Page 6B
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Friday, December 30, 2016
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Couple feels ignored by parents
tending to wayward siblings
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
Dear Abby: My husband and I are
weeks gestation. While term gestation
in our 30s. We do well for ourselves
is still defined as 37 weeks, current
and are generally happy. We both
terminology distinguishes early term
have siblings who have various prob-
(37 to 38 weeks), from term (39 to
lems — drug abuse, emotional issues,
40 weeks). Data show that not only is
broken relationships. Our parents pick
the rate of acute complications higher
up and travel to support them during
for babies born even at 36 weeks, but
their various dramas, but visit my
each week less than 39 is associated
husband and me only if they need a
with increasingly lower develop-
Jeanne
place to stay and don’t want to pay for Phillips mental scores.
a hotel.
In a collaborative effort, organi-
Advice
My parents have cited fear of flying
zations dedicated to children’s health
as a reason they don’t visit us much,
have spent the last decade trying to
and my husband’s parents claim they don’t reduce the rate of late preterm births, those
have the money. However, their travel itiner- from 34 to 37 weeks. We have made great
aries to visit our siblings suggest otherwise.
inroads in reducing late preterm births, and I
I haven’t asked my husband’s parents am quite certain that getting the word out to
about this, but I did ask mine. My mother said your millions of readers could have a positive
that because we’re “on a good path,” they impact and take us even further. Every baby
don’t need to see us as often or put as much should have the healthiest start possible, and
effort into us. I was shocked. How do we deal in the absence of pregnancy complications,
with knowing that we’re less favored because that means waiting until 39 weeks. — David
we have our act together? — The Good Kids H. Levine, M.D., Columbus, Ga.
Dear Good Kids: You are not the only
Dear Dr. Levine: Thank you for this
people with this problem. The same thing information. I heard from many readers,
tends to happen in families in which there including neonatologists, labor/delivery
is a child with special needs. The parents nurses, and other professionals certified in
expend their energy where they think it is maternal and newborn care. They all cited the
needed most, which often results in hurt and current position of the American Congress
resentment on the part of the stronger siblings. of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
Perhaps if you view what your mother told advocating for full-term delivery.
you less as a punishment for your success and
All stated that the final few weeks are
more as a validation, it will be less hurtful and important for brain, lung and liver develop-
you will understand the logic. And if you feel ment, vision and hearing, blood sugar regu-
you need more time with your parents, go lation, and attaining a healthy birth weight so
visit THEM.
the baby can stay warm, suck and swallow,
Dear Abby: “Emotional Dad in Cali- and remain awake long enough to be fed.
fornia” (July 23), whose wife was planning Expectant moms should do as much research
to deliver their child early, was correct. No as they can in order to give their babies the
baby should be electively delivered before 39 best chance for the healthiest life.
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
Dec. 30, 1916
Did Santa Claus get away with all the chil-
dren’s mittens in Pendleton or is Jack Frost
responsible for the fact there are no childish
hand warmers to be had in the city? Whatever
the cause may be, there is a shortage in the
mitten supply and with the coasting season on
in full blast the situation constitutes a problem
second only to the nation-wide car shortage.
Unless supplies can be shipped in or grand-
mothers come to the rescue with their knitting
needles some little hands will go chilly.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 30, 1966
Three East End youths were in the Umatilla
County Jail today charged with trying to
stock up early on beer, wine and cigars in
time for New Year’s Eve without bothering to
pay for the goodies. Umatilla County Deputy
Sheriff Paul Jones was notified Thursday
that someone had broken into the Lone Star
Cafe and Tavern in Athena and taken 32 cases
of beer, wine, cigars and candy. Working
all day, Jones with the help of Bud Miller,
Athena police chief, and Charles Hearn,
Weston police chief, found the stolen items
in a cache on Weston Mountain and arrested
three suspects. Charged with burglary are
Howard Stine, 18, Weston, and Larry Elliott,
22, Milton-Freewater. Each is being held on
$2,000 bail. A third person, a 17-year-old, was
turned over to juvenile authorities. Jones said
that Milton-Freewater police also assisted.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 30, 1991
Tom Darnell, a Umatilla County exten-
sion agent, is helping start an innovative way
of controlling an onion-attacking fungus
known as white rot. Darnell, of Milton-Free-
water, is applying a chemical to unplanted
onion fields that is identical to the natural
odor found in onions and garlic, called
diallyl disulphide, or DADS. Researchers
are attempting to trick the white rot fungus
into a premature death long before crops are
planted. “Our idea is to trick the fungus into
germinating and starving to death before
onions are planted,” said Fred Crowe, a plant
pathologist with Oregon State University’s
Agricultural Experiment Station.
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 365th day of
2016. There is one day left in
the year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On Dec. 30, 1916, Grigory
Rasputin, the so-called “Mad
Monk” who wielded consid-
erable influence with Czar
Nicholas II, was killed by a
group of Russian noblemen
in St. Petersburg.
On this date:
In 1853, the United
States and Mexico signed a
treaty under which the U.S.
agreed to buy some 45,000
square miles of land from
Mexico for $10 million in a
deal known as the Gadsden
Purchase.
In 1865, author Rudyard
Kipling was born in Bombay,
India.
In 1905, the Franz Lehar
operetta “The Merry Widow”
premiered in Vienna.
In 1922, Vladimir I.
Lenin proclaimed the estab-
lishment of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics,
which lasted nearly seven
decades before dissolving in
Dec. 1991.
In 1936, the United Auto
Workers union staged its
first “sit-down” strike at the
General Motors Fisher Body
Plant No. 1 in Flint, Mich-
igan. (The strike lasted until
Feb. 11, 1937.)
In 1940, California’s first
freeway, the Arroyo Seco
Parkway connecting Los
Angeles and Pasadena, was
officially opened.
In 1954, Olympic gold
medal runner Malvin G.
Whitfield became the first
black recipient of the James
E. Sullivan Award for
amateur athletes.
In 1994, a gunman walked
into a pair of suburban
Boston abortion clinics and
opened fire, killing two
employees. (John C. Salvi
III was later convicted of
murder; he died in prison, an
apparent suicide.)
In 1999, former Beatle
George Harrison fought off
a knife-wielding intruder
who’d broken into his
mansion west of London and
stabbed him in the chest.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor
Joseph Bologna is 82. Actor
Russ Tamblyn is 82. Baseball
Hall-of-Famer Sandy Koufax
is 81. Folk singer Noel Paul
Stookey is 79. TV director
James Burrows is 76. Actor
Fred Ward is 74. Singer-mu-
sician Michael Nesmith is 74.
Actress Concetta Tomei is 71.
Singer Patti Smith is 70. Rock
singer-musician Jeff Lynne is
69. TV personality Meredith
Vieira is 63. Actress Sheryl
Lee Ralph is 61. Actress
Patricia Kalember is 60.
Country singer Suzy Bogguss
is 60. “Today” show co-host
Matt Lauer is 59. Actress-co-
median Tracey Ullman is
57. Rock musician Rob
Hotchkiss is 56. Radio-TV
commentator Sean Hannity is
55. Golfer Tiger Woods is 41.
TV personality-boxer Laila
Ali is 39. Singer-actor Tyrese
Gibson is 38. NBA player
LeBron James is 32.
Thought for Today:
“Addresses are given to us
to conceal our whereabouts.”
— H.H. Munro (“Saki”),
British author (1870-1916).
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE