(upbeat music) - [Ygal] Coming up next on "Newsdepth."

Multiple fires ignited across the Texas panhandle last week.

Mexico City faces severe water shortage amid low rainfall.

We learn about the geography and history of Lake Erie in this week's Know Ohio.

And budget cuts are affecting school librarians.

"Newsdepth" is now.

(upbeat music) The Smokehouse Creek fire has consumed over a million acres of land, making it one of the largest wildfires in US history.

Hello everybody, I'm Ygal Kaufman, in for Gabriel Kramer.

Thanks for joining us.

Devastating wildfires have ravaged parts of Texas and Oklahoma, the biggest blaze called the Smokehouse Creek Fire.

It's spreading as fast as three acres a second, and it's become the largest wildfire in Texas history.

Mike Valerio shows us just how much has burned and shares stories of evacuations from the fire zones.

- [Mike] In North Texas, frantic video of cattle galloping as fast as they can against a backdrop of black smoke billowing from one of at least five wildfires.

The people recording also running for their lives.

- It looked like Armageddon, it looked like our town was just being engulfed in black.

- [Mike] Some of the flames have jumped into neighboring Oklahoma.

Many residents from the Texas panhandle communities of Canadian and Fritch are seeking safety elsewhere.

- We all were wondering, what is this?

What's gonna happen?

Are we going to be able to return?

Is there going to be anything to return to?

- We've had extremely hot dry days these last couple of days, along with extremely high winds.

- We will be returning as soon as we can to go assess damages, hug our friends, hug our families, and be thankful that we are all alive and start rebuilding.

- Thank you, Mike.

Now turning to the West Coast, recent rainfall and melting snow pack have led to a nearly 10% surge in water levels at Lake Mead compared to this time last year, according to officials from the National Weather Service.

Reports indicate that the water at Lake Mead is currently 28 and a half feet higher than it was at this time last year.

Even longtime residents have noticed the significant decline the lake has endured in recent years, and they're now happy to see the rising water levels.

Georgia Acosta dives in.

- [George] With on and off rain across the valley for the last couple of weeks, some desert dwellers who've frequented Lake Mead for decades say they are glad to see rising water levels.

- We have seen the water go down tremendously, so every time we see it come up a foot or five feet or 10 feet, we are so thankful.

- [George] As temperatures warm up, reports from the Bureau of Reclamation, the organization that oversees the Lower Colorado River operation shows that the water at Lake Mead is 28 and a half feet higher than it was at this time last year.

As of Wednesday morning, readings show the levels at Lake Mead are sitting at 1,075 feet.

- I mean, we're getting somewhere with it, and hopefully it gets filled back up, they can move this again, they can have access to easier boating launching and all the things like that.

So I think people look forward to that once it goes up.

- [George] Officials with a National Weather Service in Las Vegas, say snow pack along the Colorado River, is currently higher than normal, sitting above 100%, and say it's allowed Lake Mead to reach a 37% capacity compared to last year's levels where it reached just 29%.

- [Samuel] Snow pack contributes more than rain because you have a picture of the size of it.

This is a snow pack that's covering the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado River, we're talking Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, it all flows into the Colorado River, which is a very large amount of water, and that all eventually makes its way into Lake Mead.

- Thank you, George.

On the other side of the world, the lack of snow is affecting the economy of Italy.

Before we get into the story, let's take a spin around the globe to visit Italy.

Italy is a country located in southern Europe.

It's known for its rich history, culture, and cuisine.

Italy is home to iconic landmarks such as the Colosseum, The Leaning Tower of Pisa and Vatican City.

The capital city of Italy is Rome, which is also the largest city in the country.

The official currency of Italy is the Euro.

The country has a parliamentary republic government system, and their official language is Italian.

The largest industries in Italy's economy are manufacturing of cars and textiles, agriculture, mainly wine and olive oil, and tourism.

But the climate crisis is causing a meltdown for the economy in central Italy that depends heavily on snowfall.

The above average temperatures this winter are leaving ski resorts with no snow on the ground as Barbie Latza Nadeau reports.

- These mountains in central Italy used to be a favorite spot for local skiers.

