(upbeat music) - Coming up next on "NewsDepth," we review what we learned this year in the news.

The holidays are here, and that means it's shopping season.

A dance group from Akron is competing nationwide.

And Mary tells us all about our musical state.

"NewsDepth" is now.

We made it.

It's the end of 2023.

Hello there, I'm Gabriel Kramer.

Thank you all for joining us.

Winter break is almost here, and if I remember my days of school accurately, some of you are probably working on your final projects and getting ready for exams and reviewing what you've learned throughout the school year.

So why don't we also recap what happened this year around the world?

Back in January, the US had reached its debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion, and the House of Representatives passed a new debt ceiling proposal.

New policies were also put into effect to protect the environment, like the plan to regulate the Colorado River's fresh water source back in April.

In February, a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.

It took weeks to clean up, and it caused health issues for residents and wildlife.

2023 also brought snowstorms to California and wildfires to Hawaii.

The Beyonce and Taylor Swift concert tours, as well as the "Barbie" movie, made a big impact on the economy by increasing consumer spending this summer.

Israel declared war against militant organization, Hamas, at the beginning of October after a calculated attack from Hamas to Israel.

The United Nations later sent humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip to help the more than a million people whose lives were disrupted due to the war.

And Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana won the seat for Speaker of the House after a near-government shutdown at the end of October.

Okay, with a new year often comes new words.

So let's update your vocab, because these phrases are not just words, they're actually a social currency.

Buckle up, we're starting a journey through the linguistic wonderland of new slang for the year.

Past generations thought they were pretty groovy, hip, awesome, or radical.

Today's kids will say something completely different.

It all means the same thing, but slang keeps evolving.

Online language learning platform, Preply, is out with its survey of the most commonly used slang words teens use.

Slang means the vocabulary among the people of a specific social group.

Some of them are pretty easy to figure out.

For instance, salty is when someone's kind of upset about something.

Some words are not so obvious.

Cap is another word for lying, and simping is when someone does something a little too much for someone they like.

I wish I could find a group of people to tell me about their new slang.

Hold on, I think I may have found them, and they're joining us in our studio.

Now we're joined by a group of high school students from Invictus High School of the Greater Cleveland area.

How are y'all doing today?

(students respond) Very good, very good, I'm glad you're all here.

I'm gonna ask them all some slang words that they like to use so I can learn a thing or two.

Sir, what's your name?

- My name's August, and I'm from Louisiana.

The word we like to use a lot is buku.

Buku mean a lot.

Say you got too much homework, you say, "I got buku homework to do," or a lot of money, "I got buku money," so that's what that mean.

- Buku, I like that.

What's your name?

- Sevenate or you could say Sevena, Big Sevena, or T. - And what's a word that you like to use?

- I say bap, like somebody lying about something, like if I said I had more money than everybody in the world, y'all would say I'll be bap, or y'all probably would say I'll be capping, but I don't like cap 'cause it's corny, so I'll say bap.

- So, we're moving on from cap to use bap instead.

What I'll do is refrain from using any of it, so it all remains as cool as possible for you all to keep using, you okay with that?

- Yeah.

- (laughs) All right, thank you so much.

Now we want to hear from you all from this week's poll.

We wanna know which of these you would pick to be the new slang word for 2023.

Jump over to our poll page online to vote.

You can choose between salty, cap, simp, or buku or bap.

And for last week's poll, we asked you what was your favorite type of weather?

31% of you said you love a snowy day.

A close second, with 27% of the votes, is sunny weather, that's my favorite.

17% of you said you prefer a rainy day.

13% of you said you like a good storm, I get that.

7% of the votes went to cloudy, and another 5% went to windy.

Last week, we also talked about seasonal effective disorder and we asked you to tell us how you take care of your mental health during the winter months.

Let's see what you had to say by opening up our inbox.

Avery from Buckeye Intermediate School in Medina starts us off with, "Dear NewsDepth, "I like to go outside and have a cup of hot cocoa "and go sledding.

"If it is cold outside, I like to write in my journal "and have friends over so we can play together."

Joseph from Columbus Gifted Academy in Columbus wrote, "In order to keep my mental health high, "I like to mostly talk with my friends and family.

"Some activities I will do are playing board games, "chatting, cooking, and exercising."

Joseph, I also love playing board games, actually, especially during the holiday season.

Sophia from Richardson Elementary in Cuyahoga Falls also likes to spend time with friends.

"One way I care for my mental health "during the winter is pretty simple.

"I like to play indoors with my friends.

"Even if I'm not outside, "sometimes it's good just to have company.

"Other times I like to get food "and watch a movie I really like.

"While playing out in the snow is nice, "I don't really like getting cold."

Levi from Olmsted Falls Intermediate School in Olmsted Falls said, "Dear NewsDepth, "when I get overwhelmed or emotional in the winter, "I like to take deep breaths and talk to my family.

"Sometimes I sit with my cats or dog and take a nap."

That sounds like a great plan, Levi.

I bet News Hound is on board.

And Luciana from New Bremen Schools in New Bremen takes care of their body and mind.

"Dear NewsDepth, how I take care of my mental health "during winter is I eat as healthy food as possible, "and if I get sick, I take medicine while resting in bed."

Thanks to everyone who wrote in.

I always love reading your letters.

All right, for our next episode next year, we'll have another new Career Callout segment, this time about engineering.

Engineering is a branch of science that uses math and technology to solve problems and increase productivity.

We'll be talking to an engineer about their job and what took them on this career path, but we need your help coming up with interview questions.

So for our Write-to-Us this week, we want you to send in your questions about a job in engineering.

And come back in January to hear a professional answer your questions about their job.

Okay, now let's get back to the news.

Analysts say, US consumers figuratively broke the bank over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, including billions of dollars of online sales.

That trend is expected to continue over the holidays, and it will give the overall economy a boost heading into the new year.

John Lorinc reports.

- [John] Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are in the books, but the holiday shopping season is far from over.

- We wanted to get some games to play with the kiddos.

We got a couple kids at the house, so you know, keep 'em occupied.

- [John] Despite three years of high inflation, the occasional threat of an economic shutdown in Washington DC and increased lending costs, US consumers are still opening their wallets in the post-pandemic era.

- We're now at the stage in the economy where those cost pressures have abated as supply chains have really normalized across most products.

- [John] Retailers are hoping deals on products will boost sales.

According to Adobe Analytics, items like toys, electronics, sporting goods, apparel, and appliances will all have double-digit discounts this holiday season.

- The Black Friday period that we just experienced was one where the consumer was out and about and spending, certainly, still very focused on those promotions.

- [John] Adobe Analytics says US shoppers will spend a record-setting $113 billion in e-commerce this November and December, a nearly 14% hike from the year before.

Social media is also playing a factor.

- The toy space, as well, has a lot of influencers, parenting influencers showing off what they're getting their kids, and really influencing what those top toys of the year that are likely going to sell out.

- Thank you, John.

This holiday season, artificial intelligence is now being used to help shoppers find the perfect present.

Google and Simon Properties are some of the first to launch AI for gift giving.

Experts share how AI is being utilized and the potential risk the new technology poses for those who opt in.

Gloria Pazmino has more.

- So more and more artificial intelligence is becoming a part of our daily lives, and now, even holiday shopping.

If you have a relative that's very picky, or you're simply just running out of ideas on what to buy this holiday season, artificial intelligence might just be the solution.

Buying real gifts with the help of artificial intelligence.

- We have this new Google AI-powered gifting tool - [Gloria] As Lillian Rincon with Google Shopping explains, when buyers engage with Google's generative AI, they can discover items with just a few words.

- I'm shopping for my 7-year-old daughter who's very picky, and she wants to be a scientist, an inventor, and so I can actually query for exactly that.

- [Gloria] Thomas Germain from Gizmodo says the more these AI tools learn, the better it is for the shopper's experience.

- Right now, you kind of have to know what you're looking for.

You need to know the name of the product or have a really accurate description.

With these AI tools, the better that they get, the idea is ultimately, they'll be able to help do the thinking for you.

- [Gloria] But shoppers beware.

Experts say if you opt in... - It gives powerful corporations a lot more power, the power to make a prediction, the power to understand what is gonna be the most effective bid in a transaction, what price you're willing to pay.

- [Gloria] As for how some of those gifts get to you, AI is helping with that too.

- In this holiday season, some customers will receive their packages that are picked, packed, or sorted by robots.

- Peter Chen from Covarient explains that AI-powered robots can pump out around 3,000 packages an hour, human hands, about 300 to 400.

- Thank you, Gloria.

Now onto some news regarding the job front.

Minimum wage workers in 22 states will get a raise at the start of the new year.

A minimum wage is the lowest wage per hour that a worker may be paid as mandated by federal law.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.

States are required to follow federal minimum wage law.

States can pass their own laws to make the wage higher than the federal law.

The higher hourly rates are due to either scheduled increases or lawmakers upping the minimum wage in their jurisdictions because of inflation, come January 1st.

Seven states and the District of Columbia will have minimum wages of $15 or more.

In New York City, the minimum wage is increasing to $16 per hour.

And in Ohio, the minimum wage is increasing from $10.10 to $10.45.

The highest state minimum wage will be Washington State at $16.28, up from $15.74.

A close second is California, which is raising its minimum wage to $16 from $15.50.

The state with the biggest jump in its minimum wage next year will be Hawaii, which is hiking it up by two whole dollars.

And 20 states are still using the federal minimum wage, which hasn't gone up since 2009.

Now, we have a couple stories about dancing.

Among the many immigrant communities that call Akron home are refugees from camps in East Africa.

Since the summer of 2020, a group of high school students who grew up in these camps have been dancing together in a crew called The Black Beanz.

The Black Beanz perform not just around Akron, but the entire country.

They recently won an invitation to the very prestigious World of Dance, a series of competitions held all over the world.

For their competition, The Black Beanz were picked through a regional audition process to compete in California in August, 2023.

Let's check 'em out.

(upbeat music) (audience cheering) - The style, we do four or five kinds of styles from Africa.

We do Southeast and North Africa.

We do ndombolo and that is from Congo, from Central Africa.

And we do Afrobeats, that is from Nigeria.

And we do a amapiano that is from South Africa.

And we also, we do bongo flava, and that is from Tasmania.

We are all from different parts.

We are from Congo, Tasmania, and Uganda and all of us, most of our tribes, they all wear that in most of our tribes, so basically, we looked back, way back, we asked our parents, "What do our people, our ancestors wear back in the days?"

And we all got the same thing from our parents.

We're like, "We can do something with that."

- So most of our dances are choreographed by Martin.

Martin's a choreographer.

It is like, I'll bring the song, Martin choreographed, he created a dance, or we create it together.

But most of the songs we created all The Black Beanz all together.

- I started creating dances back in 2020 when I moved to Akron, Ohio.

This group, The Black Beanz, that dancing group, it was just four teenagers playing soccer.

And I came out with this idea of dancing, because that's what we know.

And yeah, so I just told the boys, "Let's start."

(upbeat music) - So my mom once told me that since I was young, I used to love dancing.

So everywhere I go is just dancing, dancing, dancing.

I wanted to play soccer for a team called Inner City.

And I texted Martin and I'm like, "I wanna play soccer, and I wanna join the team."

Then I joined the team.

Then later on, I met everybody else from the team.

Then they're like, "We have a dancing group.

"We wanna know if you wanna dance."

I'm like, "I don't know how to dance."

Then, so (indistinct), I joined The Black Beanz as a dancer.

- World of Dance, which is the top dance competition in the world, a couple hundred different groups.

So they all come to California, and it's all different groups.

There's ballerinas to dancers like these guys, and they all compete, and the top prize is actually a million dollars.

- David and I brought them to a dance audition.

We sent in one of their videos, and they qualified.

They didn't have a lot of practice time.

The judges had to put 'em through.

They just said, "This is so unique.

"These boys are so joyous.

We gotta send them through."

- World of Dance, it was amazing.

And I experienced (indistinct).

It felt great.

I can't tell you how it was, but (laughs) it was amazing.

We won Crowd Favorite at the World of Dance.

We performed, we were scared at first before we got on stage, but we became strong and we did our best.

- They got the most applause in the audience of any dance group.

(upbeat music) (whistle blowing) - So The Black Beanz, it's not just a bunch of teenagers come together to dance.

We are like a family.

We're like brothers where we can be a creative relationship and a family and if one of us need help, we're all there to support and everything.

(upbeat music) (ball bouncing) - Man, what an awesome group.

Special thanks to Ideastream producer, Ygal Kaufman, for sharing that story with us.

I bet your feet are tapping ready, ready to break out dancing, you know mine are.

so let's check out another dance group.

It's called Boomer Ballet, and it's exactly what you think it is.

Students 55 years and older are getting together to learn ballet in classes that are growing increasingly popular in Minnesota.

Sharon Yoo reports.

- [Jill] Flex your toes and six and... - [Sharon] The hallmarks of ballet include good posture.

- So, we're gonna start seated up.

- [Sharon] And elegance.

- Push.

- [Sharon] Under the instruction of Jill Lile - [Jill] And switch.

- [Sharon] Those things are never too late to learn.

- [Jill] Here we go, and bend, stay down, stay down.

- We are realizing, since the pandemic, we just have to keep moving.

- [Sharon] So came Boomer Ballet classes.

- It's funny, Jill called it that right off the bat and then she said, "Oh, we can't call it that.

"People won't come, because they'll go, "'Well, I'm not a boomer,' or whatever."

And I said, "That's exactly why we should call it that."

- I own being a boomer, I'm proud of being a boomer, so I think it's a great name.

- [Sharon] From 55 to 85 years old, students like Deb Pleasants come for a variety of reasons.

- Flexibility, I'm learning how to move my body in ways that I either never knew how or have forgotten and stuff, because when you're younger, your body just moves automatically.

- [Sharon] Being intentional about each move... - [Jill] Two, and out and- - [Sharon] Overcoming first impression fears.

- And there were people who were starting out just like me, so I didn't feel as uncomfortable.

- [Sharon] And maybe the best thing about being a boomer... - When you get older, you don't care.

The younger dancers are all worried about how they look and what their friends are thinking.

Older dancers are like, "I am here for me."

(upbeat piano music) - [Sharon] While standing in first position, moving onto the second, it's also about realizing the best position, may be side-by-side with each other.

- Well, anyone who knows anything will help them feel more comfortable.

We all gather outside of class before it starts, and we all talk to each other.

- Just come and try it.

You're never too old to learn something new.

- Thank you, Sharon.

How about a little music?

You all know this one?

♪ Hang on, Sloopy ♪ All right, Ohio is home to lots of great music.

From the birth of rock and roll to the world famous Cleveland Orchestra, we have got a tune for you.

Mary has this week's Know Ohio, all about our musical state.

Take it away, Mary, Mary, Mary?

(bright music) - Oh, sorry, I was just rocking out to some sweet Ohio jams, and there's so much great music to choose from, because Ohio is such a cultural melting pot.

It claims musicians from nearly every genre, (rock music) rock, folk, hip hop, country, jazz, and so many more.

In fact, Ohio is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the world's most comprehensive archive of materials related to the music industry.

In addition to being a public museum, legendary musicians are inducted into the Rock Hall, like for instance, soul singer, Bobby Womack, or influential doo-wop group, the Isley Brothers, both of whom happen to be from Ohio, by the way.

The Rock Hall is largely in Ohio because of one man, Cleveland disc jockey, Allen Freed, who is known for popularizing the term "rock 'n' roll" in the 1950s, and he did it right here in the building I happen to be standing in.

That's right, 1375 Euclid Avenue used to be home to WJW, the Rockin'-est radio station in town.

Since Ohio is the home of rock and roll, it's only fitting that we should have an official state rock song.

In fact, Ohio was the first state to designate an official rock song.

Take a listen.

(upbeat music) ♪ Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy hang on ♪ It's called "Hang on, Sloopy" by The McCoys, a rock band with roots in Ohio.

When it was first released in 1965, the Ohio State University marching band covered the song, and it's been a favorite ever since.

In fact, Sloopy has sort of become Ohio State's unofficial fight song.

At games, fans even interject an O-H-I-O into the music break.

By 1985, the song became so ingrained in Ohio culture that the members of the Ohio General Assembly approved it as Ohio's officially sanctioned state rock song.

(bright music) But this song is not to be confused with Ohio's official state song, "Beautiful Ohio," which was originally written in 1918 by lyricist Ballard MacDonald.

MacDonald's original song describes a romance that takes place in Ohio, but in 1989, the lyrics were altered, and the romance was written out.

Instead, the altered song describes the diversity of Ohio's landscapes with cities rising high and farms of golden grain.

And Ohio is also a powerhouse for more traditional music as it is home to four major symphony orchestras, including the world renowned Cleveland Orchestra.

The Buckeye State's musical strength is drawn from its amazing diversity.

It's a place where different genres collide and new ideas are formed, and because of this, the music rocks.

(ball bouncing) - Rock on, Mary.

Okay, I've got the last A+ Award to give out for 2023.

Here at NewsDepth Headquarters, we love a nice garden.

Nothing makes us happier than seeing some cone flowers, zinnias and lilies, especially when that garden makes an entire space look beautiful.

Well, it seems like a group of sixth and third graders at St. Gabriel Consolidated School in Glendale knew that and wrote to us all about the school's Garden Club, which won them this week's A+ Award.

Sixth grader Charlie told us that it all started when she and a few of her classmates were talking about inspiring others to make their school more beautiful, and they realized that there was a patch of land out front that used to be a garden, but now was in pretty bad shape.

Amelie told us that they came up with a plan along with their science teacher, Mr. Imwalle, to plant day lilies and iris in the old garden, which hadn't truly been cared for in about 10 years.

The students told us that before they could plant anything, they needed permission from the school and had a lot of work to do to prep the soil for new plants.

It took the group several weeks to do all of their work that was needed.

Then at the end of last school year, they were able to finally start planting and have a ribbon cutting ceremony.

The community was very supportive, and many families donated plants.

The work wasn't done there.

The garden needed to be continually cared for to make sure the plants were healthy.

That's when the Garden Club came up with a plan to start composting to make sure the flowers had nutrient-rich soil.

Third grader Harley told us that composting is a great way to reuse food scraps from lunch, and it helps getting nutrients back into the soil to help the plants.

They even had the help of about 1,000 red wiggler worms to help break down the food scraps into soil.

Claire explained to us that as the worms eat the scraps, they poop out all kinds of great nutrients.

It sounds super gross, but that's really how it works.

Another student named Clare told us that she's really proud of the garden, because it really makes a school look beautiful, and it gives parents a nice place to sit when they're waiting for dismissal at the end of the day.

Nora, who wrote us an email about the garden, told us that she is really proud of the garden, because it shows how beautiful the world can be, and that it's important to take care of nature.

This week's A+ Award goes to the Garden Club at St. Gabriel Consolidated School.

You're doing a great job of making your school and community a more beautiful place.

Well, we're almost outta time this episode, but you know, I would never forget about News Hound.

Let's see what he's up to.

(upbeat music) (dog barking) Hey there, News Hound.

Oh, what do you have there?

Did Santa come to your house early this year?

Well, show us, what did he get you?

Ah, a new toy.

Okay, okay, we still have work to do.

(bright music) So, what animal story do you have for us this week?

Aw, it's a story about some cuddly friends, assisting doctors with homeless patients.

- [Narrator] Loving, trusting, and playful, these visitors are good medicine.

- It puts you in a whole nother world, 'cause they're so friendly, and it makes you forget what's going on in life like your sickness or your illness or they're just there for you.

They're loyal, they love it.

I just love everything about dogs.

- [Narrator] Sully is a showman.

Blue loves treats.

Zara's high energy, and Nelly, the well-dressed chihuahua, is a calming presence.

- To check out how these service dogs are helping with the healing process, click the Petting Zoo button at the bottom of the episode page.

(ball bouncing) And thank you, News Hound.

Happy holidays, of course.

Okay, that's a wrap for 2023, but don't worry, we'll be back in January.

(upbeat music) Until then, we want to hear from you, and there are plenty of ways you can stay in touch with us.

You can write to us.

We're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Our zip code here is 44115.

You can email us at newsdepth@ideastream.org, or you can tweet us.

Our handle is @NewsDepthOhio.

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.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Gabriel Kramer.

Happy holidays.

Happy New Year.

We'll see you right back here next year.

(upbeat music) (ball bouncing) - [Announcer] "NewsDepth" is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

- [Announcer] Career Callouts featured in "NewsDepth" are funded by the Ohio Broadcast Media Commission.

(bright music)