COFFEE BREAK
B8 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2022
Couple reconnects but can’t rekindle the past they had
years ago, and then COVID hit.
Feeling the loneliness of lock-
down, I wrote letters to people I
hadn’t heard from in years. Gabe’s
was one such letter. He called me
after he received it, and we recon-
nected. We have enjoyed each
other’s company off and on since
then.
I would love to have a deeper
relationship with him. Unfortu-
nately, he regards me as nothing
more than a friend. He is intelli-
gent, quick-witted, well-traveled
and still very handsome. I enjoy
his company very much. I’ve
wanted to tell him how I feel, but
I don’t want to jeopardize what
we have together. So here I am,
DEAR ABBY: I met a man,
“Gabe,” 30 years ago. We had a
very good time together. We dated
some and even traveled occa-
sionally. I liked him a lot but,
when we met, I was divorced and
looking for marriage. He was
not. I moved for my job, and met
and married someone else. Gabe
did call to keep in touch for sev-
eral years, but the calls stopped. I
never forgot him.
My husband passed away four
now in my 60s, feeling lost and
not knowing how to handle my
desire to be with him. What do
you think? — LONG HISTORY
IN FLORIDA
DEAR HISTORY: If you are
looking for more than you already
have with Gabe, you are wasting
your time. Gabe is satisfi ed with
the relationship just as it is. If he
wasn’t, believe me, he would have
mentioned it. If what you need is
someone to “nest” with, you will
have to look elsewhere. Sorry, he
isn’t it.
DEAR ABBY: I am con-
templating asking my wife for a
divorce. Her 86-year-old mother
lives with us. After she moved in,
I quickly realized that her mother
is a bigot, nosy and has little to no
respect for my wife. I could go on
and on. Agreeing to her mother
moving in was the worst mistake
of my life. I avoid her like the
plague now.
I can work from home full
time, but prefer to drive 75 miles
a day to get out of the house. Her
mother needs more care now than
can be provided at home. How-
ever, my wife wants to bring
someone in a few days a week,
since I no longer work from home.
She’s just delaying the inevitable.
I believe her mother is more
important to her than I am and, if
that’s the case, I can’t change her
mind. Aside from this, we have
a great marriage. I don’t want to
lose what I have, but I am pre-
pared to walk away. Advice? —
HATES THE HOUSEGUEST
DEAR HATES: I do have
some. If assisted living is in your
mother-in-law’s future, it would
be kinder to have her take up res-
idency soon, while she’s capable
of adjusting to it rather than post-
poning it until there is an emer-
gency. You are long overdue for a
frank and not very pleasant con-
versation with your wife about
how you feel you rank on her list
of priorities. Feeling as you do,
it may be your only chance of
saving your marriage.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Morning jolt? Swiss fi nd cocaine stash amid coff ee bean bags
The Associated Press
GENEVA — Swiss
police say an investigation
is underway after workers
at a Nespresso warehouse
in western Switzerland
found over 1,100 pounds of
cocaine, with a street value
of $50 million, as they
unloaded coff ee beans that
had arrived by train.
Regional police in Fri-
bourg said late Thursday,
May 5, they were alerted
May 2 by the company to
the discovery at the facility
in the town of Romont and
immediately set up a “broad
security perimeter” around
it with a large deployment
of offi cers. Customs and
border control agents were
called in.
Early indications were
that the shipment turned
up in fi ve containers that
had arrived by sea from
Brazil before being trans-
ferred onto a train, authori-
ties said.
“The cocaine seized has
an 80% degree of purity
and its market value is esti-
mated at more than 50 mil-
lion francs,” the police
Fribourg cantonal police/Contributed Photo
This image released by Fribourg cantonal police on Friday, May 6,
2022, shows a shipment containing cocaine seized in the Swiss town
of Romont on May 2. Police say an investigation is under way after
workers at a Nespresso factory in western Switzerland happened
upon a stash of over 1,100 pounds of cocaine, with a street value
of about 50 million francs, as they unloaded coff ee beans that had
arrived by train.
said, adding that the stash
appeared “destined for the
European market.”
