6B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2020
COFFEE BREAK
Man contemplates adopting stepdaughter he adores
DEAR ABBY: I am thinking
about asking my stepdaughter
“Gwen” (37 years old with a hus-
band and three kids) if she would
like me to adopt
her. I married her
mother when Gwen
was 2. We divorced
when she was 8 or
9, so we were out of
contact for about 25 years.
Gwen really dislikes her father.
Her mother and I have patched
things up, so much so that we’ve
been on a couple of vacations
together. Gwen has been along on
both.
We have a special bond that
goes back to the fi rst time I met
her. She was a terror, and her
mother, grandmother and the rest
of the family had basically given
up on her. But we clicked. I was
patient with her, and we became
close. When we were together a
few weeks ago on vacation, she
asked if I wanted to
come to Colorado,
DEAR
which is halfway
across the country
ABBY
from where I live,
for her daughter’s
3rd birthday party. I’m going. I
love her dearly and always have.
I missed her terribly during the
years her mother and I barely
communicated. I was able to see
my kids, but not her. Now I feel
that closeness again, and I want
to offi cially adopt her as I should
have back when she was 2. What
do you think, Abby?
— LOVING HER IN
LOUISIANA
DEAR LOVING HER: Do
not make such an important deci-
sion on impulse. Be prudent and
let this renewed relationship with
your ex and her daughter play out
a while longer before making any
decisions. Then, if you still feel
the same, talk to your ex about
what you have in mind. If she
reacts positively, discuss it with
Gwen.
But I urge you to use caution
because your ex may consider
herself and her daughter to be a
package deal and expect you to
“adopt” her, too. It goes without
saying that this should be dis-
cussed with your lawyer because
the fact that Gwen still has a
father may complicate matters.
DEAR ABBY: The sisters in
my family are very close. Today
we live independently and alone
in different cities. After we retire,
three of the four of us plan to
live together in a new location.
Our dilemma: The fourth sister
marches to a different drummer.
Our lifestyles are very dif-
ferent — completely opposite, in
fact. We love her and enjoy being
with her at family gatherings and
doing things together. Yet we feel
strongly that because she has
little initiative and a “dependent”
personality, she shouldn’t live
with us, so we haven’t included
her in our plans.
We know the news will upset
her, and we don’t want to cause
hurt feelings, but we feel strongly
about this. We have tried to fi gure
out how we could make it work,
but always end up knowing it
won’t. The only option we can
think of would be that she could
move to wherever we are and fi nd
a place of her own, but we’re not
sure she has the means to make
it happen. Can you help us fi gure
out the most compassionate way
to share the news with her?
— FORWARD THINKING
DEAR FORWARD
THINKING: The most compas-
sionate way to venture into this
minefi eld would be to ask your
sister what her plans are once she
retires. If she says she plans to
live with you, she should be told it
won’t happen and why, so she can
make other arrangements for her-
self. While the conversation may
not be pleasant, it is necessary,
and it should take place sooner
rather than later.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Connecticut city
renames sewage
plant for John Oliver
Young whales
looking to dine fl ock
to waters off NYC
By Dave Collins
By Patrick Whittle
and Ted Shaffrey
Associated Press
Associated Press
DANBURY, Conn. —
It’s offi cial. Every time res-
idents of Danbury, Con-
necticut, fl ush, they will be
sending their special deliv-
eries to the John Oliver
Memorial Sewer Plant.
The city council voted
18-1 last week to rename
the sewage plant after the
comedian, who began a
tongue-in-cheek battle with
Danbury when he went
on an expletive-fi lled rant
against the city on HBO’s
“Last Week Tonight with
John Oliver” in August.
Mayor Mark Boughton
didn’t waste any time
responding on social media.
He posted a video of him-
self at the sewage plant
saying the city was going to
name it after Oliver.
“Why?” the Republican
mayor asked. “Because it’s
full of crap just like you,
John.”
That drew a delighted
response from Oliver, but
NEW YORK — If
you’re young and hungry,
the place to go is New
York City — even if you
weigh 25 tons and have a
blowhole.
Whale watch captains
and scientists around Amer-
ica’s most populous city
say recent years have seen
a tremendous surge in the
number of whales observed
in the waters around the Big
Apple. Many of the whales
are juvenile humpbacks,
and scientists say they’re
drawn to New York by an
abundance of the small fi sh
they love to eat.
There are numerous the-
ories about why whales are
suddenly fl ocking to the
city, but one of the most
widely held is that the men-
haden population has grown
around New York and New
Jersey.
Menhaden are small,
schooling fi sh that hump-
HBO via AP
This video frame grab shows John Oliver from his program “Last Week Tonight with
John Oliver” on HBO, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. On Thursday, Oct. 8, the Danbury City Coun-
cil voted 18-1 to rename the sewage plant after the comedian.
that you fl oated it as an
option, it is all that I want,”
Oliver said.
Boughton said Friday
the feud has been a good
distraction from the coro-
navirus and other troubles
of the times. He also said
Oliver’s promised dona-
tions have helped spur local
fundraising efforts for area
food banks that could end
he went off against the city
again because Boughton
later said he was just joking.
Oliver upped the stakes
on his Aug. 30 show by
offering to donate $55,000
to local charities if Danbury
actually followed through
with renaming the plant.
“I didn’t know that I
wanted my name on your
(expletive) factory but now
weather
up collecting a few hundred
thousand dollars to feed
needy families.
The mayor added he
will be offering tours of the
sewer plant for $500 dona-
tions to local food pantries.
Oliver has offered to pro-
vide the new sign for the
plant, as well as attend the
ribbon-cutting, Boughton
said.
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
51/62
Kennewick
50/60
St. Helens
49/61
49/62
Condon
50/66
49/63
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
Partly cloudy
Partly sunny
Mostly sunny
Sunny and
warmer
Partly sunny and
pleasant
60 29
68 33
67 32
Eugene
9
10
10
46/64
58 33
69 43
70 39
9
10
10
La Grande
41 56 31
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
7
3
3
36 52 28
Comfort Index™
6
67 40
66 39
8
10
10
3
ALMANAC
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Sunday
Low Sunday
High: 103°
Low: 19°
Wettest: 2.91”
60°
34°
56°
41°
58°
43°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Sunday
Trace
Month to date
Trace
Normal month to date 0.19
Year to date
2.99
Normal year to date
7.83
Trace
0.01
0.34
13.40
11.92
0.20
0.20
0.42
26.24
16.35
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION WEDNESDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
40%
WNW at 7 to 14 mph
0.2
0.11
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Monday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
9% of capacity
22% of capacity
41% of capacity
39% of capacity
13% of capacity
5% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Sunday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1090 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
16 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
17 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
59 cfs
Minam River at Minam
106 cfs
Powder River near Richland
22 cfs
Del Rio, Texas
Dakota Hill, Colo.
Charlotte, N.C.
OREGON
High: 70°
Low: 28°
Wettest: 0.87”
Roseburg
Lakeview
Astoria
WEATHER HISTORY
On Oct. 13, the Great Hurricane of 1846
moved from Cuba northward through
Georgia and the Carolinas to Pennsylvania
and caused great damage all along its
path.
SUN & MOON
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
TUE.
WED.
7:06 a.m.
6:10 p.m.
2:45 a.m.
5:07 p.m.
7:08 a.m.
6:08 p.m.
4:04 a.m.
5:35 p.m.
MOON PHASES
New
Oct 16
First
Oct 23
Full
Oct 31
Last
Nov 8
36/51
35/62
41/57
Beaver Marsh
Powers
48/70
48/68
Silver Lake
Jordan Valley
41/55
Paisley
35/61
36/62
Frenchglen
Diamond
40/59
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
35/66
33/64
McDermitt
40/61
Shown is Wednesday’s weather. Temperatures are Tuesday night’s lows and Wednesday’s highs.
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
THU.
Hi/Lo/W
62/46/c
59/33/pc
61/36/pc
74/56/s
60/22/pc
66/47/pc
63/42/c
53/29/pc
55/31/pc
64/42/pc
67/39/pc
61/40/pc
56/32/pc
57/34/pc
51/28/pc
68/39/s
66/29/pc
64/23/pc
Hi/Lo/W
64/48/s
63/40/s
59/39/s
76/59/s
60/23/s
68/50/s
64/43/s
60/32/pc
59/33/pc
65/43/s
65/40/s
64/42/s
60/38/pc
63/38/s
52/34/pc
64/42/s
69/29/s
66/26/s
47/63
42/61
Fields
46/70
WED.
Grand View
Arock
38/56
44/62
Medford
Brookings
Boise
46/61
49/73
53/74
41/63
33/59
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
31/60
33/55
29/58
Roseburg
Ontario
44/66
Burns
Brothers
44/64
Coos Bay
Huntington
34/54
37/59
Oakridge
35/53
41/62
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
Council
37/59
John Day
37/61
Florence
SUNDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
Sisters
49/66
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.
40/61
Baker City
Redmond
50/61
51/63
Halfway
Granite
45/63
Newport
49/66
55 33
40/59
44/59
46/63
Corvallis
Enterprise
36/52
41/56
Monument
44/62
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
7
Elgin
41/55
La Grande
42/56
Maupin
Comfort Index™
47/62
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
45/62
Lewiston
48/61
Hood River
47/62
49/62
37 59 27
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
Walla Walla
51/68
Vancouver
47/62
TIllamook
Baker City
backs relish, and environ-
mentalists believe cleaner
waters and stricter conser-
vation laws have increased
their numbers near New
York City.
Gotham Whale, a New
York City-based whale
research organization, made
more than 300 observa-
tions of 500 total whales in
2019, said Paul Sieswerda,
the nonprofi t’s president.
That’s up from three sight-
ings of fi ve whales in 2011,
after which a steady climb
began, he said.
“Somehow or other more
and more whales seem to
be getting the message
that New York is a good
place to dine,” Sieswerda
said. “That kind of mag-
nitude of increase is just
phenomenal.”
The resurgence of
whales in the area has
attracted tourists who want
to see and photograph the
giant marine mammals. But
the concentration of whales
near New York City also
poses risks to the mam-
mals, as they ply some of
the most heavily traversed
waters on the planet.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
WED.
THU.
Hi/Lo/W
61/39/s
60/43/c
53/30/pc
70/40/pc
61/47/c
62/41/c
66/34/pc
68/39/s
62/38/s
63/45/pc
70/46/pc
62/30/pc
68/44/c
63/42/c
56/35/sh
66/40/s
53/28/pc
62/40/pc
Hi/Lo/W
60/41/pc
64/44/s
57/33/s
76/44/s
63/49/s
61/42/s
63/33/s
63/40/pc
62/39/s
66/47/s
74/50/s
63/34/s
69/43/s
64/44/s
56/38/s
65/42/s
58/32/s
60/43/pc
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
36
22
53
27
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
44
29
59
32
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Partly sunny; cold
Partly sunny
39
19
50
26
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
51
28
61
36
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
59
27
56
31
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