Now, the area looks more like a barren, muddy wasteland.

February is supposed to be the biggest and busiest month here at Campo Felice Ski Resort in the Apennine Mountains in central Italy, not this year.

As you see behind me, all of these mountains that are brown are supposed to be covered with snow.

This year, instead, there just hasn't been the snow.

The only snow you see here was made with artificial snow machines.

This year, the influence of El Nino means temperatures have been even higher than usual.

Normally, on a Sunday in February, you'd have 6,000 people skiing on these slopes.

This year, only four of the 14 slopes were open.

Of the 250 people who work here normally, only 50 have been able to keep their jobs because the season has been so mild and short.

This ski resort has been in Andrea Lallini's family for 23 years.

First his father, and now he and his brother Luca run it.

He says the seasons have been getting shorter over the years.

He tells us the problem is lack of precipitation, plus it has never gotten cold.

This year, winter barely even arrived, he says.

They tell us that in the 1980s and '90s, artificial snow wasn't necessary, there was plenty of the natural stuff to go around.

This year, snow machines were the resort's only option.

But even that is problematic because last summer there was very little rain and lakes like this one ran dry.

There was no water to make snow and even fake snow melts if it's too warm.

It's a vicious cycle, he says.

And non-skiers feel the impact too.

Gennarino Di Stefano is the mayor of Rocca Di Cambio.

He says, the town's livelihood revolves around this ski resort and those nearby.

The changing climate is having a ripple effect on the economy.

- Every town has a good number of people who come here to work, from the ski instructors, the managers, the bars, the restaurants, the people who run the ski lifts, many people are not working, - [Barbie] And for ski instructors like Isidoro Francesci, the lack of snow and shorter season means these young competitive skiers have to go elsewhere to train.

- For those of us who have always worked in this area, it is heartbreaking to see nature spoiled like this, it isn't good.

- [Barbie] As skiers turn to resorts at higher elevations where there's more snow, skiing in places like this will soon be wiped out for good.

- Thank you Barbie.

Mexico City, one of Latin America's largest cities, is facing a severe water crisis.

The city is struggling to cope after years of low rainfall blamed on climate change, chaotic urban growth, and outdated infrastructure.

Now, authorities have introduced significant restrictions on water pumped from reservoirs.

A reservoir is a natural or artificial source of water.

Gustavo Valdez has the details.

- [Gustavo] Lorena Cruz knows she's breaking the law every time she pulls water from this underground reservoir.

She says, it is a miracle the city tank has water, and without it, the whole neighborhood would suffer because they've had no running water for over a month, and the city, she says, still wants them to pay for the service.

Lorena and her neighbors are not the only ones struggling to find water for their basic needs.

All 21 million residents in Mexico City's metropolitan area are experiencing shortages in part because of a severe drought.

Mexico's capital gets its water from two sources, a system of reservoirs known as Cutzamala and underground aquifers.

Raul Rodriguez Marquez, Director of the Consejo Consultivo Del Agua, a civic organization promoting water conservation, says the reservoirs are at historic low levels, well below 40% capacity, and the aquifers are over extracted.

Part of the problem has been drier than normal rain season that typically run from May to August.

Some experts warn the city could run out of water this summer on what's been called day zero.

The city's mayor assured residents that the water supply is guaranteed.

But the lack of rain is not the only reason experts say Mexico City is suffering from water shortages.

A study by Universidad Autonoma De Mexico shows that 40% of the water supply is lost due to leaks.

Some because breakage of pipes during the frequent earthquakes, some because the city still relies on pipes over 100 years old.

Rodriguez Marquez says that instead of investing to improve the infrastructure, the money spent on water projects has decreased for many years.

For now, the government will continue to ration distribution and continues to call on its citizens to conserve the precious liquid, forcing residents to patiently wait for water to come their way or get what they need, wherever they can.

- Thank you, Gustavo.

Do you know where your drinking water comes from?

I'd be willing to bet that the water that comes out of your faucet comes from one of the Great Lakes.

And if you're watching in Ohio, it likely comes from Lake Erie.

Lake Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes.

It was formed by glacier activity during and following the Ice Age.

In this week's Know Ohio, Mary dives into the geography, history and purpose of Lake Erie.

(upbeat music) - Today we're gonna take a dive into one of Ohio's most treasured natural resources, our own Great Lake, Erie.

Ohio's North Coast is a great place to swim, fish, and sail.

It's also part of the reason Cleveland and Toledo exists, as the waterway connects these cities to other large cities, and in the 1800s before planes, trains, and automobiles, ships and boats were the fastest and most efficient mode of transportation.

Even today, Lake Erie provides an important shipping route, which spans all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes, which as a whole, contains the largest supply of fresh water on the planet.

In fact, 90% of the fresh water in the United States is located in these five lakes.

But they weren't always so splashy.

20,000 years ago, these lakes looked like this.

Mind you, it was the ice age.

So much of the northern United States and Canada were covered in these large chunks of ice called glaciers.

And when I say large, I mean huge.

The glacier that formed the Great Lakes was two miles thick.

Key Tower, Cleveland's tallest building, would've been dwarfed by this massive glacier.

As the ice age came to an end and things started warming up, the glaciers spent nearly 10,000 years melting into what are now the Great Lakes.

Lake Erie, as the southernmost lake, was the first one formed.

Its spooky name comes from some of the earliest inhabitants along its shore.

The Erie people were Native Americans who farmed and hunted among fearsome predators like mountain lions.

In their native tongue.

Erie is short for Erielhonan, which means roughly long tail, a reference to the wildcats they lived among.

As white settlers arrived and cities around the lake grew, unregulated industries began polluting the lake.

The pollution became so bad that in the 1960s environmental activists even declared the lake dead.

Since then, the US government stepped in to stop the pollution by passing the Clean Water Act.

Although the lake still struggles with a manmade algae problem, it's come back to life, which is a good thing, considering over 11 million people now get their drinking water from Lake Erie.

(upbeat music) - Thank you, Mary, and that brings us to our poll for the week.

We want to know what is your favorite water activity?

Jump over to the poll page to sound off.

You can choose between swimming, fishing, sailing, or simply going to the beach.

Hmm, I think my favorite thing to do on the lake is just going to the beach.

I like to bring my camera with me and take pictures.

Last week we talked about schools developing guidelines for using artificial intelligence in the classroom, and we wanted to know if your school had rules on using AI.

44% of you said you weren't sure if your school had rules.

About 30% said your school didn't have rules.

And another 26% of you said your school did have rules on using AI.

We also asked you to put your school administrator hats on and tell us how you would regulate using artificial intelligence in the classroom?

Let's see what you came up with by opening up our inbox.

Vivian from Harding Middle School in Lakewood thinks students can use AI to check their homework.

"I think that students should not always be able to use AI because then they're not learning and they do not get better.

I think an appropriate way to use AI is when checking math work because you already did the work, and if you got it wrong, you will learn."

Aiden from Sherwood Elementary in Cincinnati thinks AI can be used for education in the future.

"Dear "Newsdepth," I think that AI should have strict but reasonable rules on it.

Kids are already using Copilot or ChatGPT as a fun game and they aren't really paying attention to classwork.

But when we get older, I think that a fair thing to do is let us use ChatGPT to help us write essays and reports."

Mariyah from Edison Elementary School in Willoughby thinks parents should be involved in students using AI.

"I think the appropriate way for students to use AI is they can use it for resources to study for a test.

The only reason I said that is because some think that studying for a test means to cheat.

Parents should watch their kids to make sure the kids are not cheating."

Amari from Jackson Intermediate in Hebron thinks regulation is key.

"So "Newdepth," to answer your questions, I do not think that students should always use AI, but they should only use it when it is appropriate.

Some appropriate ways that we can use AI during school is when the teacher tells us to or when we have free time.

We can cite information we learned from AI when the work we are citing is already complete so we aren't cheating ourselves."

And lastly, Ava and Isla from Eastwood's Intermediate School in Hudson teamed up to send us this answer.

"Dear "Newsdepth," we think that no one should ever use AI in our school.

We think that because then you can probably cheat on tests or do your homework quickly, and that is not cool."

