The latest jobs report from the Oregon Employment Department shows Josephine County with the third-highest jobless rate in the state, nearly 2 percentage points higher than the state average.

The county’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was estimated at 7.1%, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Oregon Employment Department. That was the third highest in the state, after Grant County at 7.6% and Klamath County at 7.5%.

Facing a North Medford team that scored in bunches against Bend over the weekend, the Grants Pass softball team added another feather in its cap in the Cavers’ strong start to the season.

Behind strong pitching from Brooklyn Kuykendall, seventh-ranked Grants Pass jumped out to an early three-run lead and pulled away for a 7-1 win victory over the 11th-ranked Black Tornado in Southwest Conference action on Tuesday in Medford.

The driver of a semi-truck stalled on Interstate 5 was arrested on suspicion of DUII and manslaughter after a crash near Azalea that left one person dead and two badly injured.

Oregon State Police said the crash was reported in the northbound lanes of the freeway at 3 p.m. Monday at milepost 90, in an area between Azalea and Canyonville.

Michele Allen Fulkerson has been the executive director of the Rogue Gallery & Art Center for just six weeks, but she already knows this is the job for her.

“I feel like I’ve found my forever job,” she says. “It feels like a good fit.”

Fulkerson has filled the position vacated by Kristen O’Neill, who had been the gallery director since December 2023, and its interim director for six months before that.