COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATuRDAY, AuguST 28, 2021
Family’s help with child care comes at a cost
ions than they do, and we worry
about their influence on our chil-
dren. But, honestly, sometimes
we need their help. I don’t think
they can keep their opinions to
themselves, but I don’t want them
anywhere near my kids, either.
Is it hypocritical to accept their
help? — Different views in New
Jersey
Dear Different: Because
you need their help and they are
willing to babysit “the grands,”
I don’t consider accepting it the
least bit hypocritical. Your chil-
dren are too young to know who
Barack Obama is, and are not
likely to place any importance on
what your parents say about him.
I do, however, take issue with
planting the idea in a little girl’s
Dear Abby: I am a mother of
four (soon to be five) young chil-
dren. It is exhausting. My hus-
band helps as much as he can,
but sometimes we both need a
break. My parents offer to watch
the kids. The problem is, my par-
ents and I have opposite polit-
ical and world views. Sometimes
they’ll say things to my chil-
dren like, “You’re such a ditzy
girl, you better find a good hus-
band!” Or call a former presi-
dent “the devil.” My husband
and I have VERY different opin-
a man from an affluent family.
I love my in-laws and enjoy
hosting dinners for them.
My brother-in-law, “Karl”
— who is my favorite person
in the group — is seeing a guy,
“Warren,” who is 30 years
younger. Their relationship is on
and off. Warren usually shows up
when it’s convenient or when he
wants money.
My problem is, when I invite
the family, Karl always asks if
he can bring his boyfriend. Each
time Warren shows up, I become
anxious because he has no social
graces. At all. He cuts people off
at the buffet line, picks through
pieces of meat on the serving
platter looking for the “best” cut
and acts like he hasn’t eaten for
head that she is a “ditz” and that
her only goal in life should be to
marry anyone. Your daughter is
growing up in a very different
world than the one your mother
was raised in. These days, girls
are expected to follow their own
path, get an education, work and
become independent. Marriage,
if it happens, comes later.
You and your husband should
tell your children (in an age-ap-
propriate way) that their grand-
parents love them, but have dif-
ferent ideas about things than
Mommy and Daddy do. Then
reinforce that they are smart,
honest, good and any other vir-
tues you would like to implant in
their little heads.
Dear Abby: I am married to
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
OVGARD
Kids lead effort to pardon
wrongly convicted ‘witch’
Continued from Page B1
The latter was one of many
sites I’d researched as a poten-
tial location to catch the isolated
headwater catfish, Ictalurus lupus.
Though this fish looks most like
a bullhead, it is found in habi-
tats very unlike its cousins. As
its name suggests, the headwater
catfish lives principally in crys-
tal-clear, cold streams in the Rio
Grande drainage.
In years of searching, I’d tried
more than half a dozen poten-
tial streams feeding the Pecos
or mainstem Rio Grande, but
couldn’t find the proper habitat.
This time, I had.
I drove into my planned spot,
but I was dismayed to see that the
roads were public but the land pri-
vate, posted heavily all around the
pristine stream.
Ordinarily, a public road
crossing would provide me legal
access to the water, allowing
me to traverse this navigable
waterway tributary to my heart’s
content — provided I stay below
the annual high water mark.
Unfortunately, there were no such
crossings. I drove for miles on
the dusty road, finding no clearly
public road crossings.
I was far from surprised,
though. Texas is one of the most
heavily privatized states in the
nation, ranking No. 37 in total
public lands (Oregon ranks No.
5) with just 3.12 million acres of
public land. Of those 3.12 million
public acres in Texas, just under
half (47 %) is on military bases
and largely closed to the public. In
practice, Texas has about 1.65 mil-
lion acres of land you can actually
access.
For perspective on just how
little that is, there are 3.9 million
total acres in Klamath County.
According to The Oregonian,
58.8 % — or about 2.3 million
acres — of Klamath County is
publicly held.
For those keeping score, that
means little old Klamath County
BOSTON — More than
three centuries after a Massa-
chusetts woman was wrongly
convicted of witchcraft and sen-
tenced to death, she’s finally on
the verge of being exonerated
— thanks to an eighth-grade
civics class.
State Sen. Diana DiZoglio,
a Democrat from Methuen, has
introduced legislation to clear
the name of Elizabeth Johnson
Jr., who was condemned in 1693
at the height of the Salem Witch
Trials but never executed.
DiZoglio says she was
inspired by sleuthing done by a
group of 13- and 14-year-olds at
North Andover Middle School.
Civics teacher Carrie LaPierre’s
students researched Johnson
and the steps that would need to
be taken to make sure she was
formally pardoned.
“It is important that we work
to correct history,” DiZoglio
said Wednesday, Aug. 18. “We
will never be able to change
what happened to these victims,
but at the very least, we can set
the record straight.”
If lawmakers approve the
measure, Johnson will be the
last accused witch to be cleared,
according to Witches of Massa-
chusetts Bay, a group devoted
to the history and lore of the
17th-century witch hunts.
Twenty people from Salem
and neighboring towns were
killed and hundreds of others
accused during a frenzy of
Puritan injustice that began in
1692, stoked by superstition,
fear of disease and strangers,
scapegoating and petty jealou-
sies. Nineteen were hanged, and
one man was crushed to death
by rocks.
In the 328 years that have
Luke Ovgard/Contributed Photo
Since the water was so clear, microfishing for the native roundnose minnow (pic-
tured) was easy.
has more public lands than the
entire state of Texas. Huh.
Roads
Dejected and unwilling to
risk getting shot while traipsing
through private land, I drove back
to the road. I had no service, but
as I was driving back to civiliza-
tion, I found a bridge on a public
road spanning the very same
creek. It was not posted, and I was
able to climb down and fish the
beautiful, aquamarine waters.
It took me precious little time
to see headwater catfish skirting
the margins of the undercut
banks, and after I caught each of
the resident bass once or twice,
the less aggressive catfish came
out to play. I landed one. Given
the Yaqui catfish went extinct
in the U.S. this summer due to
drought (they survived in their
much larger range in Mexico),
weather
catching the headwater catfish
meant I’d caught all full-sized
American catfish. This was an
equally depressing and exciting
realization.
The day was young, so I con-
tinued fishing, catching both the
diminutive roundnose minnow
and another longtime nemefish,
the gray redhorse. The latter was
a prime specimen and marks my
ninth world record.
Despite numerous failures to
find my target fishes, persistence
paid off, and I was glad I’d messed
with Texas.
Sign up for every CaughtOv-
gard column at www.patreon.
com/CaughtOvgard. Read more
for free at caughtovgard.com;
Follow on Instagram and Fish-
brain @lukeovgard; Contact luke.
ovgard@gmail.com. Thank you
for your continued support of
local journalism.
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
53/67
Kennewick
55/79
St. Helens
55/84
59/86
56/89
59/82
54/85
Condon
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
Clear
Sunny and nice
Sunny and
pleasant
Plenty of
sunshine
Sunny and
beautiful
83 41
76 37
77 42
Eugene
55/88
La Grande
41 84 50
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
9
10
10
80 45
69 43
75 42
9
10
10
7
48 85 49
Comfort Index™ 10
9
68 34
70 40
9
10
10
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 118°
Low: 24°
Wettest: 3.23”
78°
48°
78°
56°
73°
49°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
0.00
0.65
0.36
3.11
6.35
0.00
0.42
0.57
6.54
11.23
0.00
0.42
0.54
15.79
15.77
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
20%
WSW at 4 to 8 mph
12.5
0.21
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
N.A.
25% of capacity
17% of capacity
45% of capacity
0% of capacity
0% of capacity
OREGON
High: 89°
Low: 35°
Wettest: 0.19”
Ontario
Lakeview
Newport
So much cool air moved southward on
Aug. 28, 1944, that Raleigh, N.C., had a
high of only 68 degrees, which is its low-
est maximum temperature ever in August.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
SUN.
6:09 a.m. 6:10 a.m.
7:37 p.m. 7:35 p.m.
10:35 p.m. 11:03 p.m.
12:41 p.m. 1:45 p.m.
MOON PHASES
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
Burnt River near Unity
Umatilla River near Gibbon
Minam River at Minam
Powder River near Richland
Ocotillo Wells, Calif.
Bodie State Park, Calif.
Danville, Ill.
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Florence
476 cfs
1 cfs
86 cfs
41 cfs
64 cfs
4 cfs
Last
Aug 29
New
Sep 6
First
Sep 13
Beaver Marsh
Powers
53/79
Full
Sep 20
56/88
Silver Lake
Jordan Valley
48/88
Paisley
43/90
45/85
Frenchglen
46/92
Medford
46/89
51/89
46/93
Lakeview
42/90
McDermitt
47/93
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
MON.
City
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
Astoria
67/52/pc 65/50/pc
Bend
86/49/s 81/43/s
Boise
91/58/s 92/58/s
Brookings
72/52/s 67/50/s
Burns
91/45/s 88/43/s
Coos Bay
67/52/pc 65/47/s
Corvallis
85/49/s 74/46/s
Council
86/50/s 88/51/s
Elgin
85/45/s 81/40/s
Eugene
88/49/s 78/47/s
Hermiston
89/60/s 85/54/s
Hood River
86/54/s 73/49/s
Imnaha
88/52/s 87/49/s
John Day
90/50/s 85/46/s
Joseph
84/50/s 80/48/s
Kennewick
88/56/s 86/52/s
Klamath Falls 89/45/s 85/39/s
Lakeview
90/41/s 86/39/s
Grand View
Arock
48/95
Klamath Falls
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
Diamond
49/88
Fields
58/93
56/72
Boise
56/91
54/93
Brookings
48/92
43/90
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
42/91
44/86
46/88
Roseburg
Ontario
48/91
Burns
Brothers
54/85
Coos Bay
Huntington
50/86
51/86
Oakridge
49/86
53/88
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
52/90
50/86
Council
37/86
John Day
45/88
Sisters
52/67
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.
45/90
Baker City
Redmond
50/63
52/64
Halfway
Granite
40/81
52/83
55/87
57/82
81 45
6
Corvallis
49/91
53/85
Newport
Enterprise
48/85
41/84
Monument
56/87
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
7
Elgin
43/85
La Grande
52/82
Maupin
9
55/88
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
Lewiston
55/89
Hood River
52/85
TIllamook
37 86 42
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Walla Walla
50/88
Vancouver
58/81
51/71
Comfort Index™
ensued, dozens of suspects offi-
cially were cleared, including
Johnson’s own mother, the
daughter of a minister whose
conviction eventually was
reversed. But for some reason,
Johnson’s name wasn’t included
in various legislative attempts
to set the record straight.
Johnson was 22 when she
was caught up in the hysteria of
the witch trials and sentenced
to hang. It never happened:
Then-Gov. William Phips
threw out her punishment as
the magnitude of the gross mis-
carriages of justice in Salem
sank in.
But because she wasn’t
among those whose convictions
were formally set aside, hers
still technically stands.
“It showed how supersti-
tious people still were after
the witch trials,” said Artem
Likhanov, 14, a rising high
school freshman who partici-
pated in the school project. “It’s
not like after it ended people
didn’t believe in witches any-
more. They still thought she
was a witch and they wouldn’t
exonerate her.”
DiZoglio’s bill would tweak
1957 legislation, amended in
2001, to include Johnson among
others who were pardoned after
being wrongly accused and
convicted of witchcraft.
“Why Elizabeth was not
exonerated is unclear but no
action was ever taken on her
behalf by the General Assembly
or the courts,” DiZoglio said.
“Possibly because she was nei-
ther a wife nor a mother, she
was not considered worthy of
having her name cleared. And
because she never had children,
there is no group of descendants
acting on her behalf.”
The Associated Press
| Go to AccuWeather.com
Baker City
days. I want to continue inviting
Karl, so should I be honest and
say, “Please do not bring your
boyfriend,” or stop hosting
family dinners? — Anxious in
California
Dear Anxious: If you invite
Karl and tell him not to bring
Warren, the chances are he will
refuse your future invitations.
What you might do, however,
is mention to him that his boy-
friend’s social graces could use
some “polishing,” and note what
he does at the buffet. It’s possible
that he “acts like he hasn’t eaten
for days” because you are such a
terrific cook he can’t keep him-
self from scarfing. Or maybe it
has been a while since he’s had a
square meal.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
SUN.
MON.
Hi/Lo/W
89/59/s
79/48/s
85/46/s
93/58/s
63/49/pc
77/46/s
91/56/s
89/53/s
85/55/s
82/52/s
79/53/s
88/46/s
88/53/s
87/50/s
83/56/s
89/57/s
83/37/s
88/60/s
Hi/Lo/W
88/54/s
70/50/pc
79/43/s
87/50/s
60/47/s
69/46/pc
92/54/s
87/51/s
81/52/s
73/53/pc
71/47/s
82/40/s
79/50/s
75/49/s
80/51/s
80/51/s
79/36/s
84/54/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
Plenty of sunshine
Sunny and pleasant
61
41
81
45
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Mostly sunny
Sunny and nice
70
46
89
57
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Mostly sunny
Sunny and pleasant
67
41
78
36
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny; nice
84
50
87
54
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Plenty of sunshine
Sunny and nice
86
42
84
50