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

Giddy up with these gals learning traditional horseback riding techniques.

Plus, we've got tips on how to have an eco-friendly Halloween.

Head to Lebanon, where precious artifacts are being pieced back together.

Gabriel shares a bio on spooky children's author R.L.

Stine.

NewsDepth is now!

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music) - Trick or treat?

We've got them both.

Hello, everybody!

I'm Margaret Cavalier, filling in for Rick Jackson.

Thanks for joining us.

Before we get into some sweet and some spooky stories, we've got important news to cover.

President Joe Biden's administration released details about their plan to vaccinate children between the ages of five and eleven.

Right now there aren't any vaccines approved for the age group, but one might be approved very soon.

This week the Food and Drug Administration is expected to discuss approving a vaccine for kids, and then next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to do the same.

Darryl Forges has this report on getting ready for a rollout.

Darryl?

(group shouting) - [Darryl] Vaccines for kids, ages 5 to 11 could be just weeks away.

- [Masked Woman] Good job spread yourselves out.

- [Darryl] Pending the FDA's authorization and the CDC's usage recommendation.

Now the White House is getting ready.

The Biden administration says, they secured enough vaccine supply to vaccinate 28 million children in that age group.

- [Jeffrey] We've already enrolled more than twenty-five thousand pediatricians, family doctors and other primary care providers to administer vaccines.

And we are working with states and localities to enroll more.

- [Darryl] They will also offer vaccines to kids at school and other community based sites.

- [Jeffrey] Kids have different needs than adults and our operational planning is geared to meet those specific needs, including by offering vaccinations in settings that parents and kids are familiar with and trust.

- [Darryl] Building that trust will be a major part of the White House's roll out plan.

As they launch a national public education campaign, that will include pediatricians, schools and faith leaders.

- [Vivek] We have a role to play in ensuring that parents have accurate information and that's going to be really one of the keys to making sure that they can get the vaccine and ultimately protect their children.

- [Darryl] Health experts say, getting kids vaccinated will play a major role in ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Vaccine is the standard, gold standard, of prevention of viral infections and we just know that from so much experience we have, not only with COVID-19, Chris, but with many other childhood and adults vaccines.

So it just makes sense, Chris, for the children to get vaccinated and that's the reason why we reach out to the parents, to explain to them, why it's important, not only for the safety of the children, but for also the safety of the entire family because children can spread infection in the family unit.

- [Darryl] I'm Darryl Forges reporting.

- Thanks, Darryl.

Once a vaccine is available for children, it will be up to parents to determine when and if their kids get a shot.

Okay, now that the hard news is out of the way, let's hop to Halloween.

Did you know that our state is home to one of the most prolific and scary authors?

R.L.

Stine is a master of multiple genres including suspense, science fiction and even humor.

A genre is a category of writing based on content, form or style.

Gabriel Kramer has the details on R.L.

Stine in this week's 'Know Ohio'.

Take a look!

(lively music) (lively music) - Boo!

Did I scare you?

Probably not.

But the author we are going to learn about today is an expert at scaring people.

That is author R.L.

Stine.

Perhaps you have heard of him?

He's an Ohio native that has written a lot, and I mean a lot of spooky stories.

Robert Lawrence Stine was born October 3rd, 1943 in Columbus.

His mother managed the household while his father worked as a shipping clerk.

Stine also has two younger siblings, one brother and one sister.

His family was very poor, many of the clothes that the children had were hand-me-downs from older cousins and other relatives.

Because of this, Stine was pretty shy , he didn't want people to judge him because of his clothes.

His story goes like this, one day, he found a old typewriter in his attic, he brought it down to his room and his love for writing was born.

- And my parents did not understand it at all.

My mother would stand outside my door and she'd say, "What's wrong with you?

Go outside and play!

Go outside."

And I'd say, "It's boring out there."

Type, type, type, type, type And I've been doing that ever since.

- [Gabriel] Stine was more of a class clown, than straight A student.

He just wanted to write stories instead of study.

Been there.

After graduating high school, Stine attended The Ohio State University in Columbus.

While at college, he was the editor of the Sundial, the School humor magazine.

He liked to joke that he spent more time editing the magazine than attending classes.

In 1967, Stine traveled to New York City to become a writer.

He got a job at Scholastic, where he wrote for school magazines.

Then he began to write funny children's books.

He wrote 'How to be funny', 'The sick of being sick book' and '101 Creepy Creature jokes'.

Stine latter created his own humor magazine, 'Bananas Magazine', which he wrote and edited for 10 years.

In 1969, Stine married Jane Waldhorn, she too was a writer and editor, they even worked together on several books.

Jane formed a publishing company with her business partner, called Parachute Press.

This would be the home of Stine's most popular book series.

In 1986 Stine switched from writing humor and jokes to ghosts and monsters.

People couldn't get enough of his first scary teen novel 'Blind Date'.

It became the first of many bestsellers.

Encouraged by the success, Stine created an entire young adult series 'Fear street'.

It went on to be the best selling young adult series in history, with more than a hundred books.

But that's not all he is known for.

The most recognized book series connected to R.L.

Stine was created in 1992, 'Goosebumps'.

This series for kids in middle school became an instant global phenomenon.

There are more than 130 Goosebumps stories.

Goosebumps even became a TV Show, that earned the title of number one kid show for three straight years in the 90's.

(rock music) (rock music) - It wasn't his only successful television program, The Haunting Hour won three Emmy awards for most outstanding children's TV show in 2013, -14 and -15.

Stine continued to branch out, in 2014, after the birth of his grandson, he even wrote picture books for children.

In 2015, the Goosebumps series was turned into a movie, starring Jack Black and forty monsters from the Goosebumps series.

Maybe you've seen it?

It became the number one film in America.

As of 2021, R.L.

Stine is still writing, so the next time you visit the library, check out the Goosebumps series or another R.L.

Stine series.

There are plenty to choose from.

Maybe you will be inspired to come up with your own spooky story, no typewriter required.

(somber music) - Thanks, Gabriel.

For this week's question, we want you to send us a spooky short story.

Keep your stories to five sentences or fewer, please.

And now it wouldn't be a Halloween episode, without a pumpkin story.

We told you a few weeks back about the young boy growing and selling pumpkins to save money for college.

Well, this week I've got a retiree who is serious about growing gorgeous gourds.

After years of producing giant pumpkins, 85-year-old Jack Slade, a Colorado farmer, decided to make a change when he could no longer load them into his truck.

Now, he's known for growing the best-looking pumpkins in the Rocky Mountains.

As Jason Gruenauer reports, he's hoping his latest gourd will be his fifth beauty contest winner.

- I've been retired, almost 22 years.

- [Jason] When you get to be Jack Slade's age.

- [Jack] 85.

- [Jason] It's the little things, - [Jack] I did grow potatoes here, and I always grow tomatoes.

- [Jason] that fill his days.

- It's the kind of thing that gives you something to look forward to every day.

- [Jason] But in his backyard garden in Morrison, - [Jack] You got to (unintelligible) the whole pumpkin.

- [Jason] little isn't the best word to use.

- [Jack] Most people think this is a big pumpkin.

- [Jason] In Jack's world, it isn't even close.

- [Jack] My first pumpkin, I grew in 2011, was 500 pounds.

- [Jason] He spent a decade, chasing the glory of giant gourds.

- It gets real complicated.

- [Jason] Fertilizing the soil by hand.

- [Jack] Horse manure, compost, alfalfa pellets, leaves.

- [Jason] Keeping theses massive plants hydrated.

- [Jack] Here's my watering system, I have a timer.

- [Jason] And sometimes struggling to even get the vegetables to the weigh off.

- [Jack] At first, I kept trying to get the biggest.

So, in 2013, I had an 992 pound pumpkin and it was so big that It couldn't get it in my Ranger.

- [Jason] But after getting close to a thousand pounds and getting closer to ninety himself.

- [Jack] I figured, as I get older, I could never top that.

- [Jason] Jack now grows giant pumpkins.

- [Jack] Yeah, it's one of my smaller ones, but this one here is a pretty pumpkin.

- [Jason] For looks, locally he's won the Best Looking Pumpkin Award, The Howard Dill Award.

- [Jack] Four times.

- [Jason] And going for number five this year.

- [Jack] A nice shape and a nice color.

- [Jason] Plus win or lose, he has the biggest jack-o-lanterns in town.

- [Jack] I always carve it, put in the driveway, put a light in, 100 watt light bulb.

- [Jason] After all, for Jack, it's the little things.

- [Jack] (unintelligible) it takes about three weeks.

- Thanks, Jason.

Every year I like to turn one of my pumpkins into dinner.

Usually I'll make pumpkin soup or roast it in the oven, but maybe this year I'll try for dessert and make a pumpkin pie.

