Local News

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested a man for causing a traffic alert in the Merlin area late last week. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies responded to the incident in the 3500-block of Merlin Road on Friday at about 1 p.m.. Deputies said multiple callers reported a male subject on a skateboard pointing a gun at passing vehicles while yelling at them. The subject was reportedly heading toward Ray's Food Place and that's where he was detained by law enforcement. According to the report, 19-year-old Evan Andrew Gibbs-Bernard told them he was pointing an airsoft gun at the vehicles, but he did not indicate why he was doing so. The airsoft gun was seized as evidence and he was placed into custody. Gibbs-Bernard was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Menacing and Disorderly Conduct. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a motorist for impaired driving after he caused a head-on collision with another vehicle in the southeast corner of the city. According to the Police Department, officers and emergency personnel responded to the two-vehicle crash on Cloverlawn Drive near SE Joel Drive at 6:27 p.m. on Friday. The involved vehicles were reported to be a Toyota Tacoma and a Honda CRV. Police said an investigation determined 32-year-old Robert Henry Pina, III, drove his vehicle into the oncoming lane at a high rate of speed and caused a collision with the other vehicle driven by a female motorist. The driver and passenger of the victim vehicle had to be extricated from the wreckage and they were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Both vehicles were heavily damaged and towed away. Pina displayed signs of impairment at the scene and performed poorly in field sobriety tests, so he was placed into custody. Pina was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants and Reckless Driving. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a well-known offender for drug possession after he started a small fire along the railroad tracks in the downtown area late last week. According to the Police Department, officers and firefighters responded to the trash fire near the tracks off 6th Street on Friday shortly before the noon hour. Police said witnesses reported that they saw 45-year-old Nicholas John Knox Knowles adding cardboard to the fire he started and watching it grow. They located and detained him, finding him to be in possession of a glass pipe that contained methamphetamine. It was seized for destruction. Knowles advised the arresting officers that the fire was his "love bubble" and that it makes him "feel good and relaxed." The blaze was quickly extinguished. Knowles was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Meth Possession. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass police officers and firefighters logged seven busy days of activity in the week leading up to the Boatnik Festival. According to the Weekly Report filed by Grants Pass City Manager Aaron Cubic, police officers responded to a total of 567 calls for service along with 304 officer-initiated calls last week which led to 52 arrests, 50 citations, 73 warnings and four highly-intoxicated people being lodged at the Sobering Center. Cubic also reported that officers conducted a total of 94 traffic stops in the city and they made 19 referrals to the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS). The GPPD Community Response Team (CRT) contacted a total of 19 potential troublemakers while arresting five people, citing seven more and warning three others. The CRT unit also trespassed two individuals from homes and businesses. Grants Pass Fire & Rescue responded to a total of 84 calls last week including 38 for emergency medical service, three reports of fire or smoke, 10 lift assists, two rescue situations, six assists to other agencies and six false alarms. The Grants Pass 9-1-1 Communications Center fielded a total of 1,013 emergency calls last week.

 

It's Memorial Day, when memory and mission converge. This day is not one of celebration. It is a day of solemn remembrance -- when our nation pauses to reflect on the profound cost of the freedoms and way of life we each hold so dear. Behind every headstone and memorial etched with the names of our fallen service members are lives lived with deep purpose and conviction as defined by courage and sacrifice. As we honor the fallen, we must also speak of those whose fates remain unknown. More than 81,000 American service members remain unaccounted for from conflicts dating back to World War II. Among them are hundreds of Oregonians whose names are etched into monuments and hearts as time marches forward. For their families, there has been no return, no final goodbye and no folded flag. Only a silence that spans generations filled with questions, memories and the hope that one day, answers may come. Let us remember Oregon's deep and personal sacrifices including one Oregonian who died in the Civil War, 65 who were lost in the Spanish-American War, 1,030 who died in World War I, 3,757 who died in World War II, 269 who perished in the Korean War, 709 who were killed in Vietnam, one who died during the USS Pueblo incident, one in Panama, seven in the Persian Gulf and 142 in the post 9-11 conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

