(upbeat music) - [Gabriel] Coming up next on NewsDepth.

(screen whooshing) Ohio communities are recovering from severe weather.

(screen whooshing) What are forever chemicals?

Jeff has the answer.

(screen whooshing) Students test out a four-day school week, (screen whooshing) and we learn about one of Ohio's most famous authors, Toni Morrison.

(screen whooshing) NewsDepth is now.

(upbeat music) Severe weather swept through Central Ohio last week, causing significant damage in the community of Bucyrus in Crawford County.

Hello everybody.

I'm Gabriel Kramer.

Thank you for joining us.

There has been extensive damage to homes and businesses, but luckily there have been no reports of injuries.

Emergency crews are working with assistance from neighboring townships to aid the community.

Carly Deon has the story.

(chainsaw revving) - [Steven] I think this right here was one of the most damage that we've had in years.

- I don't know what's going on with the weather in Ohio, but I'll take the old weather back.

- [Carly] After severe weather made its way through central Ohio, the community of Bucyrus has a lot of cleaning up to do.

- I was asleep 'cause I worked third shift and all of a sudden my window started blowing in.

I was getting soaked by rain.

- [Carly] Next thing Matthew Bishop knew, he was watching a tree come crashing down on his and his aunt's cars.

- I was like, I cannot believe I just watched that tree fall and how'd it not hit me?

Wind's blowing at me but it didn't come at me, it just landed on the car, so I'll take that.

- I was like, oh my God, I can't believe this actually happened.

- [Carly] Breanna Stanfield says she wasn't at home at the time, but she couldn't believe the damage she saw when she returned.

- The Family Dollar sign ended up actually just a couple houses down.

- [Carly] The Family Dollar, located about a few hundred feet away from their home.

Here you could see windows shattered and the roof caved in.

- I heard thunder, wind, maybe I heard a little crashing.

- [Carly] Steven Kendall says he was at home at the time with his seven kids.

He kept watch while his family stayed in the basement until they saw the storm had cleared.

- I told all my kids, "We're alive!"

And we came out screaming to everybody that we were alive and we made it 'cause we're happy that we made it.

- [Carly] Bucyrus fire chief Chad Schwemley says so far they've received no reports of injuries.

- We've got a house that's been moved off its foundation.

There's several roofs that have been removed.

There's been a couple walls collapsed on a brick building down the road here.

- [Carly] He says his crews have been doing what they can to help out the community, as many are still without power.

- We've had assistance from I believe four townships.

We're in the process right now of getting a couple light towers to bring in town 'cause it's pretty dark out there right now.

- Thank you Carly.

Our state is not the only one facing severe weather.

Parts of Hawaii are flooded after severe rains hit the Honolulu area last week.

No mandatory evacuations were ordered, but some residents did have to seek shelter.

Eddie Dowd reports.

- [Eddie] It was the last thing residents on the Garden Isle wanted to see on Sunday, heavy rains hitting the island for the second time in less than a week.

(water rumbling) The day before some areas of the island remained saturated with large puddles of water left by heavy rainfall Thursday into Friday.

- It's not gonna take much.

It's just gonna take a persistent rain for the streams to go up.

But luckily that heavy rain has kind of moved on.

- [Eddie] The Casticimo Ohana spent days cleaning up their home in Koloa after it flooded early Friday, - Maybe right here on the car, so about waist high.

- [Eddie] On Sunday they were preparing for another potential flood, moving personal possessions to higher ground and staying with nearby family as a precaution.

- [Josh] The water did rise but it didn't hit the house.

We were just hoping whatever we did bring outside, it wasn't gonna float away again.

- [Eddie] The State Department of Transportation says it's still on track to get a vital bridge in Wailua back open by Monday despite the additional rain.

(cars revving) (water splashing) Now that system is moving through Oahu.

The National Weather Service says with this system flooding concerns are focused in Honolulu.

(water splashing) - Focused over the urban core so it doesn't take as much to flood, you know, say in metro Honolulu than it does, you know, for areas that are more covered with trees and grassland.

- [Eddie] Honolulu Emergency Management says it started preparing last week for this system.

- We saw some potential for heavy rains over the weekend, so we actually had crews go out, check some of our problematic areas, some of the streams and take action where they can, opening up the stream mounts in some of the areas to mitigate flooding.

- Thank you, Eddie.

Other parts of the world are also facing issues with precipitation.

Precipitation is any kind of weather condition where water falls from the sky.

This includes rain, snow, hail, and sleet.

Dubai and the United Arab Emirates is experiencing the heaviest rainfalls it's seen in 75 years, while back in North America, Mexico is still in the middle of a drought.

(screen whooshing) Dubai experienced unprecedented rainfall with around four inches falling in just 12 hours, equivalent to its annual average.

The rain caused widespread flooding, trapping people in their homes, and overwhelming the city's infrastructure.

The airport was severely affected with flights delayed or diverted leaving passengers stranded.

Authorities are facing an enormous cleanup effort with the city essentially at a standstill.

While in Mexico, a popular lake in central Mexico that is a major tourist destination is drying up due to drought, deforestation, and the theft of its water.

Lake Patzcuaro has lost more than half of its volume since authorities started tracking its falling water levels.

The local government blames environmental factors and the illicit siphoning off of the lake's water.

(screen whooshing) On more environmental news, a recent UN analysis found the amount of electronic waste generated globally is growing five times faster than it can be recycled.

This electronic waste includes cell phones, busted TVs, and washed-up washing machines.

This can lead to a host of environmental health and climate concerns.

Michael Yoshida digs into the issue and offers some helpful tips on how you can safely dispose of old phones, tablets, and other gadgets.

- [Michael] Global electronic waste or e-waste has reached record highs.

Some 68.3 million tons in 2022 alone according to a recent United Nations report.

- [Carlo] That's equivalent to the weight of over 100,000 of the world's largest passenger aircrafts.

If you put them together, that's enough to form an unbroken queue from New York to Athens, 5,000 miles.

- [Michael] As the world becomes more reliant on electronics, the recycling of gadgets and appliances is not keeping pace.

Something experts are hoping will change with more awareness, - Better managing e-waste means better health.

Health for the planet, but also health for ourselves because a lot of the components in e-waste can be very toxic to humans.

- [Michael] Along with environmental and health reasons to recycle, there's a big money incentive too.

E-waste often contains rare earth metals.

- If we had been able to reuse and collect all what is in e-waste, we could have generated over 91 billion US dollar in value just in 2022.

- [Michael] So how can you safely recycle your e-waste or give it a second life?

Experts say if the gadget is old but still working, see if a friend or a family member wants it.

Another option, see if you can trade it in for a new device or credit.

And if you do choose to get rid of your item, make sure it goes to a certified recycler.

- Thank you, Michael.

Last week we wanted to know what are some of the efforts you do to reduce, reuse, and recycle?

Let's check out the significant impact individuals have on the environment by opening up our inbox.

(screen whooshing) (screen clicking) (message whooshing) Mason from Ella Canavan Elementary in Medina, that's where I went, starts us off with, "Dear NewsDepth, My family and I have four bins.

One for reduce, one for reuse, one for recycle, and one for trash.

And that's how we reuse, reduce, and recycle.

Say hi to NewsHound for me!"

You hear that one, NewsHound?

(NewsHound barking) (message whooshing) Caleb from Melridge Elementary in Painesville tells us about making crafts with reusable materials.

"Dear NewsDepth, my teacher had a friend that teaches recycling and she makes arts and crafts about reduce, reuse, recycling, and it's really fun.

(message whooshing) Sadie from Parkside Elementary School in Concord gave us a few tips for the three Rs.

"Dear NewsDepth, to reduce when we get presents that are in bags, we save them to reuse, and to reduce paper in my class, we put all the unused paper worksheet aside and my teacher takes them to the recycling plant.

To reduce garbage, I made a juice pouch wallet and I hope the three Rs spread around my school.

(message whooshing) Michael from Bath Elementary School in Bath likes composting.

"The way I reduce, reuse and recycle is using extra food that we don't eat and putting it in the compost.

Then we use the compost for our garden in the spring.

We also recycle all of the plastic and metal that we don't use anymore.

I also pick up any trash that is in my neighborhood and recycle it.

That's how I reduce reuse and recycle."

(message whooshing) And Lucas from Lowell Elementary in Lowell takes the environmental duty very seriously.

"Personally, I volunteer to pick up trash around the neighborhood.

I do not have trash cans.

I only use recyclable paper products and stuff of that nature."

Thank you all for being environmentally friendly and telling us all about it.

Here at NewsDepth headquarters, science is our favorite subject.

We love looking at the stars, working with robots, and using engineering skills to build things and solve problems.

The fifth grade at Chardon Hills STEM School in Euclid are just like us.

They invited us to visit them, and they told us all about their school-wide STEM Day.

STEM of course stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.

(screen whooshing) Anabella told us that the fifth graders all hosted learning stations throughout the day and the younger students visited each station to explore different STEM challenges.

Julius was excited about his station.

He told us that at his station the students got to build Mars Rovers out of clothespins and popsicle sticks.

Julius shared that his station was pretty challenging, but he was really proud of how hard his younger schoolmates worked.

Taylor's station was all about space science.

At her station, the students had to make models of constellations out of pipe cleaners and beads.

She told us that she learned how helpful it is to have examples to show the students.

Most of the students at her station made small models of the Little Dipper.

Jernell's station was all about Legos and building things.

He told us that one of the best parts of the day was when the younger students were successful.

It made him really proud to see their hard work pay off.

Kaiden and Khloee shared that some of their key takeaways from the day were how important it was to be patient when you're working with people, and that it is very important to be respectful because you need to treat people the way you want to be treated, especially when you're doing something that is challenging.

Alex added that it's very important to be a clear communicator when you're working with other people because it will help them to understand the goals of the project and to follow the instructions.

These students truly exemplify Chardon Hill's three Rs: showing respect, being responsible and being ready to learn.

(screen whooshing) This week's A plus award goes to the fifth grade at Chardon Hill STEM School for hosting a STEM day for their classmates.

We also appreciate that the students who spoke with us skipped recess to tell us all about their STEM day.

Keep up the great work.

Well, since we all love science, how about a brand new spot on science?

Today, Jeff tells us all about forever chemicals, a term you might have heard before.

Forever chemicals are manmade chemicals that resist breaking down in the environment.

These chemicals can contaminate drinking water sources and accumulate in wildlife and humans globally.

Jeff St. Clair knows where they come from and how they can affect our health.

(upbeat electronic music) - Our world is full of manmade chemicals that can impact our health.

One type that's been getting a lot of attention are known as forever chemicals because they never break down in the environment.

(rocket whooshing) Health experts are worried about forever chemicals, not only because they last forever, but they're found everywhere.

They're showing up in animals and people all over the world.

In fact, experts believe nearly every person on the planet has some amount of forever chemicals in their blood.

How do they get there?

Forever chemicals, they have another name.

It's perfluoroalkyl substances, or P-F-A-S, PFAS.

They have the ability to repel both water and oil, which makes them very useful in a lot of products.

PFAS are used in non-stick skillets, lots of waterproof clothing brands, stain-resistant fabrics, fast food wrappers, even certain types of dental floss.

Some make up, especially long-lasting and waterproof brands, also contain PFAS.

Around half our drinking water sources are contaminated with PFAS chemicals.

Many local fish are loaded with them.

What worries experts most is that these chemicals are so widespread and they can cause health problems in people.

Studies have shown levels of PFAS can cause problems with our liver, kidneys, thyroid glands, and digestive systems.

One type of PFAS is known to cause cancer.

In the levels most people have in their bodies, PFAS can cause high cholesterol in kids and adults.

(screen whooshing) The fact is we don't really know all the problems these chemicals can cause, just that forever chemicals are everywhere.

The best way to avoid them is to pay attention to the kind of products you use and try to learn more about which ones are safe and which ones to avoid.

(screen whooshing) (Earth pinging) - Thanks for that tip, Jeff.

Now this school year is almost over and while we are all looking forward to a great summer, some students in Baton Rouge, Louisiana are already excited about starting school in the fall.

That's because they are switching to a four-day school week.

Administrators think it'll make them more engaged, well-rounded, and better performers.

Gabriella Mercurio explains.

- [Gabriella] Like many school districts nationwide, Baker School superintendent JT Stroder says they've had some issues with students bouncing back from the pandemic.

- There just seemed to be this lack of interest, lack of effort applied towards academics, showing up to school, behavior seemed a little worse.

- [Gabriella] And principal of Baker High School, Dr. Candace Russell says they've been trying to make some changes.

- Concentrated on this year was creating a culture, changing the culture here at Baker High School, and that includes changing the behavior as well as academics.

- [Gabriella] But a new idea might just be the trick.

Stroder's working on implementing a four-day school week for the district's juniors and seniors next year.

He believes he'll see improvements in students all around if they're only in school from Monday through Thursday.

And juniors like Kennedi Alexander and Xavier Love believe it'll give them more time to balance school and sports.

- I feel like it'll be an amazing opportunity for a lot of the kids in my grade especially 'cause a lot of us have jobs, a lot of us, we participate in after-school activities and I feel like it's an amazing incentive.

- It gives me more time to prepare, you know, for football games on a Friday night and you know, just letting go all that stress with school, you know, gimme more time to study, do homework and stuff like that.

- [Gabriella] Love thinks it'll also better prepare them for college too.

- I know in college, you know, you got your own schedule, you on your own basically, so having a four-day week, it will really prepare me for the next level.

- [Gabriella] But Stroder says there are some requirements for the program.

- They would have to meet an attendance criteria, a behavior criteria, elite performance criteria, a GPA criteria.

- [Gabriella] For those juniors and seniors who don't initially meet the requirements, they're not ruled out just yet.

Russell says students will get help and be reevaluated for the program each semester.

- We will use our Fridays to help students, you know, to use them to do some preparation for their ACT testing for their leap assessments and so forth.

- Thank you, Gabriella.

A four-day work week is also something some employers are starting to consider.

A police department in Colorado is trying a four-day work week.

Employees are on the clock for just 32 hours a week, but they still get paid for 40.

As Erica Hill tells us, it's an effort to promote a better work-life balance and give workers more flexibility.

(truck whooshing) - Sometimes it's hard to adjust to a new schedule, but this was actually really easy to adjust to.

- [Erica] Until July Sergeant Stephanie Sipes worked four 10-hour days every week.

(radio beeping) - Nine Victor four area check.

- [Erica] Now it's four eight-hour days.

32 hours of work, but she's still paid for a full 40.

- I just get to be the best version of myself every single day.

And part of that is, is that I'm filling my cup at home.

- [Erica] It's not just Sergeant Sipes, every employee at the Golden Colorado Police Department is also working fewer hours.

- All right, let me get you transferred.

Hold on just one moment.

- [Erica] Those compressed work weeks are part of a six month pilot for the department, which if it goes well, could expand to all city employees.

- They have such a diversity of types of jobs.

So they've got folks that are out in the field that are covering 24/7, 365.

They've got office personnel, they've got sworn people.

And so it was a good, I'll say microcosm of the city as a whole.

- Was there any resistance initially?

- [City Employee] Yeah, and we really talked through that to explain that we're not expecting people to work less.

We're asking them to work fewer hours, but we're asking them to get the same or more done.

- [Erica] To achieve that goal, overlap between shifts has been reduced, meetings are shorter and more focused, but staffing levels haven't changed.

(materials offscreen bumping) While squeezing everything into just four days felt daunting at first, crime scene investigator Latara Durant quickly found her stride.

- Professionally, I feel like I'm driven more.

Personally, I've got four kids and a husband and two dogs.

Now I am able to go to my kids' recitals.

I've got cheerleaders.

It's benefited me all the way around.

- [Erica] Happier employees, but what about the community?

Serving the city of more than 20,000 is still the department's top priority.

So far, those findings are also encouraging, including a boost in call response times.

- [City Employee] We just did a three month check-in with the community, and there was essentially no negative feedback, no concerns.

- Thank you, Erica.

That brings us to our poll for the week.

How long do you think a work week or school week should be?

Jump over to our poll page online to cast your vote.

You can choose between three days, four days, five days, or six days.

And come back next week to see how many of your peers agree or disagree with you.

But for now, let's check out the results of our last poll.

We asked you, which one of the 83 parks around the Buckeye State would you most like to visit?

The top answer, no surprise here, is all of them, with 32% of the votes.

About 27% of you said you wanted to visit a different park from our options.

I would love to hear what some of those favorite parks are.

23% of you voted for Hocking Hills State Park.

14% of you said you actually wanted to go to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and 4% of you voted for Malabar Farm State Park.

Thank you all for voting as always.

Now let's get back to the news.

Four-year-old Bryan Patrick finished writing his first book and now aims for the Guinness Book of World Records title of world's youngest author.

Bryan's book is about his favorite topic, letters.

Bilyana Garland chatted with the family about how he started down this path.

- So the obsession, not too sure how it got started, but he definitely has a strong love for the alphabet.

- [Bilyana] Meet Bryan Patrick, a 4-year-old boy whose favorite toys are letters.

- He keeps both of us on our toes.

- [Bilyana] He's the brains behind his first book, "There Was a Boy Who Swallowed the Alphabet."

Bryan's mom and dad, Eleanor and Irvin Patrick say they knew their only child was a little different when he could spell words like axolotl.

I'll let you look that up.

Since he was two, Brian has loved all things with the alphabet.

His alphabet backpack and lunchbox, he even had an alphabet birthday party.

- [Eleanor] None of this was anything that we planned.

He had some ideas and we rolled with it.

- [Bilyana] He also wanted to grow his love and curiosity for letters and words.

So like any other 4-year-old would do, he actually grew them in his backyard, the alphabet garden.

For every letter there's a plant, and since Brian's favorite letter is B, it's no surprise that his favorite plant is the blueberry bush.

- [Irvin] We're excited.

We're very proud of him.

We feel like we got it right.

- [Bilyana] This level of dedication could be a dream for many, but his parents say it's not all sunshines and rainbows.

Trying to find an appropriate grade level for him is a challenge.

- Because he really has mastered kindergarten already.

You know, he can read pretty fluently.

He knows all the letters, letter sounds, numbers.

He can count to I don't know what number.

- I know any number.

- Any number.

None of this has been, sit down, you have to learn this.

It's really been very much self-taught, self-guided.

- [Bilyana] His parents say it's become a nightly ritual, him begging to hop on the computer to type out the alphabet.

That slowly evolved into words, then sentences, then before they knew it, a whole book in just a month.

- [Eleanor] I just googled the age of the youngest author and realized he was younger than that person.

- Thank you, Bilyana.

Ohio is home to some fantastic authors like horror writer R.L.

Stine, poet Langston Hughes and the great Toni Morrison.

In this week's "Know Ohio," Mary shares a brief biography of one of Ohio's most famous authors.

Toni Morrison is an African American author born in Lorain in 1931, but her family moved to Ohio in the 1800s searching for equal treatment and integrated schools.

An integrated school back then used to mean that the school was accepting of students of all races.

Let's learn how Morrison's work was heavily influenced by her life in Ohio.

(upbeat country music) - As early as the 1800s, Ohio was regarded as a place where African Americans found, for the most part, equal treatment.

Ohio public schools were integrated.

They allowed students of all races.

And Oberlin College became one of the first colleges in the country to admit black students.

So it's not surprising that many African Americans found refuge here after the Civil War when southern states passed unfair laws that made life difficult for black Southerners.

The historic resettling of 6 million Southern African Americans to northern states like Ohio is known as the Great Migration, and it brought the family of Ohio's most famous writer, Toni Morrison.

Toni was born in Lorain in 1931, but her family instilled in her a southern heritage of storytelling and folklore.

As one of few black students in mostly white classrooms, Toni was a star student at Lorain High School and she developed a love of reading, especially classic novels like those by Jane Austin.

Toni left Ohio for college at Howard University and worked in publishing and as a professor for years before she wrote her first novel.

That novel, "The Bluest Eye" was set in Toni's hometown, Lorain, and told the story of a young black girl who wishes for blue eyes and white skin, something Tony did herself as a child.

The novel was so successful that it launched Toni's career as a writer.

She went on to write several more novels that are now considered classics, such as "Sula," "Song of Solomon," and "Beloved."

Over the years, her writing has earned her many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom given by President Obama in 2012.

Toni Morrison is arguably the country's most celebrated writer and her story began right here in the Buckeye State.

(screen whooshing) (Earth pinging) - Thank you, Mary.

And if you want to learn more about some different Ohio authors like R.L.

Stine and Langston Hughes, you can check out our "Know Ohio" segments online or on YouTube.

Maybe our next great author is one of our viewers.

Well, for our write-to-us this week, we want you to write a short story, but we have a special challenge for you.

We want your stories to be in the genre of historic fiction.

Your story can be set in any era.

You can send us your story using our inbox forum online or by sending us an email to newsdepth@ideastream.org.

Okay, why don't we now learn a little bit about how our favorite cuteness correspondent got started in news?

It's time for the "Petting Zoo."

(drum music) (dog barking) Hi, NewsHound.

Some of our viewers and I want to get to know you a little bit more.

Tell me, how did you get into journalism?

Oh, okay.

You wanted to be a reporter to tell stories about cool animals.

You must just be an animal guy.

So what cool animal did you find today?

Wow, a story about service dogs that encourage kids in Indianapolis to read.

To check out the complete story, click the Petting Zoo button on this episode's page.

(screen whooshing) (Earth pinging) Thanks as always, NewsHound.

And that's a wrap for today, but you can keep the conversation going and there are plenty of ways for you to stay in touch with us.

You can write to us, we're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Our zip code here is 44115.

Or you can send us an email to newsdepth@ideastream.org.

Plus you can catch all of our special segments on YouTube.

Hit subscribe if you're old enough so you don't miss out on any of our new videos.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Gabriel Kramer.

We'll see you right back here next week.

(screen whooshing) (upbeat music) (Earth pinging) - [Child Narrator] NewsDepth is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

(upbeat music) (calm music)