A key portion of the Gold Hill City Council meeting centered on proposed infrastructure expansion, specifically a water line project extending across the bridge. Framed as both an immediate need and a long-term investment, the discussion reflected differing perspectives on growth. “A city that doesn’t grow dies,” said Councilor Sherry,[Read More…]
News
DOJ Secures 20-Year Sentence In Cold Case Homicide
Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced that Marcus Sanfratello, 73, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 1983 homicide of Teresa Peroni, closing a case that went unsolved for more than four decades. Sanfratello pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree in Josephine County Circuit Court. Under[Read More…]
State Action Plan Gets Green Light
Oregon’s State Wildlife Action Plan, or SWAP, recently received approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Debbie Colbert said that was the final step in a science-based roadmap to maintain healthy fish and wildlife populations, prevent further declines of at‑risk species, and reverse[Read More…]
OSP Makes Arrest In Grants Pass Sex Abuse Case
Courtesy of Oregon State Police Following a grand jury indictment, Oregon State Police made an arrest in a Grants Pass sex abuse case involving a Grants Pass school support staff member. On February 6, 2026, the Oregon State Police began an investigation into Highland Elementary School educational assistant Joseph Deley[Read More…]
City Plays Part In Bentz Bill To Stop FEMA
The Rogue River City Council got a bit of news when both Mayor Pam VanArsdale and City Administrator Ryan Nolan received email correspondence from a staffer representing Congressman Cliff Bentz concerning legislation Bentz had sponsored that would remove any constraints regarding the Endangered Species Act on the Federal Emergency Management[Read More…]
City Looking For OHA Clearance On Reservoir
Rogue River City Administrator Ryan Nolan said the Oregon Health Authority has been holding up the plans for the city’s million-gallon water reservoir at the council’s April 2 workshop, waiting for that agency’s approval, and he said that remained the case at the Rogue River Planning Commission meeting. Nolan said[Read More…]
Find Your Joy During National Library Week
Jackson Country Library Services is turning the page to National Library Week, which runs Sunday, April 19 through Saturday, April 25. First celebrated in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries of all types across the country each April. This week-long[Read More…]
Planning Commission Works On “Mixed Use”
The Rogue River Planning Commission continued its discussion of residential properties on the fringe of commercial zoning that, under the current Rogue River City Code, must remain commercially zoned. This was the product of a strict City Code adopted in 1984. Under this legislation, the thinking was that the residential[Read More…]
Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office Case News
Medford Man Sentenced To Federal Prison A convicted felon was sentenced to federal prison for illegally possessing firearms. Devon James Wright, 31, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. According to court documents, Wright was caught on two separate occasions with firearms. First,[Read More…]
Headlines & Highlights For April 15, 2026
APR. 15, 1981 Rogue River- Have you ever been short of change and had to break a bill or larger coin? It’s the pennies that can be a help or a hindrance. Pete Zwinkel of Pete’s Beetle Barn may have solved the problem for local shoppers and merchants. Zwinkel entered[Read More…]