I like to think of it as a way to recycle my decorations and have a more sustainable celebration.

Our Natalia Garcia has tips on how to keep your Halloween green this year.

Natalia.

- [Natalia] The scale of waste, each Halloween is scary.

And plastic is the biggest villain.

Most of it comes from candy, costumes and decorations.

While you may throw away those items after Halloween, the plastic can take centuries to break down, and has a way of coming back to haunt us.

Millions of panels of plastic enter the oceans every year.

Littering our beaches, polluting our waters, and endangering the wildlife.

With that in mind, here's how you can have a happy Halloween and still be kind to our planet.

Number one, when it comes to candy, consider choosing items wrapped and packed in recyclable materials, like paper or foil, which is recyclable in some areas.

Two, get creative with costumes.

Ditch poor quality and cheaply made ones, that you'll probably only use once, instead look at your wardrobe, see what you already have, and then visit a thrift store for any extra items.

Number three, get crafty with decorations, invest in decor you can use for several years or make your own out of recyclable materials.

With a little effort, you can have a spooky but sustainable Halloween.

- Thanks, Natalia.

For this week's poll, we want to know do you plan on trick or treating this year?

Head to our online poll to vote either yes or no.

Now last year, we asked a similar question, we wanted to know if you thought trick-or-treat should be canceled because of the pandemic.

87% of you said no way!

So I wonder how many of you will be participating this year.

Getting dressed up for Halloween is a big part of the celebration, but the ladies in this next story are dressing up to show off their cultural heritage.

Cultural heritage is the expression of a community's way of life that is passed on from one generation to the next.

The girls are part of the first all-female, Mexican-style equestrian team in California's Coachella Valley.

Regina Yurrita stopped by to see the team in action.

- [Regina] They're young Mexican-American girls who go to school in the Coachella Valley, but three months ago, these seven to fifteen years olds began to spend their free time at a backyards stable, learning how to take the reigns and gallop sidesaddle.

- [Miranda] I like horses and I like how the Ezcaramuza looks.

- [Regina] "Ezcaramuza", meaning an all-female Mexican equestrian team, is a first for the eastern Coachella Valley.

According to the Mexican Rodeo Association, there are less than thirty all-female teams in California.

Toni Gallegos, the owner, says the team was born out of the uncertainty of the pandemic.

She says the practices are more than just a distraction from the hard times.

They're also learning experience connecting the riders to their Mexican roots and traditions.

- [Sandra Gallegos] I think it's really important.

Especially for the girls.

It shows them a lot bout their culture, where they come from, our history as Mexicans.

And also on the sports side it teaches them responsibility.

- [Regina] The sport revolves around femininity, an important factor that has sparked interest in Coachella female American riders.

- Absolute wonderful experience to learn how to do the sidesaddle and all of the customs and all of the wonderful camaraderie with these people, and it's making me a better rider.

- [Regina] With the Coachella Valley Team, families are reminiscing with their kids as they see them practice a sport their grandparents performed in their country.

- It's not easy.

I mean, it's not easy and especially for a kid, you know, for these girls that are just ages from seven to nine, ten years old, you know.

It takes a lot.

It takes a lot of practice, a lot of strong mentality," - [Regina] And in their long puffy green embroidered dresses and sombreros, these little girls hope to sidesaddle all the way to national competitions in January.

- Thanks, regina.

Now how about a little space news?

NASA just launched their unmanned, Lucy space mission last week.

Lucy is on a long journey to learn more about asteroids near Jupiter.

An asteroid is a small rocky object that orbits around the sun.

They are too small to be considered planets but scientists are hoping they will provide big insights into the history of our solar system.

Kristin Fisher has this report.

- [Announcer] Three, two, one.

Lift off!

Atlas five takes flight.

- [Kristin] Lucy is finally in the sky.

The NASA spacecraft is on a twelve year mission, covering 6.4 billion kilometers, to fly past eight ancient asteroids.

Lucy's the first mission to investigate the Trojan asteroid swarms.

Which are asteroid clusters along Jupiter's orbital path.

Armed with cameras, a thermometer and an infrared imaging spectrometer, Lucy will collect the first high resolution images of these asteroids.

The spacecraft gets her name from the Lucy fossil, an ancient human ancestor whose remains transformed the study of hominid evolution.

NASA hopes it's Lucy transforms the understanding of the evolution of the solar system.

Both the fossil and the spacecrafts name, are nods to the Beetles hit, Lucy and the sky with diamonds.

And Lucy does indeed carry a diamond, as part of a Beamsplitter assembly.

About three and a half years from now, after making a few fly-by's of Earth for a gravity slingshot boost, Lucy's expected to reach her first objective, an asteroid named Donaldjohanson, in the asteroid belt, between Earth and Jupiter.

She'll then travel to the Trojan asteroids.

All named after the heroes of Homer's Iliad.

- The power of what Lucy is able to do by having so many targets, we can construct all these comparisons between all the different varieties and the diversity that we see in the Trojans.

The unexpected diversity, the different colors, the different collisional histories.

It's really a repository of fossils, as we like to say, of things that happened at the earliest stages of solar system evolution.

- Ooh, space fossils.

That's a new one for me.

But it does make sense that scientists can learn history from asteroids.

Last week, we asked what kind of fossils and artifacts you might find on an imaginary archeological dig in your neighborhood.

But before we get to your letters, let's take a look at the poll results from last week.

We asked if you've noticed any unusual changes in the weather?

71% of you said yes you have.

Wow, that's a lot.

All right, on to the digs, let's open up our inbox.

(mouse clicks) Savannah from Fayetteville Perry Middle and Fayetteville wrote: I think I would find an arrowhead.

In my neighborhood, there used to be Indians and they used arrowheads to hunt animals.

In a river or stream, is most likely where I would find an arrowhead.

Scientists could learn more about Indians and where the came from.

The arrowhead would help tell the story of the Indians.

This is why I think I would find an arrow in my neighborhood.

Jacob from Avon Heritage Elementary and Avon wrote: I think I would find Crinoids and Cephalopods because they're both common fossils in Ohio.

I also think I would find Trilobites because they're Ohio's state fossil even though they're pretty rare in Ohio.

Here's one from Angel at A.J.

Jordak Elementary in Middlefield.

If I was an Archeologist, I would find a Smilodon fang.

When I find it, I would clean it up and make sure I'm allowed to keep it.

I would keep it safe if I was allowed to keep it.

We live in a glaciated area in Ohio, meaning during the Ice Age, we had a glacier covering our neighborhood.

That is why I would be an Archeologist so I can discover new things every day.

Brayden from Hull Prairie Intermediate and Perrysburg wrote: At an archeological dig in my neighborhood, I think I would find a bone to the Wooly Mammoth or a Brontosaurus.

It would be pretty nice to see what life was like back then, so that is what I think I would find at an archeological dig in my neighborhood.

Finally, here's a letter from Cecilia at Portage Collaborative Montessori School in Canton.

I think I might find a Mastodon or Mammoth since I live in Ohio.

I would love to find something, maybe I could even find something on Sunday hikes!

It would be very cool, and if I found something, maybe I would be on a NewsDepth video!

Love your letters this week, and hey, if you do find an interesting artifact, we'll definitely include in the show.

In the country of Lebanon they're working to piece together artifacts damaged in a huge explosion last year.

We're going to meet the conservationist doing this detailed work.

Conservation is a protection and restoration of important art and artifacts.

But first, let's learn a little more about the country.

Āahlan, welcome to the country of Lebanon, on the east side of the mediterranean sea.

About 5.5 million people call Lebanon home.

Many of them living in the country's capital of Beirut.

The country consists of coastal plains and two mountain ranges.

Their economy depends mostly on services, like banking and tourism, but the country does have some fertile land to grow grapes, olives and other produce.

Lebanon was once the land of ancient Greeks and Romans.

Evidence of their reign is still visible in the architecture and artifacts found there.

An unexpected explosion last year resulted in many of these precious artifacts being shattered.

At the American University of Beirut's Museum of Archeology, conservationists are hard at work making repairs.

Ben Wedeman has the story.

- [Unknown Woman] You see this one has a lot of iridescent pieces that have fallen off.

I'm gonna pick them up.

It's going to be difficult to put back.

- [Ben] A month after last years Beirut port blast, Claire Cuyaubère and Maria Subra sort through, what was a display case that held seventy four rare pieces of ancient Roman and medieval glassware in the Archeological Museum of the American University of Beirut.

- At first I was horrified and it was really daunting how much we had to get done.

- [Ben] Claire, a conservator from the French National Institute for Cultural Heritage is now back in Beirut to help finish the task.

And how does this compare with a jigsaw puzzle?

- It's so much harder.

You usually don't have 72 jigsaw puzzles mixed up together.

And then you the added difficulty of the fragility of the object.

- [Ben] Fitting thousands of tiny jagged pieces of broken glass together again, is a task requiring painstaking precision and the patience of Job.

Yet this effort to restore a small part of Lebanon's rich heritage is therapy in itself says museum curator Nadine Panayot.

- When you're on the floor picking up those pieces, sifting through the glass, and you're so happy when you identify some pieces, and you put them together.

It just had a healing effect.

- [Ben] Indeed this project shows that even things shattered into hundreds of minuscule pieces are not beyond repair.

Thanks Ben.

And sticking with world news, let's get an update on the volcano in Spain.

The Cumbra Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands, started erupting more than a month ago, and it's still going.

Residents of the La Palma island were briefly allowed to re-enter their homes last week to gather personal items and to look for pets that they had to leave behind.

Authorities also allowed tourists to view the phenomenon from a safe distance.

Streams of molten lava have been destroying acres of land and huge plumes of smoke have heightened air pollution.

The lava flow is once again approaching the ocean, which could potentially create explosions and emissions of toxic gasses.

Not sure I'd want to see that up-close.

I'd leave it to the experts and first responders.

And this weeks NewsDepth A+ winners, are honoring the first responders in their community.

The attacks of 9/11 had a long lasting and far reaching impact on American life.

They shined a light on the often overlooked work from first responders, such as police officers, fire fighters and emergency medical technicians.

At Kirtland Elementary, the students hold an annual parade to say thanks to first responders.

This weeks NewsDepth A+ goes to the students of Kirtland Elementary for saying thanks to the helpers in their community.

"This is a great opportunity for us to thank the first responders from three different communities.

In this years parade we had four police departments, a fire department and our own school resource officer."

Principal Katy Nagaj told us.

Before the pandemic the parade was indoors and the first responders walked through the building giving high fives and saying hello.

Over the past two years the parade has been outdoors.

The first responders drive through campus in their vehicles and are greeted with applause from the nearly 500 students and the 50 staff members of Kirtland Elementary.

Many of the students held posters and waved flags.

The students also wore red, white and blue to show their patriotism and to honor the first responders.

"Now that the parade is outdoors, the first responders bring their vehicles.

The students really like seeing the firetrucks and police cars."

miss Nagaj added.

"It's really important to take the time to say thank you to the role models and local heroes in our community."

Superintendent Chad VanArnhem said.

Following the parade, the students delivered cards, letters, and posters to the first responders.

This weeks NewsDepth A+ goes to the students at Kirtland Elementary School for saying thanks to the first responders from Kirtland, Lakeland, Waite Hills, and Kirtland Hills.

And on that note, I've got one last story for you before we get to the Petting Zoo.

A farm in Pennsylvania is also honoring first responders, but in the form of a corn maze.

You're gonna have to see this for yourself.

Holly Harrar has the story.

- I created a whole maze myself.

We used a GPS system this year.

- [Holly] On the ground and inside the carefully crafted corn maze, Rachel Trettin shows us the lay of the land.

This isn't just your miscellaneous maze.

It's what they call, "high-tech".

No map is handed to you.

You work for it.

- As you collect the pieces, you're actually outlining the maze to find your way around.

- It does take about two hours to go through.

We do offer different ways for them to get out, if they need to get out for any reason, such as a 6 foot flag to wave for help.

We have a 'Corn Colonel' in the tower, he'll radio the corn police.

They're known as the corn cops.

And they'll come in and help get you out or find a piece, whatever you need help with.

- [Holly] There's help if you need it, a common theme here at the Gilbertsville Farm.

That's why the maze is etched out this way.

- Without them, our world would be in a difficult place, so we definitely need them and we just want to honor them.

- Thanks Holly.

That looks like a lot of fun.

Okay, now let's see if NewsCat has gotten the memo about Halloween.

It's time for Petting Zoo.

(jungle music) (cat meowing) Ooh, dressed up as a lion, I love it NewsCat.

Ah, and she's found a story about a stow away spider, who hitched a ride all the way to Alaska.

Good one for the holiday, NewsCat.

To learn about this Brown recluse's long journey, click the Petting Zoo button on our website.

Thank you NewsCat.

That's a wrap, and now time for my costume.

Meow as always, we want to hear from you, and there are plenty of ways to stay in touch.

You can write to us, we're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, That's Cleveland, Ohio, zip code here, 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 don't miss out on any of our new videos.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Margaret Cavalier.

We'll see you right back here next week.

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