COFFEE BREAK Saturday, March 30, 2019 East Oregonian C5 OUT OF THE VAULT Sparrow takes up residence at Pendleton Walmart By RENEE STRUTHERS East Oregonian Most retail stores have a no-ani- mals-allowed policy, excepting ser- vice animals. But in March of 1998, staff and customers were delighted when a bird took up residence in the Pendleton Walmart store. The sparrow arrived at the Pendle- ton store just before Christmas 1997, according to pharmacy employee Alta Heaton. “When he first got here he was a skinny little thing,” Heaton said. “But he’s fat and happy now.” More than likely, the juvenile sparrow entered the store through one of the main doors, probably in the garden department. He spent his time flitting about a grouping of store aisles in the southeast part of the store, often perching on bikes — ironically, he mostly liked the ambi- ence of the pet department, stopping for a rest on the fish tanks. The man- ager there provided the bird, named Sam after the retail giant’s founder, Sam Walton, with food and water. “I think he just decided to spend the winter with us,” assistant man- ager Dale Fundahn said. “He’s got it made. It’s a great environment.” He added that during the quiet nights, Sam could be heard chirping along to the store’s piped-in music. He seemed to prefer rock ‘n’ roll. And it wasn’t only Sam’s chirp- ing that could be heard in the store. Fundahn overheard customers debat- ing over sightings of the diminutive sparrow. Because Pendleton’s Walmart in 1998 didn’t stock open container food items, there was no issue with Sam flitting about the store and cre- ating a health hazard. Employees weren’t sure where Sam was taking care of his “business,” because he was remarkably clean, nor where he was nesting. Ignoring the bird houses in the pet section, Sam liked to perch in the garden soil. While Sam shunned human con- tact, he did seem to yearn for com- panionship. A second sparrow, a female, was soon seen flitting about with Sam. But his new friend turned her nose up at Sam’s penchant for perching on bicycles, preferring instead the fragrances of the health and beauty aisle, where she could often be seen perching on a goose- neck bottle of moisturizing lotion or bubble bath. Perhaps it was a subtle marketing technique. Walmart officials had no plans to evict the sparrows, citing their pres- ence as a good omen for the store. DAYS GONE BY 100 Years Ago From the East Oregonian March 30-31, 1919 It was announced today that a law partnership has been formed between the firm of Raley & Raley and Frederick Stei- wer, who served as an officer in the army overseas and was but recently relieved from his military duties. According to the announcement the firm will hereafter be known as Raley, Raley & Steiwer. Offices will be maintained as at present in the Amer- ican National Bank building but the offices will be enlarged. 50 Years Ago From the East Oregonian March 30-31, 1969 Spring vacation casualties hit Tim Cassens, 10, and his little dog in separate accidents. As a result of the mishaps the boy and his dog each has his right leg in a cast. Tim fractured his leg in a ski accident at Spout Springs, and three days later his Patches, a cute little Chihuahua, fell down the stairs in the family home and broke his right leg. The boy and his dog are receiving con- siderable attention these days at the Rollie Cassens home. 25 Years Ago From the East Oregonian March 30-31, 1994 A Hermiston woman donated a kidney to her 10-year-old son Tuesday in a successful operation at University Hospital in Portland. In the procedure, surgeons removed one of Kris- tie Lemmon’s kidneys and added it to her son Tyler’s system. Tyler’s kidneys had been damaged last year when a log fell on him while collecting firewood in the forest. Tyler has been undergoing daily dialysis. Tyler is in intensive care at the uni- versity’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and Kristie is on a general floor at University Hospital. THIS DAY IN HISTORY On March 30, 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agree- ment with Russia to pur- chase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal ridi- culed by critics as “Seward’s Folly.” In 1923, the Cunard liner RMS Laconia became the first passenger ship to cir- cle the globe as it arrived in New York. In 1945, during World War II, the Soviet Union invaded Austria with the goal of taking Vienna, which it accomplished two weeks later. In 1991, Patricia Bow- man of Jupiter, Florida, told authorities she’d been raped hours earlier by William Kennedy Smith, the nephew of Sen. Edward Kennedy, at the family’s Palm Beach estate. (Smith was acquitted at trial.) In 2002, Britain’s Queen Mother Elizabeth died at Royal Lodge, Windsor, out- side London; she was 101 years old. In 2017, a massive fire caused an interstate bridge to collapse during rush hour in Atlanta; no one was hurt. North Carolina rolled back its “bathroom bill” in a bid to end a yearlong backlash over transgender rights that had cost the state dearly in business projects, conven- tions and basketball tour- naments. At Cape Canav- eral, SpaceX successfully launched and then retrieved its first recycled rocket. Thought for Today: “We do not talk — we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cur- sory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests.” — Henry Miller, American author (1891-1980). Universal Crossword Edited by David Steinberg March 30, 2019 ACROSS 1 Commit a faux pas 4 Milk dispenser 9 Many have Windows and screens 12 Rockies resort 14 City on Utah Lake 15 Feast for a pig 16 Baker’s introduction? 19 Entertainment reporter Gibbons 20 Pack-carrying animal 21 Buddy of Bert 22 Reunion attendee, briefly 24 Tickled 25 Masseur’s introduction? 30 Natick, to Boston 31 Epps of “House” 32 NFL whistle blower 35 “Pity” 36 Easy catch 38 39 40 41 43 45 48 49 50 52 56 59 60 61 62 63 64 Mete (out) Beam of light Rich deposit Fit for farming Croupier’s introduction? Expert in one area, perhaps Home to a Hawkeye Old computers? Card game with squiggles and ovals Places for gutters Dentist’s introduction? Attila’s followers Comic strip frame ___-home final Gomez Addams’ cousin Tic or twitch Cause of a trip DOWN 1 ELO’s “___ Woman” 2 Assign stars to 3 React to yeast 4 Reuters rival 5 Imagined 6 OR workers 7 Celebratory nights 8 Joey of kiddie lit 9 “The best laid ___ ...” 10 Journalist Roberts 11 Radar gun reading 13 Statue of Liberty poet Emma 15 Cancel, as a mission 17 Less colorful 18 Longest human bone 23 A keyboard may plug into one 24 Plains people 25 Bygone Russian ruler 26 Dance that can be done sitting “OPENING REMARKS” By Debbie Ellerin sudoku answers 27 28 29 32 33 34 37 38 40 42 43 44 45 46 47 50 51 53 54 55 57 58 Site with seller ratings Great expectations Kicking bird RBG wear Mai or Fitzgerald Have a hunch Neruda wrote one to a large tuna Some Duchamp works His tomb is in Red Square Said “I do” again Breaks in, online Church contributions Wave, maybe Or so Toot your own horn Type of meet Sicilian volcano Perfume container Fraternal brothers Go downhill fast? Photo ___ Stately shade tree