COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
THuRSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021
Discovery of ring complicates imminent engagement
and it is the complete opposite of
anything I would ever choose for
myself. What do I do? I love this
man with my whole heart. He’s
my best friend, and we have been
there for each other through the
lowest of lows and the highest of
highs. We have great communica-
tion and always keep things com-
pletely honest between us. I sup-
pose I should suck it up. He chose
this ring for me, and I don’t want
to hurt his feelings. Please tell me
what to do. — Disappointed In
Illinois
Dear Disappointed: Con-
gratulations on your upcoming
engagement. Your problem is
unique because most of the let-
ters I receive about engagement
rings come from women who are
disappointed that the stone is so
Dear Abby: Over the
weekend, while I was cleaning
and reorganizing our bedroom,
I found the engagement ring my
boyfriend plans on proposing to
me with. I didn’t know he was
planning to ask the big ques-
tion, and I’m thrilled that he is
going to. I haven’t even hinted
that I know anything is going
on because I don’t want to ruin
the surprise more than I already
have.
My problem is, I hate the ring
he chose. It’s beautiful, but, Abby,
it’s so big. I like dainty jewelry,
small. However, if the size of the
stone in the ring your boyfriend
is giving you makes you uncom-
fortable, your response — after an
enthusiastic “YES!!!” — could be,
“But, darling, this stone is so large
we will have to hire an armed
guard to accompany me if I wear
it outside the house. Are you sure
it’s wise for me to wear this every
day? I would be very happy with
something more modest, you
know.” (It’s worth a try.)
Dear Abby: I have always
been too kind and polite. I give
money I shouldn’t, say yes to
favors I don’t want to do and keep
my mouth shut in situations where
I should speak up. My best friend
once told me I shouldn’t say what
she needed to hear, but only what
she wanted to hear.
includes putting myself, my needs
and my decisions between yes
and no first? — Looking Out For
Number One
Dear Looking Out: You and
your therapist appear to have
been doing some good work. Of
course people who hear you say
no or state your honest opinion
are having trouble with it. That’s
not the person you were. You are
becoming a new person, someone
with whom they are not used to
dealing. Keep in mind that when
someone asks you to do some-
thing you would rather not do, you
always have the right to refuse.
And when you are pressured to
change your opinion, what you
should say is, “Intelligent minds
can differ,” or, “I’m entitled to my
opinion.” It’s the truth.
I have been in therapy for
two years now, and have finally
reached the point where I’m
learning to say no. I love that
when I meet strangers, I can use
the skills I’m learning and be
more assertive.
My friends and family are
having a hard time with it. I broke
up with the bestie because our
relationship had been not only
long, but also toxic and abusive.
Other people I come in contact
with now seem shocked if I say
no or voice an opinion of my own.
They then proceed to pressure me
to change my mind, which makes
me transform back into a mouse
and comply so I won’t seem rude.
How can I get them to under-
stand — in a polite way — that I
am changing for the better, which
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Vulgar vanity plates banned in Maine
New regulation
aims to clean up
the language on
streets, highways
By DAVID SHARP
The Associated Press
BANGOR, Maine —
Removing the flipping
obscenities from license
plates on Maine’s roads
and highways isn’t going
to happen overnight, even
though a law banning such
profanities in a state where
such regulation has been
unusually lax went into
effect Monday, Oct. 18.
Currently, there are
license plates with salty
language including
f-bombs, references to
anatomy and sex acts, and
general insults.
One license plate says
simply, “F—-Y0U” —
except that on the plate, it’s
plainly spelled out.
Now, rule-making is
getting underway to ensure
the law protects First
Amendment rights while
getting rid of obscene
language.
The process, which
includes public comment,
could take between two to
four months, Secretary of
State Shenna Bellows said.
Requests for so-called
vanity license plates that
are deemed to be poten-
tially offensive will be
on hold in the meantime.
Eventually, the state will
she didn’t understand
begin recalling previously
issued plates, likely this
the extent of “really dis-
turbing” license plates
winter.
before she was sworn in as
“Rule-making will
secretary of state earlier
delay the process of active
this year.
removal of plates from the
There have been law-
road but will help us bal-
ance the free speech rights suits over the issue in other
states.
of citizens and the public
Last year, a federal
interest of removing inap-
propriate
judge
license
ruled that
plates,” she
California
said.
couldn’t
A
enforce
majority of
a ban on
states have
vanity
restrictions
license
on license
plates it
plate mes-
considers
sages that
“offensive
are con-
to good
sidered
taste and
profane,
decency.”
sexually
The
suggestive,
California
Maine Secretary of State
racist, drug
law was
Shenna Bellows, who said that
related,
overly
as many as 400 license plates
politically
broad, so
may be recalled to get rid of
objection-
states must
salty language
able or reli-
be careful
giously
to target
offensive.
license
But Maine became the
plates that are profane or
“wild, wild, wild west
obscene, or represent hate
of vanity license plates”
speech.
when the state dropped
In Maine, there are
its review process in
about 121,000 vanity
2015. “Our anything-goes
license plates on the roads
approach was unusual,”
in a state with about 1.3
Bellows said.
million residents. An esti-
mated 400 offensive plates
As a former executive
could be subject to recall,
director of the American
officials said.
Civil Liberties Union of
Bellows said she’s
Maine, Bellows under-
stands the importance of
looking at it this way: “If
the First Amendment pro-
you can’t say it on the 6
tections on free speech.
o’clock news, it shouldn’t
But she acknowledged
be on a license plate.”
