S ERVING THE S ILVERTON A REA S INCE 1880
50 C ENTS
●
A U NIQUE E DITION OF THE S TATESMAN J OURNAL
V OL . 136, N O . 16
W EDNESDAY , A PRIL 5, 2017
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
Cherriots unveils bus route changes
ANNETTE UTZ
SPECIAL TO THE STAYTON MAIL
On Jan. 26, the Cherriots Board of Di-
rectors approved a restructuring plan of
its CARTS service, which will now be re-
ferred to as Cherriots Regional. After 20
months of research and public outreach,
the service changes have been finalized
and are to take effect May 8.
According to Cherriots Director of
Communication Patricia Feeny, out-
reach for the draft plan included 12
events, riding the CARTS buses, and con-
ducting online outreach in order to get
the word out about the proposal. For di-
rect input, Cherriots staff spoke with ap-
proximately 650 people and received
over 300 written comments.
Changes are related to specific
routes, and fares will not be affected.
In the East Valley, flex routes will be
eliminated, meaning that buses will ad-
here to a regular schedule and passen-
gers will no longer be able to request
stops closer to their destination or to
“flag” stops.
Stayton area residents will see an in-
crease to four daily round trips to Salem.
Route 30X will include Stayton, Sublimi-
ty, Aumsville and Turner. Twice daily
service will extend further east to in-
clude Gates, Mill City, Lyons and Meha-
ma. Route 35, a flex-ride schedule, will
be discontinued.
In the Silverton area, Route 25 will be
replaced by Route 20X running between
Woodburn, Mt. Angel, Silverton and Sa-
CHERRIOTS / SPECIAL TO THE STAYTON MAIL
See BUSES, Page 3A
Cherriots CARTS route changes will take effect on May 8.
Man given
22.5 years
in abuse,
porn case
His arrest came after
18-month investigation
WHITNEY M. WOODWORTH
STATESMAN JOURNAL
A Marion County man was sen-
tenced to 22 years and six months in
prison after he pleaded guilty to seven
child pornography and sexual abuse
charges.
Ronald Heigh, 50, was arrested by
Silverton police in September on seven
counts of encouraging
child sexual abuse. He
was later indicted by a
Marion County jury on
additional charges.
A warrant was issued
for his arrest in Septem-
ber, and he was detained
Heigh
by Silverton police the
next day, taken to Mar-
ion County jail and held on $120,000
bail.
His arrest came almost 18 months
after Silverton police began investigat-
ing him, officials said. According to
court records, agents with the Oregon
Department of Justice were also in-
volved in the investigation.
According to court records, Heigh
was accused of sexually abusing and
sodomizing a boy under the age of 12
between 2008 and 2009. He also alleg-
edly sexually abused a girl under the
age of 14 between 2011 and 2013.
Heigh pleaded guilty to three counts
of first-degree encouraging child sexu-
al abuse, second-degree sodomy and
three counts of first-degree sexual
abuse.
In his plea petition, he admitted to
sexually abusing and assaulting two
children as well as “duplicating at least
three visual recordings of sexually ex-
plicit conduct involving a child and
child abuse.”
On Monday, Heigh was sentenced to
75 months each for the sexual abuse
and sodomy charges and 45 months
each for the child pornography
charges.
Some sentences will run concur-
rently, giving Heigh a total prison sen-
tence of 22 years and six months. He
will be required to register as a sex of-
fender upon his release.
For questions, comments and news
tips, email reporter Whitney Wood-
worth at wmwoodwort@statesman
journal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow
on Twitter @wmwoodworth
PHOTOS COURTESY OF U.S. FOREST SERVICE
Access to popular Three Pools Recreation Area, on the Little North Santiam River, will be limited by the Forest Service.
Campsite crackdown
Feds propose alcohol ban and other rules
ZACH URNESS
STATESMAN JOURNAL
Once upon a time, Three Pools Recreation Site
was a little-known swimming hole tucked away in
mossy forest northeast of Mehama.
But during the past five years — and especially
the past two summers — the emerald pools have
been overrun by growing crowds and marred by
trash, vandalism and drunken behavior.
“On those really hot days, it basically becomes
a booze-infested party zone,” said Josh Weathers,
developed recreation manager for Willamette
National Forest. “Crowds have doubled there
since 2014. It puts tremendous pressure on this
fragile, natural environment.”
While Three Pools has become the poster child
for overcrowding, several other sites, including
Opal Creek Trail, Elk Lake and the Breitenbush
River have faced similar problems, said Weath-
ers.
Now Forest Service officials are proposing a
series of new regulations aimed reducing damage
to some of the most beloved places in the Opal
Creek and Detroit areas.
The steps include an alcohol and campfire ban
in certain areas, along with increased restrictions
on where people can camp. Fines for breaking the
rules would run from $50 to $250 per citation.
The Forest Service is inviting public comment
on the proposals from April 3 to 14. Comments can
be logged online at: management.org/Public/
Trash is an issue in the Opal Creek and Little North Santiam Area.
See CAMPING, Page 3A
New middle school principal selected
APPEAL TRIBUNE
Brett Davisson has
been selected as the new
principal for Silverton
Middle School, pending
School Board approval on
April 10. He will begin in
August.
Davisson returns to
Silver Falls School Dis-
trict after spending the
past three years as assis-
tant principal at West Al-
bany High School. Before
that, he was a teacher in
the North Santiam, Salem-
Keizer and Silver Falls
School Districts spending
most of his teaching ca-
reer at Silverton High
School. He also served as
principal of Evergreen
School for one year and
completed a variety of ad-
ministrative tasks in Sil-
ver Falls including an in-
terim principal position at
Robert Frost School.
According to Superin-
tendent Andy Bellando,
“Davisson brings a wealth
of experience and knowl-
Silverr ton B usiiness of t he Y ear 2 016
The Time to Sell is NOW!
edge to this position,
especially in the areas
of special education,
technology,
student
support programs, in-
structional leadership,
curriculum and staff
development. He is ex-
cited to begin this new
chapter in his profes-
sional career.”
The Odds of Selling Your Property!
917
854
841
737
685
684
667
701
82%
75%
505
454
374
307
62%
60%
2013
2014
56%
45%
Online at SilvertonAppeal.com
NEWS UPDATES
PHOTOS
» Breaking news
» Get updates from the Silverton area
» Photo galleries
INSIDE
Classifieds..............................3B
Life..........................................4A
Obituaries.............................2A
Police logs .............................2B
Sports......................................1B
2011
2012
# of Active Listings (12 Mo.)
2015
# of Closed Sales (12 Mo.)
2016
Closed Sales vs. New Listings
Silverton & Mid Valley Area
©2017
*Mid-Valley Market Data as per WVMLS
Printed on recycled paper
119 N. Water St. Silverton, OR 97381 • 503.873.8600 • www.nworg.com
OR-0000387941