Volume 134 No. 22
THE BLACK MEDIA AUTHORITY • AFRO.COM
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DECEMBER 27, 2025 - JANUARY 2, 2026
Lance Iversen/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Betty Reid Soskin is remembered as the pioneering National Park Service ranger who broke barriers in her time with the agency. Soskin died on Dec. 21 at age 104.
Betty Reid Soskin, oldest National Park Service ranger, dies at 104
By Daisy Nguyen and Susan Montoya Betty Reid Soskin, who rose to national fame as the oldest National Park Service ranger and used the spotlight to talk about the
African American experience during World War II, has died. She was 104. Her family and the park service announced her death through social media, saying she was surrounded by loved ones at her home in
California when she died Dec. 21. They did not release a cause of death. “She was a powerful voice for sharing her personal experiences, highlighting untold stories and honoring the contributions of women
from diverse backgrounds who worked on the World War II Home Front. Thank you for your service, Ranger Betty,” the park service said in Continued on A3
As ACA enhanced subsidy expiration looms, families brace for higher costs and limited care By Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer msayles@afro.com The end appears near for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced subsidies. A last-ditch effort by Senate Democrats that would have extended the
expanded assistance for three more years failed on Dec. 11, even as a small group of House Republicans joined Democrats in a move to force a vote on an extension.Though four GOP lawmakers signed a discharge petition to bypass House leadership, the measure will not
reach the floor until January, as Congress has ended its session for the holidays. With subsidies on track to expire Dec. 31, Medicaid recipients like 30-year-old Hillary Harris are bracing for the fallout. Harris, a resident of Sikeston,
Mo., said she’s relied on Medicaid for most of her life. A single mother, the coverage has helped her navigate pregnancy, postpartum depression and an ADHD diagnosis, while it’s afforded her daughter asthma Continued on A3
afro.com
Courtesy photo
Leaders celebrate holiday season Thomas H. Watkins, legendary publisher, dies at 88 By AFRO Staff
See more on A6 Photo courtesy of the Office of the Governor
Gov. Wes Moore (left) welcomes former Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby and his two girls, Nylyn Mosby (front, left) and Aniyah Mosby, with the help of First Lady Dawn Moore.
Copyright © 2025 by the Afro-American Company
The AFRO sends condolences to all those who knew and loved Thomas H. Watkins, the legendary businessman and activist who served as founder, CEO and publisher of the New York Daily Challenge. Watkins, who was born in 1937, was a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the Comus Club, and Reveille Club. He leaves behind his brother, Kevin Thomas Watkins, a daughter, Kerri Watkins, his son, Thomas H. Watkins III and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.