8B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
COFFEE BREAK
Wife with debilitating illness gets litt le help from husband
DEAR ABBY: I am a young
woman who has battled rheuma-
toid arthritis and Sjogren’s syn-
drome for the past eight years. My
aunt passed away
from complications
of it at the age of
43, and I’m getting
close to that age.
Since the begin-
ning of the pan-
demic, I have become increas-
ingly disabled. I can barely get
out of bed without being in pain
and cannot sleep. Household
chores have become impossible,
and I can get things done only
near the end of the day when the
swelling in my joints goes down.
I saw how this disease robbed
my aunt of her livelihood, but I
also saw how my uncle helped her
with almost everything. I love my
husband, but he seems to think
that I can just take a pill and
instantly and magi-
cally be fi ne, which
DEAR
is not true. He has
unrealistic expec-
ABBY
tations of me that I
cannot meet.
I have tried to
get him to understand this is a
chronic disease that will be with
me for the rest of my life, and I
have given him material to read,
but he dismisses it. At this point,
I feel like packing up and leaving
because I’m a burden to him and
I don’t know what else to do any-
more. Advice?
— FULL OF PAIN
DEAR FULL OF PAIN:
Packing up and leaving right
now is not advisable. When cou-
ples promise each other they will
stick together “in sickness and in
health,” situations like the one in
which you fi nd yourself is what’s
meant.
Does your doctor know the
degree to which your health
has declined in the last several
months? If not, put the person on
notice!
Schedule a consultation, if pos-
sible, and when you do, your hus-
band should be with you so he can
fully understand what’s going on
and help you if you need it. If he
isn’t capable of doing that, you
will have to make other arrange-
ments for your care and for the
housework you can no longer
manage.
Please stop beating yourself up
over this. You have done nothing
wrong. Your husband could just as
easily be the unwell spouse, if fate
hadn’t decided otherwise.
DEAR ABBY: My friend just
ended a relationship with her
boyfriend of over two years that
had progressed to them moving
in together. About eight months
ago, she found out he was having
an online relationship, but they
talked it out and decided to give
it another try. Now, after learning
he has another woman on the line,
she kicked him out.
Abby, he is working to get her
back, and she seems to want to
give him another chance. I think
it’s a losing game for her and
more disappointment down the
line. My question is, how honest
should I be about my unwilling-
ness to go along with giving him
a third chance? It seems like this
leopard won’t change his spots.
— CRYSTAL BALL
DEAR CRYSTAL BALL: If
you haven’t already expressed
your feelings to your friend,
AND SHE ASKS YOU FOR
YOUR OPINION, be fully honest
regarding your concerns about
her ex-boyfriend’s character. I
agree that having cheated on her
not once but twice, the likelihood
of him doing it again is almost
guaranteed. That said, you can’t
live your friend’s life for her, and
some people are slow to learn.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
‘Big pile’ of eels dumped
in NYC park; impact not
yet known
of Parks & Recreation’s Wildlife
Unit.
There are no plans to eradicate
the eels. Since they’re nocturnal
and spend most of their time bur-
rowed in the sediment of lakes,
rivers and marshes, spotting and
removing them from the lake
could be impossible.
“This kind of species is a little
tricky. They’re well hidden,” Toal
said. “We’re not going to go out
there and try to trap any of them.”
Without having witnessed the
release, offi cials from the New
York State Department of Envi-
ronmental Conservation, which is
investigating the incident, could
not specify the number of eels
released last month. Bystanders
described seeing more than 100
of them.
DEC offi cials say they will
look for swamp eels during
the agency’s next survey in the
spring, but don’t expect them to
make it through the winter.
However, said University of
Toronto freshwater ecologist
Nicholas Mandrak, “Even if they
don’t survive, they could have
negative short-term impacts.”
If some Prospect Park trans-
plants survive for a few years, cli-
mate change could feasibly warm
up city waters enough to render
them hospitable for swamp eels,
Mandrak said.
