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VOLUME 21 NO. 51
Page B1
www.flcourier.com
DECEMBER 20 - DECEMBER 26, 2013
AUSTERITY AND ADJUSTMENTS As President Obama agrees to a budget deal that will reduce government spending – as well as jobs and unemployment benefits – a panel urges changes to America’s spy programs, negotiations with Iran turn sour, and ‘Obamacare’ limps forward. COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan budget plan won final approval in Congress on Wednesday, with the Senate passing the hard-fought compromise. President Obama is expected to swiftly sign the measure, which
cleared the Senate 64-36. The House overwhelmingly passed it last week. Under the accord reached by Rep. Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., the former vice presidential nominee, and Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., spending for 2014 and 2015 will
rise by $63 billion, reversing some across-the-board cuts to defense accounts and social programs that only the most conservative lawmakers wanted to keep. Conservative groups, who split the GOP as they tried to stop the deal, opposed the increased spending vehemently. It will be paid for with new fees on airline travel to pay for transportation security, as well as reductions in the pensions of new federal employees and younger, uninjured military personnel. There will be no new taxes. To attract conservative votes, more than $22 billion in savings, including reduc-
OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama met with mothers in the Oval Office to promote the Affordable Care Act in the White House on Wednesday. ing unemployment benefits and cutting federal government jobs, will be applied to reduce deficits. Lawmakers must revisit the deal next month, before funding for the govern-
ment runs out. To prevent Adjustments to a government shutdown, ‘Big Brother’ Congress must pass legislaA group appointed by tion to fund government op- President Obama to review erations at the levels in the U.S. surveillance tactics is See OBAMA, Page A2 agreement.
Holiday heat
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT 2013
‘Blessed to be a blessing’
Gun sales pick up as year ends BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
CHARLES W. CHERRY III / FLORIDA COURIER
St. Ruth Missionary Baptist Church in Dania Beach (Broward County) continued its “Hope for the Holidays” tradition this year. As do many Black churches statewide, St. Ruth gave away free toys, food and clothing. Bishop Victor T. Curry is the pastor.
Duval deletes Klan leader’s name from school COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS
JACKSONVILLE – A Florida high school that was named in the 1950s after a 19th-century White supremacist and now has a majority Black student enrollment will soon have a new name. Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville will change its name in time for the new school year in August, school officials decided Monday. Forrest was a famous Confederate general and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. He later distanced himself from
ALSO INSIDE
showed that 64 percent of the 1,035 students who responded wanted a change; 36 percent were opposed. Of the 93 community respondents, 75 percent wanted the name to remain the same. Of the 339 alumni who responded, 6 percent supported a name change while 94 percent WIKIPEDIA opposed it. The school superintenNathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksondent will present a new ville, named after an early leader of the Ku Klux name to the school board Klan, now has a majority-Black student population. and community in January. “It is clear that the Nathat organization with its Students wanted than B. Forrest name rephistory of racial lynching, resents disparate views that cross burnings and other change have led to a cloud of diviA school district survey siveness that we have had violent acts.
an opportunity to address and remove today,” Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said at the Duval County School Board meeting Monday. “I am convinced that my recommendation and the board’s decision will move Jacksonville and the school district forward and allow us to focus on what matters most – student achievement.”
Southern symbol Born in Tennessee, Forrest was a symbol of the old South. He bought and sold enslaved Africans and enlisted in the Confeder ate See NAME, Page A2
The gift of a gun may be high on many Floridians’ holiday shopping lists. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says it is on target to conduct nearly 1 million background checks this year on private firearm purchases. The projection comes as the department is reporting a record number of reviews conducted over the Thanksgiving weekend that typically kicks off the year-end holiday shopping season. “We have definitely seen an increase in the number of background checks over the past several years,” FDLE spokeswoman Samantha Andrews said Monday. “You can see November and December are relatively larger” for sales. Andrews declined to speculate on the reason for the increase and said the checks are only conducted on the individuals making purchases. National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer said that in addition to buying firearms as gifts, guns sales have grown due to the improved economy and an effort by merchants to move stock by offering enticing holiday sales. “I think it’s a combination of people wanting to take adSee GUNS, Page A2
SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3
Lawson won’t run again for Congressional seat NATION | A6
Better health care for Blacks depends on states FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT | B5
Meet Kareem
COMMENTARY: | Lucius Gantt: Holiday mess and holiday stress | A4 GUEST COMMENTARY: Jeraldine Williams-Shaw: A family Christmas with Madiba | A5
Don’t expect ‘Madea Christmas’ to be a classic