COFFEE BREAK
8B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2020
Man is reluctant to share
memories of his late father Storms sweep southern US,
SEVERE STORMS
DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend of two years
and I recently moved in together. When we
fi rst met, he let me know he had lost his father
to cancer a few years prior. While I know a
little about his father, it is mostly superfi cial.
As our relationship has progressed —
moving in, talking about our future — I long
to know more about his dad. What kind of
a father and husband was he? What special
memories does my boyfriend
have of spending time with
him? However, when I ask
questions, I get succinct an-
swers with no elaboration. If
I ask more than one question
at a time, I feel like I’m pulling teeth, so I just
drop it. When I asked if he’s uncomfortable
talking about it, he says it’s fi ne, but I still
know next to nothing.
The only time he brings up his dad is
around the time of his dad’s birthday, the
anniversary of his death or the time when
they found out about his prognosis. At those
times he is clearly grieving. I don’t want to
cause my boyfriend more pain, and I worry
that I’m being insensitive by asking him to
talk about it. Yet, if we are going to start a life
together and be a family one day, I want to
know about his father.
— CURIOUS IN NEW YORK
DEAR CURIOUS: Your boyfriend may
not want to discuss his relationship with
his father because the subject is painful,
either because of his death or because they
were not close. If you want more details,
you might have better luck asking your
boyfriend’s mother or his siblings, if he has
any. Because the subject clearly makes him
uncomfortable, back off.
Midwest as death toll rises
cee about her promise to give up cigarettes
and be a smoke-free bride?
— ANNOYED IN ALABAMA
DEAR ANNOYED: Your mother and
your fi ancee are nicotine addicts. That they
cannot get through a meal without lighting
at least three cigarettes is alarming. No rule
of etiquette dictates that you must tolerate
secondhand smoke while you are trying to
enjoy your dinner. If they
need a fi x, they should be
DEAR
considerate enough to excuse
ABBY
themselves from the table to
indulge.
On a slightly different, but
equally important, subject, your fi ancee has
not “forgotten” her promise to give up ciga-
rettes before your wedding. She’s ignoring it,
and you haven’t called her on it. Please do. If
you marry her, you will be living in a tobacco
haze for the rest of her life, which could
have a negative effect on your — and your
children’s — health in the future.
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — Severe
storms sweeping across
southern portions of the U.S.
and up into the Midwest
were blamed Saturday in
the deaths of at least 11
people, including two fi rst
responders, as high winds,
tornadoes and unrelenting
rain battered large swaths
of the country.
Storm-related fatalities
were reported in Texas due
to icy weather, in Alabama
from a deadly tornado
and in Louisiana, where
winds were so strong that
a trailer home was lifted off
its foundation and carried
several hundred feet. A man
drowned in Oklahoma and
the storms even touched the
Midwest with at least one
death on an icy highway in
Iowa. Hundreds of thou-
sands of people were left
without power from Texas
to Ohio, parts of highways
were closed in Oklahoma
and Arkansas due to fl ood-
ing and hundreds of fl ights
were canceled at Chicago’s
international airports.
Arkansas Gov. Asa
Hutchinson declared a state
of emergency to assist crews
working to restore power
around the state.
Two fi rst responders were
killed and another was
critically injured in Lubbock,
Texas, Saturday morning
after they were hit by a
vehicle while working the
scene of a traffi c accident in
icy conditions, offi cials said.
Police Offi cer Nicholas
Reyna, 27, who had been
with the department for
one year, died at the scene.
DEAR ABBY: My 30-plus-year-old brother
struggles with substance abuse. It has been go-
ing on for years. After countless trips to rehab,
inpatient, outpatient and all the step pro-
grams, he still uses. Periodically he’ll be sober
for a short time, but it never lasts. For a long
time, I have been torn between total disassocia-
tion or the sporadic run-in at family events.
Seven months ago, his baby boy was born
with narcotics in his system. Birds of a
feather fl ock together, I guess. Since then he
hasn’t been invited to my home or any event
I have hosted. My mother and the rest of my
siblings still invite him into their homes and
act as if his lifestyle choices are OK.