On May 6, the Euro-
pean Union’s law enforce-
ment agency Europol and
the European Monitoring
Center for Drugs and Drug
Addiction reported that
cocaine availability in
Europe “is probably at an
all-time high.”
Switzerland is not an EU
member but is part of the
Schengen zone that allows
for visa-free travel among
many European countries.
The monitoring center
said it estimates the EU
cocaine retail market was
worth at least $11.1 billion
in 2020, while cautioning
that the fi gure was likely to
underestimate the true size
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
US mortgage rates
rise; 30-year at 5.27%,
highest since 2009
of the market.
It said the largest quanti-
ties of cocaine are seized in
Belgian, Dutch and Spanish
ports, but increasing
amounts are turning up
at ports elsewhere “sug-
gesting that traffi cking
groups are extending their
activities to ports where
cocaine interdiction mea-
sures may be perceived as
less intensive.”
Swiss food and drinks
giant Nestle, which owns
Nespresso, sought to reas-
sure customers that “all
our products are safe to
consume.”
“We have strict quality
controls in place for green
coff ee arriving at our ware-
houses right up to the fi n-
ished product,” the Vevey,
Switzerland-based com-
pany said in a statement
emailed to The Associ-
ated Press. “The substance
in question did not come
into contact with any of
our products or production
equipment used to make
our products.”
Nestle said it could
not provide more details
because of the ongoing
police investigation.
By DAVID BAUDER
WASHINGTON —
Average long-term U.S.
mortgage rates resumed
their ascent last week,
as the key 30-year loan
reached its highest point
since 2009.
The increases came in
the week preceding the
widely anticipated action
by the Federal Reserve,
announced Wednesday,
May 4, to intensify its
fi ght against the worst
infl ation in 40 years by
raising its benchmark
interest rate by a half-per-
centage point and sig-
naling further large rate
hikes to come. The Fed’s
move, its most aggres-
sive since 2000, will bring
higher costs for mortgages
as well as credit cards,
auto loans and other bor-
rowing for individuals and
businesses.
Mortgage buyer Freddie
Mac reported May 5 that
the 30-year rate rose to
5.27% from 5.1% last week,
when it edged down after
seven weeks of increases.
By contrast, the average
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
43/54
Kennewick
38/56
St. Helens
40/62
41/60
Condon
42/64
44/60
Mainly clear
and cold
Baker City
28 57 33
Comfort Index™
La Grande
Enterprise
1
4
Cloudy with a
shower
56 31
54 40
63 40
Eugene
1
2
5
38/61
55 33
54 41
61 44
1
2
4
7
25 53 30
Comfort Index™
Mostly cloudy
and cool
5
32 59 32
Comfort Index™
SAT
1
49 36
59 44
4
3
9
8
ALMANAC
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Sunday
Low Sunday
High: 99°
Low: 14°
Wettest: 1.94”
47°
28°
49°
32°
52°
35°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Sunday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
0.06
0.57
0.32
2.50
3.20
0.04
0.66
0.58
4.44
7.03
0.27
1.83
0.63
11.70
10.92
HAY INFORMATION WEDNESDAY
35%
WNW at 6 to 12 mph
5.9
0.13
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Monday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
OREGON
Hermiston
Crater Lake
Florence
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Altus, Okla.
Alturas, Calif.
Wahpeton, N.D.
High: 60°
Low: 18°
Wettest: 1.13”
12% of capacity
91% of capacity
46% of capacity
99% of capacity
52% of capacity
101% of capacity
On May 10, 1889, tornadoes hit several
eastern Pennsylvania communities, includ-
ing Reading, Pottsville, Shamokin and
Philadelphia.
SUN & MOON
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
TUE.
WED.
5:29 a.m.
8:10 p.m.
1:50 p.m.
3:17 a.m.
5:27 a.m.
8:11 p.m.
3:00 p.m.
3:38 a.m.
