Local News

Pacific Power is sending crews, support personnel and equipment from Oregon and Washington to Georgia to aid with power restoration efforts following catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Helene. In response to a mutual assistance request from Georgia Power, Pacific Power is sending resources from Medford, Grants Pass, Roseburg, Bend and Astoria in Oregon as well as Walla Walla and Yakima in Washington. The Category 4 storm, with sustained winds reaching 140 miles per hour, impacted 10 states, with the National Hurricane Center reporting that its effects extended as far as 400 miles from its landfall in Florida's Big Bend region. The teams totaling 22 Pacific Power employees will be equipped with 20 trucks and associated heavy equipment to help restore power to impacted communities. Rocky Mountain Power, Pacific Power's sister company, is also deploying four additional crews to aid in the response. Pacific Power is part of a nationwide network of utilities that provide mutual assistance during emergencies and disasters.

 

Southwest Oregon remains in "high" fire danger on this opening weekend of the general rifle deer hunting season. Rural Metro Fire Department would like to remind everyone planning to head into the woods to remember some basic rules to prevent forest fires. Campfires and cooking fires are prohibited unless inside an approved campground. Portable gas cooking stoves are allowed when used in a safe location. All vehicles are allowed only on improved roads that are free of vegetation. Smoking is only allowed inside enclosed vehicles on improved roads. Vehicles must carry a shovel and a gallon of water or a charged and operational 2.5-pound fire extinguisher. Portable generators are permitted between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m. in areas that are free of flammable vegetation. Tracer ammunition and exploding targets are strictly prohibited. For more details on restrictions not specifically noted, contact your local office of the Oregon Department of Forestry or US Forest Service.

 

Firefighters battled two structure fires in the Illinois Valley -- one last night and another early today. The Illinois Valley Fire District, Rural Metro Fire Department and American Medical Response were dispatched to a structure fire on Takilma Road on Thursday at 9:10 p.m.. IVFD officials said arriving units found a home fully-engulfed in flames. They said the fire was contained to the structure, with no spread to the surrounding wildland. There were no injuries reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation. Crews from IVFD, Rural Metro, AMR and the Oregon Department of Forestry responded to another structure fire on Rockydale Road around 6:45 this morning. Arriving units mounted an aggressive initial attack and quickly extinguished the blaze. Pacific Power also responded and secured electricity to the structure. All three occupants were able to escape the house unharmed, but their five dogs did not survive. The American Red Cross was activated to assist the occupants. The cause of that fire was also under investigation.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed two people for drug and weapon crimes yesterday after a traffic complaint in the northwest part of the city. The Police Department reports officers arrested 35-year-old Christopher Aaron Trujillo and 19-year-old Annelize Paula Rosado near the corner of NW Hawthorne and Loughridge avenues on Thursday at 12:54 p.m.. Police said a motorist reported that he was nearly hit by a dark-blue Chevrolet SUV driven by Trujillo who pulled off the roadway. The suspect and his young female companion were passed out in their vehicle upon the arrival of officers. Officers observed a drug tooter with a brown sticky residue between the driver and passenger seats. Trujillo and Rosado were detained during a consent search that uncovered additional drug paraphernalia with the brown substance that later tested positive as fentanyl. Small amounts of methamphetamine were also found in the SUV and a search of Trujillo's backpack located a set of brass knuckles. Since Trujillo is a convicted felon, he was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Felon in Possession of a Restricted Weapon, Fentanyl Possession and Possession of Meth. He was being held without bail. Rosado was jailed for Possession of Fentanyl, but she was released later in the day.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office apprehended a man wanted on a statewide felony warrant while investigating a trespassing complaint in the Hugo area late yesterday. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies arrested 31-year-old Skylar William Jones at a transient camp in the 6100-block of Hugo Road on Thursday at 4:06 p.m.. Deputies said they received a tip from a Hugo resident that they knew the location of Jones and they were aware that he was wanted on an Oregon State warrant for Parole Violation as a transitional leave violator. The caller said the man had been staying the woods next to the railroad tracks by the old Hugo Hitching Post. According to the report, the informant told deputies that Jones had wandered onto her property and was screaming right before they called 9-1-1. Upon arrival, deputies located Jones's campsite and placed him into custody on the outstanding warrant. He was transported to Grants Pass and lodged in jail on a no-bail detainer.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested two people on outstanding warrants while investigating a trespassing complaint at Illinois River Forks State Park early yesterday. According to the Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to the trespassing call at the state park on the Illinois River near Cave Junction on Thursday around 7:40 a.m.. Deputies said 36-year-old Vance Lee Harris and 40-year-old Beverly Angers were going through private property to get to their illegal campsite in the park. They had been run off by another property owner for the same reason and were suspected of setting a fire in the Kerby area earlier in the week. Upon arrival, deputies found several transient campsites in the park before finding the one occupied by Harris and Angers. He was wanted on a Coos Bay felony warrant for Parole Violation stemming from convictions for Identity Theft and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. She was wanted on a Josephine County warrant for failing to appear in court for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants. Harris was transported to the Josephine County Jail where he was lodged on the warrant while Angers was cited to appear in court and then released. They and others who were camping in the park were given one week to vacate the premises.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a motorist on an outstanding warrant yesterday during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 in north Grants Pass. OSP reports troopers pulled over a Hyundai Sonata driven by 49-year-old Jennifer Diane Angeles in the southbound lanes of I-5 near milepost 58 on Thursday at 10:17 a.m.. Troopers said they ran the license plate of the Hyundai and learned the registered owner was wanted on a Jackson County warrant for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants. After stopping the vehicle, they determined Angeles was the registered owner so she was placed into custody. Angeles was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrant. Per her request, the vehicle was left on the side of the freeway for her boyfriend to retrieve.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a "frequent flyer" for trespassing at a home on the west side of the city early yesterday. According to the Police Department, officers responded to a trespassing call in the 1100-block of SW Isham Street on Thursday at 3:13 a.m.. Police said the resident called 9-1-1 to report a female subject kept coming up onto their porch and ringing the doorbell. When the caller told the woman they were going to call the police, she took off running. Officers searched the area until they located 34-year-old Morgan Delin Weber. A routine records check showed she had been trespassed from the same residence in January of this year. She was placed into custody without incident. Weber was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass.

 

An Illinois Valley resident was critically injured this week when they were run over by a vehicle in Cave Junction. On Wednesday at 11:12 p.m., the Illinois Valley Fire District, American Medical Response, Oregon State Police and Josephine County Sheriff's Office responded to the accident in the 100-block of Cascade Drive. IVFD officials said arriving units found a person underneath a vehicle and crews attempted to remove the patient with extrication equipment. The unidentified person was eventually transported to Three Rivers Medical Center where the trauma system was activated. No other information was available, but the Sheriff's Office was conducting an investigation.