GRANTS PASS, Ore. — For the second time, a tax measure to restore public safety in Josephine County failed to win voter approval. The unofficial results show 49 percent voted yes and 51 percent voted no. Around 400 votes separate the two sides as of 9:50 p.m.

Measure 17-49 proposed a property tax of $1.48 per $1,000 assessed value for three years. Sheriff Gil Gilbertson says with the failed tax levy, county residents should expect another round of cuts.

“We’re probably looking at going back to 60 beds for the jail. I’m looking at only one patrol officer for this entire county. Frankly, I’m reluctant to put one person out there by themselves,” said Gilbertson.

The group Securing Our Safety has supported the measure. Group members are expecting more crime, and in turn, more victims. Residents against the tax measure say they were never against law enforcement.

“The problem is still here,” said Jim Rafferty. “We’re not opposed to and have never been opposed to public safety. It’s just that we were opposed to how it was going to be funded and the promises were it was going to be funded a certain way. It was supposed to go where it was supposed to go.”

They say the responsibility falls on the county commissioners to restore public safety.

“We have to roll up our sleeves, the commissioners are going to have to take a role, cut back on salaries in my opinion, look at the county charter like I said before and do what needs to be done,” said Rafferty.

On the other hand, Sheriff Gilbertson says other ideas besides the tax measure to help restore public safety have been tested out.

“We’re looking for ideas. We’re asking people who have ideas to come forward. Most ideas have been beaten year after year after year,” explained Gilbertson.

The unofficial results for the law enforcement levy was closer this year. Last year, NewsWatch 12 reported that 57 percent voted against a similar tax measure.

Click here for a link to Josephine County’s election results page.

Medford School District Positions
Director, Position 1: Larry W. Nicholson
Director, Position 2: Jeff Thomas
Director, Position 3: Tricia M Prendergast

Eagle Point School District
Director, Position 2: Scott Grissom
Director, Position 3: Don Hodges
Director, Position 5: Dianne Mihocko

Phoenix-Talent School District
Director, Position 1, Zone 2: Ruth Staten
Director, Position 3, Zone 1: Maria Piacentini
Director, Position 5, Zone 1: Laura Lotspeich
Director, Position 6, Zone 2: Debra Mcalister
Director, Position 7, Zone 2: Craig Prewitt

Central Point School District
Director, Position 1, Zone 1: Tracy Jackon
Director, Position 2, Zone 1: Bret Moore
Director, Position 4, Zone 2: Joelle Wallace
Director, Position 5, Zone 1: Ed Lindbloom

Josephine County

Measure 17-49 Law Enforcement Levy: 51% No. 49% Yes.

Measure 17-52 GPSD # 7 Bond: 51% No. 49% Yes.

Klamath County

Measure 18-91 – Klamath County Schools General Obligation Bonds: 50.22% Yes. 49.78% No.

Measure 18-90 – Makes County Commissioners Nonpartisan: 68% Yes. 32% No.

Curry County

Measure 8-71 Law Enforcement Five Year Levy: 56% No. 44% Yes.

For more updates and results, visit our Elections Page.

A race with big implications for the leadership of Medford schools is the school board elections.

Medford voters voted Larry Nicholson in Position 1. Position 2 belongs to Jeff Thomas and Position 3 seems to go to Tricia Prendergast.

In Eagle Point‘s school board race, results show that Scott Grissom, Don Hodges and Dianne Mihocko will serve on the board.

Phoenix-Talent School District also elected school board members, Ruth State, Maria Piacentini, Laura Lotspeich, Debra Mcalister and Craig Prewitt will serve on the board.

In Central Point, parents upset over the new principal at Mae Richardson started a write in campaign remove the uncontested school board members, but they were not successful. Serving new terms will be Tracy Jackon, Bret Moore, Joelle Wallace and Ed Lindbloom.

Early numbers show Measure 17-49, the Josephine County Law Enforcement Levy, is not passing; 51% voting No.

Early numbers also show 17-52 School District #7 Bond for Grants Pass is also failing: 52% voting No.

Preliminary numbers show voters in Curry County appear to have rejected the 5-Year Law Enforcement Levy, 56% voting No.

Measure 18-91 Klamath County Schools General Obligation Bonds, is a close call with 49% voting Yes and almost 51% No.

In Klamath County, Measure 18-90 Makes County Commissioners Nonpartisan has passed, with 67% for the bill.

ASHLAND, Ore. — Several months have passed since Ashland Police began enforcing a “Three Strikes, You’re Out” policy for repeat offenders in downtown Ashland.

Store owner Fredrica Lawerence says transients and some homeless can scare people away from downtown and effectively scaring business away.

“They’ll just walk around them, go out into the street and walk around them because they are too scared to go through it,” said Lawrence.

The “Enforced Law Enforcement Area” in downtown Ashland was put into place late last summer and targets repeat offenders who cause trouble. If a person receives three citations in a six month span, he or she could be excluded from the downtown area for 90 days to a year.

In the several months since being put into place, nine people have been identified as repeat offenders, however many left town before being taken to jail.

“Out of those 9, 5 people were never served, they just left the area. The four remaining people, all four of them were served, 2 of those people left the area also, or they haven’t come back,” explained Ashland Police Dept. Chief Corey Falls.

City Councilor Carol Voisin was the only member of city council to vote against the exclusion zone last year because she feared it targeted the homeless. She’s says it appears to be only impacting transients so far, but still isn’t sure the zone is a good idea.

“I mean is that really a good use of our police time and our tax dollar money? You know, I’m not sure but let’s wait and see what the summer brings,” remarked Councilor Voisin.

Lawerence says she thinks the impact of the enforced law enforcement area has taken a step towards improving the downtown area, but doesn’t think it is a long-term solution.

“And, you know, it’s not that many people who actually do the harassing, it is just like a handful. But those are the ones who typically scare people away,” said Lawrence.

Many other residents in Ashland agreed to wait and see the impact of the enforced law enforcement zone after more time has passed.

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. — Deputies say a teenager boy is taken safely into custody Monday afternoon after he fired shots toward homes and threatened to shoot anyone who responded.

Several Jackson County Sheriff deputies responded to the 4000 block of Tioga Way around 2 p.m. Deputies called for an armored vehicle but then called it off. They said the boy walked outside, unarmed to talk to them.

A deputy on scene initially told NewsWatch 12 the argument, which led up to the shooting was about a cellphone. But later Monday evening, the grandparents told our crew, their grandson got upset because there wasn’t any Pepsi left in the home. When they couldn’t find a ride to the store, they say he threw a phone, got the gun, and fired shots out of anger.

Deputies charged him with Reckless Endangerment. Deputies say the direction he shot with a 22 rifle was within 200 yards of other homes.

NewsWatch 12 spoke to gun instructor, Greg Gritsh, who is part of “Critical Balance Shooting Academy.” Gritsh says residents can shoot a firearm outside of city limits but not if its in an urban growth area in county lines.

“The best way to figure out if you’re in the urban growth boundaries is to call the  sheriff’s office and talk to one of the  dispatchers and tell them your location,” said Gritsh.

When it comes to teens and guns, Gritsh says awareness is key.

“Because I firmly believe that if you can’t  look at it, you can’t examine it, and you don’t teach your children, when you’re gone, they’re going to be looking for it,” explained Gritsh.

In the instance of the teenage shooter, Gritsh says the boy is lucky no one got hurt.

“You just cannot shoot and not have some kind of idea where the bullets going to land. No one wants to have a tragedy that they’re going to live with for the rest of their lives,” said Gritsh.

For more information on gun safety classes with Critical Balance Shooting Academy, click here.

CNN contributed to this report. ABC News has continuing livestream coverage.

[UPDATE: 6:30 p.m. Monday] MOORE, Okla. — At least 51 are dead after a massive tornado struck the Oklahoma City area. Eyewitnesses report schools demolished and children trapped. More than 38,000 are reported without power.

[PREVIOUS STORY] A second round of severe weather has begun developing across the Central Plains. A massive tornado tore through a densely populated Moore, Oklahoma on Monday afternoon.

The tornado touched the ground in Duncan and moved east, northeast into Moore, south of Oklahoma City. Monday’s tornado is estimated to be about two-miles wide. The destruction is extensive with countless homes and businesses flattened. Meteorologists from the area are reporting the damage to be the worse they have ever seen.

