Local News

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested a man and woman wanted on warrants following a 911 call from the woman's roommate.

Dispatch was called around 11:46 p.m. Monday by a man wishing to report a theft. He reported his landlady had told him, since he hadn't paid rent, she was going to sell his trailer. When he arrived home, he told dispatch the trailer stored on the property was gone.

The caller refused to identify the property, but alleged his roommate, Kristen Xaros, may have sold the trailer while under the influence of Fentanyl. Xaros was found to have a secret indictment for First Degree Child Neglect, as well as Possession and Deliver of Methamphetamine and Heroin charges against her.

Law enforcement was soon able to identify the address in the 400 block of Robertson Bridge Road. The caller reported Xaros was inside the property with two males, and upon arrival of deputies, she was arrested.

Another suspect, Dustin Linn, was taken into custody at the scene as well. He was wanted for Unlawful Possession and Delivery of both Meth and Heroin, as well as six counts of Felon in Possession of a Weapon. Both Linn and Xaros were lodged in the Josephine County Jail.

 

The Budget Committee met in the Anne G. Basker Auditorium to hear the proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2026-27.

The total proposed budget for all funds is $188,965,500, a 3% increase over the prior year's adopted budget. Operating expenses for all departments, excluding transfers, decreased by $2.4 million.

Total Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions for the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget are 425.08, a decrease of 20.79 FTE. The general fund holds discretionary funding, and the proposed general fund budget for the next fiscal year was shown as $17,426,700, excluding the ending fund balance.

The total ending fund balance in the proposed budget is $21,958,200.

Before the meeting adjourned, a motion was made to hold department presentations May 27th and June 2nd, with an amendment to keep the elected officials compensation committee presentation to May 27th. It passed unanimously.

 

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office has identified the victim of Saturday morning’s hit-and-run fatality as Justin David Hannaford, 47, of Gold Hill. Next-of-kin have been notified.

Deputies located and arrested the hit-and-run suspect at approximately 6 p.m. Saturday evening in the 7100 block of West Evans Creek Road. Shavon Marie Walker, 44, of Gold Hill was charged with Failure to Perform Duties of a Driver to injured persons, a Class B felony if a person dies as a result of the collision. She was lodged in the Jackson County Jail, and the case remains under further investigation.

The initial report said deputies and detectives with the JCSO investigated the fatal hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian that occurred Saturday in the Gold Hill area.

Deputies responded to a call for Hannaford on Access Road at 3:12 a.m. near Jackson County Fire District 3 Gold Hill Station and Blackwell Road. Medics were dispatched, but Hannaford died from injuries before they arrived.

 

A drunk driver is in the hospital after driving the wrong way on I-5 before crashing head-on into an oncoming SUV.

The suspect, Ivan Grover Barber Jr., 43, of Grants Pass, is charged with DUII, Third-Degree Assault, Reckless Driving, Reckless Endangering, Felony Elude, and Second-Degree Criminal Mischief. He was hospitalized with serious injuries.

A Jackson County Sheriff’s Office deputy attempted to pull over a speeding Toyota pickup in the 6400 block of Rogue River Highway Sunday at 10:39 p.m. The truck eluded east at high speed towards the city of Rogue River. The pursuit was terminated prior to the city limits due to safety concerns.

A Rogue River police officer deployed spike strips and disabled the truck, but Barber continued driving the wrong way onto Interstate 5, traveling northbound in the southbound lanes. Barber crashed head-on into an oncoming SUV, totaling both vehicles and causing minor injuries to the other driver.

Jackson County Fire District 1 and American Medical Response medics arrived on scene to extricate and transport the wrong-way driver. This case is open and ongoing, and no further information is available at this time. Oregon State Police is conducting the crash investigation.

 

Voter Turnout for the May 19th 2026 Primary Election shows a participation rate of 26.64%. According to the latest update as of Monday at 5 p.m., the grand total of ballots received are 18,710, with a total of 17,116 accepted thus far. According to the county website, the schedule for election reporting will begin after 8 p.m. tonight, with results broadcast on KAJO this evening. The next result reports are scheduled to be posted May 27th and June 10th by 5 p.m. Certified results will be posted no later than June 15th by 5 p.m. This schedule is subject to change. Unofficial results will be posted at results.oregonvotes.gov.

 

The Josephine County Commissioners held a general discussion meeting Monday afternoon to hear the Chamber of Commerce Business Retention Presentation following which Chamber President Terry Hopkins laid out his plans for the next three years based on the information just presented.

The first item he mentioned was workforce development. Some of that came from a survey item that over half the merchants mentioned. That item was interpersonal skills, welcoming client to a business and basic communication skills. The second most mentioned important factor affecting business locally is available childcare followed by available housing.

Local businesses stated employee retention as one of their biggest problems followed by social issues, the homelessness situation.

The presentation included national trends that included a displeasure with government with the national government being the lowest, just below state government and then local government. None fared very well.

 

Grants Pass City Council moved in favor of extending Public Comment during their meetings to three minutes towards the end of Monday's workshop.

The unanimous motion extended the amount of time citizens can speak during the comment period, allowed comment cards to be accepted up to the Public Comment time, and stated that individual comment minutes would be shortened if submitted cards exceeded the 30 minute period.

Next on the agenda review was a motion for both the Tourism Advisory Committee. It was moved to the next agenda setting meeting, and Council was unanimous in approving Historical Buildings and Sites Commission's recommendation for Council to authorize a new historic marker at the Downtown Welcome Center.

The workshop adjourned and Council convened in Executive Session for real property transactions and/or negotiations

 

The Grants Pass City Council moved unanimously to remand the Request for Expressions of Interest for Reed Cottage to the Historic Buildings and Sites Commission, and direct staff to identify funding for project restoration.

Council met at 11:45 a.m. for their workshop and heard a presentation of Riverside Park's Reed Cottage survey results. Two surveys had been sent out, with results showing a dominant no regarding support of paid overnight accommodations for the Elk Island Site Plan Proposal. 103 participants out of 169 in a city survey felt it is important the cottage is preserved or restored.

Budget resources presented showed a $393,612 cash balance for all Riverside Park improvements, $1.7 million in the Urban Renewal Plan, and a State Historic Preservation grant of about $15,000 for potential architectural design services.

Next was an Owl Plaza Use Regulations presentation, showing the estimated completion date of the project for June 30th, 2026. Potential public use policies included factors like protecting assets and investments, and safely managing pedestrian flows.

The proposed application process and use restrictions would require individuals submit applications no less than 30 days before a scheduled event. They would also need to provide evidence of sufficient insurance, security, first aid, sanitation, and waste disposal facilities. There would be different levels of service and anticipated impacts for Tier 1 and 2 event applications.

A motion was made to accept the policy as presented, with changes including the City requirement of a 45 day notice, the Tier 1 and 2 full day fees would be $250 and $500 respectively, no food trucks, a 12-hour clean up, and a repeated event would count as one. After six months, the Council would review the policy as a pilot program. The motion passed 6-1 with Councilman Seth Benham dissenting and Council President Rob Pell abstaining.

 

A Grants Pass Police officer arrested a woman with two warrants out for her arrest Sunday afternoon.

The suspect, Destiny Melville, was contacted at her residence in the 700 block of SW Kinsington Court. She was known to the officer by sight after having been contacted previously, and she was detained around 4:48 p.m.

Melville's warrants out of the Grants Pass Police Department charged her with two counts of Possession of Methamphetamine, and the Manufacture and Delivery of a Schedule II Controlled Substance.

She was cooperative and taken into custody for her warrants. The officer lodged Melville in the Josephine County Adult Jail Facility.