Thanks to everyone who wrote in, I can tell you put a lot of thought into your answers.

Sticking with school news, librarians in one Texas town have reached their epilogue.

An epilogue is a speech at the end of a book or a play.

Spring Branch ISD is getting rid of its library leaders in order to address a $35 million budget shortfall.

Troy Kless reports.

- Obviously, it's devastating news to her.

- [Troy] Cody Dolan's wife has worked as a librarian in Spring Branch ISD for nine years.

He notes the work she does goes beyond books.

- She has a robotics club in her library.

She has a video game creating club in her library.

She has something every day, before or after school, that kids can go to, 'cause libraries are really the hearts of schools.

- [Troy] The school district saying it won't have librarians starting next school year.

Hard for parents like Morgan Pereja to imagine.

- Our teacher librarians currently are able to reach every student on campus.

- [Troy] Instead, Spring branch ISD says, libraries will be supported as media centers with district level media specialists.

A media center assistant will handle day-to-day library operations, a spokesperson said.

The district's job posting says media assistants need 48 college hours or a high school diploma, Dolan's wife earned a master's degree.

- For the district to act like it's a one-to-one replacement, that's fantasy land as far I can tell.

- [Troy] The district says the decision was made in part to address a $35 million budget shortfall.

Dolan's wife, not worried about her job, but the kids losing an essential part of their education.

- What is that gonna do to them?

What is that gonna do to their development?

What is that gonna do to their lifelong passion for reading that she hopes to develop?

The district is gonna lose some really passionate employees who have made a difference in the lives of students.

- Thank you, Troy.

We now want to hear what you think.

For our write to us this week, we wanna know why is your school librarian important?

You can submit your answers using our inbox form online or by sending us an email to newsdepth@ideastream.org.

Teacher shortages are a problem across the country and state lawmakers in Pennsylvania are trying to address the problem.

One solution is getting students excited about a career in education.

Dan Snyder speaks to lawmakers about a new student-teacher stipend program.

- [Dan] A major boost to education funding is on the table in Pennsylvania after the state Supreme Court ruled the state's funding system unconstitutional.

Governor Josh Shapiro pitched an additional $1.1 billion for education.

- But to make that work, we need more teachers.

- [Dan] A Penn State study shows Pennsylvania saw its highest teacher attrition rate in 2023, and saw a 71% drop in teacher certifications issued from 2011 to 2022.

Teachers at SLA Beeber in West Philly have felt that pinch.

- Well, we don't have a shortage of students, so how does that translate?

I've had students who are like, well, I had a sub all year last year at my previous school before I came here.

- [Dan] Now lawmakers say they're working to get more teachers into classrooms.

State Senator Vincent Hughes touted the Student Teacher Stipend Program, which gives $10,000 to those completing their student teaching requirement.

SLA Beeber is also the first school to host the Teacher Pipeline Academy, hoping to get high school students excited about the profession.

- We have about five who are like, I wanna be a biology teacher, I would like to be a counselor, I wanna be in a medical field, teaching.

- [Dan] Senator Hughes says there's more that needs to be discussed in Harrisburg as well, including teacher pay raises and sign-on bonuses.

He also believes there's a willingness to get this done from both sides of the aisle.

- This is not just a urban issue, it's not just a Democratic issue, many rural school districts in Pennsylvania have a very significant problem with not having enough teachers.

- [Dan] But teachers also say there's some things that need to change, that money can't buy.

- The perception of teaching has to be changed in our national landscape, to just inspire students that this is fun, you can make a difference.

- Thank you, Dan.

A high school teacher in New York has created a video game to help his students learn about minerals.

Arin Cotel-Altman has the story.

- One thing we talked about earlier today, right, is convection currents, - [Arin] Kerry Winters isn't your average high school teacher.

- The traditional style of lesson where it's I stand in front of the classroom, I lecture, and then you do, I think that that's kind of an outdated style.

The plates then rest on top of this.

- [Arin] That's why he created a video game called A Journey Through Earth Science.

The goal of the game is to learn about minerals.

- So minerals have different properties like hardness, color, density, and in the game what they do is, is they're a miner and they go to different mineral deposits in the game, and they try to mine the minerals using the features that they find out about the minerals in the game.

- [Arin] The game took around a 70 hours to make.

Mr. Winters, trying to help his students learn in a way that's more familiar to them.

- One of the problems I find in education is people they wanna run away from the social media and from like the smartphones and all those.

I think we have to harness those tools to our advantage instead of actually like trying to run away from them.

- [Arin] The players also have an earth science reference table to help them while playing, which is something they have to learn to use for the Regents Exam.

The game is a mixture of learn and play.

It has a combat element built in as well.

Caydence is one of Mr. Winters' students who loves this new learning method.

- In his class, usually, I have a really hard time focusing.

- [Arin] She has ADHD, which can sometimes make learning difficult.

- [Caydence] But when I play that game, it takes the work out of the work.

- [Arin] She says, not all students are the same, and everyone has a different path to success.

- It feels like people who have a hard time learning actually get a chance to do that when it's made in a different way.

- Thank you, Arin.

One of my favorite things to do after school when I was your age was playing video games.

I used to rush home to fire up my Super Nintendo and play Super Mario World almost every day, and I'm sure many of you do the same, but you probably play games like Fortnite and Super Smash Brothers.

This week's A+ Award Winners took their gaming to the next level and even put their skills and knowledge of gaming on display at last month's Ohio Educational Technology Conference held in Columbus.

On the first day of the conference, which is for teachers, administrators, and technology staff, the eSports teams from Buchtel CLC, from Akron, and Akron STEM High School took part in a playground session.

The playground sessions give presenters the opportunity to demonstrate a skill or technique and have conversations with conference participants about what they're doing.

The eSports teams brought their consoles and monitors along and set up gaming stations where they demonstrated Super Smash Brothers.

While they were playing, a few of them spoke with conference participants about their experiences on their school's eSports teams.

Many of the conference participants were interested in starting eSports teams at their own schools and found the insights from current eSports team members to be very valuable.

The gamers got to talk about both of their competitive seasons, one that takes place in the fall and the other that takes place in the winter.

They even described what the competitions are like and how they set up their practice schedules.

The gaming teams explained to us that participating in eSports gave them the opportunity to show off their skills and to even compete for state championships.

The conference attendees told us that it was great to hear an eSports participant's perspective on the topic and how important the experiences have been.

Here's a big shout out to the Buchtel CLC Griffins and the Akron STEM High School Eagles Gamers for advocating for eSports at the Technology Conference.

Congratulations on your A+ Plus Award.

Hey, let me know if you want me to play any games with you next time.

Okay, it's time to catch up with our cuteness correspondent, Newshound.

Let's see what he found for this week's Petting Zoo.

(upbeat music) Hey there, Newshound, are you playing video games?

Oh, I see you're training to join an eSports team.

I hope you didn't forget about the Petting Zoo.

Oh, there he's on it now.

What did you find this week?

It's a story about two students in Kentucky training service dogs, nice.

- [Sarah] This is Babe, she's from the Taylor Swift litter.

- This is Chewy, he is from the Star Wars Litter.

- [Destiny] Babe and Chewy are bonus students on U-K's campus right now.

- Everybody on campus is just really, they love to see your dogs, they love to pet 'em.

Professors are just great with the dogs.

- [Destiny] All these students have four paws and a tail, what they're learning is invaluable.

- People don't realize how much dogs can help, so they can do anything from seizure alert to helping with PTSD attacks, diabetes alert.

- [Destiny] Through the 4 Paws For Ability Program, dogs are trained skills to see if they have what it takes to become a service dog.

- Gimme another five, good girl.

- [Nick] The main thing is we try to really work on their obedience in public, just getting them used to going out in public, going to restaurants, class, things that like kids would do 'cause these dogs normally get placed with like little kids.

Go, keep going, keep going, yeah, go boy, Chewy.

- To watch these pups get their dog-rees, click the Petting Zoo thumbnail at the bottom of this episode page.

Thank you, Newshound.

Well, that's all the time we have 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.

You can email us at 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 Ygal Kaufman.

We'll see you right back here, next week, (upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Newsdepth" is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

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