Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • 17

FLORIDATODAY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011 9B COFFEE BREAK CROSSWORD Complaints fill sister's world Abigail Van Buren Dear Abby CCA 36 "The Silence of the Impos- sible" 39 Help 40 Thinga-majig (Var.) 43 Enliven 47 Quite close 49 "American-" 50 Gangster's subordinate 51 Dress in 52 Tiers 53 Hosiery woe 54 Suitable 55 Slave to DOWN 1 Rope fiber 2 State with conviction 3 Big truck 4 On time 5 Airplane furniture 6 Verifiable 7 Nevertheless 8. Cheerleader's prop 9 Caspian Sea feeder 10 Transcending (Pref.) 11 Versifier 17 Bone (Pref.) 19 Backrub response 22 Sort again. My husband already works hard. It isn't fair he does all the work and Justin gets the credit. Without destroying this friendship, what do you suggest, Abby? Fed Up Down South Dear Fed Up: If your friendship with this couple is based on being at their beck and call and doing their son's projects for him, then you're paying a high price for it.

Justin should be earning his own merit badges, and your husband should be telling the Scout master he has projects of his own that take precedence. It doesn't have to be said harshly, just firmly. If your husband can't muster the courage, then face it you'll both be in the Boy Scouts until Justin has flown as an Eagle.Wrlte Dear Abby at DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Lot Angeles, CA 90069. can do about them.

And follow up with, "Now, Honey, tell me something positive. We all have things to be thankful for." Dear Abby: We have close friends who are like family. They have one child a son, "Justin," who is in the Boy Scouts. He has wanted to quit for two years but his parents won't let him. They have been doing his work on the badges all along.

His dad is the Scout leader. They volunteer us all the time on different projects, but we're tired of it and have tried in a nice way to let them know. What bothers me most is Justin sits around playing video games while we're stuck doing his work. Now, his parents have him going for his Eagle Scout project a large one requiring quite a bit of work and they have volunteered us Dear Abby: My sister "Dena" has a lot of health issues. She weighs more than 300 pounds, has bad knees, ankles and legs, liver trouble and bad nerves.

I love her dearly. She's not only my sister, but my best friend. I feel sorry for her, but I can't take her constant complaining every single day. Sure, everyone has bad days, but Dena complains to anyone who will listen friends, family, everybody. She never asks how anyone else is doing.

I beg her to make a doctor's appointment. Most times, she doesn't go and keeps corn-plaining. I don't want to hurt her feelings, but this has taken a toll on me. Abby, I have my own aches and pains to manage. How can I tell my sister in an endearing way to stop all her moaning and groaning? Reached My Limit in Houston Dear Reached Your Limit: Your sister may complain about her aches and pains because she has nothing else to think about.

She is limited in her activities so her world has shrunk to nothing beyond herself. How sad for her. The next time she raises the subject, tell her the person who should be hearing her symptoms is her doctor because there's nothing you ACROSS 1 Padlocked fastener 5 Pigpen 8 Human heart, basically 12 Always 13 Before 14 Sandwich cookie 15 Note from the boss 16 Staff, with robots? 18 Ape, e.g. .20 Pie-in- the-face sound 21 de deux 22 Same (Pref.) 23 Verbalizes, Biblically 26 Weather conditions 30 White wine aperitif 31 Stir-fry pan 32 Trotted 33 Mosque leader's office 23 Enjoy Aspen 24 Intention 25 Playwright Levin 26 Miler 27 Branch 28 Bill 29 Type measures 31 etal. 34 Acting out wordlessly 35 Teeny bit 36 Roman 52 37 Put on a pedestal 39 Regarding 40 Showbiz jobs 41 Part of the loop 42 Old portico 43 On 44 Commotions 45 It may be painted red 46 Otherwise 48 Oklahoma city Solution time: 21 mins.

Keeping tabs on shrikes a 1 1 i i i i N.A I I A it A DOOR A IlJ a COR I i ait 0 tEIeIe ctl syca 0 reqw hT around Brevard County I I IJ EL Jsjl NtOj RIeI As a zoo director and con OlT MAUI. A EJ servationist, the most challenging species that I study, is, of course, the human species. And one counterintuitive truth we've learned from Keith Winsten Brevard Naturally ETA I 'lb. Yesterday's answer 9-20 Since then 61 in 2000, 69 in '01, 90 in '02, 68 in '03, 56 in '04, 61 in '05, 57 in '06, 71 in '07, 62 in '08, 51 in '09 and 46 in 20 10. Lately, as you can see, there's been a slight decline.

So what does this all mean are there less in Viera or have I just been selectively gathering data for my case? Like most ecology questions, moral psychology and many other disciplines is Homo sapiens tend to adopt positions first, and then gather evidence to support their already established position. Thus, the importance or doing data-based research when trying to gauge things such as population levels of different species. I recently, caught myself 12 3 4 I 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 15 "fiT" 17 23 24" 25 I 126 27 2fT" 29 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 1 40 41" 42 143 44 45 46 47 48 49 mm- 53 54 55 in one of these psychological traps in regard to one of my favorite birds, the logger head shrike. This viciously, endearing little hunter also is called the "butcherbird" because of its lovely habit of impaling prey, such as liz ards and grasshoppers, on thorns or even on the spines of a barb wire fence. This allows them to easily dismember their prey.

There is SCRAMLETS were doing well in Central Florida, until I found out the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was encouraging new management approaches to increase their populations. Indeed, according to the commission's website, the shrike is declining in Florida and throughout its range "possibly due to land use changes, pesticides and competition." Immediately, my perception of the prevalence of these little hunters changed. I seemed to notice less of them on excursions around Viera. My gosh, are they disappearing from my neighborhood? Fast forward a few months, as I'm heading off on a birding trip with a few excellent birders. I asked them if they had noticed a decline.

Not offhand they mentioned, and sure enough with loggerhead shrikes now a target species, they noted quite a few over the day. Even more persuasive, one of them checked the records of the Cocoa Christmas Bird Count, one of the most consistent counts in the country. According to his research, loggerhead shrike is holding fairly steady. The high-water mark was 1 12 in 1957, but the counts have run fairly consistently over the decades: 28 to 1 12 in the '50s, 42 to 110 in the '60s, 18 to 81 in tolllinthe'90s. HOROSCOPES ARIES (March 21-April 19) You know immediately when you're clicking with someone.

You can tell because you've experienced excellent rapport so many times before and you recognize the signs. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) While trying to make your way up a social or political ladder, you will stop and realize there is no ladder. No one is on top. Everyone is on an equal -level. Therefore, climbing is as unnecessary as it is nonsensical.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Hindsight is unrealistic. Then again, it's a more rounded perspective than the one you get when you're actually in the situation. Strive for a balanced and unsentimental view. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Limited knowledge is not always imparted with limited words. If you're not careful, you could get caught up In a conversation that seems to wind on forever.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You won't be given all of the information you need to do a job well. You'll have to fill in the blanks, or move past the gaps and come back to them later. If you can be patient with this process, the results will be brilliant. VIRGO (Aug.

23-Sept. 22) Funny people are usually quite popular. You'll find yourself in both categories today as you laugh and kid among friends. LIBRA (Sept. 23-0ct.

23) You'll make a clean sweep of a chronically cluttered part of your world. It's easy once you dedicate your time and attention to the project. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Small problems are temporary.

However, they still must be addressed. If left to their own devices, they will grow strong, blossom and propagate. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Foolishness and creativity are fine bedfellows.

Knowing this, you can take part in a creative process without the fear of appearing foolish. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You are, to a greater extent than usual, socially driven. Knowing your friends the answer is complicated.

Although, we have a breeding population of shrikes all year round, we do tend to see more in the winter, when loggerheads from northern areas migrate to our state. So, maybe I'm just mentally comparing summer (light population) to winter (heavy population with migrants). But the Christmas Bird Count takes place in winter and it is beginning to show a decline. Likewise, we saw plenty of shrikes on our birding excursion that day, but we were looking in prime habitat, not a developed suburb like my neighborhood. Ultimately I go with the commission's assessment of a declining population, because it has comprehensive data from around the state and my little glimpse of the shrike population is very limited and biased.

And we've learned from past experiences it is critical to recognize and act on population declines quickly before they become population crises. That way we can make sure the next generation of children gets the pleasure of discovering grasshopper shish kebabs prepared by the Winsten Is executive director of Brevard ZooEast Coast Zoological Society of Florida. Contact him at admlnbrevardzoo.org. a northern species or shrike, appropriately called the Northern shrike, but they are found only in the continental U.S. in winter, while loggerheads are common in Florida and many other southern states year round.

Rearrange letters of the four scrambled words below to form four simple words. HP 1 1 2 I I I So, when I first moved to Brevard County, I took pleasure in seeing them on my daily run and any time I drove around town. 0 I I They are similar to mockingbirds in that they are gray with black and white wings, but their colors are bolder, A I I I When we run from each other, we forget that the world their beak is hooked and they fly with a distinctive A I I I I flutter. They also have a broad, black mask and a little notch in their beak that helps sever the spinal chord on vertebrates. I always thought they Complete the chuckle quoted by filling in the missing words you develop from step No.

3 below. PRINT NUMBERED i 6 7 LETTERS IN SQUARES UNSCRAMBLE FOR I I I 1 I I Tl ANSWER I I I I I Famed county music alley finally getting spruced up SCRAMLETS ANSWERS 91911 Garage Globe Major Behind BEING ME I am the world's foremost expert on one thing: BEING ME. CRYPTOQUIP Mm are watching you, you'll want StfH flrir If SO KZDM RVJQ BKDDNZDYQNUB SVMBNYMNWR HDPVUH VT SZDDQTJWMDBB, U'H BYR RVJ ZYPD HQDYQR HDYQR. Yesterday's Cryptoquip: PERIODICAL WITH ALL KINDS OF BENEFICIAL INFO ABOUT TRENDY RHINOPLASTY PROCEDURES: "NOSEWEEK." Today's Cryptoquip Clue: equals I to achieve higher and more interesting goals. AQUARIUS (Jan.

20-Feb. 18) Winners take responsibility for the wins and the losses. If you don't take responsibility for the loss, you'll never learn enough to get to the win. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -KAN TIT, AP Makeover.

The alley to the right of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville shows construction work under way between the auditorium and Tootie's Orchid Lounge in Nashville, Tenn. You care about appearances alley, continuing Nashville's BY JOE EDWARDS ASSOCIATED PRESS NASHVILLE, Tenn. Country music's most famous alley a gritty monument to the earthy sounds all around it is getting a facelift. The block-long alley is between the historic Ryman. Auditorium and Nashville's raucous honky-tonks, where well-fortified patrons are urged to "holler and swal-ler." Now it's a place often littered with gray trash cans and cardboard boxes piled atop each other.

Grand Ole Opry performers used to walk out the Opry's side door, cross the alley and slip in the back door at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, Nashville's legendary honky-tonk. "It's the most famous 37 steps in that alley," says Jim "The Governor" Hill, Tootsie's general manager. "Tootsie's was the 'green room' forthe Ryman." The alley work, which will cost the city an estimated $300,000, is expected to take up to six months. "The alley is a Nashville treasure," said Veronica Fra-zier with the Metro Public Works Department. "You can walk in the footsteps where Hank (Williams) did." A local group has led the music vibe with blazing rid TIC SutLKM PuzzLCS ByTheMtpham Croup dles, country weepers and and will keep them up even when doing so comes at a hefty cost.

Later, you'll be glad you made the effort. TODAY'S BIRTHDAY: Your strength comes from beyond. Relationships feed your soul through the next frostybeer. Level: OS HE Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (In bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.iudoku.org.uk SOLUTION TO MONDAY'S PUZZLE Hill said the rear of his 10 weeks.

You throw out the 9 2 67 8 JLA A ZZZZaaZZZ 3j4 62 6 7 2 9 XZZZjlZZZZ 4 7 6 3 I 1 I makeover effort, which will include work on storm and sanitary sewers, electrical conduits and refinishing the surface. "We want to celebrate the historical, cultural feel of the alley," said Shawn Henry, an attorney who is chairman of the makeover group. "We're mindful to upgrade it but want it to stay vibrant." The 119-year-old Ryman was home to the Opry from 1943 to 1974, when it moved to a new location east of downtown. Opry shows still are performed at the Ryman during the winter. Today, a dozen or so other honky-tonks have joined Tootsie's on that side of the JU1 6 611 6 3'7 scorecard and enjoy seamless give and take.

November brings an ideal working dynamic. You'll partner with a wonderful contributor in December. 8 9 2:4 7:4 6 6 honky-tonk is still popular because of the alley and what's nearby. "A lot of people sit at the back patio and just look at the Ryman." Bill Stasyszen of Shelby-ville, who was strolling down the alley with his wife before ducking into one of the bars for some was delighted to hear the alley is getting spruced up. "Well, it needs it," he said.

"I hope they don't take the charm away." 4 1 IJ 1 8 7 9 January and July are windfall 3 1(4 2 8 8 3 1 6 2 5 7:6 months. Aquarius and Capricorn people adore you. Your lucky numbers are 20, 45, 3, 22 and 29.1 92011 ti 2011 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Media Services: AH rights reserved. Log on to floridatoday.com for an For more puzzles, visit floridatoday.com Interactive horoscope..