Moore experienced a devastating tornado about a decade ago, in May of 1999. The tornado was ranked an EF-5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the strongest a tornado can be in meteorological terms. It is likely that Monday’s twister which passed through the town again had wind speeds of the same nature, as the damage appears to be worse than the horrifying past twister.

At least two people have been killed in this severe weather event. More than 171,000 people could have been in the path of the storm.

Among the missing items was an iPhone, an iPad and a laptop totaling roughly $1,600. When officers arrived at the home, the home owners used an app called “Find My iPhone” in hopes of locating the cell phone. This tech-savvy attempt led officers right to the suspect, who was found sleeping in a vehicle in a Medford parking lot.

Upon searching the vehicle, police found all of the missing property in the trunk. The 41-year old man was identified as Gregory Gross. Gross is facing charges for both Robbery & Theft.

Authorities would like to remind residents to secure doors and windows at night. If an individual would like to leave a window or door open, make sure there is a locking mechanism in place to ensure a burglar cannot enter.

The event was free to the public. Representatives from local law enforcement agencies were in attendance. David Curry organized the event.

“I’ve got a passion for cars, I’ve got a passion for helping people, and this again has been a great event and hopefully raising a lot of money and awareness for the D.S.A.S.O.”

This was the first event of its kind and organizers hope to make it an annual one.

MEDFORD, Ore. – Medford Fire is limbering up for agility training day. It’s an annual requirement for the entire force, and part of an ongoing 11-week training academy.

Young firefighters and veterans were timed through the agility course, with different time requirements for different age groups.

They had to climb a five story tower by ladder with weighted packs, hoist weights from the top of a tower using rope and pulley, drag and carry hoses, and finish it off with a half-mile run. Fire officials say physical fitness is an important part of doing their jobs.

“Whether it’s going to a car accident or putting out a structure fire, grass-fire, whatever, we want to make sure we stay in top physical form so we can serve our citizens most efficiently we can,” said Battalion Chief Ron Nelson.

Medford firefighters head up to Eugene next for some live fire training. They say the academy covers everything down to how to put on and remove equipment as quickly as possible.

MEDFORD, Ore. – A Medford family is raising awareness for a rare and potentially fatal heart condition.

Jessica Szoyka was diagnosed with a serious form of Hypertrophic Cardio-Myopathy (HCM) in December. Now she and her husband are trying to get her open heart surgery that they say could save her life.

Szoyka was diagnosed with HCM 14 years ago when she was 22. It wasn’t until this past December that she realized how serious it was.

“I started experiencing some visual changes that caused me to go to the doctor,” said Szoyka. “And then I learned that I had a change – a significant change – in my cardiac condition.”

Thick ventrical walls in Jessica’s heart limit blood flow and oxygen to her body. It leaves her too exhausted to perform most daily tasks. And that’s just the beginning.

“My cells are criss-crossed, and it’s causing electrical problems, which could put me at risk for sudden death,” said Szoyka.

She’s wearing a heart monitor for the next week to determine that risk of sudden death. Plus three daily prescriptions, lab and genetic testing, and much more.

She says the expenses add up.

“I just had a cardiac MRI at Stanford and a stress test,” said Szoyka. “Everything’s rolling in. So I don’t even know where to start at this point.”

Now Jessica and her soon-to-be husband, Kevin, await open heart surgery. They say it could save Jessica’s life, but insurance is calling her HCM a pre-existing condition.

“If insurance doesn’t pay, we’re looking at $300,000,” said Kevin Orella, Jessica’s fiancé. “If they do pay and it’s only at 80%, we’re still looking in the neighborhood of $60,000.”

They say the only way they can afford the operation is through fundraising, which they’ve only just started.

In the meantime, they’re spreading the word to anyone else who could be at risk.

“The worry here is the ones that don’t have symptoms, so they’re not getting detected or followed,” said Szoyka. “They’re the ones that are at risk for sudden death.”

Most people with Jessica’s condition can live normal lives. She says only about 5% have the rare form she suffers from. Click here if you want to donate.