A8 The BulleTin • Friday, March 19, 2021
Former federal worker who sold knockoff
bags with Oregon accomplice gets prison
DEAR ABBY
Write to Dear Abby online at dearabby.com
or by mail at P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069
Dear Abby: For more
than four decades, my step-
mother, “Vera,” and I never
got along. We tolerated each
other for the sake of my fa-
ther, who has now passed
away. I’m a 60-year-old male
reader and unsure how to re-
spond to some recent state-
ments she has been making.
For the record, I and many
others always found Vera to
be extremely self-absorbed
and lacking in empathy. She
often treated my father un-
kindly, bordering on abusive
before and during his slow
decline with dementia, even
though she never had to pro-
vide any hands-on care. Yes,
I know it’s hard to always be
patient in these cases, but
Dad was never “difficult” or
violent — just forgetful.
I call and visit Vera (who is
now 87) occasionally, out of
a sense of duty. A few times
she has mentioned the un-
kind things she said or did
to my father, not expressing
remorse but possibly feeling
some guilt.
Thus far, I have ignored
these remarks, though I want
to let her know I felt sad and
angry about how she acted
and could never live with
myself if I’d treated my se-
riously ill spouse that way.
Should I keep letting it go or
express how I really feel?
— Grieving Son in the West
Dear Son: The next time
Vera mentions the unkind
things she said or did to your
dad, feel free to speak up and
let her know that not only
did you notice but also how
you feel about it. Frankly, it
is admirable that you check
in on the woman at all con-
sidering how you felt about
each other all those years.
I don’t think most people
would do as much as you
have done under similar cir-
cumstances.
Dear Abby: I have two
wonderful grandparents I
love very much. They are the
most important people in
my life, and I always think
about them when planning
anything in my life because I
want to make them happy.
The problem is I want to
go to college out of state and
pursue a career that isn’t pos-
sible in the city or state they
live in. They want me to live
with them in a city I can’t be
happy in because of this.
How do I tell them I can’t
see myself staying there for
the rest of my life? I know
they won’t be happy hearing
it, but I don’t want to disap-
point them or make them
think I don’t love them any-
more by leaving. Please help.
I don’t know what to do or
what path in life to take.
— At a Crossroads in Texas
Dear At a Crossroads:
You ARE at a crossroads.
You’re standing in the inter-
section of adolescence and
adulthood. You deserve the
chance to fulfill your dreams,
so it’s time for an adult con-
versation with your grand-
parents. Explain that you
love them and don’t want to
disappoint them, and outline
what your plans are regard-
ing your education and your
career. While they may be
disappointed, if they love you
as much as you love them,
they won’t stand in your way.
YOUR HOROSCOPE
POSITIVE |
AVERAGE |
SO-SO |
A former U.S. Department
of State employee who used his
embassy computer in Seoul,
Korea, to sell over 5,000 coun-
terfeit Vera Bradley designer
bags and other products to
customers across the United
States was sentenced Thursday
to a year and a half in prison.
Gene Leroy Thompson
Jr., 55, and his wife, Guo-
jiao “Becky” Zhang, 40, both
pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
traffic in counterfeit goods.
The two worked with an
unidentified accomplice who
stored and shipped the goods
from a home in Nyssa, located
along the Snake River on the
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2021: Charming,
kind and introspective, plan several trips that are both educational and
enjoyable. This year, expressing yourself artistically is high on your priority
list, even if you step back from other activities. Give back by mentoring or vol-
unteering for a group that shares your ideals. If single, you want to love and
be loved, so it can happen. If attached, take your partner on an adventure.
CANCER understands you deeply.
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Make sibling rivalry a thing of the past. Bite the bullet and contact
them with a friendly message. Get your errands done early. Brush up on your
time management skills, and everything will get done. Tonight: Try on a new
outfit.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
Something you ordered may be delayed or out of stock. Do your re-
search and find alternative products. It is never too early to explore vacation
destinations. “Save more and spend less” should be your mantra. Tonight:
Rearrange furniture to increase comfort.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Today might bring messages from friends who you love hearing
from. Observe the effect you have on others. People want to be around you
but may drain your energy. You might need to define your boundaries. To-
night: Home sweet home.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
Volunteer for a cause you believe in, but do not feel pressured. What-
ever you can do will be most appreciated. Time alone may be time well
spent. Take a walk outside and enjoy your playlist. Tonight: Catch up on
email.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) 11
Try out a new exercise, dance or yoga class, either in person or
online. Invite friends along to sample the wares. Exchange ideas with people
you admire. Get past your insecurity even if you get overruled. Tonight:
Reading in bed.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
A speech or presentation may get you noticed by your peers. Sigh
a breath of relief that you achieved your goal with flying colors. Celebrate
your victory. Go to your favorite restaurant with someone you love. Tonight:
Attend a weekly meeting.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Mentor someone who wants to learn skills you have mastered. You
might be surprised that others want to absorb your knowledge. This is not
the time for modesty. Be proud of what you know and can share. Tonight:
Chat with friends.
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, however, dis-
agrees and considers the sub-
stance dangerous. In 2018,
FDA Commissioner Scott
Gottlieb said in a statement,
“There is no evidence to indi-
cate that kratom is safe or ef-
fective for any medical use.”
House Bill 2646 would di-
rect the Oregon Department
of Agriculture to adopt rules to
carry out the regulations and
allow civil penalty for some vi-
olations of those rules. The bill
would make it a crime to sell
kratom to anyone under 21.
HB 2646 is the second at-
tempt by Oregon Rep. Bill
Post, R-Keizer, to get Oregon
lawmakers to agree to a legal
framework for the substance.
He started his effort when
some in Oregon’s kratom in-
“In our view, these strong
equity gains are a clear positive
for homeowner balance sheets,
as well as for overall additional
consumer spending, should
homeowners be desirous of
tapping a portion of their eq-
uity gains,” Jonathan Woloshin,
a real estate and lodging ana-
lyst at UBS, wrote in a research
note last week.
Rising home values and low
mortgage rates spurred many
U.S. homeowners to refinance
Castparts
Continued from A7
Precision Castparts makes
heavy metal components for
jet aircraft and other industrial
products. It was among Ore-
gon’s biggest companies when
it sold to Berkshire Hathaway,
Warren Buffett’s investment
firm, for $37 billion in 2016. Its
Redmond plant was one of the
region’s largest employers, with
about 450 employees in 2019,
according to Economic Devel-
opment for Central Oregon.
Precision Castparts strug-
gled last year amid the down-
turn in global aviation, and be-
cause of Boeing’s setbacks with
its 737 MAX plane. The com-
pany laid off 40% of its global
workforce.
Michael Joseph
Pankratz
of Redmond, OR
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
December 16, 1944 -
March 12, 2021
Arrangements:
Autumn Funerals of
Redmond is honored to
serve the family.
541-504-9485 Memories
and condolences may be
expressed to the family on
our website at
www.autumnfunerals.net
Services:
A family service was held.
Children and grandchildren have words of wisdom. Just listen. No
need to respond. Creative urges are put to the test since you need your own
space. Involve those closest to you and your problem is solved. Tonight: Work
up a sweat.
John “Chuck” Charles
Webb
of La Pine, OR
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Today brings people you love closer together. You might need to
mediate and straighten out a misunderstanding between two colleagues.
Remind someone special how much they mean to you. Plan a surprise they
will never forget. Tonight: Get a massage.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Exchange different points of view with a new team. Compromise is
the keyword. Share social time after hours with co-workers. Aim to unwind
and feel fit. Blow off steam at the gym or take a power walk. Tonight: A
healthy dinner.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
Connect with a relative you miss seeing. Be supportive, not argu-
mentative, when you hear the latest news. Vehicles may cause problems,
so be on the lookout. Shop for colorful home furnishings, but keep to your
budget. Tonight: Turn on dance music.
