD officials said arriving units found a Ziply Fiber vehicle that was smoking. The fire was put out without any extension to the rest of the vehicle or nearby properties. There were no injuries reported and the damaged vehicle was hauled away by Jerry's Towing.

 

The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) task force served a search warrant on a Talent apartment yesterday after discovering images of child exploitation were uploaded from that address. SOCET served the warrant on Monday shortly after 7 a.m. at an apartment complex in the 500-block of Talent Avenue. Detectives interviewed possible witnesses and involved parties, and the investigation is ongoing. SOCET began its investigation after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which led to subpoenas followed by the search warrant at the apartment. The Talent Police Department and Jackson County District Attorney's Office assisted with the warrant service. SOCET was also assisted by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Medford Police Department and Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force. During the search, investigators seized digital devices which will be forensically examined for further evidence of child exploitation. So far, no arrests have been made. SOCET is a joint interagency task force that started in June 2020 to combat local child exploitation. The task force consists of investigators from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and US Homeland Security Investigations as well as prosecutors from local, state and federal law enforcement in Jackson and Josephine counties.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office jailed a Sunny Valley man this week for threatening a Ready Ride driver with a gun. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies arrested the 45-year-old male subject in the 700-block of Placer Road on Monday. Deputies said a Ready Ride driver was following his navigation system to pick up a client when it took him to the wrong driveway. The driver was confronted by a resident who knocked on his window and complained about him driving too fast. The driver locked the doors and the man kept yelling at him. As the driver began to pull away, the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at his head. The entire incident was recorded on the vehicle's camera. Upon arrival, deputies reviewed the camera footage and the suspect was placed into custody after admitting to the incident. He was transported to Grants Pass and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Unlawful Use of a Weapon and Menacing.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Grants Pass felon who fled from an attempted traffic stop on Redwood Highway in the Illinois Valley this week. OSP reports troopers tried to stop a Honda Civic driven by a 36-year-old male subject near milepost 32 of US Highway 199 on Monday morning. Troopers said they observed the subject from a prior eluding incident and tried to pull him over. The man immediately crashed his car on the shoulder, bailed out and fled from the vehicle on foot. A foot pursuit was initiated and the man was apprehended without further incident. According to OSP, a criminal amount of methamphetamine and a hand-held Taser were found in the suspect's possession. The drugs and weapon were seized. The suspect was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Attempt to Elude Police and the resulting Felony Parole Violation. Charges of Felon in Possession of a Weapon and Possession of Meth were referred to the District Attorney's Office for consideration. He was being held without bail and his car was impounded.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Grants Pass woman on an out-of-state fugitive warrant while investigating a complaint near Murphy this week. According to OSP, troopers were dispatched to a call for service regarding possible menacing near milepost 8 of Williams Highway on Monday night. During the course of the investigation, troopers contacted a 39-year-old female subject who was found to be wanted on an out-of-state felony warrant for failing to appear in court for an unspecified crime. She was immediately placed into custody. The suspect was transported to Grants Pass and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrant and she was being held on $250,000 bail. It wasn't clear whether the warrant was extraditable. The state where she was wanted was not disclosed.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man on an outstanding warrant during an early morning patrol check at a city park. According to the Police Department, officers contacted a 37-year-old male subject at Riverside Park on Tuesday around 4 a.m.. Police said the man was arguing with his girlfriend at the park. He was contacted and found to be wanted on a Grants Pass warrant for failing to appear in court for 2nd-Degree Theft and 3rd-Degree Theft. The suspect was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrant and he was being held without bail.

 

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to take care of two routine items during its weekly business session this morning. The Board will open the meeting with a public hearing on an annexation to the Josephine Community Library District by petition of the landowner. Under Administrative Actions, the Commissioners will consider an order that confirms the Sheriff's Property Sale of July 17th and authorizes distribution of the proceeds from that sale. This will be the first business session for newly-appointed Commissioner Andreas Blech who was chosen to finish out the term of former Commissioner Dan DeYoung who resigned from the Board on July 15th. Today's public meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Anne G. Basker Auditorium.

 

The month of August will begin much the same way the month of July did -- hot. The National Weather Service has posted a Heat Advisory for Southern Oregon and Northern California that runs from Thursday afternoon through Friday night. High temperatures from the upper 90s to 105 with overnight lows from the upper 50s to upper 60s are expected in Jackson, Josephine, eastern Curry and central Douglas counties in Oregon as well as Siskiyou County, California. Areas under the advisory include the Rogue, Applegate, Illinois and Umpqua valleys including the cities of Medford, Ashland, Phoenix, Talent, Eagle Point, Grants Pass, Cave Junction and Roseburg. Hot temperatures may cause heat illness. Certain medications may make you more vulnerable to heat illness. Check with your doctor or pharmacist for details. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors -- especially the elderly. Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous outdoor activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned environments.

 

US Senator Jeff Merkley has announced that he secured critical investments in Oregon transportation, affordable housing, economic development and public safety in the second set of Fiscal Year 2025 government spending bills to pass the committee -- a key first step on the road to becoming law. Merkley helped to make sure the investments -- including nearly $43 million for 27 critical community-initiated projects across the state -- were incorporated into the spending package. Locally, Merkley -- along with Senator Ron Wyden -- secured $2 million for the Rogue Valley Transit District to replace six gasoline-powered paratransit vehicles, $2 million for Umpqua Community College's efforts to boost affordable housing for students, and $2.25 million to Jackson County for its Sheriff's Office Communications Equipment Upgrade. Merkley is the only Oregon member of Congress from either chamber since Senator Mark Hatfield to serve on the Appropriations Committee, which is one of the most powerful on Capitol Hill. He joined the committee in 2013 so that Oregon would have a strong voice in decisions about investments the nation should be making.