“We shouldn’t come to an
By Marion Renault
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Andrew
Orkin was taking a break from
his evening jog to sit by Prospect
Park Lake when he turned around
and was startled to see a tangle of
wriggling snakes.
“And quite a big pile — fully
alive,” said Orkin, who lives near
the Brooklyn park.
They turned out to be eels that
had escaped from one of two large
plastic bags that split open as a
man dragged them to the shore-
line. After dumping the eels in
the lake, the man walked away,
explaining to bystanders that “I
just want to save lives.”
The illegal release late last
month became a curiosity on
social media, but the dumping of
exotic animals in urban parks isn’t
new. In cities across the country,
nonnative birds, turtles, fi sh and
lizards have settled into, and often
disturbed, local ecosystems.
New Yorkers free thousands
of non-native animals every year,
many of them abandoned pets
that quickly die. But others can
survive, reproduce and end up
causing lasting harm.
“People like animals and they
sometimes think they’re doing a
good thing by letting them go,”
Mary Altaffer/Associated Press
Asian swamp eels are on display Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, for sale at a
market in the Chinatown neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of
New York. New York state and city wildlife offi cials say it’s too soon
to know the local impact of exotic eels dumped into a Brooklyn lake in
September 2020. The nonnative eel species has been illegally released
into freshwater bodies in at least eight U.S. states, including New York.
said Jason Munshi-South, urban
ecologist at Fordham University.
“Most will die. Some will become
a problem, and then there’s no
going back.”
New York state and city offi -
cials say it’s too soon to know
how the eels in Prospect Park
might affect local species.
But based on photos taken by
bystanders, offi cials identifi ed
them as swamp eels native to
Southeast Asia like those that
weather
have been found in at least eight
states.
Once introduced — often after
being purchased at local live fi sh
markets, offi cials say — the eels
eat almost anything including
plants, insects, crustaceans,
frogs, turtles and other fi sh. And
they could prey upon or compete
with the park’s native species for
however long they survive, said
Katrina Toal, deputy director of
the New York City Department
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
45/59
Kennewick
40/59
St. Helens
39/60
35/60
33/58
41/61
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
Hazy
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny
Beautiful with
some sun
Mostly sunny
and nice
63 28
60 30
60 29
Eugene
10
9
10
37/62
60 37
61 34
61 32
10
10
10
La Grande
25 60 31
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
9
10
29 58 31
Comfort Index™
9
61 34
56 31
10
10
9
10
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Sunday
Low Sunday
High: 96°
Low: -11°
Wettest: 3.92”
44°
16°
35°
19°
38°
23°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Sunday
Trace
Month to date
0.01
Normal month to date 0.48
Year to date
3.00
Normal year to date
8.12
Trace
0.49
0.96
13.88
12.54
Trace
2.94
1.23
28.98
17.16
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION WEDNESDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
25%
S at 4 to 8 mph
7.9
0.08
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Monday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
8% of capacity
23% of capacity
41% of capacity
32% of capacity
16% of capacity
9% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Sunday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1050 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
1 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
16 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
57 cfs
Minam River at Minam
95 cfs
Powder River near Richland
18 cfs
Pecos, Texas
Ennis, Mont.
Kenansville, N.C.
OREGON
High: 66°
Low: 12°
Wettest: Trace
Brookings
Madras
Lakeview
WEATHER HISTORY
On October 27, 1962, a snowstorm
brought 4 to 8 inches to interior portions
of New England. Up to 16 inches of snow
fell across northern Maine.
SUN & MOON
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
TUE.
WED.
7:25 a.m.
5:47 p.m.
4:43 p.m.
3:16 a.m.
7:26 a.m.
5:45 p.m.
5:03 p.m.
4:18 a.m.
MOON PHASES
Full
Last
Oct 31
Nov 8
New
Nov 14
First
Nov 21
26/71
35/65
41/74
38/66
Silver Lake
Jordan Valley
27/61
Paisley
28/69
27/67
Frenchglen
29/67
Klamath Falls
37/74
25/68
McDermitt
WED.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
THU.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
52/36/pc 57/39/s
59/39/c 61/43/s
58/30/s 60/35/s
74/38/s 74/40/s
58/42/s 58/45/s
58/40/c 61/45/pc
56/28/s 58/32/s
51/30/pc 57/40/s
55/31/s 59/34/s
61/41/c 61/43/s
74/41/s 74/39/s
71/29/s 74/35/s
66/39/pc 71/43/s
61/38/s 61/42/pc
42/29/c 48/35/s
58/36/s 60/39/s
61/29/pc 65/33/s
52/38/pc 57/44/s
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny
48
29
• 70 Store Buying Power
• Decorating Assistance
HOURS:Mon. - Fri. 9:30 am-6:30 pm
Sat. 9:30 am-5:30 pm Sun. 12 noon-4 pm
(541) 963-4144 • 888-449-2704
1520 ADAMS AVENUE
La GRANDE, OREGON 97850
61
28
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny
52
30
61
31
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny
48
23
58
27
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny
57
32
58
34
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny
60
24
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24/61
RECREATION FORECAST WEDNESDAY
THU.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
59/44/c 60/46/s
69/35/s 73/38/s
56/34/s 60/37/s
67/49/s 63/49/pc
66/19/s 67/26/s
63/41/s 60/44/s
61/36/s 60/39/s
57/30/s 59/31/s
59/29/s 60/36/s
62/35/s 63/39/s
55/29/pc 58/34/s
60/35/pc 63/40/s
63/32/pc 66/42/s
65/36/s 69/36/s
57/32/s 62/40/s
52/29/pc 56/35/s
68/25/s 69/29/s
69/27/s 72/27/s
25/57
Lakeview
22/69
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Grand View
Arock
23/64
Fields
Shown is Wednesday’s weather. Temperatures are Tuesday night’s lows and Wednesday’s highs.
WED.
Diamond
30/65
27/70
Medford
Brookings
Boise
32/56
39/77
51/67
24/65
27/70
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
20/66
28/66
Beaver Marsh
Ontario
27/56
Burns
Brothers
26/67
Roseburg
Huntington
32/65
37/70
Coos Bay
25/57
27/56
Seneca
32/69
Oakridge
Council
21/60
John Day
Bend
Powers
25/59
26/60
32/69
Elkton
SUNDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
Sisters
Florence
43/60
Halfway
Granite
Baker City
Redmond
41/58
42/63
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
28/64
38/61
Newport
38/63
62 38
25/60
36/69
38/61
Corvallis
Enterprise
La Grande
32/59
29/62
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
10
Elgin
25/59
29/58
Condon
Maupin
Comfort Index™ 10
33/52
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
38/60
Lewiston
31/52
Hood River
30/55
41/61
21 60 24
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
Walla Walla
26/52
Vancouver
39/60
TIllamook
Baker City
immediate conclusion that
because they’re found in Asia
they couldn’t survive in New
York City,” he said.
The exotic species previ-
ously has shown up in western
New York state’s Hemlock and
Canadice lakes in 2019 and
Queens’ Meadow Lake in 2017.
Elsewhere, biologists have found
Asian swamp eels in waterways
in Hawaii, Georgia, New Jersey,
Maryland, Michigan, Florida and
Pennsylvania.
New York City has a long his-
tory of people introducing exotic
species into its parks.
In 1890, Shakespeare enthu-
siasts released a fl ock of about
60 European starlings in Cen-
tral Park that grew into a cur-
rent population of hundreds of
millions nationwide that out-
compete native birds, destroy
crops and occasionally snarl jet
engines.
For decades, pet Red-eared
slider turtles have been aban-
doned in city ponds, creating a
major nuisance that has crowded
out local painted turtles and
fueled green algae blooms.
Voracious, sharp-toothed
Northern snakehead fi sh — intro-
duced by way of pet stores, live
food markets and aquarium hob-
byists across the U.S. — have
been spotted in New York’s
parks.
60
31