Local News

KAJO Radio first hit the local airwaves on August 15, 1957. Started by a couple of close friends from Oklahoma, Jim Wilson and Elzie Parker, the Grants Pass radio station became popular with its folksy humor, community involvement and religious programming. Since that time, the Grants Pass Broadcasting Corporation has added two more stations -- KLDR 98.3 FM and KRRM 94.7 FM. KAJO can still be heard at 1270 AM as well as 99.7 FM. A large number of talented people -- including Big Jim and Elzie -- have made it possible to remain a privately-owned radio station in a current market that is dominated by corporate ownership. We wouldn't have it any other way… Happy 67th Birthday to KAJO Radio!

 

Grants Pass Police apprehended an out-of-state fugitive during a drug investigation on the southeast side of the city last night. The Police Department reports officers and emergency crews responded to a possible drug overdose in the 2500-block of Overland Drive on Wednesday at about 8:15 p.m.. Police said they contacted a 32-year-old male subject at the scene who refused medical attention. They said he was under the influence of narcotics, so they took him to the Grants Pass Sobering Center where he provided them with false names. According to the report, the subject became unresponsive and he was transported by ambulance to Three Rivers Medical Center for evaluation. Further investigation revealed that the man was wanted on an Apache County, Arizona, felony warrant for Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Physical Injury, 3rd-Degree Assault with a Deadly Weapon and 3rd-Degree Assault. The warrant was confirmed by the Apache County Sheriff's Office. The suspect was medically released from the hospital and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the out-of-state warrant. He was being held without bail pending extradition proceedings that will likely send him back to Arizona.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office apprehended a man wanted on state and local warrants while investigating a trespassing complaint in the Merlin area early yesterday. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies arrested a 47-year-old male subject in the 3,000-block of Merlin Road on Wednesday at 10:17 a.m.. Deputies said a woman who is a friend of the property owner called 9-1-1 to report seeing a man walking from the shop area while carrying a large black case on his shoulder. The caller said the man left the property and walked toward Merlin. She wasn't sure if he had stolen anything, but knew he was not supposed to be there. A short time later, the subject returned to the property and went to a trailer in the back. That's where deputies contacted him and discovered that he was wanted on an Oregon State warrant for Parole Violation stemming from a burglary conviction as well as a Josephine County warrant for 2nd-Degree Criminal Mischief. The suspect was placed into custody, transported to Grants Pass and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrants. He was being held on a no-bail detainer.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested two people on a variety of charges following a theft complaint at Walmart early yesterday. According to the Police Department, officers responded to the shoplifting call at the big box retailer on NE Terry Lane on Wednesday at 9:39 a.m.. Police said Walmart loss prevention reported that a man and woman had taken more than $200 worth of items including electronics, clothing and a gun-cleaning kit. The pair reportedly ran through the parking lot toward the Parkway and they were eventually detained near Parkway Christian Center. The 44-year-old male subject is a convicted felon and he was found to be in possession of a dagger. The 28-year-old female subject was found to be in possession of an 8-gram chunk of methamphetamine. The weapon and meth were seized as evidence as the suspects were placed into custody. The man was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Felon in Possession of a Restricted Weapon, Escape and 2nd-Degree Theft. The woman was jailed for Escape, 2nd-Degree Theft and Meth Possession. Both were held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man on a local felony warrant after he became ill while hitchhiking from the City of Rogue River early yesterday. The Police Department reports officers placed the man into custody upon his release from Three Rivers Medical Center on Wednesday at 12:14 p.m.. Police said they received a call from the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta who had picked up the 29-year-old male subject on Foothill Boulevard. The caller said the subject told them he was hitchhiking from Rogue River to Grants Pass. The man reportedly became sick and was transported by ambulance to the local hospital. Officers investigated the incident and determined that the male subject was wanted on a Grants Pass felony warrant for failing to appear in court for 1st-Degree Theft, Resisting Arrest and Escape. After he was medically cleared from the hospital, he was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on $25,000 bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man on two local warrants during a patrol check at Riverside Park late last night. According to the Police Department, officers contacted a 55-year-old male camper at the city park on Wednesday around 11:30 p.m.. Police said a routine records check showed the camper was wanted on a Josephine County warrant for failing to appear in court for 4th-Degree Assault and a Grants Pass warrant for failing to appear in court for 2nd-Degree Theft. He was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on $75,000 bail. While at the park, officers contacted another camper who was found to be in possession of methamphetamine. He was cited to appear in court for Possession of a Controlled Substance and then trespassed from the park for 30 days. According to the report, the man told officers he had purchased the meth in the park just prior to their contact with him.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested two people and cited three others during city park patrol checks on Wednesday. At Tussing Park, officers contacted a 41-year-old woman who had returned to the park just two days after she had been trespassed for 30 days. She was lodged in jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass. At Fruitdale Park, officers contacted a 37-year-old man who was wanted on a Grants Pass warrant for failing to appear in court for 3rd-Degree Theft. He was lodged in jail. Another man was found lying in a puddle of his own urine on the walking path next to a scooter. He was cited for Public Urination and Restricted Parking before being issued a 30-day exclusion. At Morrison Centennial Park, a man and woman were cited for Possession of Fentanyl. A citizen observed the pair using drugs in the men's restroom and was concerned about children playing in the park. The pair was trespassed for the next month.

 

The Oregon State Police recently arrested and charged a Grants Pass man with child sex abuse offenses and the agency is asking additional victims to come forward. Last week, 30-year-old Justin Lee Concha was arrested and charged with multiple sex offense crimes and detectives believe additional victims are likely. Concha is suspected of attempting to meet underage juveniles for the purpose of sex. He has been charged with five counts of 1st-Degree Encouraging Child Sex Abuse, five counts of 2nd-Degree Encouraging Child Sex Abuse and one count of Sexual Assault of an Animal. According to OSP, Concha sometimes uses an alias of "Jay Leslie Frost." Anyone with information on Justin Concha pertaining to this case is encouraged to contact OSP's Southern Command Center at 1-(800)-442-2068.

 

A Southern Oregon traffic stop by an Oregon State Police K-9 unit this week netted 60 pounds of fentanyl-laced pills destined for Portland. On Monday at 8 a.m., an OSP K-9 trooper stopped a commercial motor vehicle on Interstate 5 in Jackson County for a traffic violation. During a consent search of the vehicle's cab, the trooper located two five-gallon buckets with blue pills suspected of being laced with the deadly narcotic fentanyl. Two suspects -- 42-year-old Daniel Pena Gragoso and 28-year-old Josue Itzel Gomez, both of Mexico -- were arrested and charged with Possession and Delivery of Fentanyl and lodged at the Jackson County Jail. According to OSP, the seized narcotics were in the form of approximately 276,000 individual pills.