Page 6B
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Stepmother wishes others
wouldn’t devalue her role
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
Dear Abby: I’m a 42-year-old di-
I see no reason why you shouldn’t
vorced woman with no children. My
simply tell the truth about why you
ex-husband has a son whose life I was
are child-free. Not having (or want-
a part of for 18 years. When people
ing) children is nothing to be ashamed
ask if I have kids, my reply is, “Yes, I
of — it’s a personal choice that an in-
have a stepson.”
creasing number of couples have opt-
Why do people think it’s OK to say
ed for without regret.
things like, “That’s not the same as
Dear Abby: My boyfriend and
having your own,” or, “That doesn’t
I
have
been together for 18 months.
Jeanne
count”? Then they usually go on to Phillips Last night we were talking about do-
ask why I don’t have children of my
ing more in the bedroom, and he told
Advice
own.
me that he is bisexual.
My response is a big fat lie. I say,
I have nothing against the LGBT
“It just never happened.” The truth is my ex FRPPXQLW\EXW¿QGLQJWKLVRXWDIWHUVRORQJ
didn’t want any more children. What can shocked me. I’m worried now, and I can’t
I say to these people to let them know that seem to wrap my head around the fact that he
they need to stop and think about what they has sex with guys. I just can’t quite look at or
say and ask, because their word choice in this think of him the same way.
circumstance is hurtful to the point of tears?
I really do love him and can still see a fu-
— Stepmom In California
ture with him. I just don’t know how to han-
Dear Stepmom: A person who would dle this BIG news. Please, Abby, you’re my
downplay your role as a parent is rude, only hope. — Liz In Texas
thoughtless and not worth your time. As
Dear Liz: I would be curious about why
to asking why someone is childless, I have your boyfriend waited so long to tell you. Be-
addressed this subject in my column before. cause someone is bisexual does not mean the
While many folks start conversations by ask- person is unfaithful and sleeping with both
ing whether someone has children, it can be a sexes at the same time. It simply means the
dangerous question.
person is attracted to members of both sex-
I learned my lesson and stopped asking es. You need to have further discussion with
after having received an answer from one your boyfriend regarding his attitude about
man that his son was doing life in prison as his COMMITMENT TO YOU before decid-
an accomplice to murder. Another man told ing what to do about his “big” news.
me he had two children, a daughter and an
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Bu-
estranged son who was also serving a long ren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was
sentence — for selling narcotics. Neither per- founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips.
son was happy to have been asked. After that, Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com
I stopped asking.
or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
DAYS GONE BY
BEETLE BAILEY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
BY MORT WALKER
BY JIM DAVIS
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 2-3, 1915
3HQGOHWRQKDVDQHZFKLHIRIWKH¿UHGH-
partment in the person of Sam Morrow, a for-
PHUPHPEHURIWKH3RUWODQG¿UHGHSDUWPHQW
He relieved Cliff Bellinger, who has been
chief since the new department was orga-
nized, on Sunday, and is now in full charge.
Bellinger’s dismissal came as a surprise, al-
WKRXJK PHPEHUV RI WKH ¿UH FRPPLWWHH VWDWH
it has been under contemplation for some
time. It resulted from friction between him
and some of the members of the committee
but the formal request for his resignation is
said to have resulted from his leaving town
Sunday without permission. The new chief
has been in Pendleton for the past six or eight
months and for the past two or three months
has been in the employ of Acting Mayor John
Dyer.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 2-3, 1965
The mammoth job of cleaning up is un-
derway, along with the task of surveying
the damage caused by rampaging rivers and
creeks. Umatilla County, faced with a major
repair job to its roads and bridges, is planning
an aerial survey today to see what must be
done. Others whose property was damaged
by the rushing waters begin the job of pick-
ing up the pieces and carrying on. This will
EHDGLI¿FXOWWDVNIRUVRPHZKRVHKRPHVDQG
buildings were badly damaged or whose land
was turned into a sea of mud. It will be some
time before those areas along Birch, McKay
and Butter Creek return to normal and the
same is true along the Umatilla River where
LW EURNH IURP LWV EDQNV ÀRRGLQJ KRPHV DQG
farm lands. County Judge D.R. (Sam) Cook
VDLGURDGDQGEULGJHGDPDJHIURPWKLVÀRRG
will probably be a million dollars more than
WKHGDPDJHIURPWKH&KULVWPDVZHHNÀRRGV
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 2-3, 1990
Umatilla River steelhead could be con-
sidered the most unusual hitchhikers in the
VWDWH7KH¿VKDUHDFFHSWLQJIUHHULGHVXSULYHU
in Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
trailers — not because they want to, but be-
cause there’s no other way for them to reach
QDWXUDOVSDZQLQJJURXQGV&XUUHQWORZÀRZV
present barriers to migrating adult steelhead
at several diversions along the Umatilla Riv-
HU ³:LWKRXW VXI¿FLHQW ÀRZV VWHHOKHDG FDQ
become stranded in shallow areas and die
before they get the opportunity to spawn,”
-RKQ *HUPRQG 2'): ¿VKHULHV ELRORJLVW
said. Adult steelhead are being trapped at
Threemile Dam and transported upstream
past the barriers. Since the inception of the
hauling project in September, 500 fall chi-
nook, 4,500 coho and 700 steelhead have mi-
grated upstream along Umatilla County roads
and I-84. The steelhead are being released in
YDULRXVORFDWHVDERYH6WDQ¿HOG
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
DILBERT
THE WIZARD OF ID
LUANN
ZITS
BY SCOTT ADAMS
BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART
BY GREG EVANS
BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN
Today is the 34th day of
2015. There are 331 days left
in the year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On Feb. 3, 1865, Presi-
dent Abraham Lincoln and
Confederate Vice President
Alexander H. Stephens held
a shipboard peace conference
off the Virginia coast; the talks
deadlocked over the issue of
Southern autonomy.
On this date:
In 1783, Spain formally
recognized American inde-
pendence.
In 1913, the 16th Amend-
ment to the U.S. Constitution,
providing for a federal income
WD[ZDVUDWL¿HG
In 1930, the chief justice
of the United States, William
Howard Taft, resigned for
health reasons. (He died just
over a month later.)
In 1943, during World
War II, the U.S. transport
STONE SOUP
BIG NATE
ship Dorchester, which was
carrying troops to Green-
land, sank after being hit by a
German torpedo; of the more
than 900 men aboard, only
some 230 survived.
In 1959, rock-and-roll
stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie
Valens and J.P. “The Big
Bopper” Richardson died in
a small plane crash near Clear
Lake, Iowa.
In 1969, “Candid Camera”
creator Allen Funt and his fam-
ily were aboard an Eastern Air-
OLQHVÀLJKWWKDWZDVKLMDFNHGWR
Cuba. (Fellow passengers who
recognized Funt thought the
whole thing was a stunt for his
TV show; in an article writ-
ten for The Associated Press,
Funt said the whole episode
“looked like a bad movie.”)
In 1994, the space shuttle
Discovery lifted off, carrying
6HUJHL.ULNDOHYWKH¿UVW5XV-
VLDQFRVPRQDXWWRÀ\DERDUGD
U.S. spacecraft.
Today’s Birthdays: Co-
median Shelley Berman is
90. Former Sen. Paul Sar-
banes, D-Md., is 82. Football
Hall-of-Famer Fran Tarken-
ton is 75. Actress Bridget
Hanley is 74. Actress Blythe
Danner is 72. Singer Den-
nis Edwards is 72. Football
Hall-of-Famer Bob Griese
is 70. Singer-guitarist Dave
Davies (The Kinks) is 68.
Singer Melanie is 68. Actress
Morgan Fairchild is 65. Rock
musician Lee Ranaldo (Sonic
Youth) is 59. Actress Maura
Tierney is 50. Actor Warwick
Davis is 45. Actress Rebel
Wilson is 29. Rapper Sean
Kingston is 25.
Thought for Today:
“Fame is a vapor, popularity
an accident, and riches take
wings. Only one thing en-
dures and that is character.”
— Horace Greeley, American
newspaper editor (born this
date in 1811, died in 1872).
BY JAN ELLIOT
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE