Local News

Grants Pass Police jailed a man on outstanding warrants and new criminal offenses after he got into a fight with a manager at the downtown Safeway store at the start of the weekend. The Police Department reports officers arrested 39-year-old Joshua Alexander Deivert for the incident at the supermarket on SE 7th Street on Friday at 8:55 p.m.. Police said Deivert entered Safeway where he has been previously trespassed and acted in a disorderly manner. They said he was screaming at random individuals about a lost debit card, which caused a scene in front of numerous customers. A manager of the store asked the subject to leave, but he refused and kept yelling. As the manager escorted Deivert out of the business, he attempted to use an electric scooter to strike the manager, but the manager was able to successfully disarm the subject. The suspect then struck the manager, causing physical injury. Upon arrival, officers discovered that Deivert was wanted on two Grants Pass warrants for failing to appear in court for Petty Theft and Criminal Trespass. He was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrants plus new charges of Unlawful Use of a Weapon, 4th-Degree Assault, Disorderly Conduct and Criminal Trespass.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman for her alleged involvement in several crimes during a weekend patrol check at a city park. According to the Police Department, officers contacted a woman they identified as 27-year-old Megan Elise Mitchell at Riverside Park on Saturday around 8 p.m.. Police said Mitchell was wanted for probable cause from two recent investigations and she was placed into custody without incident. She was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Identity Theft, Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card, three counts of 2nd-Degree Theft and Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle. No details about the alleged crimes were disclosed, although the suspect was trespassed from Walmart. Mitchell was being held without bail.

 

Firefighters extinguished a small vehicle fire near Cave Junction early yesterday and kept it from spreading to a nearby home and vegetation. On Sunday at 2:43 a.m., the Illinois Valley Fire District and Oregon Department of Forestry were dispatched to a vehicle fire in the 300-block of Caves Highway. IVFD officials said arriving units found a vehicle ablaze, with a nearby residence threatened by the flames. They said the fire was extinguished and the home was not damaged. ODF crews stood by to halt any spread into the vegetation. Officials said the cause of the fire was under investigation, but believe it may have been mechanical in nature.

 

As Southwest Oregon inches closer to the end of the 2024 fire season, now is a good time to cover dry burn piles with a tarp. Be sure piles contain only permitted Class A materials including yard debris, wood, paper and cardboard, and not prohibited materials such as garbage, tires, roofing, black plastic, plastic irrigation lines, appliances or furniture. Fire season is officially declared over when a significant weather pattern occurs and the Oregon Department of Forestry makes the announcement that is issued over all major media sources. Fire conditions are not determined by a date, but by local fuel conditions and weather. Rural Metro officials said a dry pile after the rain starts will promote a hot and clean burn -- but wait until fire season is declared over. Right now, open and barrel burning remains prohibited, and all other current restrictions remain in effect until further notice. For more information, visit "swofire.com/public-fire-restrictions."

 

The Grants Pass City Council will focus on the Urban Area Planning Commission (UAPC) and Caveman Pool during its weekly workshop session today. The City Council will begin the workshop by interviewing candidates for the UAPC, which makes final decisions on all land use matters requiring a Type 3 procedure and makes recommendations to the Council on all land use matters requiring a Type 4 procedure. Next up on the agenda is Caveman Pool as the Council decides the future of the aging municipal facility. The pool was shut down for the offseason last week. Following a review of the agenda for Wednesday night's regular meeting, Mayor Sara Bristol will convene a Special Meeting in Executive Session. The closed-door meeting will feature real property transactions and/or negotiations. Today's workshop begins at 11:45 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at Grants Pass City Hall, 101 NW A Street.

 

Authorities in Ashland and Central Point are investigating child exploitation cases. On July 19th, the Central Point Police Department received a report of a potential sexual exploitation of a 5-year-old child. Members of the agency's Criminal Investigations Division took over the investigation. The complaint led to the arrest of 68-year-old Craig Albert Johnson of Ashland. Johnson was lodged at the Jackson County Jail on July 30th for Invasion of Personal Privacy, Encouraging Child Sex Abuse and Using a Child in a Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct. He remains in custody. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Johnson was employed at the Children's World Montessori School in Ashland and that additional instances of child exploitation had occurred at the school. This discovery brought the Ashland Police Department into the investigation. APD Chief Tighe O'Meara said several victims have been identified and detectives are actively working on identifying additional potential victims. So far, he said all children found to have been victimized by Johnson are female. The Children's World Montessori School is cooperating with the investigation. As the investigation proceeds, more criminal charges will be added as appropriate. Anyone with information related to this investigation is encouraged to reach out to Ashland Police Detective Lacie Six.

 

Grants Pass police officers and firefighters put in another busy week of protecting citizens and structures in the community. According to the Weekly Report filed by Grants Pass City Manager Aaron Cubic, police officers responded to a total of 726 calls for service along with 366 officer-initiated calls last week that resulted in 64 arrests, 43 citations and 45 warnings. Cubic also reported that officers conducted a total of 69 traffic stops in the city and they made 24 referrals to the Oregon Department of Human Services. The GPPD Community Response Team (CRT) contacted a total of 210 potential troublemakers while arresting four people, citing 10 more and warning 95 others. The CRT unit also trespassed four individuals and posted 73 transient camps. Grants Pass Fire & Rescue responded to a total of 106 calls last week including 43 for emergency medical service, five reports of fire or smoke, 31 lift assists, 10 rescue situations and seven false alarms. The Grants Pass 9-1-1 Communications Center fielded a total of 1,204 emergency calls as well as 719 calls for non-emergency service.

 

Applications are being accepted for a position on the Grants Pass Sustainability and Energy Action Committee due to a vacancy. This term expires on November 15, 2026. The Sustainability and Energy Action Committee monitors and reports to the Grants Pass City Council the progress of the Sustainability Energy Action Plan implementation while supporting the City in achieving long-term greenhouse gas emission and energy reduction goals. This includes outreach to the community, evaluating feasibility studies and providing recommendations for project advancement. The special qualification for this position is a solar energy technology specialist. Applications are available at the City Administration Office at 101 NW A Street or online at "grantspassoregon.gov/committee-application." Completed applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, December 20th.

 

Josephine County Deputies Friday arrested a male bicyclist after he allegedly stole a chain from a secure gate Thursday. Deputies were alerted Thursday afternoon to the report of a man on a bike going through a woman’s gate and stealing the chain used to secure it in the area of South Sawyer Avenue and West Lister Street in Cave Junction. The woman stated she had a picture of the suspect. Upon receiving the photo, a deputy recognized the suspect as a local transient and would follow up on Friday. Friday morning just after 11 a.m. that deputy took the 44-year-old suspect into custody, transported him and lodged him into the Josephine County jail for theft III, criminal trespass Ii and possession of methamphetamine.