Local News

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved an order confirming a Sheriff's Property Sale that occurred on November 1st. The Board voted 2-0 to approve the order by accepting the Sheriff's Return of Sale and Sheriff's Certificate of Sale before authorizing the distribution of proceeds from the sale. Commissioner John West was absent. Property Management reported only one out of four properties that were for sale actually sold. The sale price for the unspecified property was $207,501, which -- minus a 10% administrative fee -- netted the county $186,750. The proceeds will go to the Property Management Fund. During Comments and Requests from Citizens, the Board heard from a Wolf Creek man regarding code enforcement and two people promoted Veterans Day events taking place on Saturday. A Veterans Day event is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Merlin Community Park and a Candlelight Vigil is set for 5 p.m. at the Josephine County Republican Party headquarters across from the Courthouse in Grants Pass. Commissioner Dan DeYoung concluded the 14-minute session with the reading of a Veterans Day poem.

 

The Oregon Housing Stability Council has approved $56.7 million in Small Projects and Veterans funding to 11 affordable housing developments across the state including one in Jackson County. These investments from Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) will provide a total of 261 homes in smaller developments for veterans, seniors, people experiencing homelessness, agricultural workers and wildfire survivors. OHCS defines smaller developments as those having 40 homes or fewer in one complex. Five developments selected for funding are in rural areas and six are in urban areas. Locally, the Talent 2 Senior Apartments will receive $5.2 million to provide 26 homes. The funding will assist seniors who lost their homes to the devastating Almeda Fire in 2020. Brookings CORE Response -- a nonprofit that serves veterans experiencing homelessness -- was awarded $3.2 million for the creation of the Veterans Housing Project, which will provide 18 much-needed homes in Gold Beach.

 

The Josephine County Republican Party is inviting citizens to a Veterans Day Candlelight Vigil in Grants Pass this weekend. The Veterans Day event will take place at the GOP headquarters across from the Josephine County Courthouse on Saturday. It starts at 5 p.m.. All are welcome to bring a candle to light to honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Dress warm and bring a chair. There will be patriotic music and speakers from the veteran community including Retired US Air Force Sergeant Chris Barnett and Pat Allen from the Old Guard Riders who will speak about "Wreaths Across America." Prayers for veterans will be followed by a roll call of Josephine County's departed veterans. A folded American flag will be presented to veterans by Bryan Welden and there will be free food for veterans during the event. If you are a military veteran or know of a veteran that they can honor, please contact "JoCoGOP.Communications@gmail.com."

 

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners this morning approved an order confirming a Sheriff's Property Sale that occurred on November 1st. The Board voted 2-0 to approve the order by accepting the Sheriff's Return of Sale and Sheriff's Certificate of Sale before authorizing the distribution of proceeds from the sale. Commissioner John West was absent. Property Management reported only one out of four properties that were for sale actually sold. The sale price for the unspecified property was $207,501, which -- minus a 10% administrative fee -- netted the county $186,750. The proceeds will go to the Property Management Fund. During Comments and Requests from Citizens, the Board heard from a Wolf Creek man regarding code enforcement and two people promoted Veterans Day events taking place on Saturday. A Veterans Day event is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Merlin Community Park and a Candlelight Vigil is set for 5 p.m. at the Josephine County Republican Party headquarters across from the Courthouse in Grants Pass. Commissioner Dan DeYoung concluded the 14-minute session with the reading of a Veterans Day poem.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man for violating terms of his probation related to a domestic assault case and recovered a stolen vehicle at a residence near Riverside Park yesterday. The Police Department reports officers arrested 41-year-old Guy Caley McFarland at a home in the 1300-block of SE Vista Drive on Tuesday at 11:36 a.m.. Police said Josephine County Community Corrections contacted them for help in locating McFarland, who was wanted on a Grants Pass warrant for Probation Violation related to a recent arrest for 4th-Degree Domestic Assault. They said the suspect was found hiding in the attic of the garage after his wife consented entry. According to the report, a stolen vehicle with heavy front-end damage and a flat fire was located in the driveway of the residence. It was towed to a local impound yard after McFarland denied any association with the vehicle. Guy McFarland was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on a no-bail detainer.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a man on a local warrant and tacked on a charge of being out of compliance with his sex offender registration after a trespassing complaint at a laundromat last night. According to the Police Department, officers arrested 63-year-old William Ward Fleming, Jr., at EZ Wash Laundromat on SW G Street on Tuesday at 6:25 p.m.. Police said they responded to a call about a man smoking something out of a pipe while sitting under a table at the laundromat. They contacted Fleming and learned that he was wanted on a Grants Pass warrant for failing to appear in court for Furnishing False Information to Police. A methamphetamine pipe was seized. It was also discovered that Fleming was a convicted sex offender who had not registered locally since August 2022. William Fleming was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrant and for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. He was being held without bail after being additionally cited for the narcotics violation.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man on an outside warrant while citing and excluding some other campers at Baker Park early yesterday. The Police Department reports officers were patrolling the city park when they spotted 57-year-old Donnie Wayne Snow, Jr., and discovered that he was wanted on a Coos Bay Police Department warrant for failing to appear in court for Theft. He was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail. Snow was also one of four people who were trespassed from the park for 30 days due to ordinance violations. The others were identified as Kyle Palomino, Dean Smith and Ann Warfield. The violations included Scattering Rubbish, Buffer Zone, Misuse of Park Space and Conduct in a Parking Lot. Warfield was observed driving carelessly at a high rate of speed and running through the stop sign at the park entrance. She was pulled over on East Park Street near Tobin Court. Her driver's license was suspended and she had no insurance, with no emergent reason to be driving. She was cited for those two violations as well as for Careless Driving and her vehicle was impounded. Meanwhile, a large 10-man soiled and abandoned tent was found staked to the ground inside a park buffer zone. Open food containers, drug paraphernalia and feces were located inside the tent. The tent and other items were gathered up and taken to Southern Oregon Sanitation for disposal.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man for refusing to leave Riverside Park after he was trespassed from the facility earlier this week. The Police Department reports officers contacted 39-year-old Vincent Vernon Manning on the west side of Caveman Bridge on Tuesday during the noon hour. Police said Manning had been trespassed from Riverside Park on Monday, but he was still there camping in his tent which was outside open space parameters and surrounded by trash. While placing Manning into custody, he reportedly tensed up, clinched his left fist and tried to strike an officer. However, he was forcefully taken to the ground and handcuffed. Vincent Manning was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Resisting Arrest and Criminal Trespass. He was being held without bail. His personal property was logged into evidence for safekeeping.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested an Illinois Valley woman last night after she was caught trying to enter vehicles at a Selma supermarket. According to the Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a trespassing complaint involving 50-year-old Shannon Leann Petersen at Ray's Food Place on Deer Creek Road around 6:15 p.m. Tuesday. Deputies said a store employee reported that Petersen was attempting to get into vehicles in the parking lot and that she had been previously trespassed from the business. She was contacted and placed into custody without incident. Shannon Peterson was transported to Grants Pass and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass.