KLDR - Local News

GP Police and Firefighters Protected Community during First Week of Autumn

Grants Pass police officers and firefighters logged an impressive activity level during the first full week of autumn. According to the Weekly Report filed by Grants Pass City Manager Aaron Cubic, police responded to 704 calls for service plus 271 officer-initiated calls last week that resulted in 51 arrests, 39 citations, 57 warnings and four highly-intoxicated people being lodged at the Sobering Center. The Community Response Team (CRT) made a total of 96 contacts with potential trouble-makers while arrested five people, citing 11 more and warning 27 others. The CRT unit also trespassed 10 individuals and posted 44 new transient camps. Grants Pass Fire & Rescue responded to a total of 102 calls last week including 42 for emergency medical service, two for reports of fire or smoke, 14 lift assists, six rescue situations, three assists to other agencies and three false alarms. Firefighters also performed 38 business inspections, led two education programs, assisted the public three times and properly installed 11 child car seats for young families. The 9-1-1 Dispatch Center fielded a total of 1,175 emergency calls in addition to 908 calls for non-emergency service.

Posted on 10/2/23 7:02AM by Sam Marsh

GP City Council Workshop Features Increasing Local Affordable Housing Opps

The Grants Pass City Council will continue to work toward increasing affordable housing opportunities during its weekly workshop session today. The City Council will open the workshop with a staff-led discussion on minimum density zoning for residential developments. In order to create more affordable housing on a finite number of buildable lots, zoning changes will be explored. Also on the agenda is a topic titled "City-Initiated Urban Growth Boundary Rezone Area Identification." Representatives from the Josephine County Homebuilders Association have been invited to attend and join in the discussions. The final item for the workshop is an agenda review for the City Council's regular meeting on Wednesday night. Today's workshop begins at 11:45 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at Grants Pass City Hall, 101 NW A Street.

Posted on 10/2/23 7:01AM by Sam Marsh

SOCET Task Force Sweep Arrests 5 Suspects for Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse

The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint interagency task force arrested five separate suspects on a total of 42 felony charges of encouraging child sex abuse late last week. According to SOCET, investigations led the task force throughout the Rogue Valley including addresses in Medford, Central Point and Grants Pass. Total felony charges included 32 counts of 1st-Degree Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse, 10 counts of 2nd-Degree Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse, 16 counts of 1st-Degree Invasion of Personal Privacy and one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm. The first arrest came when SOCET received a tip that a suspect was leaving his residence in the 60-block of Jeanette Avenue in Medford. The task force located and arrested 60-year-old Steven Wesley Rambo. Next, the task force located a suspect's vehicle near his residence in the 20-block of Washington Street in Medford. The task force arrested 45-year-old Michael David Robertson. The task force then located and arrested 40-year-old David Anthony Pierce at his residence in the 1,000-block of NE Morgan Lane in Grants Pass. A cyber tip led investigators to his former residence on North River Road in Rogue River where numerous child exploitation images had been uploaded.

Posted on 10/2/23 6:59AM by Sam Marsh

State Housing Agency Helps Keep Over 2,200 Homes Affordable for Oregonians in 2023

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) has approved more than $167 million of investments since the beginning of the year to keep nearly 2,300 homes affordable for 60 more years rather than risk rents increasing to market rate. According to OHCS, these dwellings mainly consist of apartment units and manufactured houses. Preserving affordable housing refers to the efforts at maintaining housing that is affordable for individuals and families with lower incomes. When affordable housing is built, the state and owner enter into a regulatory agreement that establishes how long that housing is to remain affordable. This initial period of affordability -- where rents are lower than in the open market -- is ordinarily 30 to 60 years in Oregon. As affordable housing complexes start to reach the end of their required affordability period, OHCS and its partners work to retain the affordable restrictions for these homes. Royal Oaks Mobile Manor in Medford received $11.4 million from the program to keep 118 residences affordable. Valley Pines in Medford received $4.2 million to keep 120 homes affordable while Anderson Vista in Talent got $2.5 million to protect the affordability of 36 dwellings.

Posted on 10/2/23 6:57AM by Sam Marsh

Mount Ashland Kicks Off 60th Anniversary Celebration with Some Big Announcements

The Mount Ashland Ski Area kicked off its 60th anniversary celebration last week, revealing the new logo and theme for the upcoming season and revealing some ambitious plans for the future. The 60th anniversary theme is "Elevate Mount Ashland" as the ski area focuses on enhancing the visitor experience and better serving those who are new to mountain sports. First opened in 1964, Mount Ashland still uses much of the original infrastructure and plans to revitalize the facility as visitation continues to increase. The resort is coming off its biggest winter ever and it opened this past summer for the first time. Mount Ashland has begun planning for installation of a new chairlift, replacing the current surface lift. This chairlift -- which will be called the "Lithia Chair" -- will reopen beginner and intermediate terrain that has been inaccessible since the original lift was removed in the 1980s. Ski area managers have also announced other projects are part of the anniversary revitalization starting with $1 million in upgrades currently underway. Mount A has purchased two demo-used snowcats to provide expanded and improved slope grooming while being more fuel efficient.

Posted on 10/2/23 6:50AM by Sam Marsh