WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK Home prices in Mid-Valley still rising 10 most expensive homes sold in Marion and Polk counties in 2021 Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Home prices in the Mid-Valley have been going up for years. The median sales price for homes in Marion County this year is $390,300, according to the Willamette Valley Mul- tiple Listing Service. In the Willamette Valley, home prices are averaging $435,414 this year, up 10.5% from $370,536 in 2020 and up 66% from $291,018 in 2017. Not every home in Marion County that is sold is average. Some sell for far more. These are the 10 residential proper- ties that have sold for the most money in Marion and Polk counties in 2021 (ex- cluding farms) and what they sold for, according to records from the Marion County and Polk County tax assessor offices: MARION COUNTY $2,700,000 The 6,726-square-foot house at 17300 North Santiam Highway outside Stayton was built in 2016 with a creek running through the property and a stone’s throw from the North Santiam River. With four bedrooms and four bathrooms, it’s on 30.2 acres with a 3,900-square-foot barn. The main house features a kitchen with a break- fast bar, a butler’s pantry and granite countertops. The upper level includes a family room, and there is a covered patio with an outdoor kitchen, hot tub and fire pit out back. The property includes a Christmas tree lot, if the owner wants to use it as such. It was sold Sept. 3. $2,300,000 Located not far from Corban Univer- sity, the 13,519-square-foot house at 5203 54th Court in Salem features sev- en bedrooms and eight bathrooms, and plenty of room for parking with seven attached garages. Each bedroom has its See HOMES, Page 4A 2 Silverton events scheduled to honor MLK Day Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK ‘Stunning view’ This new view of North Falls will be opened by the completion of a new trail on the north side of Silver Falls State Park. Two events will be held in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in Silverton Jan. 17. A vigil will be held from 2:30-3:30 p.m. at Towne Square Park to honor King's legacy. It will include greeting traffic with signs of quotes of his speeches. It is being put on by Silverton People for Peace. For more information about the vigil, contact Rob- ert Sisk at (503) 873-5307 or email robertjsisk@ya- hoo.com. At 6 p.m. Jan. 17, a MLK Observance will be held via Zoom. Labor organizer and racial and social justice activist Ahjamu Umi will give a keynote ad- dress titled “Does American Identity = White Supremacy?” Umi is a novelist and nonfiction Umi writer who has conducted anti-racism workshops for more than 10 years. KBOO 90.7 FM, an independent radio station in Portland, will air a version of Umi’s address. The event is being sponsored by Silverton Grange, Silver- ton People for Peace and KBOO. Registration is free and available at silvertongran- ge.org. For more information, contact (503) 873-5307. New Silver Falls trail looking for volunteers Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK S ilver Falls State Park rangers are looking for volunteers to help complete a new trail with a “stunning view” of North Falls. h Volunteers can help spread gravel, cut vegetation and feel like they’ve helped bring a new trail to life at work parties being held monthly at Oregon’s largest state park. h An event planned for Martin Luther King Day has already filled up its 20 volunteers needed, but people can now sign up for the next work party on February 21 (President’s Day). CROWN Act explicitly prohibits hair discrimination Dianne Lugo Salem Statesman Journal Work parties will be scheduled monthly across 2022 and sign-ups for each event will be posted here: https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm? do=things-to-do.events. Volunteers must be at least 14 years old, be able to work with hand tools and travel up to one-half mile on gravel and uneven surfaces. “Hand tools and other equipment will be pro- vided,” park officials said in a news release. “Please bring your own lunch, gloves, and wear clothes suitable for the weather conditions.” The trail in question is part of the redevelop- ment on the park’s north side, at the former group campsite near the nature play area that will in- clude a new parking lot, restroom and the hiking trail. The trail will travel 0.6 miles on wheelchair-ac- cessible terrain to a viewpoint of North Falls. “The really cool part is the trail being ADA ac- cessible to an incredible view of North Falls — it’s a perfect shot where you can see the creek coming down and then dropping over the waterfall,” Sil- ver Falls interim park manager Chris Gilliand said. Beyond that, the trail will drop through forest to the normal North Falls Trailhead, on trail that’s not accessible for wheelchairs, on a route totaling 1.1 miles one-way. Park officials hope to have a soft opening for the trail in June, but the rest of the redevelop- ment probably won’t be ready until autumn 2022. Gilliand noted that the Salem Area Trail Alli- ance and Trailkeepers of Oregon have already been helping on the trail. While the volunteer day is mostly geared to- ward adults, supervised kids can come as well, Gilliand said. USA TODAY NETWORK An artistic rendering of a new viewpoint as part of a new trail on the north side of Silver Falls State Park. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SILVER FALLS STATE PARK For more information, call (503) 873-8681. On- line registration is available at: bit.ly/silverfall- sworkday Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Ore- gon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@States- manJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors. Oregon joined a number of states in 2021 passing legislation that prohibits race-based hair discrimina- tion in schools and the workplace. That bill has now gone into effect. House Bill 2935, known as the CROWN Act, stands for “creating a respectful and open world for natural hair” and enacts policies first introduced and passed in California in 2019. Oregon’s version amends existing laws against discrimination based on race to include characteris- tics like hair texture and “protective hairstyles” such as braids, locs, bantu knots and twists. The new law allows anyone who believes they have experienced hair discrimination to file a written or verbal com- plaint against their workplace or school. “It is an act of self-love for the Black community to be able to show up at work and school in public paces as ourselves,” one of the bill’s chief sponsors, Rep. Ja- nelle Bynum, D-Clackamas,, said after the bill was passed. “It’s time for people to be able to express themselves unapologetically.” A total of 14 states have passed the CROWN Act or legislation inspired by it according to the CROWN Co- alition, a group of national organizations founded by Dove, National Urban League, Color of Change and See CROWN, Page 4A Vol. 141, No. 4 Online at SilvertonAppeal.com News updates: h Breaking news h Get updates from the Silverton area Photos: h Photo galleries Serving the Silverton Area Since 1880 A Unique Edition of the Statesman Journal QEAJAB-07403y Dreadlocks DIGITALHALLWAY, GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO