Derek Deforest News Today

Unhoused people in Medford are frustrated and distrustful of the region’s largest homeless services provider. That’s according to a recent survey conducted by homeless advocates in the Rogue Valley.

The City of Medford has paused payment of a $11,550 grant to the region's largest homeless services provider following a report that alleges conversion therapy is being practiced at a Medford church led by the founder of Rogue Retreat, Chad McComas.

Medford Police last week clearing an encampment from the Bear Creek Greenway Medford’s new prohibited camping ordinance has been in place for just over a week. The Medford Police say they’ve been successfully moving people living outside into shelters. Local housing advocates say otherwise. At least seven campsites along the Bear Creek Greenway were cleared by the Medford Police last week under a local ordinance that prohibits people from sleeping outside. The ordinance makes it a crime fo...

Activists gather outside of the Jackson County Jail, Saturday evening, March 6. Activists gathered on Saturday night at the Jackson County Jail in response to a recent COVID-19 outbreak at the facility. Late last month, the Jackson County Sheriffs Office reported that ten people incarcerated in the County Jail had tested positive for COVID-19. On Saturday evening, around 30 protestors marched around the Jackson County jail with noisemakers and signs, calling for the release of detainees at ris...

In Medford, like many other cities, there’s virtually no place for homeless people to legally go when the weather turns cold. In response, a Jackson County-based activist group has established a pop-up warming center for homeless people in the area.