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FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2026

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The Richest Poor County in Oregon

What Lies Beneath Josephine County and Why It Still Shapes the Fight Above Ground

By John Oliver Josephine County has always been more than timber, rivers, farms, back roads, and smalltown politics. Beneath the feet of residents from Grants Pass to Sunny Valley, from Grave Creek to the Illinois Valley, from old placer beds to rural rock deposits, sits a complicated inheritance of minerals, aggregate, gold, chrome, nickel, copper, platinum, gravel, and stone. It is not a fairy tale treasure map. It is not a simple promise of instant prosperity. But it is real, it is valuable, and it has helped shape generations of political fights, landuse battles, backroom suspicions, environmental conflicts, and public distrust. Josephine County may be one of Oregon’s clearest examples of a place that can be resource-rich and cash-poor at the same time. The county has mineral history under nearly every layer of its identity. Gold brought miners into the region. Chromite brought strategic interest. Gravel and crushed rock continue to carry economic importance because modern communities cannot build roads, subdivisions, bridges, drainage systems, public works projects, or wildfire access routes without aggregate. The public often hears the word mining and thinks only of gold pans and old claims. The more practical truth is that the county’s modern mineral value is tied as much to rock as it is to precious metal. That is where the politics begins. Josephine County’s mining history is not speculation. Public records and geological surveys document a long record of mineral activity across the county, including gold, chromium, sil-

Three Dead, Police Officer Wounded ver, copper, platinum, nickel-related minerals, limestone, marble, sand, gravel, and crushed stone. Historic districts around Galice, Waldo, Althouse, Josephine Creek, Grave Creek, and the Illinois Valley helped write the county’s early economy. The old miners were not imagining value. They were following geology that remains part of the county’s physical reality today. But buried value is not the same as usable wealth. A mineral deposit only becomes money when it can be lawfully accessed, profitably extracted, transported, processed, sold, and defended through permitting, litigation, environmental review, public opposition, and political pressure. That is where Josephine County’s promise turns into conflict. The land may contain value, but the power to unlock that value does not belong equally to every resident. For ordinary citizens, minerals beneath the ground are mostly an abstract fact. A homeowner cannot simply dig up a hillside, mine a creek, crush rock, move gravel, or open a commercial

pit because a map suggests value below the surface. Mining requires land ownership, zoning, permits, equipment, capital, haul routes, water rights, reclamation plans, agency approvals, lawyers, consultants, and political patience. In many cases, it also requires influence. That influence may be perfectly legal, but it still raises legitimate public concern when land-use decisions, zoning changes, private profit, public roads, rural neighborhoods, and natural resources collide. Sunny Valley and Grave Creek show why this issue matters. The area is not just another rural patch of land. It sits near a historically and environmentally sensitive corridor tied to Grave Creek and the Rogue River system. When land connected to aggregate extraction becomes the subject of rezoning, appeals, neighborhood resistance, and environmental scrutiny, the fight is no longer only about gravel. It becomes a question of who gets to profit from the land, who bears the damage, who makes the decision, and whether the

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see WHAT, page 5

Grants Pass City Council Faces Packed Agenda Budget Decisions, Ordinance Changes, and Community Projects Move Forward By John Oliver The City of Grants Pass enters the first week of June with a full slate of government business, policy decisions, budget approvals, and community initiatives that will shape municipal operations for the coming fiscal year. City leaders are scheduled to convene today at 6pm, June 3 for a City Council meeting followed by a meeting of the Grants Pass Urban Renewal Agency, addressing everything from the city budget and state revenue sharing to park regulations, public infrastructure financing, and upcoming community events. At the center of the meeting is the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2027 budget. Council members will hold a public hearing regarding the approved budget and the city's use of state-shared revenue funds before considering several resolutions necessary to formally implement the spending plan. Those actions include declaring the city's election to receive state-shared revenues, imposing and categorizing taxes for the upcoming fiscal year,

and officially adopting the budget and appropriations that will fund city services during the next fiscal cycle. Budget adoption marks one of the most significant responsibilities of local government each year, establishing funding levels for public safety, parks, infrastructure maintenance, administration, community development, and other essential city operations. The decisions made during this meeting will guide spending priorities throughout the next fiscal year while also determining how stateshared revenue funds are incorporated into city finances. In addition to financial matters, council members are expected to consider a substantial ordinance updating several sections of the Grants

Pass Municipal Code. The proposed amendments address regulations involving obstructing traffic, objects or materials placed in public rights-ofway, public trash receptacles, water pollution violations, public urination and defecation offenses, public indecency violations, sleeping on sidewalks and within doorways, and regulations governing the use of city parks and temporary exclusions from park properties. The ordinance package represents one of the more extensive policy discussions on the agenda and continues the city's ongoing effort to refine regulations governing public spaces, community conduct, and park management. Because the proposal includes an emergency declaration, any

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see CITY, page 3

Following Domestic Violence Shooting and Hours-Long Standoff in Sandy

By John Oliver A domestic violence incident in the Oregon community of Sandy escalated into a deadly shooting and prolonged law enforcement standoff, leaving three people dead and a police officer seriously injured in an event that has drawn attention across the state and the nation. The violence unfolded on the afternoon of May 31 in the city of Sandy, located approximately 30 miles east of Portland in Clackamas County. According to law enforcement officials, officers were dispatched to a residence after reports of a domestic disturbance involving gunfire. What began as a response to a local emergency quickly transformed into a major law enforcement operation involving multiple agencies and specialized tactical units. Authorities reported that officers arriving at the scene encountered immediate gunfire. During the exchange, a Sandy police officer was struck multiple times. Emergency medical personnel transported the wounded officer to a nearby hospital for treatment. Officials later confirmed that the officer survived the shooting and is expected to recover, although the extent of the injuries has not been fully disclosed. As the situation intensified, investigators determined that multiple victims had been killed at the residence. Law enforcement agencies secured the surrounding neighborhood while attempting to gain control of the rapidly developing incident. Residents in nearby homes were advised to remain indoors as officers established a safety perimeter around the property. The suspect subsequently barricaded himself inside the residence, creating a tense standoff that lasted several hours. Tactical teams, crisis negotiators, sheriff’s deputies, and additional law enforcement personnel responded to assist Sandy Police in managing the situation. Roads in the immediate area were closed, and emergency response resources were concentrated around the neighborhood while authorities worked to prevent further loss of life. The standoff continued into the evening before

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see DOMESTIC, page 9