Grants Pass JACUZ ZI so n , g o with cover, A C o 218-2295 d co n d iti o n , $ 110, 1-2 per600. C . a ll (5 4 1 ) October 14, 2014 Tuesday 75 cents Weather Home prices see rural-urban divide By Shaun Hall of the Daily Courier Dampened day Rain lasting until midnight will decrease to showers Wednesday. See Page 2A. Overnight low 48 Wednesday’s high 62 What’s inside One a day An apple a day ... can mean a lot of recipes. Start with our three to enjoy one of fall’s treasures. FOOD / Page 5B Home prices and the number of homes sold are down in rural Josephine County, but are rising in Grants Pass, according to the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service. The median price for homes sold in rural Josephine County fell 4 percent in the three months ending Sept. 30, compared with the same period a year ago, according to the service. That compares with a 2 percent price increase for homes sold in the county’s urban areas, primarily Grants Pass. Rising prices in Grants Pass might be due to fewer low-priced homes on the market in the city, according to local real estate broker Kurt Heater, a spokesman for the Multiple Listing Service. “The urban area is where we saw the low-priced ones,” Heater said. “As those disappear, there’s not available inventory replacing it. It’s harder and harder to find something under $100,000. You can still find some for under $150,000.” The MLS reported that median prices for a rural home in Josephine County dropped HEATER from $240,000 to $230,000, while prices rose in the county’s urban areas from $170,000 to $174,000. In Cave Junction, prices dropped 1 percent — from $161,000 to $159,000. In addition to the drop in rural home prices, the number of homes sold in rural areas of the county dropped by 20 percent from last year — 95 rural homes sold in the three-month period ending Sept. 30, compared with 119 sold in the same period last year. In contrast, the number of urban homes sold this year increased 3 percent over last year — 140 compared with 136 in the same time period last year. Heater would not blame the caused by county budget cuts. “I’m not hearing sellers that are throwing up their hands and saying, ‘I’m getting the heck out of Dodge because I don’t like the lawlessness,’” he said. “I really haven’t had a wholesale bunch of sellers saying they’re done with Josephine County.” In contrast, Heater said, he often hears of buyers who want to live in rural areas because taxes are lower there. “If there’s a buyer trend,” he said, “a year ago it seemed there was more anxiousness. Buyers were making quicker decisions. (Now) buyers are being patient. They’re willing to watch the market a little bit more. “We’re just about on course where we were last year,” he said. “A little behind.” Meanwhile, in Jackson County, median prices on existing homes rose a whopping $30,000 — from $288,000 to $318,000 in rural areas, while urban prices rose from $200,000 to $219,000. Turn to EBOLA, Page 10A Race to D.C. Art Robinson is once again challenging Peter DeFazio for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Page 3A Photo courtesy of BLM This view is the reward for hikers who make it all the way up the new Bolt Mountain Trail southwest of Grants Pass. Below, a crew works on the trail, which winds 3.2 miles up to the top. What’s online Election archive Preparing to vote? Check out our coverage of local candidates and issues in a special archive, available for free at ... thedailycourier.com A look ahead Race for sheriff Find out more about the candidates for Josephine County sheriff and one of the hottest races on the ballot that will be served up to voters who are registered by midnight tonight. WEDNESDAY Where to find it Abby . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10A Classified . . . . . . . . .7-12B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . .4B Entertainment . . . . . . . .6B Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . .9A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . .1-3B Stock markets . . . . . . .12A Call us at 541-474-3700 email [email protected] Volume CV No. 19 Issue 31501 2 Sections, 24 Pages Bolt Mountain Trail open for use funds to continue the work via assistance agreements that paid workers from the Job Council and Northwest Youth Corps. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the trail, but it is open for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. “I think once people know about it, it’s going to get a lot of use,” said Calvert. To get to the trailhead from Grants Pass, take Williams Highway and turn right on New Hope Road. Once on New Hope road, continue for about 3.2 miles. Then, turn right on Fish Hatchery Road and drive about 2 miles. Turn right on Weatherbee Drive, just before the Fish Hatchery Bridge, and continue up the road for about a halfmile to the gravel parking lot at the entrance to Fish Hatchery Park. There is a $4 day-use fee at the parking lot. Annual passes are available for $30 through the Josephine County Parks Department. Passes are available in exchange for doing volunteer work at county parks. Call the Parks Department at 541-474-5285. Teen hurt in mailbox smashing improves By Melissa McRobbie of the Daily Courier A 16-year-old Grants Pass boy who was severely injured when a form of vandalism known as “mailbox baseball” went horribly wrong last week is making small steps toward recovery at a Portland hospital, his father said Monday. Joseph Hermosillo, a junior at Grants Pass High School and an avid skater and BMX biker known affectionately as “Joe Fish,” was airlifted to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital after his friends brought him to Three Rivers Medical Center shortly after 4 a.m. on Oct. 5. Authorities say an investigation determined that Joseph and another 16-year-old boy had been watching from the back window of a moving motor home as a passenger in the front seat swung a metal baseball bat out the window at mailboxes. Police said the bat hit a telephone pole and flew backward, hitting Joseph in the face. Four of the friends were arrested — the driver of the motor home, Breanna Allene White, 21; the front-seat passenger, Vega Shaw Russell, 22; another passenger, 18year-old Dennis Allen Mosier; and a 16-yearold boy whose name hasn’t been released. Joseph’s father, Joe Hermosillo, said in a telephone interview from Portland that his son has made great strides in his recovery in the past several days. “Yesterday was huge,” he said Monday. “They’re weaning him off the sedation med- Joseph Hermosillo was injured when an act of vandalism went awry. ication. He actually wanted to get out of bed. The nurse asked him, ‘Do you want to walk?’ He said ‘Yes.’ They let him walk to the wheelchair and they wheeled him around the room and everyone was clapping for him.” Joseph underwent surgery and had part of his skull removed to alleviate pressure from bleeding in his brain. His skull was fractured in three places, his father said. Associated Press Turn to HURT, Page 12A Turn to HOME, Page 12A An entertaining weekend is promised in the Illinois Valley with Artoberfest and one of the area’s largest quilt shows. ENTERTAINMENT Page 6B Easily accessible, open all year and panoramic views — these are the characteristics of the new multi-use Bolt Mountain Trail that the Bureau of Land Management opened recently in a joint effort with Josephine County. Located just outside of Grants Pass, the day-use trail starts at Fish Hatchery Park and winds 3.2 miles (one way) to the top, which is at an elevation of 2,200 feet. The sparsely vegetated mountain provides many great views of the valley and the Applegate River, said Todd Calvert, a Rogue River park ranger for the BLM who worked on establishing the trail. “Gosh, you can just see an awful lot,” Calvert said. “That’s the neat thing about it.” The climb from the base averages about a 10 or 12 percent grade, spiraling up the mountain through diverse microclimates. The sensitive serpentine soil provides habitat for unusual plant and animal species. In addition to volunteers who began trail construction several years ago, BLM secured By Emily Schmall and Nomaan Merchant The teen now has eight plates and 36 screws in his head, but the doctors managed to place the incisions where the scars on his scalp won’t be visible, the elder Hermosillo said. “Joseph is talking now,” his father said. “One of his eyes is open.” The bones on the right side of his face were shattered, and his right eye was badly damaged. Eye and ear surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday. Hermosillo said he was told that some fellow Grants Pass High School students had worn “rasta” colors — yellow, green and red — to school after the accident in honor of his son. “He loves rasta colors, he loves Bob Marley and reggae,” Hermosillo said. He said his son, who got the nickname “Joe Fish” from a young cousin who couldn’t pronounce “Joseph,” has been doing well in school and recently learned that he enjoys running. Joseph’s friend Selena Decontreras, a sophomore at GPHS, said he likes riding skateboards. “He goes to the skate park with his best friend and they skateboard,” she said. White, the driver of the motor home, has been charged with criminal mischief in the incident. She is also facing a separate disorderly conduct charge stemming from a brawl that occurred during the First Friday Art Walk downtown on Sept. 5. state of the housing market in rural Josephine County on the lack of rural law enforcement IV weekend The Grants Pass City Council will consider selling a portion of one of the city’s parks. Page 3A Caregiver is first to contract disease in US DALLAS — A Dallas nurse infected with Ebola while treating the first patient diagnosed in the U.S. has received a plasma transfusion from a doctor who beat the virus. Nurse Nina Pham was among about 70 staff members at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, according to medical records. The 26-year-old nurse was in the Liberian man’s room often, from the day he was placed in intensive care until the day before he died last week. PHAM Pham and other health care workers wore protective gear, including gowns, gloves, masks and face shields — and sometimes full-body suits —- when caring for Duncan, but she became the first person to contract the disease within the United States. Duncan died Wednesday. Health care workers including Pham were told to monitor themselves by taking their temperatures. She went to the hospital Friday night after finding she had a fever. As Pham was being treated in isolation today, the World Health Organization projected that West Africa could see up to 10,000 new Ebola cases a week within two months and confirmed the death rate in the current outbreak has risen to 70 percent. The agency’s assistant director-general, Dr. Bruce Aylward, gave the figures during a news conference in Geneva. Previously, the WHO had estimated the Ebola mortality rate at around 50 percent. If the world’s response to the crisis isn’t stepped up within 60 days, “a lot more people will die,” Aylward said. Meanwhile in Berlin, a U.N. medical worker infected with Ebola in Liberia died. The 56-year-old man, whose name has not been released, died overnight of the infection, the St. Georg hospital in Leipzig announced today. Members of the Pham family’s church held a special Mass for her in Fort Worth on Monday night. Rev. Jim Khoi, of the Our Lady of Fatima Church, said Pham’s mother told him the nurse had received a transfusion that could save her life. “Her mom says that she got the blood from the gentleman, a very good guy. I don’t know his name but he’s very devoted and a very good guy from somewhere,” Khoi said. Jeremy Blume, a spokesman for the nonprofit medical mission group Samaritan’s Purse, confirmed that the plasma donation came from Kent Brantly, the first American to return to the U.S. from Liberia to be treated for Ebola. Brantly received an experimental treatment and fought off the virus, and has donated blood to three others, including Pham. “He’s a doctor. That’s what he’s there to do. That’s his heart,” Blume said. Brantly said in a recent speech that he also offered his blood for Duncan, but that their blood types didn’t match. Khoi said Pham’s mother assured him the nurse was comfortable and “doing well,” and that the two women had been able to talk via Skype. She was in isolation and in stable condition, health officials said. Another unidentified person who had close contact with her has also been isolated as a precaution. NEW TRAIL OPENS ACCESS TO VISTA GP park deal? Nurse with Ebola gets survivor’s plasma
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