COFFEE BREAK
10B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
Transgender woman strives
to preserve marriage to wife
Fire threat brings power cuts
to thousands in California
DEAR ABBY: I am a transgender female
DEAR COMPLICATED: This situation
who is working on my marriage to my wife
is more common than many people realize,
of 41 years. I started my transition in 2011.
and the best way to stop nosy people from
We have had our ups and downs during
repeatedly asking questions would simply
the course of our marriage. We have two sons be to say, “We are estranged.” Period. If
and eight beautiful grandchildren. All of
someone is so insensitive as to question you
them know about my transition to woman-
about why, you are free to say you prefer not
hood, and my family also knows. What I
to discuss it — now or ever.
need now is some advice to help our mar-
riage. We are strongly com-
DEAR ABBY: What would
mitted to working on it.
you say about a married man
DEAR
— REAL ME IN OHIO
who cultivates online friend-
ABBY
DEAR REAL YOU: Many
ships with young women? He
couples choose to stay to-
is in contact with one of them
gether and keep their mar-
every hour, calling or texting.
riage intact when one partner transitions.
Mostly it is innocent, but there are very
You and your wife can fi nd help — and
warm texts that include “kisses” icons (“just
support — at the nearest LGBT center that pictures, nothing more”).
offers couples counseling. If there isn’t one
He does not hide this from his wife.
in your community, check the nearest large
He tells her he is enjoying very much the
city to where you live.
communication with a young, beautiful
You and your wife should also reach out
woman. He says it is just a game for him,
to the Straight Spouse Network, which has
he has no feelings for them, he loves his
been mentioned in my column before. This
wife and only her (and she feels it strong-
group was started in 1986 by Amity Pierce
ly). Do you think this kind of communica-
Buxton, Ph.D., and its mission is to build
tion is acceptable?
bridges of understanding for couples of
— TRIVIAL FLIRT IN RUSSIA
mixed sexual orientation or gender vari-
DEAR TRIVIAL FLIRT: I don’t think
ance. The contact information is straight-
so. The husband may not be cheating on
spouse.org.
his wife in the classic sense, but calling
and texting is not only disrespectful to the
DEAR ABBY: I have two adult children
wife he says he loves, but also to the young
who are divorced and both live out of state.
women who may not understand that it’s
My son has no children, and my daughter
“just a game.”
has two who are now adults. I’m close to
my son but have been estranged from my
DEAR ABBY: I have been married for fi ve
daughter and grandchildren for almost 20
years and together with my husband for 15.
years. (There is no possibility of a
I love him, and I try to look attractive for
reconciliation.)
him.
I have not explained the details about this
I recently got a shorter haircut that I
situation to anyone. My close friends know
thought looks nice. When my husband saw
I have no contact with them and, thank-
it, his reaction was, “It doesn’t look bad,”
fully, to their credit, they haven’t asked. My
and, “If you like it, that’s all that matters.” I
co-workers, however, want to know about
can’t help but feel slighted and a little hurt.
my family. I have tried giving them generic
Am I being too sensitive?
information, such as “they live out of state,”
— HURT IN WASHINGTON
but a few keep asking for more details, such
DEAR HURT: Maybe. Your husband is
as when are they coming to visit, what do
entitled to his reaction, and he was honest
they do, etc. Some are being friendly, but a
with you. Would you have preferred that he
couple of them are busybodies. What can I
lie? If you like the new hairstyle, keep it. If
say to deter them and their questions with-
you are having second thoughts, remember
out being rude?
it’s not an arm or a leg; it’s only hair, and it
— COMPLICATED IN VIRGINIA will grow.
SAN FRANCISCO —
Thousands of people in
Northern California woke up
Tuesday without electricity
after Pacifi c Gas & Electric
cut power to try to prevent
wildfi res amid windy, dry
and hot conditions.
PG&E cut electrical ser-
vice to 24,000 customers in
three counties in the Sierra
Nevada foothills Monday
evening, saying power will
remain off until weather con-
ditions improve.
The utility said it may
restore service briefl y on
Tuesday before it cuts it
Tuesday night.
Butte County is where a
wildfi re blamed on PG&E
transmission lines killed
86 people last year and
virtually leveled the town of
Paradise.
PG&E warned it might
expand the precautionary
outages on Tuesday to six
additional counties if gusty
winds and hot, dry weather
continue.
Thousands of others else-
where may face power cuts
as utilities seek to prevent
wildfi res amid hot weather
expected through Thursday.
Red Flag warnings of fi re
danger were in effect Tues-
day north and east of San
Francisco, and forecasters
predict a brief burst of Santa
Ana winds in Southern
California.
East and west of Los
Angeles, nearly 90,000
Southern California Edison
customers were advised they
could be blacked out, but
no Red Flag warnings were
issued.
Strong winds, low humid-
ity and warm temperatures
were forecast in the state
weather
The Associated Press
Rich Pedroncelli/AP fi le photo
In this Nov. 26, 2018, photo, a Pacifi c Gas & Electric line-
man works to repair a power line in Paradise, California.
through Wednesday, and au-
thorities issued an extreme
fi re danger warning for some
areas.
Wind gusts could reach 50
mph in the northern Sierra
and foothills, and between 30
to 40 mph in the Sacramento
Valley and near the Pa-
cifi c coast, said Eric Kurth, a
forecaster with the National
Weather Service.
“Humidity levels are drop-
ping, and winds are picking
up,” Kurth said. “The main
threat is overnight when the
winds pick up in the moun-
tains and foothills.”
Some of the most destruc-
tive blazes in the state in the
past two years were started
by PG&E power lines. Winds
can knock down live wires
and power poles or drive
trees and other vegetation
into contact with them.
PG&E fi rst cut off power
preemptively last October,
affecting some 87,000 cus-
tomers. The move prompted
complaints and demands for
reimbursement.
But the utility canceled
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
53/65
Kennewick
53/67
St. Helens
53/69
Hood River
57/69
54/73
55/69
51/70
Condon
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
Partly cloudy
Clouds breaking
Partly sunny
Clouds and sun,
a shower
Cloudy, a
shower; cold
69 35
52 30
51 28
Eugene
10
2
2
50/75
66 39
48 30
48 28
9
1
0
La Grande
45 69 48
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
9
9
42 65 45
Comfort Index™ 10
46 28
45 28
8
0
0
8
ALMANAC
MONDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Monday
Low Monday
High: 103°
Low: 16°
Wettest: 2.41”
71°
44°
71°
51°
69°
51°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Monday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
0.00
0.74
0.44
7.03
7.51
0.00
1.17
0.50
12.46
11.37
0.13
1.62
0.61
22.43
15.64
HAY INFORMATION THURSDAY
35%
WNW at 7 to 14 mph
6.7
0.13
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Tuesday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
23% of capacity
27% of capacity
65% of capacity
43% of capacity
26% of capacity
6% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Monday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
Burnt River near Unity
Umatilla River near Gibbon
Minam River at Minam
Powder River near Richland
OREGON
High: 77°
Low: 33°
Wettest: Trace
Ontario
Klamath Falls
Meacham
On Sept. 25, 1994, violent thunderstorms
in western Pennsylvania produced damag-
ing hail. Golf ball-sized hail accumulated 8
inches at Arthurdale, Pa.
SUN & MOON
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
WED.
THU.
6:42 a.m.
6:45 p.m.
2:25 a.m.
5:31 p.m.
6:44 a.m.
6:43 p.m.
3:43 a.m.
6:07 p.m.
MOON PHASES
788 cfs
27 cfs
52 cfs
44 cfs
84 cfs
53 cfs
New
Sep 28
First
Oct 5
Full
Oct 13
Florence
Beaver Marsh
Powers
51/76
51/78
Silver Lake
Last
Oct 21
nee R d E
O
M
oku,
d
u
S
,
s
g
n
i
t
s
Show Li
,
Crosswords
orts
p
S
,
h
c
r
a
e
S
Word
re...?
o
M
&
s
e
z
z
i
Qu
Jordan Valley
41/73
Paisley
40/79
41/78
Frenchglen
44/77
Medford
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
FRI.
