Local News

The Medford-based non-profit Oregon Stewardship has been named Organization of the Year by Oregon Community Trees (OCT).

According to a release, each year, OCT honors one organization in the state for outstanding work to engage Oregonians in caring for their urban forests and natural areas.

This year’s recipient, Oregon Stewardship, works with school districts and teachers on watershed projects involving students in Jackson, Josephine, Curry, and Coos counties.

Oregon Stewardship leads students on hands on projects near their schools. On these projects, they can plant trees and gardens and create nature trails. Students design and build the trails, create an informational brochure, and place sign along the trails. Projects that students create are maintained in following years by later students at the same school.

High school students that work with Oregon Stewardship are eligible for scholarships for college or vocational education.

 

The Grants Pass Cavemen lost to Century 5 to 1 in their 1st game in the Mountainside Spring Break Tournament. The Grants Pass offense could only generate 5 hits off the bats of Treyton Powers, Evan Valenzuela, Nate Bassett, Cruz Carnes and Jayr Dominguez. Max Hays went four innings and was charged with the loss. The Cavemen again have the early game tomorrow against the Putnam Kingsmen at 11 a.m.

 

After a cat was reported to be stuck in a tree, the Illinois Valley Fire Department made a quick response.

This afternoon around 1:11, I.V. Fire made their way to the 500 block of South Junction Avenue in Cave Junction.

Upon arrival, it was confirmed that a cat was elevated in the tree. Firefighters deployed a ladder to reach the feline, whose tail had become entangled in a branch, preventing it from moving.

The firefighters successfully retrieved the cat, and returned it to its very grateful owner.

 

A man yelling at Morrison Park was arrested by Grants Pass Police.

Late Sunday night at 11:56, a call from the property in the 1000 block of Fruitdale Drive reported someone yelling. The caller wasn't sure where the noise was coming from, but that it could be in the complex, or in Morrison Park.

The disturbance had been ongoing 15 minutes prior to the 911 call. Officers soon tracked down the source of the noise, Adam Jansen, looking disheveled and under the influence in the park.

After contacting his parole officer, law enforcement took Jansen into custody on a requested detainer. He was transported and lodged in the Josephine County Adult Jail Facility.

 

Dispatch received calls regarding the same woman due to her disorderly behavior downtown.

One call to 911 reported a woman that appeared to be under the influence walking in the street. She didn't appear to be aware of her surroundings and was going through trash on 6th and I Street. The caller requested a welfare check.

Another call reported the same woman banging on the glass at NAPA Auto Parts at 229 SW H Street. She didn't cause any damage but spread trash around the parking lot, blocking vehicle access. She then fled the scene towards the railroad tracks

A trespass request was made, and Grants Pass Police officers were able to locate her in the Grasshopper Lot. The suspect, Cierra Powers, was taken into custody. Her parole officer was contacted, and a detainer was issued.

While officers transported Powers to the Josephine County Jail, she began intentionally hitting her head against the cage in the patrol vehicle. She was lodged on her detainer, and charges of Offensive Littering, and Second Degree Disorderly Conduct.

 

Officers with the Grants Pass Police Department were alerted to a man causing damage at the Redwood Garden Inn.

On Sunday at 7:13 p.m., an employee of the 815 NE 6th Street inn reported a man walked into a vacant room. He was described as being in his mid-30s with a full black beard, beanie, and tan clothing. He was not currently a guest, and the employee didn't believe he had been trespassed before.

Officers learned the suspect, later identified as Matthew Barnett, had been coming onto the property, entering vacant rooms, and causing damage. In one instance he had broken into the pool house, and fallen through the roof into the break room.

Staff had told Barnett not to come back multiple times prior to Sunday's call for service, and earlier attempts to locate him had been unsuccessful.

Officers arrived and made announcements at the door of the room Barnett had entered. He was told he was going to be placed under arrest, and he attempted to escape by running out the back door. Law enforcement stopped Barnett at taser point.

