Tuesday, March 30, 2021
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
East Oregonian
A17
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Best friend calls the police
after man threatens suicide
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
Dear Abby: I am a woman in my
can continue being friends with you,
late 30s. “Tim” and I have been best
leave it up to him to decide.
friends for more than 10 years. Over
Dear Abby: My brother’s wife
the last few years, he has struggled
is pregnant, and there is talk about
with depression and addiction, and I
their moving to the state where her
have done my best to help him.
family lives. There are only three
A few weeks back, Tim called me
people in my sister-in-law’s family
crying and said he was planning to
(one is elderly and two others work
Jeanne
end his life. It wasn’t the first time
full time) who may provide her with
Phillips
he has spoken this way, but it was
support during her transition into
ADVICE
the first time he described a plan
motherhood. On the other hand,
of action. Because I was alarmed,
there are 10 of us who could help
I called the police to do a welfare
them emotionally and physically if
check. They went to Tim’s home, which is
they stay here.
across the country from mine, and took him
My sister-in-law plans on being a stay-at-
to a psychiatric facility for several days. Now
home mom, which I wholeheartedly support.
that he’s out, he’s furious with me for noti-
My brother would move to the state where
fying the police and says I betrayed him. He
her family resides only in order to appease
said he doesn’t know if we can continue to
her. Our family is closer than her family. I
be friends.
feel we can provide them with more love and
I feel terrible, like I perhaps made a
support than her family. What can I say or do
mistake by calling reinforcements, but I was
to show them that living near our family is
more worried about the consequences of not
the best decision? — Near Is Better
calling. My family is telling me I should step
Dear Near: I’m sure you mean well, but
away from the friendship altogether, but I
do not make the mistake of trying to “sell”
can’t imagine doing that. Please help. —
your sister-in-law on staying. It appears her
Takes Friendship Seriously
mind is made up. If she feels she would be
Dear Takes: Your family’s advice to step
more comfortable with her own family as
away seems sensible. You did not make a
she approaches this milestone, not much you
mistake by calling to see that Tim got help
can say will dissuade her. Of course, nothing
after he told you he had a plan in place to take
prevents you from telling your brother how
his own life. You were trying to help him and
you feel, if you haven’t already.
prevent a tragedy, and that’s a good thing.
You might also suggest they consider
renting for a year rather than buying a home
Tim is clearly very ill and, unfortunately,
right away, to see how they like it. That way,
there is little you can do to fix what’s wrong
once the baby arrives and reality hits, she
with him (which is plenty). If you know his
family, inform them about what has been
may realize she won’t have the support she
going on. And because he doesn’t know if he
may need, and they may decide to return.
DAYS GONE BY
BEETLE BAILEY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
From the East Oregonian
BY MORT WALKER
BY JIM DAVIS
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
100 Years Ago
March 30, 1921
Pendleton banks will honor the memory
of Levi Ankeny tomorrow. The First National
Bank will be closed all day and the Amer-
ican National and the Inland Empire bank
will close at noon out of respect for the late
financier who had been connected with the
banking business here since 1882. His funeral
will be held in Walla Walla tomorrow from
the family home. Friends and business asso-
ciates of Senator Ankeny are strong in praise
of many admirable qualities he possessed. It
is said that during the hard times of 1893 he
was extremely lenient with those in his debt
and that many now successful farmers owe
their escape from bankruptcy largely to aid
provided by Mr. Ankeny at that time.
50 Years Ago
March 30, 1971
A do-it-yourself program of improve-
ments is under way at the Umatilla County
Jail. Sheriff’s Deputies Gilbert Pettys and
Jack Campbell have donated use of the weld-
ing outfits for the project. The improvements
are following recommendations made by a
team from the Oregon Corrections Division
after the county jail was shaken by a riot in
January. Improved security is the first goal.
A new door allowing better vision is being
cut into the lockup area; steel screen is being
welded over cell bars, windows are being
covered with steel mesh and sheets of steel in
some cases; a new individual locking system
is being installed on some cells. The mesh
will prevent prisoners from reaching into
the narrow corridor to grab jailers and from
throwing large objects from their cells into
the corridors. It will prevent prisoners from
reaching cell locks, too.
25 Years Ago
March 30, 1996
The Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton is in
sad shape. The ceiling tiles are stained, falling
apart, and, in some places, gone completely.
Brick walls are cracked. Windows, formerly
a conduit for contraband, had to be sealed.
Sinks don’t turn off. “The aging jail suffers
from design problems,” said Alan Humphrey,
the Sheriff’s Department chief deputy. “The
labyrinthian facility is a twisting collection of
narrow hallways connecting barracks-style
living quarters holding up to a dozen prison-
ers each. Most of the jail is on the third floor
of the Umatilla County Courthouse.” One
living area, however, is on the second floor,
connected to the rest of the jail only by an
elevator. Humphrey said the elevator can be
a formidable obstacle if a corrections deputy
has to respond to a dire crisis in another part
of the facility. The jail is just too small, he
said. To make room for an increasing flow of
violent offenders, the jail has had to release
those convicted of lesser felonies.
TODAY 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
On March 30, 1981, Pres-
ident Ronald Reagan was
shot and seriously injured
outside a Washington, D.C.
hotel by John W. Hinckley,
Jr.; also wounded were White
House press secretary James
Brady, Secret Service agent
Timothy McCarthy and a
District of Columbia police
officer, Thomas Delahanty.
In 1822, Florida became a
United States territory.
In 1870, the 15th Amend-
ment to the U.S. Constitution,
which prohibited denying
citizens the right to vote and
hold office on the basis of
race, was declared in effect
by Secretary of State Hamil-
ton Fish.
In 1975, as the Vietnam
War neared its end, Commu-
nist forces occupied the city
of Da Nang.
In 1987, at the 59th Acad-
emy Awards, “Platoon” was
named best picture; Marlee
Matlin received best actress
for “Children of a Lesser
God” and Paul Newman
was honored as best actor for
“The Color of Money.”
In 2006, A mer ican
reporter Jill Carroll, a
freelancer for The Chris-
tian Science Monitor, was
released after 82 days as a
hostage in Iraq.
In 2010, President Barack
Obama signed a single
measure sealing his health
care overhaul and making
the government the primary
lender to students by cutting
banks out of the process.
In 2015, German officials
confirmed that Germanwings
co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was
once diagnosed with suicidal
tendencies and received
lengthy psychotherapy before
receiving his pilot’s license;
they believed Lubitz delib-
erately smashed his Airbus
A320 into the French Alps,
killing 150 people. Comedy
Central announced that
Trevor Noah, a 31-year-old
comedian from South Africa,
would succeed Jon Stewart
as host of “The Daily Show.”
Today’s Birthdays: Rock
musician Eric Clapton is 76.
Rap artist MC Hammer is
59. Singer Tracy Chapman
is 57. Singer Norah Jones is
42. Actor Fiona Gubelmann
is 41. Actor Katy Mixon is 40.
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE