COFFEE BREAK
B8 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATuRDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2021
Grandmother cut off after critiquing love triangle
asked her if she has told her boy-
friend she used to date Blake,
that he puts his vehicle in her
garage and she is asking him to
do things around the house as if
he’s her man. I think she needs to
level with Kane, so he can decide
whether he wants to be involved
in an open relationship.
Since I mentioned it, she no
longer has anything to do with
me. She ordered me not to call
her or come to her house. I have a
2-year-old grandson I have helped
her care for since he was born.
It hurts me that I can’t see him.
Please give me your opinion and
tell me if I owe her an apology. —
Mom Who Means Well
Dear Abby: My daughter
“Faith” has started dating “Kane,”
a new guy she met online. He
seems like a stand-up guy. Her
old boyfriend, “Blake,” was out of
the picture, but since she’s started
seeing someone else, he con-
stantly shows up. Mind you, Blake
is supposed to be engaged to the
woman living with him.
Faith tells Kane that Blake
is “like a brother” to her. Since
he’s constantly coming around, I
have any family with us during
the delivery. We live in the same
town as my in-laws, and this is
their first grandchild.
Abby, their behavior toward
this child has become possessive
and intrusive. My spouse and I
have tried to set boundaries, to
no avail. We tried explaining that
we are new parents in a very dif-
ficult time in this world right now,
and there is more stress than there
would normally be. They listen
and acknowledge what we are
saying, but their behavior doesn’t
change.
This is causing us more anx-
iety in an already anxious time.
We would never want to restrict
Dear Mom: It appears your
daughter and her ex are not
entirely through with each other.
If Kane is being led to believe
he and Faith have an exclusive
relationship, he’s being deliber-
ately misled, and shame on her.
She may be keeping him around
for insurance in case her rela-
tionship with Blake falls through
again. You do not “owe” your
daughter an apology for speaking
your mind, but you may have to
offer one if you want to see your
grandson.
Dear Abby: My spouse and I
had our first child early this year
during the pandemic. It was a dif-
ficult time because we couldn’t
access to their grandchild, but
every day is too much.
Other than moving, what are
our options? — New Mommy in
Pennslvania
Dear New Mommy: Another
option would be for you and your
spouse to set specific times when
the in-laws are welcome to visit.
If they pop in when they are not
expected, do not let them in.
Explain firmly that they need to
adhere to the schedule you have
set because your stress level is
already above where it should
be. They may not like it, but if
the alternative is you moving, it
would be less expensive and dis-
ruptive for you.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
In Murdaugh family scandal, tiny South Carolina town shaken
law firm and in 1920
became the elected pros-
ecutor for the five-county
region that includes
Hampton County. Randolph
Murdaugh died when his
car was hit by a train as he
headed home from a poker
game in 1940.
His son, Randolph
“Buster” Murdaugh Jr.,
took over the law firm and
prosecutor position; he
served for 46 years, with
the exception of several
months awaiting federal
trial over tipping off a local
moonshiner to move his
still. Eighteen of 23 defen-
dants were found guilty.
But “Buster” was
acquitted and returned to
office — even as the judge
noted that, if he were Mur-
daugh, he “could not go
back and face his people
much less resume public
office,” according to federal
records.
Randolph Murdaugh III
followed his father, taking
over in 1986 and serving
almost 20 years. Neither
of his sons followed him
into the solicitor’s chair,
although Alex Murdaugh
worked as a volunteer
prosecutor before his law
license was suspended in
September as he was fired
from the family’s PMPED
law firm over millions of
dollars turning up missing.
In civil law, the Mur-
daughs were known for
suing railroads. A now-re-
pealed South Carolina law
allowed anyone who wanted
to sue a railroad to choose
any state county. The Mur-
daughs found sympathetic
juries and made Hampton
County known for sev-
en-figure verdicts.
By JEFFREY COLLINS
The Associated Press
HAMPTON, S.C. —
Ask any of the 2,600 res-
idents in this South Car-
olina town whether they
know Alex Murdaugh, and
you’ll probably get a quick
nod. Nearly everyone does
in Hampton, a tiny place
where every road has just
two lanes.
Ask them to tell you
about Murdaugh, though,
and you’ll get a firm head
shake, followed by: “You’re
not going to quote me, are
you?” No one wants to
talk about the influential
lawyer whose wife and son
were killed and who’s now
accused in a string of con-
troversies — at least, not in
the open.
For the past century, the
Murdaughs have steered
much of the legal world
in this remote corner of
South Carolina — north of
Savannah, Georgia, and far
from the interstate or just
about anything else. Run-
ning the prosecutor’s office
and a large civil law firm
allowed the Murdaughs to
do it quietly, until recently.
Murdaugh’s wife,
Maggie, and son, Paul,
were killed June 7, shot
multiple times at the fam-
ily’s sprawling estate. No
one’s been arrested in their
deaths, which brought scru-
tiny into every nook of
Murdaugh’s life.
Six investigations are
underway, over the kill-
ings, stolen money, death
coverups and a Sept. 4
shooting in which a bullet
grazed Murdaugh’s head
on a lonely highway. Police
said he tried to arrange his
Jeffrey Collins/The Associated Press
The gates near Alex Murdaugh’s home in Islandton, S.C., are seen in this Monday, Sept. 20, 2021 photo. State police have six separate investi-
gations into Murdaugh and his family after his wife and son were shot to death outside the home in June.
own death and make sure a
$10 million life insurance
policy would pay off for his
surviving son.
The man charged with
shooting Murdaugh is
Curtis “Eddie” Smith, a
former client from a work-
place accident case. Smith
said they became friends,
and he was stunned to find
himself dismissed as a cal-
lous drug dealer by Mur-
daugh’s lawyers.
“With a friend like that,
who needs enemies,” Smith
said as he limped around
his property in Walterboro,
checking on his shop and
rescue dogs. He wouldn’t
say anymore, insisting he
was done discussing Mur-
daugh and the case — for
now.
Like many people in
board where staff kept track
of patients and tried to talk
to everyone who’d been
on the boat, nurses told
investigators.
The crash bought the
kind of attention the Mur-
daughs always tried — and
for decades, succeeded —
to avoid. It took months
to charge Paul Murdaugh
with boating under the
influence causing death,
the local newspaper noted.
Many around town won-
dered whether the family
was wielding their sizeable
influence.
Paul Murdaugh was
awaiting trial when he died.
Now, state police are inves-
tigating whether the Mur-
daughs obstructed that
investigation. They’re also
looking into the 2018 death
town, Smith got entan-
gled with the Murdaughs
in a courtroom in Hampton
County, population 20,000,
where the family is used to
being in power, not being
questioned.
But plenty of people tell
hushed stories of what hap-
pened if the Murdaughs
were crossed.
Connor Cook said that
in 2019, he knew his friend,
Paul Murdaugh, was intox-
icated when he drove a
boat that crashed, killing
a 19-year-old passenger.
But the Murdaughs tried
to pin him as the driver,
Cook said, according to a
wrongful death lawsuit.
The night of the crash,
Alex Murdaugh and his
father visited the hospital.
Murdaugh scrutinized a
weather
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of family housekeeper
Gloria Satterfield.
She died after falling in
the Murdaughs’ home, but
the death wasn’t reported
to the coroner. Documents
appear to show Murdaugh’s
insurance paid more than
$4 million in wrong-
ful-death claims. But a
lawyer for Satterfield’s sons
said they haven’t seen a
dime since agreeing to use
an attorney who was Mur-
daugh’s college buddy to
handle the legal work and
another banker friend as
estate executor.
Despite long staying
out of headlines, the Mur-
daughs aren’t strangers
to their own legal trou-
bles. Alex Murdaugh’s
great-grandfather, Ran-
dolph, founded the family
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
48/62
Kennewick
47/64
St. Helens
47/70
Hood River
49/75
47/79
50/72
44/71
Condon
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
Mainly clear
Nice with sun
and clouds
Sunny and
pleasant
More sunshine
than clouds
Mostly cloudy
and cooler
79 36
78 35
61 31
Eugene
43/74
Comfort Index™ 10
La Grande
40 76 33
Comfort Index™ 10
Enterprise
10
10
5
77 38
70 38
55 33
10
10
2
10
38 74 41
Comfort Index™ 10
10
73 33
59 33
8
10
5
ALMANAC
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 103°
Low: 11°
Wettest: 4.96”
73°
24°
76°
33°
75°
32°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
0.00
0.47
0.44
3.58
6.86
0.00
0.84
0.67
7.38
12.00
Trace
0.62
0.96
16.41
16.87
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
25%
SSE at 4 to 8 mph
8.3
0.12
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
N.A.
10% of capacity
10% of capacity
27% of capacity
0% of capacity
0% of capacity
OREGON
High: 82°
Low: 23°
Wettest: 1.05”
Hermiston
Lakeview
Astoria
On Oct. 2, 1947, a 32-degree low in Ra-
leigh, N.C., became the earliest recorded
freezing temperature there. Sixteen days
later, temperatures soared to record highs
in the mid-80s.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
6:52 a.m.
6:31 p.m.
2:02 a.m.
5:17 p.m.
SUN.
6:53 a.m.
6:29 p.m.
3:14 a.m.
5:43 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
Zapata, Texas
Bodie State Park, Calif.
Cushing, Okla.
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Florence
553 cfs
0 cfs
29 cfs
45 cfs
63 cfs
2 cfs
New
Oct 6
First
Oct 12
Full
Oct 20
Beaver Marsh
Powers
48/76
Last
Oct 28
47/77
Silver Lake
Jordan Valley
40/76
Paisley
39/80
37/78
Frenchglen
42/80
48/84
Klamath Falls
35/80
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
62/46/pc
79/46/s
79/51/s
74/52/s
80/29/pc
69/52/s
72/47/s
75/36/s
78/41/s
74/48/s
79/47/s
75/50/pc
79/48/pc
79/41/pc
75/46/pc
78/45/s
80/34/s
80/33/pc
Hi/Lo/W
63/49/pc
82/49/s
83/56/s
65/52/pc
82/35/s
66/48/pc
70/47/c
78/46/s
79/45/s
71/50/pc
75/55/s
73/53/pc
81/50/s
82/48/s
79/48/s
77/53/s
79/39/s
77/36/s
37/78
Lakeview
31/80
McDermitt
35/78
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
MON.
Grand View
Arock
36/79
37/81
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
Diamond
40/78
Fields
Medford
Brookings
Boise
47/79
49/84
54/74
36/80
34/79
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
31/80
37/78
33/78
Roseburg
Ontario
40/79
Burns
Brothers
48/77
Coos Bay
Huntington
37/75
43/79
Oakridge
41/75
43/74
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
44/79
41/80
Council
31/77
John Day
38/79
Sisters
47/69
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.
37/77
Baker City
Redmond
46/64
48/67
Halfway
Granite
40/74
42/75
46/73
47/76
80 47
10
Corvallis
44/77
42/72
Newport
Enterprise
38/74
40/76
Monument
46/76
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
31 77 33
39/78
La Grande
48/74
Maupin
Baker City
Elgin
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
44/65
50/77
52/73
49/75
TIllamook
Lewiston
Walla Walla
46/78
Vancouver
47/70
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
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
77/50/s
64/48/pc
77/34/s
84/49/s
64/49/pc
65/45/pc
79/37/s
77/47/s
75/46/s
72/51/pc
76/47/s
79/39/s
77/48/s
73/51/s
70/47/s
79/50/s
74/39/s
73/52/s
Hi/Lo/W
79/54/s
62/51/c
79/37/s
81/48/s
61/50/pc
65/45/pc
80/45/s
77/51/pc
75/52/s
68/53/pc
72/47/pc
82/46/s
76/51/s
70/52/c
70/49/pc
76/53/pc
78/42/s
74/55/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
Partly sunny
Partly sunny; warm
56
39
74
37
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Sun and clouds
Partly sunny; nice
63
39
79
40
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Partly sunny; nice
Clouds and sun
63
37
70
31
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Clouds and sun
Sunny intervals
75
46
74
47
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
77
33
76
33