Thanks to the generosity of its members and communities, Rogue Credit Union is pleased to announce that over $37,000 was raised during this year's "Change a Child's Life Week" benefiting local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. This year's theme, "Be the Hero," celebrated the courage and imagination of local children facing some of life's toughest battles. Inspired by children's imagination and optimism in the face of life-threatening illnesses, the fundraiser invited members, teams and the local community to join the quest to help local children heal and thrive. 100% of the donations go directly to Children's Miracle Network hospitals in Rogue Credit Union's field of membership. Every dollar is donated to the hospital nearest to the donor, helping local children and families get the care they need to keep dreaming, drawing and doing. "Change a Child's Life Week" is part of Rogue Credit Union's commitment to building stronger communities and supporting the health and well-being of local children. Since the beginning of its partnership with Children's Miracle Network, Rogue has raised over $1 million to support pediatric care in this region.

 

Biologists, educators and interns with the Wildlife Images Rehabilitation and Education Center near Grants Pass gathered last week to say goodbye to a golden eagle without a name. The bird with a six-foot wingspan had spent almost three months at the wildlife clinic, receiving medications, physical therapy and flight conditioning in a 100-foot-long screened enclosure to build stamina and muscle after being hit by a car. X-rays showed the eagle had a double thighbone fracture and a wrist fracture. After the eagle recovered, but before it could be set free, it had to pass a hunting test. The golden eagle was never given a name, never treated like a pet, because of the nonprofit group’s mission: to help the bird fly away. The fully recovered eagle was released in Eagle Point, not because of the city's name, though that was seen as a sweet coincidence. The bird was found on the ground there February 27th, most likely near its regular habitat. The group decided the Eagle Point Golf Club property was the best location to launch the eagle's renewed life.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a young man and a male juvenile for multiple felony-level crimes after they allegedly held up a citizen on Rogue River Highway late yesterday. Police officers arrested 20-year-old Aiden Steven McCarroll and his teenage accomplice for the incident in the 1200-block of Highway 99 on Thursday at 6:53 p.m.. The teenage suspect is believed to be a student at Grants Pass High School. At 5:25 p.m., the victim called 9-1-1 to report that two young male suspects -- one wearing a mask -- pulled a knife on them and assaulted them before stealing items from them. Few details about the crime were disclosed in the GPPD log. Following an investigation, officers identified the suspects as McCarroll and the teenager. They eventually located the pair when they returned to McCarroll's residence. Both were placed into custody. McCarroll was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on felony charges of 3rd-Degree Assault, Unlawful Use of a Weapon and 1st-Degree Robbery plus a misdemeanor charge of 2nd-Degree Theft. He was being held without bail. His young accomplice was lodged at the Josephine County Juvenile Justice Center on felony charges including 3rd-Degree Assault, 1st-Degree Robbery and Criminal Conspiracy plus misdemeanor charges of 2nd-Degree Theft and Tampering with Evidence.

 

An argument between two neighbors in the Redwood area of Grants Pass late yesterday led to the arrest of one of them. The Police Department reports officers responded to the disturbance in the 1200-block of Annabelle Lane on Thursday around 4:30 p.m.. Police said 65-year-old Timothy Owen Reynolds lives on a neighboring property to where two other men reside. One of the men was walking his dog and returned to his fenced property when Reynolds' dog came out of the house and ran to the fence line. An argument between Reynolds and the other man ensued and the man's roommate pulled him back to avoid any confrontation. Reynolds proceeded to reach over the fence and backhand the man several times. No one was seriously hurt, but the victim complained of pain and requested to pursue charges against his neighbor. Reynolds was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Physical Harassment. He was being held without bail. His daughter was contacted to come secure the residence.