Page 10 The Skanner October 18, 2017
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World News Briefs
Republican Says He’ll Push Health
Deal, Trump Keeps Distance
WASHINGTON (AP) — The authors of a bipartisan
plan to calm health insurance markets said Wednes-
day they’ll push the proposal forward, even as Pres-
ident Donald Trump’s stance ricocheted from sup-
portive to disdainful to arm’s-length and the plan’s
fate teetered.
“If something can happen, that’s fine,” Trump told
reporters at the White House. “But I won’t do anything
to enrich the insurance companies because right now
the insurance companies are being enriched. They’ve
Adams cont’d from pg 9
odist ministers in Mississippi who
later followed their work to Georgia,
Abrams’ family struggled to fight off
poverty, relying at times on govern-
ment assistance.”
As a student at Avondale High
School, Abrams was hired as a typist
for a congressional campaign in high
school, where her tweaks to a cam-
paign speech she was typing up were
deemed so good she ended up being
hired as a speechwriter at 17, The
Guardian reported.
And, as she seeks to become the first
female Black governor in history,
Abrams has already accomplished a
series of firsts including being the
first person in her immediate family
to buy a house and the first to become
a lawyer. She also earned the distinc-
tion of being the youngest deputy city
attorney in Atlanta’s history.
When she ascended to the position
of house minority leader, it was the
first time that a person of color or a
woman had held that job in more than
200 years, according to The Guardian.
Incidentally, her sister, Leslie
Abrams, is the first Black woman to
become a federal judge in Georgia.
“Georgia is a fast-changing state
been enriched by Obamacare like nothing anybody
has ever seen before.”
The agreement by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.,
and Patty Murray, D-Wash., on a two-year extension
of the federal subsidies to insurers that Trump has
blocked gained an important new foe on Wednes-
day. The anti-abortion National Right to Life said
it opposed the measure because it lacked language
barring people from using their federally subsidized
coverage to buy policies covering abortion, said Jen-
nifer Popik, the group’s top lobbyist.
Corporations to Keep Tax Break Lost
by Millions of Americans
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Americans
with demographic parity,” Abrams
said. “But, I’m running to be the gov-
ernor of all Georgians, because all
Americans deserve leaders who care
about them and who don’t work only
for the privileged, but for justice.”
That’s important, because “Poor
doesn’t care what color you are,”
Abrams said.
With vast experience in the public,
private and nonprofit sector, Abrams
said she’s poised to lead her state.
Abrams said that she has created sev-
eral small businesses, published eight
novels and, one of her latest ventures,
was to make sure Black-owned small
businesses had access to capital.
Her campaign is based, in part, on
a vision that every Georgia resident
deserves the freedom and opportuni-
ty to thrive, but Abrams said that too
many people are being left behind or
left out.
Abrams has also pledged to expand
pre-kindergarten programs and make
technical college education free.
Her vision for Georgia is one she
said fosters prosperity where every-
one has the opportunity to succeed,
not just survive.
“We have the ability to build a stron-
ger, brighter Georgia,” Abrams said.
“It is time for transformative leader-
ship, powered by all of us.”
would lose a prized tax break under President Don-
ald Trump’s sweeping revamp of the tax code, but
corporations would get to keep it.
The Republican proposal would eliminate the fed-
eral deduction for state and local taxes, a widely pop-
ular break used by some 44 million Americans, espe-
cially in high-tax, Democratic-leaning states like New
York, New Jersey, California and Illinois.
But corporations, which pay billions in local prop-
erty levies and state income taxes, wouldn’t be affect-
ed.
Republicans are determined to overhaul the na-
tion’s tax system by year’s end, offering a plan that
lowers the corporate tax rate from 36 percent to 20
percent and reduces the number of tax brackets.
Trump and the GOP cast the plan as a boon to the mid-
dle class.
OBITUARY: LaFarrest Cleophus Gay
December 23, 1952 - September 27, 2017
L
aFarrest Cleophus
Gay was born to Q.T.
and Ella Mae Gay on
December 23, 1952
in Tullahasse, Oklaho-
ma. He was the 9th child
born to Q.T. and Ella in
a family of 13. LaFar-
rest attended Carter G.
Woodson grade school
in Tullahasse until 1965
when the family moved
to Portland, Oregon. La-
Farrest attended Benson
High School where he
played basketball. He had
a mean jumper -- ask any-
one. He graduated from
Benson with honors and
was heavily recruited to
work for Xerox, where
he stayed for a number
of years.
LA
met
Diahanna
Roach in 1969. In 1971
they had their first child
DeMika Gay, and 14
years later they had their
son, D’Wan Gay.
LA was raised by a
mother who loved and
served the Lord. The
house motto was “As
long as you live un-
der my roof, attending
church is mandatory.” LA
attended Pinkard Chapel
C.M.E. Church in Okla-
homa, where he sang in
the church choir, which
consisted of all his sis-
ters and brothers. The
family united with Allen
LaFarrest Cleophus Gay
Temple C.M.E. Church
in Portland, Oregon. He
later became a member
of Bethel A.M.E. Church,
Portland, Oregon, where
he proudly served as
head usher.
We all affectionately
called him LA. He was
a loveable and giving
person, people gravitat-
ed toward him. LA had
a protective spirit. He
protected those he loved
with his life. He once
went to his daughters’
school to defend her hon-
or, how admirable.
LA started a new ca-
reer later in life as an
over the road truck driv-
er, and bought his own
truck. He drove for many
years before he retired.
LA was an avid fisher-
man, he could find spots
to fish where there were
none. He was also a pool
shark, domino wizard
and an exceptional cook.
LA lost his life doing
what he loved-fishing.
LA leaves to celebrate
his life: mother Ella Mae
Gay, Portland, Or.; daugh-
ter DeMika Gay; son
D’Wan Gay; grandson
Ricardo Elie, and moth-
er of his children, Diah-
anna Gay, all in Atlanta,
GA. His sisters were Viv-
ian Snoddy (Bill), Tulsa,
Oklahoma;Gloria Buggs
(Q.L. deceased), Portland,
Oregon; Glenda Johnson
(Mark), Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma; Beverly Sails,
Portland, Oregon;
Torsha McKinney (Leon-
ard),
Seattle,
Wash-
ington; Marina Butler
(Raymond),
Tacoma,
Washington; Sonja Free-
man, Portland, Oregon;
Wende Gay, Portland,
Oregon; Latanya Jenkins;
Portland, Oregon. His
brothers were Calvin
Gay (Shara, fiancé), Port-
land, Oregon; Nehoma
Gay, Portland, Oregon;
Lionel Gay, Portland,
Oregon; L.C. Gay (Bev),
Portland, Oregon. He is
also survived by Lexoni
Downing, who affection-
ately called him “dad,”
and a host of nieces and
nephews.
A memorial service
was held 11 a.m. Oct. 14, at
Bethel AME, 5828 NE 8th.