Wednesday, March 1, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
19
Economy strong as budget gap looms Thorson takes on interim
athletic director role
By Kristena Hansen
Associated Press
SALEM (AP) — Strong
and steady growth in Oregon
jobs, population and wages
last year helped funnel rev-
enues into state coffers that
exceeded earlier forecasts by
$102 million, state economists
said Wednesday.
The gains were realized
throughout Oregon’s diverse
urban and rural economies,
with the positive effects now
trickling down to low-income
households and other parts
of the economy that are usu-
ally last in line to reap such
benefits.
With these uptrends
expected to continue, state
economists raised their reve-
nue projections for the upcom-
ing 2017-19 budget by nearly
$200 million, bringing total
anticipated revenue to nearly
$21 billion for that cycle.
State Economist Mark
McMullen said the roughly
5,000 monthly job gains
Oregon had been experiencing
in recent months should slow
to roughly 3,500 per month
this year, stabilizing to more
historically normal and sus-
tainable levels “but still sig-
nificantly faster than the U.S.
average as a whole.”
“While a tight labor mar-
ket means we’re going to
see slower job gains going
CORRECTION
The Nugget’s February
22 profile of Neil Fendall,
the new Outlaw head foot-
ball coach contained incor-
rect information regarding his
association with a Big Sky
Conference Championship
and appearances in the FCS
(Football Bowl Subdivision)
playoffs. Those accomplish-
ments occurred when Fendall
was with Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo, not Linfield College.
forward, for the most part, a
lot of good things are com-
ing as well,” McMullen told
a committee of lawmakers in
Salem. “We’re ahead of the
curve in terms of the U.S. and
in terms of where we are in
our recovery, and we’re really
seeing the fruits of that.”
Yet, the improvements
still don’t come close to solv-
ing the estimated $1.8 billion
shortfall looming over the next
budget cycle that begins July
1. Economists also expressed
concerns about uncertain-
ties at the federal level under
President Donald Trump and
how those might impact poli-
cies and subsequent costs tied
to Oregon’s health care, immi-
gration, trade, federal land and
tax infrastructures.
Democratic majority lead-
ers in both legislative cham-
bers joined economists in
praising Oregon’s recent
economic performance,
but warned that it’s still not
enough to take budget cuts off
the discussion table this year.
“Our revenues are up,
but we still have hard work
ahead,” Senate President Peter
Courtney said in a statement.
“Our budget isn’t balanced.
We’re going to have to make
some cuts. We’re going to
have to raise some revenue.
Both are tough. Both have to
get done.”
House Speaker Tina Kotek
called the deficit a “generation
in the making” that will “hit
people in every corner of the
state with teacher layoffs, big-
ger class sizes, higher tuition
costs, the loss of health insur-
ance coverage, or other harm-
ful impacts in their everyday
lives.”
Republicans reacted to
Wednesday’s forecast with
some optimism while still
echoing similar budget-related
concerns.
...let’s pass a balanced
budget by matc2ing our
spending wit2 our revenues.
— Mike McLane
“This forecast is good
news,” House Minority
Leader Mike McLane said in a
statement. “We will again set
a new record for the amount
of tax revenues flowing into
government coffers. Now let’s
pass a balanced budget by
matching our spending with
our revenues.”
SPRING PROJECTS
We have the tools, building materials,
and hardware to rebuild what winter
✓ Interior painting & trim
took down... ܂
✓ Cleanup pine needles
܂
✓ Build a long-lasting deck
܂
✓ Add insulation in the attic
܂
✓ Replace the storage shed
܂
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Gary Thorson says he’s got
big shoes to fill at the Sisters
High School athletic depart-
ment. The middle school
teacher and former Outlaws
head football coach stepped
into the interim athletic direc-
tor role after Tim Roth and
his wife departed to teach in
Germany.
“Tim Roth — I can’t sing
enough praises for that guy,”
Thorson said. “I don’t think
you can replace a guy like
him.”
Thorson is determined to
carry on the work of maintain-
ing the sports culture through
the Outlaw Creed and the all-
for-one/one-for-all mentality
of the Outlaws Together fun-
draising paradigm.
“It’s something I definitely
want to see continue,” he said.
“Being a small town means
we have to work together.
The Outlaws Together theme
fits us very well.”
The athletic director posi-
tion is a big job.
“I’m enjoying it,” Thorson
told The Nugget. “It’s
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Gary T2orson is interim at2letic
director.
something I’ve always been
interested in doing, but I
never thought to pull the trig-
ger on it.”
The Sisters School District
will advertise for people to
fill the position on a per-
manent basis sometime this
spring. That gives Thorson a
bit of time to “test-drive it”
to decide if he wants to throw
his hat in the ring or return to
his teaching spot.
“By about mid-spring I’ll
let them know what my plans
are,” he said.
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