COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATuRDAY, FEBRuARY 5, 2022
Former spouses ready to try again after 16 years
He and his wife have been sep-
arated almost two years. We
have been intimate, which I feel
has brought us closer together.
We are very compatible. We get
along well, have the same reli-
gious beliefs and we’re both
vegetarians. We had a long talk
about our future a few days ago
and whether we should try to get
back together. Both of us feel the
same way. We’re still very much
in love with each other after all
these years.
Should we try to get back
together when the time is right, or
should we leave the past behind
us and let it go? Any advice is
greatly appreciated. — SECOND
CHANCE IN GEORGIA
DEAR SECOND CHANCE:
DEAR ABBY: I reconnected
with my ex-husband, “Liam,”
a year ago, 16 years after our
divorce. (We hadn’t seen or
talked to each other during that
time.) He’s remarried with four
kids; I am single with two kids.
We got married when we were
young, but we’re now in our
early 40s. We know what we
want or don’t want in a partner,
and know what we will/won’t put
up with, etc.
Liam is still legally married,
and I have been single for a year.
stance abuse problems in the
past. I have been in a rehabilita-
tion program for a while now, and
have been sober for more than
a year. I would like to continue
my sobriety and feel I could stay
sober from drugs and still drink
socially. My family is against
me drinking at all, even though
alcohol is plentiful at their hol-
iday get-togethers. They also
don’t want me socializing with
friends who drink at all, even if
these friends don’t use other sub-
stances. I should mention I am of
legal drinking age.
How can I convince my
family that I will stay off drugs
while drinking socially? I know
they want what’s best for me,
but I don’t want to feel left out
No one can decide FOR you
whether you and Liam should
try to reconcile “when the time
is right” — which I assume
means when he is divorced from
his current wife. I can offer this
advice: As appealing as the idea
may seem right now, do not do
it until you have had joint coun-
seling with a licensed marriage
and family therapist to resolve
any lingering issues that “might”
crop up.
Also, if Liam is really con-
templating offloading his cur-
rent missus, he needs to con-
sult an attorney who specializes
in family law so he will be fully
prepared for the battle that’s sure
to lie ahead.
DEAR ABBY: I had sub-
of family events or have to end
friendships, which feels extreme.
— RESPONSIBLE SOCIAL
DRINKER
DEAR RESPONSIBLE:
While your family is well-inten-
tioned, I agree their thinking they
can maintain your sobriety “for”
you by deciding what you may
and may not drink on their prem-
ises is extreme. And the decision
of who you can safely socialize
with should be made by you.
This is an important subject
you should discuss with your
sponsor or the administrators of
your substance abuse rehabilita-
tion program. Please don’t wait to
do it. Not knowing you person-
ally, I cannot — and should not
— advise you further than this.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Rare eagle seen in Maine, wowing birders, might stay a bit
John Kirby said the scheme
included production of a
graphic propaganda video
that would show staged
explosions and use corpses
and actors depicting
grieving mourners.
The plan for the fake
attack on Russian territory
or Russian-speaking people
was revealed in declassified
intelligence shared with
Ukrainian officials and
European allies in recent
days. It is the latest allega-
tion by the U.S. and Britain
that Russia is plotting to
use a false pretext to go to
war against Ukraine.
The White House in
December accused Russia
of developing a “false-flag”
operation to create pre-
text for an invasion. Britain
recently named specific
Ukrainians it accused of
having ties to Russian intel-
ligence officers plotting to
overthrow Ukrainian Presi-
dent Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The U.S. also released a
map of Russian military
positions and detailed how
officials believe Russia will
try to attack Ukraine with
as many as 175,000 troops.
“We’ve seen these kinds
of activity by the Russians
in the past, and we believe
it’s important when we see
it like this, and and we can,
to call it out,” Kirby told
reporters at the Pentagon.
The U.S. has not pro-
vided detailed information
backing up the intelligence
findings.
Kirby said that the Rus-
sians would also stage mil-
itary equipment used by
Ukraine and the West to
bolster the credibility of
the scheme.
