(upbeat music) - Coming up next on NewsDepth.

The white house celebrates the holidays.

And the world welcomes a new Republic, Barbados.

Merriam Webster selects their word of the year.

Plus Ohio is home to some incredible ice skaters.

NewsDepth is now.

(upbeat music) Barbados says bye-bye to the queen.

Hello everybody, I'm Rick Jackson, thank you for joining us.

Last week, Barbados became the world's newest Republic.

A Republic is a state where power is held by the people and their elected leaders.

The Caribbean country swore in Sandra Mason, it's first ever president, November 30th.

So who was in charge before?

In the 1620s, the British took over the island and it remained a colony until it gained independence in the 1960s.

The country was ruled by a representative of the queen of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II and she was their Monarch.

But no more monarchy for Barbados.

Max Foster attended the ceremony where the people cut ties with the queen.

Max.

(band music) - I Sandra Prunella Mason, do swear that I will well and truly serve Barbados.

- [Max] 55 Years after gaining independence from the UK, Barbados cuts its last formal tie to its former colonizer.

The Royal Standard flag lowered and replaced by the Presidential Standard marking the end of the Queen's reign on this island.

And a new future under a Barbadian born head of state, appointed by the Barbadian parliament.

- Our country, and our people must dream big dreams and fight to realize them.

- [Max] Prince Charles invited as a guest of honor, amongst the likes of pop star Rihanna.

He used the moment to acknowledge Britain's role in the slave trade.

- From the darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history.

The people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude.

- [Max] It was unusually stark language from the UK, but disappointed those holding out for a formal apology.

- Prince Charles is part of the Royal family.

The Royal family contributed to slavery.

The Royal family benefited from slavery, financially.

And many of our African brothers and sisters, die in battle, okay, for change.

- It was in the 1620s that British settlers arrived in this paradise.

And they went to build vast fortunes from the sugar and the slave trades.

Calls for compensation for that dark period in British history grew louder during the black lives matter protests as did the push to a Republic.

- Clearly people in Africa, in this region, in all parts of the world still feel that profound sense of injustice and it's quite right that we recognize that.

We are determined that such a thing could never happen again.

- The queen is still head of state in 15 countries around the world and Republican movements in those nations will be looking at what's happened here in Barbados and hoping that this will add momentum to their own campaigns.

- Thank you, max.

Well let's head to a country that also let go of the queen, South Africa.

They used to be ruled by the British Empire as well, but it became a Republic in 1961.

So let's take a spin around the globe.

Hello and welcome to the country of South Africa, aptly named because it is at the Southern tip of the continent.

More than 59 million people live here among the plateaus and grasslands.

But now with such a diversity of cultures, the country's nickname is the Rainbow Nation.

The country has not one but three capital cities.

One is the legislative capital, another the executive Capital, and the third, the judicial capital.

South Africa is known for its rich minerals, including gold and diamonds.

Plus they farm a lot, and that brings us to our story.

Agriculture is often blamed for releasing lots of greenhouse gases and thus causing climate issues.

That's why some folks have been looking for new forms of food.

We even talked about them last episode, remember?

We asked you to vote on whether or not you would try lab grown meat.

Hey, let's go ahead and take a look at those results right now.

58% of you said, no thank you.

Well, no labs in this next story, just nature and energy transfer from cow to crop.

In South Africa, farmers say what people eat is not as important as how they farm.

They're using a process called regenerative agriculture.

Regenerative means renewing the quality of something, in this case, soil.

David McKenzie visited a farm to see the process for himself, David.

- [David] Danie Slabbert likes to say, he's just a simple farmer.

Likes to say what he does is simple to understand.

- So this is so simple.

This is what we want.

Look at this soil.

- This soil is alive, but this soil also is doing the job for you.

You don't have to add all this.

- This soil is a natural system, it does the job for me.

- [David] Healthy soil doesn't need additives like toxic and costly fertilizers.

Simple as that may sound.

If you care about climate change, his is a story worth listening to.

Livestock accounts for just over 14% of global emissions, but Slabbert says we are missing the point when it comes to food.

Want to save the planet, focus on how we farm, not what we eat.

People these days are saying that meat and cattle is bad for nature or bad for the planet.

Is that true?

Do you see it that way?

- David that can't be true.

Animals are part of nature, it was in the bigger plan.

(foreign language) - He gives his cattle a chance to act the way nature intended.

- A hundred to two hundred years back, in this specific area of South Africa, there was millions of animals migrating throughout summer in this areas.

- From above, it's easy to see, high intensity grazing mimics those great migrations.

And with 30 to 40% of the earth's surface covered by grassland, it's a method with global potential.

So these cattle, are actually replenishing your land.

- Exactly that yes.

The microbial life in the stomach of cattle are the same system of the microbial life in soil.

So those two work together, beautifully.

- Research done by Texas A&M shows even moderately effective grazing, sequesters more carbon into the soil, than the cattle emit.

The healthier the soil, the more carbon is captured.

- In Africa, especially it's feeling the heat.

So climate change is a real issue.

And we get all this blame as farmers, but we've got the solutions in the palm of our hands.

- [David] Healthy soil also retains moisture.

Plowing destroys that ability.

Which is why his cornfields look like this.

Not like the perfect never-ending rows of industrial agriculture.

And when winter comes, he'll graze the cattle here too, to replenish the soil in time for the next growing season.

With 46 tons of fresh natural manure for free.

- And you can really get this biology going, then you don't have to buy something out of a bag.

- Letting nature work sounds simple enough, but then what's simple is often ignored.

Have we forgotten the connection with the land?

- Yeah, David in a sense I think we have.

So this whole chemical revolution has given us so much recipes to just put everything in synthetically.

And it really disconnected us with nature and with the land.

If you maybe can smell this, you will smell the life.

- I can.

(Danie laughs) - That is the beauty.

- Thanks, David.

Well how about a roundup of some national news.

While we were out for Thanksgiving, plenty happened right here in America, including those two big holiday travel predictions coming true.

(upbeat music) The transportation security administration says it's screened 2.3 million people at US airports the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

And another 2.45 million people on the Sunday after.

That's the busiest day, since the pandemic began.

And 85% of the volumes seen on the same day in 2019.

It's also double the number of people who passed through airports last year.

The TSA screened 20.9 million people over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The total number of air travelers for the weekend, 89% of pre-pandemic levels.

Just as travel seemed to be on the rebound, President Joe Biden called for a ban on folks coming to the US from certain African countries, including South Africa and for all international travelers entering the US to have a negative COVID test within one day of traveling.

This is because of a new strain of the Corona virus.

It's the Omicron variant.

It's been found spreading in different countries.

Biden said the travel ban would give people more time to get vaccinated while the Variant is being researched.

- As I said, this new variant is a cause for concern, but not a cause for panic.

We have the best vaccines in the world, the best medicines, the best scientists.

we're learning more every single day.

And we'll fight this variant with science and speed, not chaos and confusion.

So let me repeat what the doctors and scientists have affirmed.

The best protection against Omicron, is getting a booster shot.

Right now about 135 million Americans are eligible for booster, but only about 40 million have gotten one thus far.

If you're over 18 years of age, you got vaccinated before January, excuse me, June one, go get your booster shot today.

And if you're not vaccinated, now's the time to get vaccinated and take your children to get vaccinated.

Every child over the age of five can get a safe, effective vaccination.

- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's working with state health officials to determine how to address this new variant.

Vaccine makers are also looking at how effective their doses are against Omicron.

Which brings us to an announcement by dictionary company, Merriam Webster.

The company announced its word of the year as drum roll please, vaccine, not too surprising.

Merriam Webster says the choice highlights the different discussions surrounding vaccinations this year.

How the COVID-19 vaccine was seen as both a promising medical solution and a source of political argument.

They note online searches for the definition of vaccine jumped 601% between 2020 and 2021.

Their official definition of vaccine is, ready for this one?

A preparation that is administered as by injection to stimulate the body's immune response against a specific infectious agent or disease.

We got that.

This is the second year that Merriam-Webster has made a coronavirus influenced pick.

Pandemic was the 2020 word of the year.

For our question this week, we want to know which positive word would you choose to represent 2021?

Make sure you give us a good explanation of why you chose your word.

Now, how about a bit of lighter news.

While we were away, the Hanukkah holiday also occurred.

People of the Jewish faith celebrated Hanukkah from November 28th through December 6th.

Their festival of lights commemorates the night Jews reclaimed a holy temple in Jerusalem.

The people lit the Menorah with a one day supply of oil, but it ended up lasting for eight days.

The first night of Hanukkah was celebrated on the White House ellipse with the annual Menorah lighting ceremony.

Second gentlemen, Doug M Hoff, the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice-president addressed the holiday crowd.

A Rabbi lit the first candle on the national Hanukkah-Menorah to mark the celebration.

And the White House was ready for the rest of the holidays too.

First lady Jill Biden, unveiled this year's holiday theme and decor titled "Gifts From the Heart".

Her office says it was inspired in part by the challenges of the Corona virus pandemic.

More than 100 volunteers from the local area spent a week decorating inside and outside the White House.

The display includes 41 Christmas trees, about 6,000 feet of ribbon, 300 candles, more than 10,000 ornaments and nearly 79,000 holiday lights.

I'm glad I didn't have to do that in my house, that's a lot of decorations.

Okay, let's hop to another story.

Millions of Americans lost their jobs during the COVID pandemic, but something else happened too.

Millions more left voluntarily.

It's being called the Great Resignation.

Resignation means giving up one's job.

There are multiple reasons for the move and Vanessa Yurkevich has the story.

- A simple task.

Kate Santangelo picks up her seven-year-old daughter, Grace from school, something she's waited years to do.

Do you recall how often you were able to pick your daughter up from school?

- Oh my gosh, never.

- [Vanessa] But that all changed in April.

She quit her 15 year career in sales to be home full-time with her kids.

- I was working endless hours and traveling a lot.

- If COVID didn't happen, do you think that you still would have quit your job?

- No, no I think I'd still be there.

Yeah, without a doubt.

- [Vanessa] She's one of millions quitting the workforce in recent months.

A record 4.4 million quits in September.

It's being called the Great Resignation.

- We like had so much time that, you know, we had to be sit in our homes and spending time with, you know, people that we live with and just shifting priorities.

- [Vanessa] And she's one of 4.7 million business applications filed from January through October of this year.

A 34% increase from the same time period in 2019.

She founded Monmouth Moms, a resource guide for parents.

- It allows me to take off if I need to bring, you know, my kids to the doctor or, you know, offer more flexibility in terms of when I can even schedule appointments for them.

- It's not just moms leaving the workforce.

Americans are retiring in greater numbers too.

What am I looking at a behind you guys right now?

- That's our RV.

Yeah that's our RV you got in the background.

- [Vanessa] Scott and Mary Banks retired early this September at 57 and 59 respectively.

And are road tripping across the country.

- Packed up, strapped down and ready to head down the road.

- Scott quit his finance job, Mary left real estate.

- I said, what would you think if we did it now, instead of waiting three more years?

- And I'm like, I pushed all my chips in, I'm all in.

- [Vanessa] 1.5 Million Americans were on pace to retire during the pandemic.

Instead that number more than doubled to 3.6 million.

- And it was just that thought of, gosh, wouldn't it be just a tragedy, if we spent all this time working for our retirement and then right near the finish line, you catch a horrible disease and never get to enjoy your retirement?

- So they capitalized on the hot housing market, sold their home and hit the road.

How is life on the road compared to the jobs that you left behind?

- Gosh, I wish I could say it was tough, but no it's great.

(both laughing) I do not miss at all working right now.

- Thanks Vanessa.

The industries that have suffered the most from voluntary resignations are education, transportation, leisure, and hospitality.

And yes, they're the same sectors that were having trouble keeping people even before the pandemic hit.

Okay, I feel like I've been doing a lot of the talking.

How about we hear from you?

Last episode we asked you, what steps you take to get a good night's rest?

Let's open up our inbox to hear what you had to say.

Claire from Independence Middle School in Independence wrote.

My step to a good night's sleep is two different steps.

The first step is to eat dinner around two to three hours before going to sleep, so you're not hungry or full.

My second step is to stay away from electronics for about an hour before falling asleep.

(phone message notification) Here's a letter from Rana at Gateway Middle School in Maumee.

The steps to get a good night's sleep are to sleep where you can sleep for eight to 10 hours.

And don't sit up all night on your phone.

That can make you not focus in school.

(phone message notification) Anthony from Muraski Elementary in Strongsville wrote.

The steps I take to get a good night's rest are one, make sure my room is cold two, have a snack, three, have a glass of water to keep my throat hydrated so the fan doesn't dry it out.

Four, go upstairs, five, get in bed and put my TV on.

All in all, these are my steps to get a good night's rest.

I wonder who turns his TV off when he goes to sleep.

(phone message notification) James from Lindsay Elementary in Chesterland wrote.

We do lots of things to get a good night's rest.

We keep a regular routine and bedtime.

We lay in bed a little to calm down before sleep time.

We also have sound machines in our rooms that help me and my sisters sleep.

(message notification tone) And finally here's one from Abby at Hickory Ridge Elementary in Brunswick.

These are the steps that it takes me to get a good night's rest.

First I lay down in my bed.

Next, I lay on my side and put one of my arms under my pillow, I cover up with a blanket.

After that I take three slow deep breaths.

Then I picture sheep in my mind and I count them.

If I'm still not asleep, then I take three more deep breaths.

Soon enough I'm asleep.

That is how I get a good night's rest.

Good answers everyone.

But hey, don't fall asleep on me just yet.

I think you're gonna enjoy this next story.

With winter weather on the way, I'm ready to hit the ice rink.

Turns out a lot of great ice skaters came from our state.

Our Mary Fecteau has the scoop in this week's "Know Ohio".

Take a look.

(country music) - When I think of ice skating, I think about all the times I've lost my footing and face plant.

But Ohio is home to some famous ice skaters who don't need to grab onto the wall like me.

Let me introduce to you David and Hayes Jenkins from Akron.

These two brothers are both Olympic medalists.

The younger brother, David, first debuted at the Olympics in 1956.

At just 19 years old, he won the bronze medal.

Talk about talent.

There's even a video on YouTube of David performing a triple axel in 1957.

A triple axel is a forward facing three and a half revolution jump.

David landed that jump 21 years before anyone in competition.

- [Narrator] David Jenkins, 1957 king of the rink.

- Four years later, he had the chance to get the gold at the 1960 Olympic Games in California.

It was the first time the games were televised and boy did he put on a show.

His performance there even earned him a perfect score of 6.0 from one of the three judges.

On top of David's athletic skills and Olympic medals, he also studied medicine at Case Western Reserve while he was competing.

He graduated as a medical doctor in 1963 and then served two years in the United States Air Force.

Enough about David, let's get to his older brother, Hayes.

He was the first of the two brothers to win the gold medal in the 1956 Olympics.

With an accomplished ice skating family like the Jenkins, it was only natural that Hayes would marry an Olympic medalist, Carol Heiss.

She also won the Olympic gold medal for ice skating the same year they were married, 1960.

Another accomplished athlete that we are proud to have from Ohio is Scott Hamilton.

Born in Toledo in August of 1958, he was adopted by two professors at just six weeks old and was raised in Bowling Green.

One of the most recognizable things about Hamilton is his height.

He's a bit short for an ice skater, just five foot four.

A mysterious illness he contracted at two years old, caused him to stop growing.

He was told he only had six months to live and was misdiagnosed several times before years later, it was discovered that a brain tumor was to blame for his illness as a child.

But he never let his stature stop him from becoming a recognized ice skater with a signature move, the backflip.

It's a maneuver that the majority of his competitors aren't able to perform.

Not to mention that it is against US figure skating and Olympic competition rules because it is so dangerous.

But Hamilton liked to show it off during his exhibition routines.

Obviously it's a crowd favorite.

- [Commentator] He got penalized for doing the backflip in the short program, in the technical program, but he's been assured he's allowed to put it in today.

- Besides the back flip, he also was one of the best skaters of his time with many near perfect or completely perfect scores given to him by judges.

Hamilton was a very strong skater and once he hit his stride, he couldn't be stopped.

His first major breakthrough performance was at the 1981 US Championships where he executed a flawless performance, met by a standing ovation before he even finished the routine.

After that performance, he never lost an amateur competition.

- [Commentator] The marks for Scott Hamilton of the United States of America for technical merit are.

(audience shouting) - Hamilton's gold metal winning performance actually ended the 24 year gold metal drought for US men in Olympic figure skating.

Despite his major accomplishments, he actually only got the gold metal once in the 1983-84 Winter Olympics.

Before that in the 1979-80 Winter Olympics, he had actually placed fifth, but had the honor of holding the American flag in the opening ceremony.

Being the talented athlete he was, Hamilton was the first solo male figure skater to be awarded the Jacques Favart Award in 1988.

And was inducted in 1990 to the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

With all the ice we experienced here in Ohio during the winter, it's no wonder that we've produced some amazing ice skaters.

Who knows?

Maybe you could be the next great ice skater from Ohio.

Just slip with style the next time you lose your balance.

- Thanks Mary, slip with style, I like that.

For this week's poll, we wanna know which winter activity you're looking forward to.

Head online to choose from ice skating, sledding, playing in the snow or slipping with style.

Careful out there.

Okay, more impressive Ohioans, are our NewsDepth A-plus winners this week.

Making the transition from elementary school to middle school can be tough.

But two seventh grade students are using the power of art to make it easier for their fellow students.

Sydney and Lennon have been painting brightly colored murals on the walls of the sixth grade girls bathroom at the Genoa Middle School in Westerville, it's near Columbus.

The idea is to build confidence.

One message reads, you are awesome.

Another, you're future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.

Sydney says she hopes the positive messages and bright colors help ease the nerves of sixth graders new to middle school.

Lennon says the compliment of being awesome is one that needs to be shared with everyone.

Teacher Juls Rathje says, it's great to see students incorporating art in different spaces.

The project is getting attention on social media and the idea is catching on as well.

The other middle school in the city of Westerville also wants to paint bathrooms.

And the boys at Genoa Middle School already have plans to paint theirs.

It's really neat to see.

I feel like it's created this movement of wanting to include art in different places, misses Rathje said.

I feel like art can change the world.

Well for changing their peers outlooks one brush stroke at a time, Sydney and Lennon are in this week's NewsDepth A Plus, great work.

Okay-doke, time to see what Newscat's pawed up for us.

Let's check out this Petting Zoo.

(upbeat music) (cat meowing) Newscat, are you actually reading those papers?

You can't just sit on them.

Okay, there we go.

Must've found a story.

Aha, a story about a goat going missing.

To find out what Steve, the runaway was getting up to, click the Petting Zoo button, on our website.

Thank you Newscat.

Hey, wasn't Steve the name of that spider, that hitchhiked a ride to Alaska.

What's up with all these Steve's?

Well, you know the drill from here.

We wanna hear from you and there are plenty of ways to stay in touch.

You can send a letter.

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

Our zip code 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.

Thanks for joining us, I'm Rick Jackson.

We will see you right back here next week.

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

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