COFFEE BREAK
Saturday, January 4, 2020
East Oregonian
C5
DEAR ABBY
Bride’s choice of groomsman brings back painful memories
Dear Abby: I am a 37-year-old
be one of my groomsmen. She has
man who is getting married
expressed that she would like
for the first time. My fiancee,
her cousin “Gerald” to be one
“Holly,” and I went to mid-
of my groomsmen, so some-
one from her family is in our
dle school and high school
wedding party.
together, but never really got
The problem is, Gerald
to know each other until a
was my main tormentor from
few years ago. I love her more
eighth grade all through high
than words can describe, and
school. At one point in 10th
I’m happy to be getting ready
grade, his cruelty led to my
to spend my life with her.
J eanne
Growing up, I was socially
attempting suicide. I carry
P hilliPs
awkward, partly due to hav-
ADVICE
the scar from the attempt on
ing Asperger’s, which made
my right wrist.
me a target for bullies. Holly
I understand that people
and I are now choosing our wedding
change and mature as they grow older,
party. My sister will be one of her
and I’m OK with Gerald attending the
bridesmaids. Holly is an only child, so
wedding. But the idea of him stand-
ing next to me on the biggest day of
she doesn’t have a brother who could
my life, along with my best friend and
two closest cousins, triggers too many
awful memories. How can I plead this
to Holly without hurting her feelings
or looking shallow and petty? — Ner-
vous Groom-To-Be
Dear Groom-To-Be: Shallow
and petty? The scar on your wrist is
visible, but clearly there are others,
equally painful, that are not. I don’t
think it would come across as either
shallow or petty if you explain to your
fiancee, exactly as you have explained
it to me, why you prefer Gerald not
be at the altar with you on the most
important day of your life. This is
something Holly should have been
made aware of before the two of you
set a wedding date. Do it now.
DAYS GONE BY
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Jan. 4, 1920
A picture of Miss Jean Reber, daughter of Dr. D. N.
Reber of Pendleton was shown in the rotogravure section
of The New York Times on Sunday. Miss Reber is featured
in a group of New York actresses who are winning success
on the stage. Miss Reber, whose stage name is Jean Ribera,
is appearing in “The Magic Melody” at the Shubert theatre.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Jan. 4, 1970
A new industry is pumping dollars into the Hermiston
economy, and its future is bright, according to men associ-
ated with the horse training business. Ed Johnson’s Sage-
Sand Race Track and Horse Motel along Highway 80-N is
a modern facility for training race horses, and business is
good. With the season nearing its peak, all of the 90 stalls
in the three large barns may be filled. Don McEwen, who
now calls Hermiston home, formerly trained on a Las Vegas
track. He considers the Johnson facility, plus the mild
weather and dry climate, ideal for training horses for the
track. McEwen says it is the trainer’s job to understand the
temperament of the horse, and each one is different. The
veteran trainer is working with 20 head for several differ-
ent owners.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Jan. 4, 1995
Any book, anywhere, any time. That’s the not-so-dis-
tant future of the Umatilla County Special Library District,
which plans to hook into the internet courtesy of a $13,800
federal grant. Connecting to the well known worldwide
computer web won’t happen overnight. The library dis-
trict’s coordinator, Ken Reading, said it may be as late as
September before local library users can log on to the infor-
mation-rich computer system. Once the district hooks into
the internet, library users throughout Umatilla and Morrow
counties will be able to track down research, magazines and
periodicals from around the country. “We’ll be making our
system available to everyone in Eastern Oregon and this
globe as we know it,” Read said.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
On Jan. 4, 1964, Pope
Paul VI began a visit to the
Holy Land, the first papal
pilgrimage of its kind.
In 1809, Louis Braille,
inventor of the Braille
raised-dot reading system
for the blind, was born in
Coupvray, France.
In 1861, Alabama seized
a federal arsenal at Mount
Vernon near Mobile.
In 1904, the U.S.
Supreme Court, in Gonza-
lez v. Williams, ruled that
Puerto Ricans were not
aliens and could enter the
United States freely; how-
ever, the court stopped short
of declaring them citizens.
(Puerto Ricans received U.S.
citizenship in March 1917.)
In 1987, 16 people were
killed when an Amtrak
train bound from Washing-
ton, D.C., to Boston collided
with Conrail locomotives
that had crossed into its path
from a side track in Chase,
Maryland.
In 1999, Europe’s new
currency, the euro, got off
to a strong start on its first
trading day, rising against
the dollar on world cur-
rency markets. Former pro-
fessional wrestler Jesse Ven-
tura took the oath of office
as Minnesota’s governor.
In 2002, Sgt. 1st Class
Nathan Ross Chapman, a
U.S. Army Special Forces
soldier, was killed by small-
arms fire during an ambush
in eastern Afghanistan; he
was the first American mil-
itary death from enemy fire
in the war against terrorism.
Thought for Today:
“The last temptation is the
greatest treason: to do the
right deed for the wrong
reason.” — T.S. Eliot, Amer-
ican-born English poet
(born in 1888, died this date
in 1965).
Universal Crossword
Edited by David Steinberg January 4, 2020
ACROSS
1 Brazilian dance
6 Silent performer
10 Liberal ___
14 Sugar substitute
15 Trebek of “Jeopardy!”
16 Legend in music
17 *Jalopy
19 Cropland measure
20 June honorees
21 Drain of strength
23 Mauna ___ (dormant
volcano)
24 Sis, say
25 Covered, as with chocolate
27 In favor of
30 Actress Strong or Reid
33 Some lawn mowers
34 Notable time
35 Writer Ephron
37 Keep an eye on
39 Hawaiian souvenir
40 *Monster alternative
42 Front of a shoe
43 Opera whose title anagrams
to “coats”
45 Jane of literature
46 Valuable stuff in a lode
47 Big name in networking
49 Set aside
51 Blanc who voiced Daffy
Duck
52 Word after “beauty” or
“popularity”
54 Abbr. in many company
names
56 Arcing tennis shot
57 Day, in Mexico
58 Chants
62 Gumbo ingredient
64 *Bouncy toy
66 Setting for “The King and I”
67 Concerning
68 Get up
69 “___, meeny ...”
70 Batting avg., for instance
71 Turned ashen
DOWN
1 Feudal laborer
2 Bluish-green
3 Has to
4 Toy boats float in them
5 Even though
6 Computers that run Catalina
7 Sort
8 Reagan’s attorney general
9 Still around
10 1977 Steely Dan album
11 *All-time low
12 60
13 “Slammin’ Sammy” of old
golf
18 Sophisticated
22 Move stealthily
26 Man-mouse link
27 Pool table material
28 Dunkable snack
29 *High-fiber cereal
31 Sat beside the driver, say
32 Chain with a cowboy hat
in its logo, or a hint to the
R & B by Robert E. L. Morris
sudoku answers
36
38
40
41
44
48
50
52
53
55
58
59
60
61
63
65
starred answers
Emanation
Back of a shoe
Competed in a heat
“Monk” co-star Ted
Winter clock setting in
Minn.
Egyptian underworld god
Snare
In the neighborhood
Mock
Hooded snake
“That’ll be the day!”
It might make a tire flat
“What ___ is new?”
Whiz down a snowy hill
2020 candidate Klobuchar
Bikini top