“If you really
want an
offensive slogan
on your car,
then you can
use a bumper
sticker.”
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press, File
Traffic approaches Maine Turnpike toll booths in Gardiner, Maine, in this Feb. 2011 file photo. A Maine law
banning obscene license plates went into effect Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, but getting the foul language off
the roads and highways won’t happen overnight.
“The license plate is the
property of the state,” she
said. “If you really want an
offensive slogan on your
Astoria
Longview
51/58
Kennewick
52/58
St. Helens
53/60
50/58
Portland
Condon
53/61
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
Cooler with
heavy rain
Cloudy with a
little rain
Cloudy,
showers; breezy
Cloudy with a
few showers
52 35
50 40
52 31
Eugene
0
0
0
51/60
53 42
53 45
53 39
0
0
1
49 50 42
Comfort Index™ 10
Enterprise
0
48 50 36
Comfort Index™ 10
50 44
52 42
5
0
3
0
ALMANAC
TUESDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Tuesday
Low Tuesday
High: 92°
Low: 2°
Wettest: 1.67”
65°
20°
68°
26°
67°
27°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Tuesday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
0.00
0.04
0.34
3.62
7.20
0.00
0.07
0.81
7.45
12.81
0.00
0.19
1.07
16.60
17.94
HAY INFORMATION FRIDAY
70%
SSW at 4 to 8 mph
3.4
0.06
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Wednesday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
N.A.
10% of capacity
10% of capacity
20% of capacity
3% of capacity
0% of capacity
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
Ontario
Burns
Brookings
SUN & MOON
THU.
7:17 a.m.
5:57 p.m.
6:39 p.m.
8:15 a.m.
FRI.
7:18 a.m.
5:55 p.m.
7:03 p.m.
9:21 a.m.
MOON PHASES
583 cfs
0 cfs
17 cfs
45 cfs
52 cfs
3 cfs
Last
Oct 28
New
Nov 4
First
Nov 11
50/61
51/60
Grants Pass
Silver Lake
Full
Nov 19
Jordan Valley
52/57
Paisley
40/49
36/49
Frenchglen
50/52
Medford
52/65
51/59
40/51
Lakeview
43/49
McDermitt
46/53
RECREATION FORECAST FRIDAY
SAT.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
58/50/r 56/45/r
59/45/r 56/42/r
66/44/c 58/44/c
57/48/r 56/49/r
55/32/r 49/32/r
60/51/r 57/49/r
58/47/r 57/43/r
60/37/r 51/40/c
51/41/r 53/40/r
60/48/r 57/48/r
62/47/sh 63/46/r
58/48/r 53/45/r
59/41/r 56/42/c
55/43/r 53/43/r
51/37/r 49/36/c
63/46/sh 61/46/c
51/38/r 47/40/r
49/32/sh 45/37/r
Grand View
Arock
50/53
Klamath Falls
Shown is Friday’s weather. Temperatures are Thursday night’s lows and Friday’s highs.
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Diamond
49/52
Fields
49/59
51/57
Boise
55/66
49/59
Brookings
50/59
39/50
Chiloquin
FRI.
On Oct. 21, 1991, dry winds fanned a
wildfi re in the Oakland, Calif., area. A wet
spring, then a windy, hot fall causes the
highest fi re danger on the West Coast.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
Beaver Marsh
Juntura
46/55
39/55
34/49
Roseburg
Ontario
54/62
Burns
Brothers
48/55
Coos Bay
Huntington
44/49
43/59
Oakridge
49/60
55/58
Seneca
REGIONAL CITIES
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Zapata, Texas
Bodie State Park, Calif.
Lander, Wyo.
High: 68°
Low: 20°
Wettest: Trace
Elkton
Council
48/56
49/55
41/57
Bend
Powers
50/56
45/49
John Day
45/58
Sisters
Florence
51/58
Halfway
Granite
Baker City
Redmond
50/56
51/60
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.
Monument
45/55
50/58
Newport
Enterprise
48/50
49/50
47/53
52/59
Corvallis
51/59
53 35
48/51
La Grande
49/56
51/58
Idanha
Salem
Cloudy with
showers late
La Grande
Elgin
Pendleton
The Dalles
53/61
51/59
TONIGHT
0
53/57
50/57
Newberg
Lewiston
55/58
Hood River
Maupin
Comfort Index™ 10
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Walla Walla
55/63
Vancouver
51/59
TIllamook
48 56 34
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AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
53/59
Baker City
car, then you can use a
bumper sticker.”
FRI.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
SAT.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
58/45/sh 59/45/sh
58/52/r 55/48/r
49/40/r 52/41/r
59/46/r 56/46/r
56/49/r 55/46/r
56/46/r 55/44/r
62/42/r 60/45/c
63/44/sh 62/45/c
57/46/sh 57/44/r
61/52/r 57/49/r
61/50/r 58/46/r
58/41/sh 55/40/r
60/50/r 56/49/r
59/51/r 57/47/r
52/41/sh 52/40/sh
61/48/r 57/46/r
48/38/r 49/36/r
57/46/sh 58/46/c
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
Morning rain
Heavy rain; cooler
39
24
48
35
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Heavy rain; chilly
Cooler with rain
45
35
58
40
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Periods of rain
Heavy rain; cooler
41
26
44
34
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Heavy rain; cooler
Showers; cooler
51
37
56
45
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Heavy rain; cooler
Heavy rain; cooler
56
34
50
42