Looking for local events or want to add your own? Go to bendbulletin.com/events
Questions? Call 541-383-0304 or email go@bendbulletin.com.
September 23, 1952 -
March 15, 2021
Arrangements:
Baird Memorial Chapel
of La Pine is honored to
serve the Webb family.
Please visit our website,
www.bairdfh.com, to share
condolences and sign the
online guestbook.
“In my mind, the misuse of
government facilities to facil-
itate this crime makes it more
onerous,” the judge said.
The couple also must forfeit
$229,000, a substantial amount
of their life savings that rep-
resents the gross amount of
their counterfeit sales but more
than they gained from their
enterprise, and pay $740.17 to
Vera Bradley.
“There is a need for deter-
rence in these kinds of crimes,”
McShane said. “Privileged peo-
ple don’t get to engage in it and
walk away, while we are send-
ing underprivileged margin-
alized young men and women
every day to prison in this
country.”
dustry came to him, looking for
ways to make the product safer
for consumers and themselves.
Kratom as it’s sold now is
not labeled in any way, mean-
ing it can be adulterated with
many substances.
“There are no safeguards
for consumers whatsoever,”
said Jenn Lauder, the director
of marketing and advocacy
at PDX Aromatics, a Port-
land-based company that im-
ports kratom from Indonesia
and makes it into capsules and
extracts.
Lauder is one of the backers
of HB 2646.
The narrative around kra-
tom can be bad, she said.
Deaths have been attributed
to the substance, though sup-
porters of kratom attribute that
to adulteration. And the prod-
uct has been recalled for sal-
monella. PDX Aromatics itself
has had salmonella issues.
“We’ve been working really
hard to counter the narrative,”
Lauder said.
According to Post, it is kra-
tom producers that are push-
ing for rules. “The industry
wants to pay the state to say,
‘Your kratom is pure,’” he said.
Post himself is a kratom be-
liever. Lauder gave him some
capsules to try while she was
educating him about the sub-
stance, he said.
It helped his back pain, Post
said, and “I’ve been using it
ever since.”
and cash in some of the equity
in their home last year. Home-
owners pulled out $152.7 billion
in equity, an increase of 41.7%
from 2019 and the highest refi-
nancing cash-out dollar amount
since 2007, according to mort-
gage buyer Freddie Mac.
Homeowners also tapped
into the equity in their home
via a home equity line of credit.
The volume of such lines of cred
more than doubled in 2020 from
a year earlier to $74.9 billion.
Low mortgage rates, strong
demand and a record low in-
ventory of homes for sale na-
tionwide have fueled home
sales and pushed home prices
higher since last summer.
Sales of previously occupied
U.S. homes climbed 5.6% in
2020 from a year earlier to 5.64
million, the highest level since
2006 at the height of the hous-
ing boom, according to the Na-
tional Association of Realtors.
The national median home
sales price jumped 12.9% to
$309,800. In Bend and Red-
mond, the median sales price
for a single-family home in
February was $575,000 and
$373,000, respectively, accord-
ing to the Beacon Appraisal
Group of Redmond.
The strong demand for
homes continued in January,
with sales ticking up 0.6%
from December and almost
24% from a year earlier. By
the end of January, however,
the supply of homes on the
market nationally was down
to a record-low 1.04 million
units. That amounts to a 1.9
months’ supply. A balanced
housing market tends to have a
6-month supply. The Realtors
group issues its February home
sales data next week.
Mary Esch/AP file
A bill in the Oregon Legislature would regulate Kratom.
Its revenue had been stag-
nant for several years, though,
and earlier this month Buffett
admitted that he’d overpaid
by $10 billion for the Portland
company.
Precision Castparts didn’t im-
mediately respond to a message
Thursday seeking comment on
this week’s court ruling, so it’s
not clear whether the company
will seek to appeal to the Su-
preme Court. Anderson said the
union is hopeful it will not, and
that negotiations can now begin.
“We typically haven’t had
this kind of relationship with
them, especially with Warren
Buffett promoting himself as
pro labor,” he said. “The ball’s
in their court. It’s my hope they
wouldn’t do something like
that.”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Review savings or investment accounts. Carve space in your sched-
ule to organize tax documents. There may be a problem you need to solve.
A friend may arouse your interest in spy or mystery novels. Tonight: Update
your wardrobe with accessories.
with customers and procured
merchandise, and conveyed
transaction information and
a prepaid shipping label to an
unidentified co-conspirator
in Oregon, who stored and
shipped the knock-off goods
to customers across the United
States. The goods bore coun-
terfeit versions of the Vera
Bradley trademark, according
to the government.
The criminal scheme lasted
from September 2017 through
December 2019.
U.S. District Judge Michael J.
McShane sentenced Zhang to
eight months of home deten-
tion with GPS monitoring and
ordered that she have limited
ability to leave her home.
Continued from A7
Continued from A7
DIFFICULT
Idaho border.
Prosecutors say Thompson,
as an information program of-
ficer for the U.S. Embassy in
Seoul who held an “exception-
ally trusted role” with the high-
est level of security clearance
within the U.S. government,
abused his position to facilitate
the crime.
While responsible for en-
suring the cybersecurity of the
embassy, Thompson used his
State Department computer to
create online accounts for sale
of the counterfeit bags on eBay,
Poshmark and Mercari, and
then provided the login cre-
dentials for those accounts to
his wife, prosecutors said.
Zhang communicated
Kratom
Equity
By Madalyn Aslan
Stars show the kind of day you’ll have
DYNAMIC |
BY MAXINE BERNSTEIN
The Oregonian
Shirley Jean Dexter
of Terrebonne, OR
Feb 23, 1933 - March 15,
2021
Arrangements:
Autumn Funerals of Red-
mond is honored to serve
the family. 541-504-9485
Memories and condolenc-
es may be expressed to
the family on our website
at www.autumnfunerals.net
Services:
A graveside service will be
held at the Terrebonne Pio-
neer Cemetery on Monday
March 22, 2021 at 1:00 PM
Contributions may be
made to:
St. Charles Hospice, 2275
NE Doctor’s Drive Suite 3
Bend, OR 97701
OBITUARY DEADLINE
Call to ask about our deadlines
541-385-5809
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OBITUARY
Jane Selisch
March 21, 1936 - March 6, 2021
Jane Selisch left us on
March 6, 2021. She was
born
in
McMinnville
Oregon March 21, 1936 to
John and Ellen Harrington.
Aft er graduati ng from
McMinnville High in 1955
she was introduced to
Walt Selisch and they
were married shortly
aft er. They had two boys,
Max and Kurt. Jane was a
4th generati on Oregonian;
her maternal great-great
grandparents traveled the
Oregon Trail in a covered
wagon and sett led in Oregon City spring of 1853. Walt
and Jane moved from McMinnville to Bend in 1969,
owned Bob’s Sporti ng Goods for a number of years then
started Selisch Insurance Agency which they operated
unti l their reti rement in the mid 1980’s.
Jane enjoyed hiking, skiing, playing cards, wildfl owers,
bird watching, trail rides on her horse Buddy, and her
many friends. Walt and Jane traveled extensively in their
motorhome aft er reti rement. Arizona in the winter, and
Campbell River, BC in spring for salmon fi shing. They
also traveled to Maui on numerous occasions and the
beauty of the island was another of Mom’s favorite
places. Unfortunately, in her later years she suff ered
from dementi a but always had a smile on her face, could
recognize family and friends, and conti nued to be the
loving person she always had been.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. She
leaves behind her husband Walt, sons Max and
Kurt, and grandchildren Sam, Reid, and Avery. She
is preceded in death by her granddaughter Brooke.
In lieu of fl owers, please donate to the Alzheimer’s
Assoc: www.act.alz.org/donate.