Hi/Lo/W
65/52/sh
74/45/s
77/52/pc
77/56/pc
77/41/pc
69/52/pc
71/48/pc
70/47/pc
67/48/pc
75/50/pc
78/52/pc
69/54/sh
69/50/c
71/48/pc
66/45/c
80/51/s
80/42/s
78/38/s
Hi/Lo/W
62/47/c
65/36/c
71/42/c
70/50/s
68/32/pc
64/48/c
65/45/c
69/39/c
64/39/pc
67/45/c
70/48/pc
62/46/c
69/43/c
65/38/pc
65/35/pc
72/47/pc
67/33/pc
68/33/pc
Grand View
Arock
44/80
41/78
44/80
Klamath Falls
41/80
Lakeview
38/78
McDermitt
Shown is Thursday’s weather. Temperatures are Wednesday night’s lows and Thursday’s highs.
THU.
Diamond
44/74
Fields
50/82
61/77
Boise
48/77
52/85
Brookings
44/77
41/76
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
35/77
42/71
40/73
Roseburg
Ontario
44/79
Burns
Brothers
47/74
Coos Bay
Huntington
42/68
46/74
Oakridge
40/70
47/76
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
Council
37/76
46/71
45/74
41/78
RECREATION FORECAST THURSDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Death Valley, Calif.
Angel Fire, N.M.
Whitefi eld, N.H.
39/67
John Day
43/76
Sisters
53/69
Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels
very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable.
40/74
Baker City
Redmond
53/65
55/67
Halfway
Granite
51/71
Newport
51/74
64 35
45/73
48/67
51/71
Corvallis
Enterprise
42/65
45/69
Monument
50/72
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
10
43/67
La Grande
50/68
Maupin
Comfort Index™ 10
Elgin
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
Lewiston
50/72
55/73
50/73
TIllamook
37 76 46
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Walla Walla
55/80
Vancouver
52/67
50/66
Baker City
plans to shut off power ahead
of the deadly Nov. 8 blaze
that started near Paradise.
An investigation by Cal
Fire said transmission lines
owned and operated by the
utility started the fi re that
wiped out nearly 15,000
homes.
California regulators in
May approved allowing
utilities to cut off electric-
ity to avoid catastrophic
wildfi res but said utilities
must do a better job ramping
up preventive efforts and
educating and notifying the
public, particularly people
with disabilities and others
who are vulnerable.
In January, PG&E sought
bankruptcy protection,
saying it could not afford
an estimated $30 billion
in potential damages from
lawsuits stemming from
catastrophic wildfi res.
Earlier this month, PG&E
agreed to pay $11 billion
to insurance companies
holding 85% of the claims
from fi res that include the
Paradise blaze.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
THU.
FRI.
Hi/Lo/W
72/54/pc
67/50/sh
65/45/pc
82/54/s
65/53/r
68/49/sh
79/52/pc
81/52/s
73/50/pc
69/52/pc
76/53/pc
76/45/s
78/55/pc
71/49/c
67/47/pc
73/54/s
66/42/pc
73/54/pc
Hi/Lo/W
71/47/pc
61/45/c
62/36/pc
72/46/pc
62/49/sh
62/41/c
76/45/c
72/47/pc
66/43/pc
63/48/c
68/48/pc
66/37/c
70/49/pc
64/45/c
60/37/c
65/47/pc
61/35/pc
68/45/pc
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
Check out
our new
TV Magazine
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Inc. clouds
Partly sunny
48
32
69
42
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Clouds breaking
Variable clouds
57
41
74
48
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Partly sunny
Clouds breaking
54
36
61
39
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Clouds
Partly sunny
66
45
72
49
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Partly sunny
Clouds breaking
76
46
69
48
Y
R
E
EV
Y
A
D
FRI
BL
E LOGO
REVERS
R
- COLO
B