Am I supposed to boycott family functions
because they all continue allowing him to at-
tend? I honestly don’t know what is right here.
— HAD ENOUGH IN NEW YORK
DEAR HAD ENOUGH: Your brother has
an addiction he cannot seem to shake. It is a
disease that, in spite of treatment, persists. If
you prefer not to include him at events you
host or invite him into your home, that is your
right. But for you to forgo family events in an
attempt to punish him is isolating only your-
self, and I see nothing positive to be gained by
it. Because your feelings about this situation
are so strong, the ultimate decision is yours.
DEAR ABBY: I don’t smoke, but my
mother and fi ancee are chain smokers. This
is particularly annoying when the three of
us eat together because they always light up
during the meal. For example, they’ll almost
always have a cigarette after the salad, an-
other before the dessert and then two or three
cigarettes afterward. It ruins the meal for me.
I’m really disappointed in my fi ancee, who
seems to have forgotten her promise to quit
smoking before our wedding day. Is there
anything I can do about their smoking at the
dinner table? And should I remind my fi an-
weather
David Carson/The Associated Press
A tow truck helps pull a disabled truck off the Interstate
70 East in Lake St. Louis, Mo., on Saturday. After two
soggy days when the cold air pushed in on Saturday
afternoon the rain changed over to large snow fl akes
that fell fast, quickly covering the ground. Some areas
of St. Louis received up to 6 inches of rain in the storm.
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
29/30
Kennewick
29/30
St. Helens
33/35
20/20
28/36
34/35
32/34
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
Clouds, a bit of
snow
A snow shower
around
Cloudy with a
snow shower
Periods of snow
Mostly cloudy
and chilly
31 27
37 15
32 23
Eugene
0
0
0
34/35
34 30
36 17
30 25
1
0
0
La Grande
22 31 22
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
0
0
0
21 28 17
Comfort Index™
0
35 11
30 20
0
0
2
0
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Saturday
Low Saturday
High: 88°
Low: -36°
Wettest: 4.06”
41°
24°
40°
31°
37°
32°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Saturday
Trace
Month to date
0.06
Normal month to date 0.32
Year to date
0.06
Normal year to date
0.32
0.02
0.57
0.64
0.57
0.64
0.88
2.66
1.19
2.66
1.19
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION TUESDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
55%
WSW at 4 to 8 mph
0.7
0.02
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Sunday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
37/45
38/43
23% of capacity
44% of capacity
68% of capacity
21% of capacity
41% of capacity
101% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Saturday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1140 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
62 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
11 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
182 cfs
Minam River at Minam
121 cfs
Powder River near Richland
105 cfs
North Bend
Baker City
Roseburg
Temperatures soared to 70 degrees in
central Pennsylvania on Jan. 13, 1932.
In colder regions, the greatest likelihood
of unseasonably high temperatures, a
January thaw, is from Jan. 7-10 and from
Jan. 20-26.
SUN & MOON
MON.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
TUE.
7:29 a.m. 7:29 a.m.
4:33 p.m. 4:34 p.m.
8:17 p.m. 9:33 p.m.
9:45 a.m. 10:16 a.m.
MOON PHASES
Last
Jan 17
New
Jan 24
First
Feb 1
Paisley
23/32
Full
Feb 8
34/42
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
TUE.
WED.
Hi/Lo/W
30/29/sf
34/21/sn
37/26/c
45/37/r
31/16/sf
44/35/r
34/29/c
27/20/sn
30/20/sf
35/31/c
34/24/c
20/19/sn
30/16/sn
31/23/c
28/17/sn
31/20/c
36/21/sf
33/21/sf
Hi/Lo/W
30/29/sn
33/21/sf
37/34/sf
47/38/r
31/24/sf
44/39/r
30/29/sn
30/23/sf
31/28/sf
32/31/sn
32/23/sn
20/19/sn
34/28/sf
37/31/sf
29/26/sf
30/23/sn
36/26/sf
34/24/sf
Klamath Falls
24/33
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
VAIL
only
WED.
