8B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
THuRSDAY, FEBRuARY 18, 2021
COFFEE BREAK
Crabby distant relative is an unwelcome freeloader
DEAR ABBY: My husband
is an amazing guy. We have a
very nice life except for an older
sort-of family member who is
living with us.
“Nathan” has
been living in the
house for years, but
he isn’t a blood rel-
ative. He’s my hus-
band’s late step-
father’s brother. Nathan is a
several-times-divorced curmud-
geon who was living in a shed. He
was allowed to stay here to get
on his feet and, partially, out of
respect for the stepfather.
Nathan refuses to help out in
any way. He comes and goes as
he pleases and is living rent-free.
We pay the mortgage and all the
bills. Nathan buys food and stuff
for himself, but then will eat the
household food my mother-in-law
buys.
I’m tired of the
garbage he makes.
He smokes in his
DEAR
room, and he’s
ABBY
nasty, rude and
demanding. He
needs to move out or
pay up, but my husband doesn’t
want to do anything. Advice?
— UNHAPPY AT HOME
DEAR UNHAPPY: Just this.
Realize that nothing will change
until your husband is finally
willing to put his foot down and
insist on some changes, or the
freeloader leaves this earthly
plane for the next. I would have
DEAR UNFRIENDED:
Are you sure the person who
informed you about her plan is
credible? Could they be jealous
of the close friendship you have
with Darlene?
Frankly, it would be incred-
ibly stupid for a person planning
to ghost someone to tell a mutual
friend who might leak it before
the fact.
Talk to Darlene! Do not end the
friendship unless you are abso-
lutely certain what you were told
was the gospel.
DEAR ABBY: My 82-year-old
mother made a special request
of her visiting relatives on
Christmas Day. She asked
everyone to hand over their cell-
phones for the entire celebration
used the phrase “goes to heaven,”
but it appears Nathan is already
experiencing heaven right here
on Earth, so do not expect him to
move on his own.
DEAR ABBY: I was recently
informed that my best friend of
10 years, “Darlene,” planned to
ghost me as soon as she got preg-
nant. I’m shocked that she would
say such a thing or plan to do it.
I always thought I was a good
friend.
But now Darlene and her hus-
band are getting a divorce, and
she has been all chummy. I have a
sour taste in my mouth. Do I stay
friends and get over it, or give her
her wish and disappear?
— UNFRIENDED IN THE
WEST
upon entering or “don’t come.”
She said she would return them as
we left.
Certain family members had
major meltdowns because of her
request.
My mother, as always, pro-
vided hors d’oeuvres, dinner and
gifts for all 23 people. Do you
think this was a fair request?
— NOT A BIG DEAL
DEAR NOT: Your mother
wanted to encourage more than
superficial communication. As
she indicated, if anyone felt her
request was too much of an impo-
sition, they were free to refuse her
invitation.
The oldest rule of entertaining
is: The host makes the rules. Of
course it was a fair request!
News of the Weird
In Nevada desert, a
technology firm aims
to be a government
CARSON CITY, Nev.
— In the Nevada desert,
a cryptocurrency mag-
nate hopes to turn dreams
of a futuristic “smart city”
into reality. To do that, he’s
asking the state to let com-
panies like his form local
governments on land they
own, which would grant
them power over every-
thing from schools to law
enforcement.
Jeffrey Berns, CEO of
Nevada-based Blockchains
LLC, envisions a city where
people not only purchase
goods and services with
digital currency but also
log their entire online foot-
print — financial state-
ments, medical records and
personal data — on block-
chain. Blockchain is a dig-
ital ledger known mostly for
recording cryptocurrency
transactions but some local
governments have adopted
it for everything from doc-
umenting marriage licenses
to facilitating elections.
The company wants
to break ground by 2022
in rural Storey County,
12 miles east of Reno. It’s
proposing to build 15,000
homes and 33 million
square feet of commercial
and industrial space within
75 years. Berns, whose idea
is the basis for draft legis-
lation that some lawmakers
saw behind closed doors
last week, said traditional
government doesn’t offer
enough flexibility to create
a community where people
can invent new uses for this
technology.
“There’s got to be a place
somewhere on this planet
where people are willing to
just start from scratch and
EYRC Architects/Blockchains LLC via AP
This undated illustration shows a proposed “smart city” in Nevada. A cryptocurrency company that owns 67,000 acres
in rural northern Nevada wants state government to grant technology companies power to form local governments on
land they own.
ness incentives as they
struggle to fund health care
and education.
This proposal differs
from the big tax rebates
they have grown wary of
offering, like the $1.3 bil-
lion given to Tesla to build
its northern Nevada battery
factory or the billions New
York and Virginia offered
Amazon to build new cor-
porate headquarters.
But it raises deeper
issues about increasing
tech companies’ grip on
everyday life at a time
when antitrust regulators
and Democrats in Congress
allege tech giants Facebook
and Google are controlling
markets and endangering
people’s privacy.
Blockchains LLC and
so-called innovation zones
were a key part of Gov.
Steve Sisolak’s January
State of the State address,
say, ‘We’re not going to do
things this way just because
it’s the way we’ve done it,’”
Berns said.
He wants Nevada to
change its laws to allow
“innovation zones,”
where companies would
have powers like those
of a county government,
including creating court
systems, imposing taxes
and building infrastruc-
ture while making land
and water management
decisions.
The prospect has been
met with intrigue and skep-
ticism from Nevada law-
makers, though the legisla-
tion has yet to be formally
filed or discussed in public
hearings. Most in the Dem-
ocratic-controlled Legisla-
ture are eager to diversify
Nevada’s tourism-depen-
dent economy, but many
fear backlash against busi-
weather
Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, a
Republican who sponsored
blockchain-related legisla-
tion in 2017 and 2019.
If lawmakers back the
proposal, technology com-
panies with 50,000 acres of
land that promise a $1 bil-
lion investment could create
zones governed by three
people like county com-
missioners. The draft leg-
islation says two of them
initially would be from the
company itself.
In Storey County, which
is home to Tesla’s factory,
officials are waiting for
more information before
offering opinions but say
questions still need to be
answered.
Commissioner Lance
Gilman, who owns the
Mustang Ranch brothel
and bought most of the
county’s land to turn it
into an industrial park
when he outlined plans to
rebuild a more diversified
economy after the corona-
virus pandemic.
Sisolak, whose cam-
paign and affiliated political
action committee received a
combined $60,000 from the
company, said the proposal
would transform Nevada
into “the epicenter of this
emerging industry and
create the high-paying jobs
and revenue that go with it.”
The governor’s office
declined to comment fur-
ther on innovation zones.
But with Sisolak’s backing,
the idea could garner
serious consideration in the
Legislature.
“I don’t know enough yet
to say whether I’m comfort-
able with this as the next
step or not. But, look, it’s
a big idea and Nevada has
been built on big ideas, so
let’s hear it out,” said state
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
41/47
Kennewick
40/45
St. Helens
39/47
30/39
31/43
40/48
39/48
Condon
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
Overcast with
snow, 1-3”
A snow squall,
up to 1”
Morning snow
showers
A rain or snow
shower
Mostly cloudy
26 39 25
39 28
41 31
42 33
Eugene
3
3
3
42/50
40 32
43 34
47 34
0
1
3
La Grande
31 40 26
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
0
3
27 37 20
Comfort Index™
0
40 29
46 35
0
2
8
0
ALMANAC
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Tuesday
Low Tuesday
High: 87°
Low: -46°
Wettest: 2.23”
41°
29°
39°
33°
36°
33°
Tuesday
Trace
Month to date
0.28
Normal month to date 0.33
Year to date
0.65
Normal year to date
1.13
0.93
2.38
0.63
3.42
2.26
0.90
3.00
1.35
7.31
4.52
PRECIPITATION (inches)
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION FRIDAY
55%
W at 4 to 8 mph
0.0
0.04
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Wednesday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
43/51
9% of capacity
50% of capacity
50% of capacity
45% of capacity
38% of capacity
96% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Tuesday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1520 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
59 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
11 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
114 cfs
Minam River at Minam
N.A.
Powder River near Richland
88 cfs
West Palm Beach, Fla.
Ely, Minn.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
OREGON
High: 53°
Low: 21°
Wettest: 1.87”
Eugene
Crater Lake
Meacham
Severe thunderstorms roared across north-
eastern Indiana and northwestern Ohio
late in the day on Feb. 18, 1992. The storm
produced hail and funnel clouds.
SUN & MOON
THU.
FRI.
6:49 a.m. 6:47 a.m.
5:24 p.m. 5:26 p.m.
10:03 a.m. 10:29 a.m.
none 12:47 a.m.
MOON PHASES
First
Feb 19
Full
Feb 27
Last
Mar 5
Beaver Marsh
42/49
New
Mar 13
Burns
Jordan Valley
Paisley
Frenchglen
31/40
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Hi/Lo/W
47/38/r
44/27/sf
40/29/c
49/40/r
40/24/sn
50/41/r
49/38/r
34/21/sn
39/25/sf
50/41/r
43/33/pc
39/34/r
42/25/sn
41/26/sf
36/21/sn
41/28/pc
43/27/sh
40/26/c
Hi/Lo/W
47/44/c
42/32/sn
39/25/pc
49/40/sh
38/22/sn
50/42/sh
49/41/c
35/24/sf
39/33/sf
49/42/c
46/41/c
45/37/c
39/23/sf
38/27/sf
35/23/sf
44/40/pc
41/24/c
37/18/sf
Grand View
Arock
26/46
34/47
32/42
Klamath Falls
30/43
Lakeview
30/40
McDermitt
Shown is Friday’s weather. Temperatures are Thursday night’s lows and Friday’s highs.
SAT.
Diamond
31/40
Fields
39/49
FRI.
Boise
30/37
29/43
32/41
Medford
Brookings
30/42
30/40
42/50
44/49
Juntura
30/40
Silver Lake
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Ontario
28/41
30/42
30/40
RECREATION FORECAST FRIDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
WEATHER HISTORY
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
29/38
28/37
Roseburg
Powers
Brothers
39/44
Coos Bay
Huntington
29/37
33/44
Oakridge
25/34
30/40
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
TUESDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Florence
44/50
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.
33/41
34/45
Council
26/39
John Day
30/45
Sisters
43/48
36 23
30/38
Baker City
Redmond
43/47
45/49
Halfway
Granite
29/34
37/43
40/48
Corvallis
34/42
40/49
Newport
Enterprise
27/37
31/40
Monument
31/38
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
3
Elgin
30/39
La Grande
31/40
Maupin
0
31/41
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
Lewiston
32/41
Hood River
29/41
TIllamook
Comfort Index™
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Walla Walla
26/41
Vancouver
37/46
41/48
Baker City
decades ago, has sup-
ported luring technology
companies to the area and
growing its population.
But Gilman, who worked
in marketing for Block-
chains LLC from 2018 to
2019, said there are many
unknowns about ceding
control to a new juris-
diction that falls within
county borders.
“(The bill) wants the
host county to let it form,
become successful, not pay
them very much money,
and eventually let them
take over the whole county
and all the operations, if
it becomes successful,”
Gilman said. “If it doesn’t
become successful, who
becomes responsible for all
the stuff that was built in
the meantime?”
The county’s master plan
doesn’t permit residential
development in the Tahoe-
Reno Industrial Center,
where most of Blockchain
LLC’s property lies, but it
allows for 3,500 homes in
Painted Rock, a subsection
of the company’s 67,000
acres.
Berns said officials told
him in an informal dis-
cussion two years ago that
they weren’t interested in
zoning for more homes,
a meeting that former
County Manager Pat
Whitten confirmed. Berns
understands that elected
leaders in Storey County
may not want an experi-
mental city in their back-
yard but believes the idea
should be a state decision
because of its potential to
“singularly define Nevada
going forward.”
“We bought 70,000 acres
of land in the county. What
did they think we were
going to do?” Berns said.
— Associated Press
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
FRI.
SAT.
Hi/Lo/W
41/27/sh
45/37/r
39/24/sn
49/38/sh
47/40/r
46/36/r
41/27/c
45/27/pc
41/31/pc
48/40/r
51/39/r
45/26/sn
49/40/r
48/38/r
34/28/sn
43/34/c
37/25/sf
41/31/pc
Hi/Lo/W
39/33/sf
46/41/sh
38/33/sf
47/35/sh
47/43/sh
46/40/sh
43/26/c
47/37/pc
41/39/c
48/41/sh
48/39/sh
43/31/sn
50/40/sh
48/41/c
35/32/c
46/38/c
37/29/sn
40/36/c
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
Snow, 1-3”
Not as cold
21
13
37
26
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
P.M. snow showers
Snow and rain
29
22
40
25
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Cold with fl urries
A little snow
26
13
34
24
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
A bit of a.m. snow
Inc. clouds
36
21
42
34
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Not as cold
A snow squall
39
25
40
26