BUSINESS & AG LIFE B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD FOOD Husband seeks right words for wife who constantly ‘hates’ herself may be able to refer you to one.) If you do, it may not only spice up but save your marriage. Dear Abby: I live on the opposite coast from my family. During the pan- demic, my youngest brother and his wife bought a new, very large house. He told me they had plenty of room and, the next time we come for a visit, they want us to stay with them. Well, that visit will be in November, but no invitation to stay has been extended. Should I remind my brother about his invita- tion, or should we just book a hotel? My gut instinct is to book the hotel, but my brother is very sensitive to how the family treats him, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings. What should I do? — Big Sis in California Dear Big Sis: Ask your brother if his off er still stands, since it has been some time since he extended his “generous invitation.” Listen carefully to his reac- tion. If you sense that he may have forgotten or the situa- tion has changed because of COVID, tell him it would not be a problem for you to book accommodations at a hotel if it’s more convenient. Dear Abby: After 28 years of marriage, is it strange that I would like my wife to initiate sex? I would like to know that she is interested, not just me. When I brought it up three weeks ago, her response again was, “We can when- ever you want to,” which wasn’t true because I have been turned down before. Any suggestions? She stays home all day and wants for nothing. Do you think she’s getting it somewhere else? — Frustrated in the Bedroom Dear Frustrated: I hope your wife is intelli- gent enough to recognize a red fl ag when it’s waved in front of her. I have a strong hunch that she isn’t “getting it somewhere else.” It’s more likely she no longer has a strong sex drive at this point in her life, or she may never have. Also, she may not know HOW to initiate and need coaching. If you can’t teach her, enlist the aid of a sex therapist. (Your doctor THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 Continued from Page B1 — a spending rate of $232,305 per minute. Aid programs, funded by relief packages, included the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The good news, how- ever, is that food insecu- rity has trended down- ward since the peak of the pandemic. Food insecurity nation- Doing this should not cause hurt feelings. Dear Abby: My wife and I have been married 32 years. We are still in love and consider each other our best friend. We survived some rough patches and learned how to make things right. I have one concern at this point in our journey. My wife constantly says, “I hate myself.” The more she says it out loud, the more I see the impact on her emo- tionally. What can a partner do to help? I’m 100% sup- portive of all she does and totally attracted to her, yet I can’t see this being healthy. Please help and thanks. — Dirty Words in Connecticut Dear Dirty Words: The next time your wife tells you she hates herself, ask her why she is being so hard on herself and ask her to be specifi c about what it is she hates. Explain that you love her exactly as she is and worry that what she’s doing isn’t emotion- ally healthy. (I agree, by the way.) If she persists after that, suggest she make an appointment with a licensed mental health professional to discuss it. wide fell nearly 30% between spring 2020 and spring 2021, according to data from the Urban Insti- tute, a think tank. The institute, based on its survey, attributed the drop in food inse- curity to an improved employment rate, a tem- porary 15% increase in the maximum benefi t for the Supplemental Nutri- tion Assistance Program, the introduction of new food donation programs, sleeve, known as a fi ber cable, to connect to the internet. Miller said Ziply, which has its head- quarters in Kirkland, Washington, is investing in fiber optic because it may never be surpassed by another technology. “Fiber optic runs at the speed of light. Nothing is faster,” he said. “It is future-proof.” Ziply Fiber is not alone on the fi ber optic internet front in Union and Wallowa counties. Eastern Oregon Net Inc. in La Grande, according to its website, provides fi ber optic internet service to portions of La Grande, Elgin, Enterprise, Imbler, North Powder, Summerville and Baker City. INTERNET Continued from Page B1 In the past 17-1/2 months, the com- pany has provided or announced its inten- tion to add fi ber optic internet service to 52 towns in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. The fi ber optic cable Ziply is installing provides lightning-fast internet service, Miller said. He said it is generally at least 10 times faster than a DSL connection. The fi ber optic cable also can provide phone and television streaming services. Fiber optic systems use small, fl exible strands of glass encased in a protective Computer not running as fast as when it was new? Let us install lightning-fast solid state drive! Still running unsupported Windows 7? We’ll help you avoid critical issues by installing Windows 10! weather | Go to AccuWeather.com AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION Astoria Longview 50/64 Kennewick 53/69 St. Helens 54/72 52/72 Condon 50/77 55/74 FRI SAT A little rain Baker City 31 79 46 Comfort Index™ La Grande 8 Comfort Index™ 9 57 33 Eugene 5 0 1 46/79 57 48 55 42 57 39 0 0 3 54 39 54 38 2 0 4 10 ALMANAC NATION (for the 48 contiguous states) High Tuesday Low Tuesday High: 112° Low: 22° Wettest: 5.94” 79° 30° 80° 33° 84° 33° PRECIPITATION (inches) 0.00 0.24 0.21 3.35 6.63 0.00 0.17 0.28 6.71 11.61 0.00 0.04 0.43 15.83 16.34 HAY INFORMATION FRIDAY 20% SW at 6 to 12 mph 11.2 0.14 RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Wednesday) Phillips Reservoir Unity Reservoir Owyhee Reservoir McKay Reservoir Wallowa Lake Thief Valley Reservoir N.A. 14% of capacity 12% of capacity 34% of capacity 0% of capacity 0% of capacity Medford Meacham Powers 46/74 A low temperature of 27 degrees on Sept. 16, 1964, at Concord, N.H., ended the shortest growing season of any summer last century. Temperatures had stayed above freezing for only 100 days. SUN & MOON THU. Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset 6:32 a.m. 7:01 p.m. 5:26 p.m. 1:11 a.m. 449 cfs 0 cfs 62 cfs 43 cfs 52 cfs 2 cfs Full Sep 20 Last Sep 28 New Oct 6 47/80 FRI. 6:33 a.m. 6:59 p.m. 6:01 p.m. 2:24 a.m. First Oct 12 Jordan Valley 42/81 Paisley 41/81 37/76 Frenchglen 47/83 47/89 49/84 City Astoria Bend Boise Brookings Burns Coos Bay Corvallis Council Elgin Eugene Hermiston Hood River Imnaha John Day Joseph Kennewick Klamath Falls Lakeview SAT. Hi/Lo/W 64/53/r 77/52/pc 83/58/s 66/53/pc 82/44/pc 70/56/c 74/57/r 78/49/pc 77/50/c 79/58/c 74/56/pc 72/58/sh 78/60/c 81/58/pc 76/53/pc 75/56/pc 79/45/pc 78/42/s Hi/Lo/W 62/51/r 55/46/sh 83/52/c 59/51/r 68/42/c 66/53/sh 67/52/sh 81/49/c 57/47/r 68/53/sh 64/50/sh 63/54/sh 64/49/c 64/46/c 61/45/r 63/52/sh 67/48/sh 70/43/c Grand View Arock 39/84 41/86 46/86 Klamath Falls 38/79 Lakeview 36/78 McDermitt Shown is Friday’s weather. Temperatures are Thursday night’s lows and Friday’s highs. FRI. Diamond 44/81 Fields Medford Brookings 47/66 Boise 49/83 Silver Lake Chiloquin Grants Pass 39/85 39/78 41/81 RECREATION FORECAST FRIDAY REGIONAL CITIES MOON PHASES STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Tuesday) 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 OREGON WEATHER HISTORY AGRICULTURAL INFO. Lowest relative humidity Afternoon wind Hours of sunshine Evapotranspiration Death Valley, Calif. Stanley, Idaho Oakdale, La. High: 92° Low: 28° Wettest: none Beaver Marsh Juntura 35/82 39/77 35/74 Roseburg Ontario 41/81 Burns Brothers 45/78 Coos Bay Huntington 37/77 43/77 Oakridge 40/78 46/78 Seneca Bend Elkton TUESDAY EXTREMES TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin Tuesday Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Normal year to date Florence 46/70 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. 44/81 40/77 Council 31/79 John Day 38/80 Sisters 48/75 59 46 37/79 Baker City Redmond 46/61 47/64 Halfway Granite 37/73 46/71 52/77 Corvallis 42/82 46/74 Newport 56 37 10 41 77 51 MON Enterprise 41/77 41/76 Monument 49/79 Idanha Salem 66 41 10 41 76 51 Comfort Index™ Enterprise 8 SUN Cloudy, showers A shower in the around morning Elgin 38/77 La Grande 44/75 Maupin Mostly cloudy 49/71 Pendleton The Dalles Portland Newberg 50/72 Lewiston 46/73 Hood River 47/73 48/68 TONIGHT Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021 Walla Walla 48/75 Vancouver 53/69 TIllamook Becoming partly cloudy larger unemployment ben- efi ts and government relief payouts. But food insecu- rity levels are still higher than pre-pan- demic levels, studies show. A recent survey by Feeding America, a non- profi t, found that while 2021 hunger levels are lower than 2020’s levels, more than half of food banks reported increasing or steady demand this summer. 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 73/58/c 69/55/r 77/51/c 84/56/s 61/52/r 63/51/r 81/51/pc 74/59/pc 73/55/c 74/58/r 74/60/pc 80/54/pc 80/59/c 77/58/r 63/52/r 77/59/c 72/46/c 71/56/pc Hi/Lo/W 62/52/sh 65/53/sh 56/47/r 71/56/sh 60/50/sh 62/49/r 82/51/pc 68/53/sh 62/51/sh 67/57/sh 66/54/r 62/45/sh 69/56/r 68/55/sh 57/48/sh 69/55/sh 56/39/r 61/53/sh 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 cloudy Clouds and sun 54 34 75 44 MT. EMILY REC. BROWNLEE RES. Warmer Some sun; pleasant 63 41 79 56 EAGLE CAP WILD. EMIGRANT ST. PARK Partly sunny Warmer 59 41 71 41 WALLOWA LAKE MCKAY RESERVOIR Warmer Mostly cloudy 76 53 76 52 THIEF VALLEY RES. RED BRIDGE ST. PARK Warmer Mostly cloudy 79 46 76 51