Barnett was taken into custody while officers checked the hotel room. It was messy, and empty syringes that tested positive for methamphetamine were located in a trash bin. Barnett was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Possession of Meth, First Degree Criminal Trespass, Third Degree Criminal Mischief, and Escape in the Third Degree.

His parole officer was contacted, and a detainer was also placed on Barnett. He was trespassed from the inn.

 

Josephine County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested three suspects following two separate vehicle chases.

On March 12th, deputies attempted a traffic stop near the Obrien area. The vehicle immediately failed to stop and began eluding deputies. The two occupants were identified as James Patterson, 39, driving, and Breanna Vineyard, 29, as passenger, both of which had active felony warrants.

The vehicle turned onto a Forest Service Road and began to slow down. Vineyard then jumped out and ran into the woods. Patterson continued to elude in the vehicle into a rural wooded area where he eventually fled on foot as well.

Oregon State Police assisted with Air Patrol along with Sheriff’s Office K-9, Yana, but Patterson was not located. On March 17th, another traffic stop was attempted where Patterson was the driver and Vineyard was the passenger. Patterson again eluded deputies and drove recklessly at a high rate of speed on U.S. Highway 199.

Deputies terminated the pursuit after it continued into California and became dangerous to the public as it entered the Smith River Canyon on the highway. On March 20th, the Sheriff’s Office received information regarding the whereabouts of Patterson and Vineyard.

Deputies, with the assistance of Parole and Probation, and K-9 Yana, were able to set a perimeter around the location, and give commands for both to surrender. At approximately 11:38 a.m., Patterson and Vineyard complied with commands and were taken into custody without incident. Aaron Geiger, 54, was also located and taken into custody.

All three were lodged at the Josephine County Jail. Patterson was lodged on three counts of Attempt to Elude, two counts of Reckless Driving, two counts of Meth Possession, Escape, and a Probation Violation. He and Vineyard were charged with a Post-Prison Supervision sanction, and she was also charged with Meth Possession. Geiger was charged with a Probation Violation.

 

Oregon State Police were able to locate two missing persons over the weekend.

On Saturday around 12:24 p.m., troopers responded to a suspicious person call on Interstate 5 near milepost 59 northbound. The individual was contacted, and identified as Roger Lewis, 72, of Sherwood.

Troopers learned Lewis had been entered as a missing person out of Washington County, so they remained on the scene with him until his family arrived. A white Dodge Dakota was towed from the scene.

Later that same day at 1:43 p.m., troopers were asked to assist the Josephine County Sheriff's Office with locating a missing four-year-old. She had gone missing from her home in Selma. Through the efforts of both law enforcement agencies, the child was found following a two hour search.

 

The Board of County Commissioners will meet for a general discussion regarding the collaboration of the city and county Tuesday morning.

The City and County Monthly Update meeting will take place in the BCC Conference Room at 11 a.m., followed later by the boards County Administration Workshop.

Scheduled to commence at 1:30 p.m., Legal Counsel will begin the meeting by presenting the board with two purchase and sale agreements for Dimmick properties. Also on the agenda are orders for the transfer of property to Cave Junction, and news media attendance.

Other Legal Counsel business includes Evergreen Federal Bank v. Josephine County and 2 Guys, 1 Truck, a 2025 Budget Officer Contract, and the annual Records Disposition Process.

Other business will be presented by departments, including Forestry's Extension of Suspension regarding the acceptance of applications for Mineral Exploration and Mining Leases, and Community Justice's Opioid Settlement Funding Report.

Board business includes an invoice from Dunn Carney LLP and Advisory Committee Applications, after which the meeting will adjourn pending other topics.

Before Tuesday's meetings, Commissioners Ron Smith, Colene Martin, and Gary Richardson will appear on KAJO's Tuesday Talk Show, beginning at 9:30 a.m.