The Associated Press
GEORGETOWN, Maine
— A rare species of eagle
that has thrilled bird lovers
and baffled scientists since
arriving in Maine might not
be in a hurry to leave.
The Steller’s sea eagle
arrived in Maine in late
December after a brief stop
in Massachusetts more than
a month ago. It has stuck
to Maine’s middle coast,
eating fish and ducks and
attracting hundreds of bird-
watchers from all over the
world.
The sea eagle numbers
only a few thousand world-
wide and is native to north-
eastern Asia, including
Russia and Japan, and has
wingspans of up to 8 feet.
The bird is far off course,
and it’s still unclear why it
came here at all, said Doug
Hitchcox, staff naturalist at
Maine Audubon.
But the bird doesn’t
appear to be in any kind of
danger, Hitchcox said. It
has an ample food supply
and is living in habitat that
is similar enough to its
native range, he said. It’s
possible it could eventually
return to its home range,
but for now it’s comfortable
in Maine, Hitchcox said.
“This one is so far off
course, it’s just purely spec-
ulation to say it could go
back and then return. There
is no reason it couldn’t
make its way back to Japan
or Russia,” he said. “It
seems to be doing OK.”
It’s not uncommon for
vagrant bird species to
return year after year to
places far from their typical
range. A single red-billed
Zachary Holderby/Downeast Audubon
In this Dec. 31, 2021, photo provided by Zachary Holderby, a Steller’s sea eagle is seen off Georgetown, Maine. The rare eagle has taken up
residence thousands of miles from its home range, delighting bird lovers and baffling scientists.
tropicbird, a species com-
monly seen in the Carib-
bean and tropical oceans,
has been seen off Maine
in the summer for years.
Birders affectionately call it
“Troppy.”
Maine’s lone Steller’s
sea eagle is an adult, and
its sex is not confirmed. It
is sometimes seen around
bald eagles, dwarfing
the national symbol.
The Steller’s, named for
German naturalist Georg
Wilhelm Steller, is one of
the largest eagles in the
world, often weighing 13
to 20 pounds — twice as
much as a bald eagle.
The bird drew dozens
of onlookers to Reid State
Park in Georgetown when
it was first seen in Maine,
and birdwatchers have
continued to come to the
state for weeks with no
sign of stopping.
Allison Black, a birder
from Connecticut, made
the four-hour drive to see
the bird. Many bird fans
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
thankful we were at the
right place at the right time
to finally see it.”
are relying on websites
and social media channels
set up to help people track
the eagle.
“I took my mom with
me, too, who isn’t a birder,
but heard the story about
the eagle and wanted to
see it. We actually tried to
see it back in December
when it was in Massa-
chusetts, but missed it by
10 minutes. That hurt,”
she said. “I saw in the
alerts that it flew not too
long after we left, so I’m
U.S. says new intel
shows Russia plotting
false flag attack
WASHINGTON — The
U.S. accused the Kremlin
on Thursday, Feb. 3, of an
elaborate plot to fabricate
an attack by Ukrainian
forces that Russia could use
as a pretext to take military
action against its neighbor.
Pentagon spokesman
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
33/46
Kennewick
29/42
St. Helens
29/39
32/40
30/36
32/41
32/40
33/42
Condon
WED
THU
A little evening
snow
Cold; a little
p.m. snow
Not as cold
Baker City
12 27 13
Comfort Index™
La Grande
15 28 22
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
0
8
Comfort Index™
SAT
Sun, then clouds Low clouds may
break
32 14
Eugene
1
0
1
32/45
37 21
34 22
38 21
1
0
2
36 22
39 22
36 23
0
3
4
3
0
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High: 81°
Low: -31°
Wettest: 1.23”
27°
4°
33°
20°
34°
21°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Sunday
Trace
Month to date
0.38
Normal month to date 0.68
Year to date
0.38
Normal year to date
0.68
Trace
1.24
1.62
1.24
1.62
0.00
3.73
3.18
3.73
3.18
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION WEDNESDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
45%
N at 6 to 12 mph
0.4
0.03
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Monday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
Florence
2% of capacity
27% of capacity
20% of capacity
36% of capacity
21% of capacity
35% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Sunday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1150 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
1 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
15 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
168 cfs
Minam River at Minam
166 cfs
Powder River near Richland
76 cfs
Thermal, Calif.
Antero Reservoir, Colo.
Quillayute, Wash.
OREGON
High: 57°
Low: 4°
Wettest: 0.42”
Roseburg
Baker City
Seaside
WEATHER HISTORY
Brownsville, Texas, and Juneau, Alaska,
both had temperatures of 32 degrees on
Feb. 1, 1985. On that same day, 2 inches of
snow accumulated in Dallas, Texas.
SUN & MOON
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
TUE.
WED.
7:13 a.m.
4:59 p.m.
8:03 a.m.
5:40 p.m.
7:12 a.m.
5:01 p.m.
8:33 a.m.
6:59 p.m.
MOON PHASES
First
Feb 8
Full
Feb 16
Last
Feb 23
New
Mar 2
23/38
17/28
Powers
33/51
Brothers
24/36
Beaver Marsh
12/37
Roseburg
33/46
Burns
Jordan Valley
16/25
Paisley
16/38
Frenchglen
18/28
Klamath Falls
14/42
Hi/Lo/W
46/40/r
38/30/c
32/16/pc
57/40/pc
30/16/sn
49/34/c
45/30/c
22/11/pc
27/19/c
45/33/c
35/32/c
36/30/c
29/20/c
28/20/sn
21/15/c
36/27/sf
42/17/pc
35/13/pc
Hi/Lo/W
48/37/c
50/28/s
29/14/pc
60/39/pc
37/12/pc
56/32/pc
48/32/pc
27/7/pc
35/17/c
48/31/pc
49/32/c
49/35/c
41/27/c
37/22/pc
35/24/pc
44/31/c
47/16/s
44/15/s
Grand View
Arock
20/30
19/29
Lakeview
16/35
McDermitt
18/29
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
Diamond
17/27
21/31
Shown is Wednesday’s weather. Temperatures are Tuesday night’s lows and Wednesday’s highs.
THU.
Boise
15/32
Fields
26/52
WED.
14/30
Silver Lake
14/39
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
13/30
29/51
38/57
Ontario
18/34
13/39
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
13/23
28/44
Coos Bay
6/22
18/31
Seneca
25/38
Oakridge
Council
12/27
John Day
Bend
Elkton
SUNDAY EXTREMES
High Sunday
Low Sunday
9/26
22/37
33/49
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.
ALMANAC
Sisters
33/47
21 17
8/25
Baker City
Redmond
36/48
37/47
Halfway
Granite
30/45
Newport
28 14
0
20/32
27/40
33/44
Corvallis
Enterprise
8/21
15/28
Monument
27/37
Idanha
Salem
30 13
0
0
FRI
Elgin
13/27
La Grande
23/30
Maupin
TONIGHT
23/33
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
33/44
20/31
Hood River
24/32
TIllamook
Lewiston
Walla Walla
27/36
Vancouver
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
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
31/25/c
42/36/r
26/18/c
52/27/pc
48/39/sh
42/37/r
34/17/pc
37/28/c
32/30/sn
40/37/r
51/35/c
38/25/c
46/34/c
44/36/sh
22/17/c
41/36/c
25/19/sn
33/28/c
Hi/Lo/W
41/29/c
46/34/r
37/17/pc
57/27/s
51/38/pc
46/39/r
33/14/pc
43/29/c
47/28/pc
46/33/c
56/36/s
48/23/s
52/33/pc
50/34/c
29/26/c
47/34/pc
39/22/pc
39/28/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
A little p.m. snow
A little p.m. snow
15
14
28
17
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
A little p.m. snow
Cold
22
22
28
15
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Cold
A little p.m. snow
18
6
23
18
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Quite cold
A little p.m. snow
21
15
30
27
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
A bit of p.m. snow
A little p.m. snow
27
13
28
22