Hi/Lo/W
33/23/c
30/25/sf
28/19/sf
42/31/sn
36/32/sf
27/24/sf
41/27/c
33/21/c
31/20/c
35/27/c
43/35/r
38/22/sf
45/34/sn
32/28/sn
21/8/c
36/25/sn
28/17/c
31/23/c
Hi/Lo/W
32/26/sf
26/25/sn
30/27/sf
44/33/sn
34/33/r
24/24/sn
40/33/c
31/24/c
28/20/sn
27/27/sn
42/35/r
36/24/sf
48/38/r
29/28/sn
22/14/c
32/20/sn
30/26/sf
32/25/sn
499
McDermitt
22/29
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Winds subsiding
A snow shower
12
$
4
27
BROWNLEE RES.
Very cold
A little snow
22
15
31
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
A little snow
Very cold
18
8
24
MCKAY RESERVOIR
A little snow
Very cold
28
17
31
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
A little snow
A snow shower
32
17
31
22
TROUPER
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construction
only
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Mon. - Fri.
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Sat. 9:30 am-5:30 pm
Sun. Noon - 4:00 pm
30/40
RECREATION FORECAST TUESDAY
TUE.
S A V E O N G E N U I N E L A - Z - B O Y R E C L I N E R S
$
Grand View
Arock
28/36
Lakeview
27/36
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
$
Diamond
22/29
Shown is Tuesday’s weather. Temperatures are Monday night’s lows and Tuesday’s highs.
Pick a Bowl Winner!
PINNACLE
CHAISE
ROCKER
RECLINER
only
Frenchglen
23/30
24/33
REGIONAL CITIES
WEATHER HISTORY
Jordan Valley
22/28
Fields
Medford
Brookings
OREGON
High: 51°
Low: 24°
Wettest: 0.54”
Silver Lake
25/32
Boise
32/37
36/45
37/45
24/34
21/30
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
21/31
20/29
19/27
Roseburg
Ontario
29/41
Burns
Brothers
Beaver Marsh
38/44
Immokalee, Fla.
Kabetogama, Minn.
Boone, N.C.
Huntington
18/26
24/34
Oakridge
22/27
25/34
Seneca
31/36
Coos Bay
SATURDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
24/31
25/35
Elkton
Council
24/32
Bend
Powers
22/33
19/26
John Day
26/38
Sisters
Florence
39/39
Halfway
Granite
Baker City
Redmond
35/36
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.
Monument
22/34
33/34
Newport
37/39
31 26
22/31
29/33
31/32
Corvallis
Enterprise
La Grande
22/30
28/37
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
0
Elgin
20/30
21/28
Condon
Maupin
Comfort Index™
21/31
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
Lewiston
26/33
Hood River
21/31
TIllamook
24 32 17
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
Walla Walla
22/31
Vancouver
31/33
27/28
Baker City
A man drowned near Kio-
wa, Oklahoma, after he was
swept away in fl oodwaters,
the Oklahoma Highway Pa-
trol said Saturday. Randall
Hyatt, 58, of Wardville, was
overwhelmed by rushing
water while getting out of
his stalled truck.
The Iowa State Patrol
said roads were caked with
ice early Saturday when a
semitrailer on Interstate 80
overturned, killing a pas-
senger in the truck east of
Iowa City.
In Alabama, three people
were confi rmed killed near
Carrollton in Pickens
County, the National
Weather Service in Birming-
ham tweeted. The Alabama
Emergency Management
Agency said the deaths were
caused by an “embedded
tornado within a long line of
intense thunderstorms.”
Firefi ghter Lt. David Hill,
39, was taken to a local
hospital where he later died.
Firefi ghter Matthew Daw-
son, 30, was hospitalized in
critical condition.
Lubbock Police Chief
Floyd Mitchell called it an
“extremely tragic day” for
the city.
“If people would respect
road conditions, things
like this wouldn’t have to
happen,” said Lubbock Fire
Chief Shaun Fogerson.
Another person had
died in Texas Friday night
when a car fl ipped into a
creek in Dallas as severe
thunderstorms passed
through. Lightning from
Friday’s stormy weather
was suspected of causing
fi res that burned two houses
but caused no injuries in the
North Texas cities of Burle-
son and Mansfi eld.
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