A14
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Thursday, December 17, 2020
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Ex comes back for a second
chance after being rejected
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
BEETLE BAILEY
BY MORT WALKER
Dear Abby: My ex had a prior
Both of his parents passed away
relationship with my cousin “Earl.”
from cancer relatively young, and
When she talked about her past
his mother was a smoker, too. I’m
relationships, a common theme
terrified he will get sick and die
emerged. Her partners were emo-
young. Not only that, he constantly
tionally abusive — cheating, berat-
misses precious moments with our
ing her, throwing rage fits where
son, who stands at the window and
they screamed in her face and
cries when he sees his father go
J eanne
threw things. My own history is
outside. I’m becoming resentful of
P hilliPs
similar. My partners have done the
the constant breaks he takes while I
ADVICE
sit inside comforting our son.
same to me. (I do not engage in
I have tried reasoning with him
such behavior.)
and suggesting we ask a doctor for
Earl told her he still has feelings
help, but he shuts me down and gets angry.
for her, despite the emotional abuse he had
How can I try to approach it again? —
inflicted upon her. I confronted him and
Anti-Smoker in Colorado
told him that what he did was inappropriate.
Dear Anti-Smoker: You fell in love
Abby, when she heard about it, she dumped
with an addict. Your husband is addicted to
me and tried to get back together with Earl!
tobacco and appears not to understand or
My cousin, having done work to remedy
care about how it may affect himself or you
his issues, rejected her outright. He told her
and his son in the coming years. My advice
it would never work between them despite
would be to stop pressuring your husband
the lingering feelings. Now she has come
for now and ask your doctor to refer you to a
back to me, saying she wants a serious rela-
support group for friends and family mem-
tionship. Should I take her back? — So
bers of people with a smoking addiction.
Mixed-Up
Dear Abby: A man and a woman
Dear So Mixed-Up: Heck no. This
liked (and loved) each other in their teen-
woman has made clear that you are her sec-
age years, but they married different peo-
ond choice. Please don’t take her up on her
ple. After a decade, the man sends wed-
offer. You can’t fix what’s wrong with this
ding anniversary wishes to the woman on
very mixed-up woman, and you shouldn’t
Facebook. Without any reply, the next day
waste your time trying because if you do,
the woman blocks the man, and on the sec-
she will only cause you more pain.
ond day she deactivates her account on FB.
Dear Abby: My husband is smart,
What does it mean? — Mystified in the
hard-working and a wonderful father to our
Middle East
young son. We hope to grow our family.
Dear Mystified: It means the long-ago
However, my husband is a cigarette smoker
chapter of your storybook teen romance is
and extremely defensive about any sugges-
over. She has moved on and so should you.
tion about him possibly quitting.
DAYS GONE BY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
DILBERT
THE WIZARD OF ID
LUANN
ZITS
BY JIM DAVIS
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
100 years ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 17, 1920
Arrow head making is not a lost art
among the Indians of our present genera-
tion despite their adaptation to automobiles.
Arrow heads as perfect in shape and bal-
ance as those used by his forefathers in war-
fare are being fashioned for the curio market
by Jim Billy, a Columbia river Indian, who
resides on the Billy Parnhart ranch on the
reservation. Three samples of Billy’s work
have been sent by him to Major Lee Moor-
house, former Indian agent, collector of
curios. The major declared the work to be of
high order. Two deer bones are used in chip-
ping the rock and glass substances. Some of
the arrow heads are made from obsidian or
volcanic glass, which is found in the John
Day country. Obsidian is almost black and
is declared to be harder than flint.
50 years ago
Dec. 17, 1970
The Pendleton area was swept by south
winds Monday, with a peak gust of 34 miles
per hour. A Pacific Power & Light Co. pole
was blown down, a tree was blown over on
some lines and a transformer was burned
up, cutting service for rural customers
nearly four hours. A resident on NE Riv-
erside reported the wind blew over a small
horse barn and took rocking chairs off the
porch. Louis Umbargo, who owns a ranch
on South Reservation near Pendleton, said
TODAY IN HISTORY
BY SCOTT ADAMS
BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART
BY GREG EVANS
BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN
“the strongest wind I’ve ever seen here” tore
up several buildings. The wind lifted one
end of a new barn; demolished a shed, rolled
a two-ton feed bin more than 30 yards out of
a feedlot; shifted a 12x57 mobile home three
feet of its foundation, and ripped all the
shingles off one side of the roof of Umbarg-
er’s home. The wind also destroyed a hay
barn on Dick Purchase’s ranch nearby.
25 years ago
Dec. 17, 1995
When Eric Flerchinger played high school
basketball at Helix in the 1980s, his coach
taught him what hard work and dedication
can do for a man. Any good father would do
that. And Stan Flerchinger, now in his 18th
year as Head Coach of the Helix boys bas-
ketball program, must have made quite an
impression on his son. Eric got his teaching
degree and is now in his first year as head
coach at Burnt River High School in Unity.
Friday night, the two met for the first time on
opposite ends of the bench. They didn’t have
a bet on the game. The winner might have
bragging rights, but nothing more will come
out of this family feud. Or will it? “I might
take his Christmas present back if he wins,”
Stan joked. It may have been just a non-con-
ference 1A basketball game for some, but
for Stan and Eric Flerchinger, there was a
little more to it. And for the record, it looks
like Eric still hasn’t learned everything from
his dad. Stan’s Helix team beat Burnt River
67-55.
On Dec. 17, 1903, Wil-
bur and Orville Wright of
Dayton, Ohio, conducted
the first successful manned
powered-airplane
flights
near Kitty Hawk, North
Carolina, using their exper-
imental craft, the Wright
Flyer.
In 1777, France rec-
ognized
American
independence.
In 1944, the U.S. War
Department announced it
was ending its policy of
excluding people of Japa-
nese ancestry from the West
Coast.
In
1975,
Lynette
“Squeaky” Fromme was
sentenced in Sacramento,
Calif., to life in prison for
her attempt on the life of
President Gerald R. Ford.
(She was paroled in August
2009.)
In 1989, the animated
TV series “The Simpsons”
premiered on Fox with a
Christmas-themed episode.
In
1992,
President
George H.W. Bush, Cana-
dian Prime Minister Brian
Mulroney
and
Mexi-
can President Carlos Sali-
nas de Gortari signed the
North American Free Trade
Agreement in separate cer-
emonies. (After President
Donald Trump demanded
a new deal, the three coun-
tries signed a replacement
agreement in 2018.)
In 2007, Gov. Jon S. Cor-
zine signed a measure mak-
ing New Jersey the first state
to abolish the death penalty
in more than 40 years.
In 2014, the United
States and Cuba restored
diplomatic relations, sweep-
ing away one of the last ves-
tiges of the Cold War.
Today’s
Birthdays:
Actor Armin Mueller-Stahl
is 90. Pope Francis is 84.
Comedian-actor
Eugene
Levy is 74. Actor Bill Pull-
man is 67. Producer-direc-
tor-writer Peter Farrelly is
64. Rock musician Mike
Mills (R.E.M.) is 62. Actor
Claire Forlani is 49. Actor
Sarah Paulson is 46. Actor
Milla Jovovich is 45. Actor
Shannon Woodward is 36.
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE