Local News

Grants Pass police officers and firefighters are gearing up for summer when they protect both residents and visitors in this community. According to the Weekly Report filed by Grants Pass City Manager Aaron Cubic, police officers responded to a total of 627 calls for service last week along with 230 officer-initiated calls that resulted in 51 arrests, 43 citations, 60 warnings and three highly-intoxicated people being lodged at the Sobering Center. Cubic also reported that officers conducted a total of 84 traffic stops in the city and they made 27 referrals to the Oregon Department of Human Services. The GPPD Community Response Team (CRT) contacted a total of 166 potential troublemakers while arresting two people, citing 32 more and warning 75 others. The CRT unit also trespassed 26 individuals, posted 78 transient camps and removed trash from four campsites. Grants Pass Fire & Rescue responded to a total of 109 calls last week including 33 for emergency medical service, six reports of fire or smoke, 11 lift assists, five rescue situations, nine assists to other agencies and eight false alarms. The 9-1-1 Dispatch Center fielded a total of 1,220 emergency calls.

 

Paying a bill to the City of Grants Pass has never been easier. By following links on the city website, users can pay a variety of bills generated by Grants Pass. Bookmark and follow the mentioned links for easy access to online bill-paying portals. You'll need your customer account number to pay utility bills or your citation number for paying a parking ticket. For Grants Pass utility bills, visit "grantspassoregon.selectpaytoday.com." To pay city parking tickets, go to "grantspassormrpt.myrelayview.com." The city's website homepage at "grantspassoregon.gov" also has easy-to-use icons for accessing both portals.

 

Former nurse Dani Marie Schofield pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging her with 44 counts of second-degree assault on suspicion of harming nearly four dozen patients in Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center's intensive care unit by stealing fentanyl prescribed to them to ease their pain. Jackson County Circuit Judge Laura Cromwell on Friday told Schofield that she did not qualify financially for a court-appointed lawyer and no defense lawyer was present as the judge kept Schofield's bail at $4 million despite a pretrial officer's recommendation to lower it to $1 million. Schofield complained to the court that she's been locked down in isolation in jail, hasn't received her medication, has had no contact with anyone and barely has running water. She said she believes her family has contacted a lawyer to represent her and asked the judge how they should inform the court. According to the Oregonian, the judge instructed Schofield to file a grievance with the jail about the conditions and that a retained lawyer should contact the court. A pretrial conference was scheduled for June 24th. Police and prosecutors say Schofield took patients' fentanyl for her own personal use and replaced the liquid drug with non-sterile tap water, causing them to develop life-threatening infections. She was arrested Thursday near Shady Cove. During a Thursday afternoon news conference, Medford Police Chief Justin Ivens said of the 44 patients identified, 16 died -- most in the hospital but others after they were discharged.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a man for three felony-level crimes after he intentionally lit Christian crosses on fire at a local church early yesterday. The Police Department reports officers arrested a 44-year-old male subject for the incident at Newsong Christian Fellowship on NE Evelyn Avenue on Friday at 1:24 a.m.. He has since been identified by the agency as Jeremy Robert Johnson. Police said an employee at the new Pinnacle 365 gas station at 6th Street and Manzanita Avenue called 9-1-1 after a customer witnessed a man lighting three crosses on fire at the church. Officers and firefighters responded to the scene to find the fire already extinguished, but the crosses were still smoldering. According to the report, the fire caused approximately $1,000 in damage. The suspect was detained at Taser point a short time later. During contact, he reportedly made numerous statements that indicated he was responsible for the fire. He also was found to be in possession of fuel-drenched clothing. Johnson was subsequently lodged at the Josephine County Jail on felony charges of 1st-Degree Arson, 2nd-Degree Bias Crime and 1st-Degree Criminal Mischief. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man for several crimes after a violent incident at an apartment complex and at Morrison Centennial Park. According to the Police Department, officers responded to the incident at Rogue View Gardens on Fruitdale Drive on Thursday afternoon. Police said the complex manager called 9-1-1 to report that a male subject was yelling that his wife had been murdered. The caller told dispatchers the man left the complex and walked toward baseball fields at the adjacent city park. Officers contacted the 37-year-old man at the park a short time later and the man was immediately hostile toward them, threatening to kill them and screaming profanities. After the man demonstrated an unwillingness to obey commands and displayed pre-fight indicators, a Taser was deployed twice -- but it had no effect because he was wearing thick clothing. Pepper spray was utilized after the subject charged at an officer. That de-escalated the man's violent behavior until additional officers arrived on scene to help. The suspect was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Attempted Assault on a Peace Officer, Resisting Arrest, Menacing and Disorderly Conduct. He was being held without bail.

 

Three people escaped injury when their vehicle crashed in Cave Junction late yesterday. On Friday at 5:20 p.m., the Illinois Valley Fire District, American Medical Response and Josephine County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the single-vehicle mishap at the intersection of East River Street and North Old Stage Road. IVFD officials none of the three occupants was injured. No one was identified. The vehicle was removed by Jerry's Towing. The Sheriff's Office was conducting an investigation into the cause of the wreck.

 

The Grants Pass 9-1-1 Communications Center fielded more than 1,200 calls over the past week. According to the local dispatch center's weekly post on Facebook, a total of 1,220 calls were answered by dispatchers between June 6th and June 12th. As usual, the Grants Pass Police Department received the vast majority of the calls with 972. American Medical Response followed GPPD with 287 calls and Grants Pass Fire & Rescue received 108 calls. Rural Metro Fire Department received 51 calls followed by the Illinois Valley Fire District with 27, Oregon Department of Forestry with 19, Williams Fire & Rescue with four and the Wolf Creek Fire Department with one. Local dispatchers also received a total of 452 internal calls over the past week and they made a total of 496 outbound calls.

 

Today is "World Elder Abuse Awareness Day" and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is joining other federal agencies to warn against scams targeting seniors. The IRS recently issued a warning about the rising threat of impersonation scams. These scams are targeting older adults by pretending to be government officials, aiming to steal sensitive personal information and money. By posing as federal agency representatives such as IRS agents, these fraudsters use fear and deceit to exploit their victims. The IRS has identified a concerning trend where fraudulent actors are increasingly targeting unsuspecting individuals, particularly senior citizens, by masquerading as IRS agents. Victims are pressured into making immediate payments through unorthodox methods such as gift cards or wire transfers under the pretense of resolving fictitious tax liabilities or securing false refunds. These scammers deploy advance techniques to fabricate a veneer of credibility including the manipulation of caller IDs to appear legitimate. Do not return the call using the number provided by the caller or the one displayed on the caller ID. If taxpayers are uncertain about the legitimacy of IRS communications, they can contact IRS customer service for verification at 1-(800)-829-1040.

 

After two completed sessions in central and northeast Oregon, residents are being reminded of four remaining open houses about the state's new community wildfire risk reduction programs. The next two are in Jackson and Josephine counties. Next week's scheduled Oregon Department of Forestry events are in Central Point and Grants Pass. They are set for Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jackson County Expo Park and for Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Grants Pass High School. The resource-fair style open houses are being held in the communities that have some of the highest levels of wildfire hazards within the wildland-urban interface. Each open house will begin with a short presentation and introductions, but visitors may stop in at any point during the event to get questions answered about the draft hazard map and associated community wildfire programs. Representatives from multiple agencies will be present to have one-on-one or small group conversations to help people understand the statewide wildfire programs. Those agencies include ODF, Oregon State University, Oregon State Fire Marshal, Oregon Building Codes Division, Oregon Division of Financial Regulation and Oregon Wildfire Programs Advisory Council.