WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2018 ܂ SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Private company operating Ranches
Silver Falls park reservations under new management
Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
A private company is taking over management of
two group facilities at Silver Falls State Park. Most who
rent The Ranches at Silver Falls State Park will notice a
price increase, but they will also notice a lot of other
changes.
Silver Falls Recreation Company began taking res
ervations for 2019 on Dec. 1.
The Silver Falls Recreation Company, a private enti
ty, has managed the Silver Falls Lodge & Conference
Center since 2013.
Silver Falls Recreation Company general manager
Adrienne Blomgren said rental rates will increase, but
much of that is due to the park not raising rental rates
on the facility in the past decade.
“Initially, yes there is a large rate increase because
we’re making up for 10plus years of inflation,” Blom
gren said. “I do recognize initially what people will per
ceive as a large rate increase, but really that is trying to
catch up with the economy.”
The move of running The Ranches to a thirdparty
allows park rangers to perform other tasks at the park.
“Transitioning to a concessionaire, especially one
we already work with at Silver Falls, will make more
staff time available for managing other areas of the
park,” said Chris Gilliand, Silver Falls park ranger su
pervisor.
When Silver Falls Recreation Company took over
management of the Convention Center six years ago,
See RANCHES, Page 3A
The New Ranch at Silver Falls State Park will be
under new, private management.
SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL
A look at distracted
driving law’s 1st year
Incumbents
joined by one
newcomer on
city council
Christena Brooks
Special to Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Oregon stiffened penalties for using a cellphone — or any electronic device — while driving in 2017.
GETTY IMAGES
Uncertainty if new law is changing driving habits
Virginia Barreda
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
In the first year of Oregon’s tougher distracted driv
ing law, Salem and Marion County law enforcement
has issued dozens more citations and warnings.
From Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, Salem police officers
issued 4.7 percent more citations to distracted drivers
— a total of 200 — than in the same period last year.
But with only one year of data, it’s hard to know if
the law is changing people’s driving habits, said Lt.
Treven Upkes with the Salem Police Department. But
the citations and warnings might be helping drivers
become more aware of the stiffer law and penalties.
“The usage is changing,” Upkes said, noting he’s
seen more people putting their phones on a mount in
their cars. If the state sees a dramatic increase in cita
tions for distracted driving and a decrease in crashes,
that’s when he’ll know the law is working.
“It’s such a common sense law,” he said. “I think it
will eventually have an impact so long as people are
willing to comply and put their phones away.”
The law, which took effect Oct. 1, 2017, states driv
ers in Oregon can be pulled over for not only texting
and talking on their cellphones, which was already il
legal,but any other “handson” cellphone and elec
tronics use.
Just holding a device while driving can result in a
ticket if an officer spots it.
Stemming from the passage of House Bill 2597 dur
ing the 2017 Oregon Legislature, the primary goal is to
help officers nab reckless drivers and curb dangerous
driving behaviors.
Before the Legislature stiffened the law, Oregon
had experienced a significant spike in fatal crashes,
See DRIVING, Page 3A
Carbon cap, education reform top
list of priorities for state lawmakers
Connor Radnovich
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Lawmakers still have a lot of work on their two top
legislative priorities — education reform and a green
house gas emissions cap — as they return to Salem on
Wednesday for committee meetings and discussions
ahead of the 2019 legislative session.
Draft bills will not be ready on either issue during
the Wednesday to Friday legislative days, but relevant
committees will hear the results of studies important
for informing the billwriting process.
Other legislative concepts released by committees
will be discussed, the Senate will take up executive
appointments, committees will get updates from
state officials, and lawmakers who lost their seats in
November will have their last official actions as repre
sentatives of the public.
Legislators had hoped to have a draft concept of
the socalled “capandinvest” bill aimed at reducing
carbon emissions ready for December legislative
days, but a decision by Gov. Kate Brown and other cir
cumstances have pushed the timeline until January.
For legislative days, the committee is planning to
do a conceptual walkthrough of their eventual pro
Three returners and one newcomer will be sworn
into office by the City of Silverton on Jan. 7.
Eighteen months after being appointed to fill an
empty mayor’s seat, Kyle Palmer won the popular
election – and the opportunity to keep
serving – on Nov. 6 with 58 percent of
the vote. Stu Rasmussen, local busi
ness owner and a past mayor, came
away with 37 percent of the vote.
“I really appreciate the trust the
community has given me,” Palmer
said. “I’m certain we’ve been able to
Kyle
make some gains in the transparency
Palmer
of city government … it means a lot to
me to win the vote after almost a full term in office.”
Palmer, 52, was a longtime city councilor before
being appointed in 2017 to Silverton’s mayoral post
after the man elected for the job, Rick Lewis, joined
the Oregon State Legislature. Lewis also won the No
vember election and will continue serving in the
House of Representatives.
Palmer is a veterinary technician who helps man
age Silver Creek Animal Clinic and also holds a varie
ty of parttime animalrelated jobs. Raised in Silver
ton, he’s been a prolific volunteer on sports teams,
civic committees and charity groups. He ran unsuc
cessfully for mayor in 2010 and 2012 before being ap
pointed in 2017.
With November’s win, he’ll now serve through
2020.
The three council seats up for grabs in the Novem
ber election went to incumbents Jim Sears and Dana
Smith and newcomer Crystal Neideigh. These are
fouryear volunteer positions, ending in 2022.
Twentyone percent of the vote went to Sears, 17
percent to Smith, and 15 percent to Neideigh. Leigh
Harrod finished fourth, with 12 percent.
Crystal Neideigh
New to the council, Neideigh, 42, is a Silverton na
tive who works as a physician’s assistant in Kaiser
Permanente’s urgent care center in Salem.
Under her maiden name, Beahm, she was a stu
dentathlete at Silverton High School, part of its first
occupational medicine class, and, later, a graduate of
Alderson Broaddus University in West Virginia.
At the time, the college offered a fouryear, year
round physician’s assistant program.
One thousand students applied for 100 slots; that
group was deliberately halved after the first year.
See COUNCIL, Page 2A
Tranquil
Tr
ra n q u i l Setting!
S e t t i n g
g!
Master on Main!
See PRIORITIES, Page 3A
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