MOON PHASES
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Sunday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
9400 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
87 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
6 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
1670 cfs
Minam River at Minam
1320 cfs
Powder River near Richland
55 cfs
Full
May 15
Last
New
May 22 May 30
Beaver Marsh
Powers
38/60
First
Jun 7
36/62
Silver Lake
Jordan Valley
27/53
Frenchglen
Paisley
28/54
28/57
20/54
Klamath Falls
22/54
McDermitt
Hi/Lo/W
54/45/c
61/39/c
60/38/pc
54/42/c
55/30/pc
55/44/c
59/44/c
58/31/pc
58/31/sh
61/45/c
65/49/pc
62/46/c
60/34/pc
55/34/pc
53/30/pc
67/47/pc
54/30/pc
54/27/pc
Hi/Lo/W
53/43/sh
54/28/c
61/40/pc
51/46/sh
54/30/sh
53/41/sh
52/37/sh
58/34/c
54/36/sh
53/40/sh
62/43/sh
51/44/r
59/33/c
56/32/c
52/27/sh
61/43/sh
52/34/c
49/32/c
28/50
RECREATION FORECAST WEDNESDAY
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
34/61
Lakeview
23/54
Shown is Wednesday’s weather. Temperatures are Tuesday night’s lows and Wednesday’s highs.
THU.
Grand View
Arock
30/58
Fields
37/63
WED.
Diamond
27/53
32/55
Medford
Brookings
Boise
34/60
36/66
37/54
28/61
24/56
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
25/55
26/59
21/53
Roseburg
Ontario
35/66
Burns
Brothers
36/63
Coos Bay
Huntington
23/53
28/61
Oakridge
33/58
36/61
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
Council
28/57
26/55
28/63
Florence
SUNDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
23/48
John Day
25/62
Sisters
39/55
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.
29/61
Baker City
Redmond
41/51
41/54
Halfway
Granite
35/59
Newport
38/63
51 28
31/60
36/60
39/60
Corvallis
Enterprise
25/53
32/59
Monument
37/64
Idanha
Salem
FRI
Showers around Showers around
Elgin
27/58
La Grande
35/60
Maupin
THU
39/60
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
35/60
Lewiston
38/62
Hood River
38/61
40/54
WED
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Walla Walla
44/67
Vancouver
37/59
TIllamook
TONIGHT
rate stood at 2.96% a
year ago.
The average rate on
15-year, fi xed-rate mort-
gages, popular among those
refi nancing their homes,
jumped to 4.52% from 4.4%
last week.
With infl ation at a
four-decade high, rising
mortgage rates, elevated
home prices and tight
supply of homes for sale,
homeownership has become
less attainable, especially
for fi rst-time buyers.
Some economists sug-
gest that home sales this
year could decline as much
as 10% from 2021 levels.
In a statement following
their two-day meeting,
Fed policymakers noted
that Russia’s invasion and
war on Ukraine is wors-
ening infl ation pressures
by raising oil and food
prices. Infl ation, according
to the Fed’s preferred
gauge, reached 6.6% last
month, the highest in four
decades. It has been accel-
erated by a combination of
robust consumer spending,
chronic supply bottlenecks
and sharply higher gas and
food prices.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
WED.
THU.
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Hi/Lo/W
62/40/pc
56/46/c
56/31/pc
63/41/c
51/45/c
54/42/c
66/37/pc
68/47/pc
61/42/pc
60/47/c
60/44/c
62/36/c
62/43/c
60/45/c
58/38/pc
64/48/c
55/31/sh
60/43/pc
Hi/Lo/W
61/44/c
52/40/sh
53/34/sh
56/43/c
50/42/sh
51/38/sh
64/40/pc
61/42/sh
58/38/sh
54/43/sh
53/39/sh
54/28/sh
54/40/sh
53/41/sh
52/37/c
57/43/sh
50/27/sh
60/39/sh
P.M. snow showers
A shower
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
31
23
51
32
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
A shower
Partly sunny; cool
43
28
62
33
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Cold
Showers around
38
19
49
28
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
A stray shower
Clouds and sun
53
30
60
39
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Clouds and sun
Showers around
57
33
59
32
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