(upbeat music) - [Gabriel] Coming up next on "NewsDepth", voting is just one way to be civically engaged.

High interest rates haven't slowed down the economy.

Can the environment impact economy?

We'll find out.

And TinyCircuits has some big ideas for tiny electronics.

"NewsDepth" is now.

(upbeat music) Ohioans have taken to the polls this week.

Hello there, I'm Gabriel Kramer and thank you for joining us.

Earlier this week on Tuesday, Ohioans voted on a variety of issues and candidates.

The ballot included two statewide issues, but the ballot might look different from county to county and ward from ward to account for local elections and issues.

For example, here in Cleveland, we voted to elect judges in municipal courts.

In Columbus, the ballot included a mayoral election and a levy for school funding.

And in Cincinnati, voters decided on tax funding for public libraries and the zoo.

To be a civically engaged citizen means doing your part to help your community and your country.

It's like being a good neighbor and citizen.

You can do this by obeying laws and voting when you're old enough.

In this week's Politics on Point, Abbey Marshall gives us a rundown of civic participation.

- Today we are talking about civic engagement and the different ways we can all be involved.

So, what does civic participation look like?

(fanfare music) Civic participation is a person's active involvement within their community, including both political and non-political activities.

Non-political involvement consists of activities that help others within a community, such as volunteering, community service, or other activities that maintain the goal to benefit the community.

Political involvement is any activity that influences your local, state, or federal government.

Examples of political involvement include writing a letter to your congressman, voting in elections, being informed on political issues or signing petitions.

You're probably wondering, how can I get involved within my community?

Getting involved at school or in your community by volunteering at events or services are easy ways to help support.

Being politically involved can be as simple as staying informed and involved by learning more about your local government.

What does civic responsibility look like?

Civic responsibilities are mandatory obligations intended for each citizen to follow.

Some of these responsibilities include obeying the law, paying taxes, serving jury duty when summoned, and registering with selective services.

Paying taxes is another example of civic responsibility.

What are taxes?

Taxes are paid in several different ways and are intended to help fund services and programs such as public schools, police and fire departments, roads, government facilities, and the military.

What does it mean to be summoned for jury duty?

In the United States, every person has the right to a trial by jury made up of their peers.

Jury duty is a required service intended to assemble this jury of peers.

To be summoned for jury duty, a person must be at least 18 years old, then they will be randomly selected to serve for jury duty.

What are the selective services?

The selected services is a federally assembled draft or the selected people for military service within the federal government.

The selected services require most men ages 18 to 25 to register with the intention to assemble a military draft if necessary.

Civic engagement is essential for a community.

All citizens playing their role is what keeps the gears moving.

- Thank you, Abbey.

There are so many reasons why I enjoy working on "NewsDepth".

I like learning about all the great work our A+ award winners are doing.

I like telling all of you about what is going on in Ohio, our nation, and the world.

Plus I like learning new things.

But most of all, I like giving all of you the information you need to make decisions about being a good well-informed citizen.

Well, these 10th graders at Garrett Morgan School of Leadership and Innovation in Cleveland are doing just that in their public policy class taught by Ms. Paris.

In this class, the students are challenged to explore public policy on a wide range of issues spanning from community safety and policing to traffic patterns.

The students have met with an impressive number of community leaders, including members of Cleveland City Council, Cuyahoga County Council, members of the Cleveland Police Ethics Commission, and members of Bike Ohio, a local advocacy group who focuses on creating safe areas for people to commute using bicycles on city streets.

Danielle told us that so far this year they've studied a number of topics that have an impact on their lives as young adults and citizens who are going to be old enough to vote pretty soon.

She said that some of the most interesting and important topics that they've talked about are issues of surrounding housing.

Shanelyse told us that she's really interested in how local governments make policy decisions.

She thinks that this is an important thing to know because local policy has such an impact on the day-to-day life of community members.

The students told us that it's really important for you to know how policy is created because you have a voice and can change the outcome.

We were really impressed with this group of Falcons because they're very determined leaders who understand the impact they can have on the world around them.

Perhaps La'Sean said it best when she told us that we have a responsibility to be passionate about where we live and to take the steps to make an impact for ourselves and others.

This week's A+ award goes to Ms. Paris's public policy class at Garrett Morgan School of Leadership and Innovation for being engaged citizens and taking the steps to change policy to make their city a better place.

One of the issues on the ballot for Cuyahoga County is Issue 5.

This levy seeks a tax increase to fund Cuyahoga County Community College or Tri-C for short.

A community college, also known as a junior college, is an institution of higher education that offers a variety of academic and vocational programs.

It is usually a more affordable alternative to a four-year college.

The proposed levy is intended to keep higher education affordable and more accessible for Cuyahoga County residents.

Last year, Louisiana rolled out a unique program to help people get a college degree and land a high demand job for free.

The people behind it say it's already making a big impact across the area.

Perry Robinson has more.

- [Quintin] The jobs are there.

We don't have enough skilled people to fill the jobs.

- [Perry] There's a new program that could help fill some of the 30,000 plus job openings in Baton Rouge and it all starts in the classroom.

- It would be who of all of us in Louisiana to make sure that our own babies and grand babies and uncles and aunties and paw-paws and maw-maws are the ones that have opportunity to access those jobs.

- [Perry] The MJ Foster Promise Program is a fairly new initiative to help adults around the state get a two year college degree or a credential at no cost.

This means you could go to college for free if you qualify.

Plus there's no GPA or ACT requirements.

- People who may not can't afford to attend college or those who may not have been successful in high school the first time around doesn't mean that they shouldn't have an opportunity to cross that bridge to greater prosperity to take care of them and their families, right?

- [Perry] Community colleges such as RPCC offer the program, opening the door for people to land a job in a high demand field such as healthcare, IT, construction, or logistics.

- We're trying to put that foot in the door with these business and industry partners to where we can keep people within the state.

We can keep people local and show them how many opportunities there are here.

- [Perry] There were a few hiccups the first year the program launched because some people couldn't complete their FAFSA, leaving millions of money on the table.

So lawmakers are working on a bill to still let applicants enroll and get help from a college counselor to get their paperwork done on time.

- I think it's something that more individuals, specifically those who just need an opportunity, to access it and who do not have the financial means to do as such.

- Thank you, Perry.

For our poll, we want you to cast your vote on the issue.

Should community college be free?

You can choose between "yes, it benefits everyone" or "no, taxpayers should not pay for college."

And last week for our poll, we asked you if residents should get a say in city development.

And wow, look at that, we've got more than 9,000 votes.

68% of you said "No, officials know best," and 32% voted "Yes, people's voices matter."

All eyes are on the US Federal Reserve as a central bank is holding interest rates steady amid a growing economy despite continued high inflation but high interest rates and high prices are putting consumers in a bind, even as wages slowly rise.

Mike Valerio breaks down the Fed's decision and what this means for a family's budget.

- [Mike] The economy is booming, the highest interest rates in more than 20 years yet to dampen the jobs market, home prices or consumer spending.

However, the increased cost of borrowing will likely take a toll in the months ahead.

- Expect the Federal Reserve to maintain a vigilant posture, even if they're not raising rates, just in an effort to keep the conditions tight and push inflation closer to that 2% mark.

There's also some concern about the health of a lot of consumers.

- [Mike] Consumers are wary.

Confidence in the economy is down for the third month in a row.

Even a spending and wages are up.

- Inflation has hit hardest in categories that are absolute necessities.

Household expenses are considerably higher than they were just a few years ago, and the income may not have kept up.

- [Mike] And for many that means more borrowing.

- I think if you paint with a broad brush, it ignores the reality that that about 60% of households are living paycheck to paycheck.

We've seen credit card balances go up, going up at a time when credit card rates are at a record high.

- [Mike] While the economy has remained stronger for longer than economists anticipated, bankrate.com's Greg McBride says a downturn could still come in 2024 and people should be prepared if and when recession hits.

- Pay down debt, particularly high cost debt like credit cards, boost your emergency savings.

That's gonna be a buffer between you and high cost debt if you have an income disruption.

- Thank you, Mike.

The last holdout in the longest US auto strike in 25 years now appears to be on board.

A source says General Motors has joined Ford and Chrysler's parent company Stellantis in reaching a tentative deal with auto workers after nearly two months.

Auto manufacturers in Ohio were also affected by the strike.

Toledo's Stellantis Jeep Assembly Plant was one of the first sites to walk off to protest wages.

A couple of weeks later, two more Ohio locations joined the strike.

A GM parts distribution center outside of Cincinnati and a Stellantis parts distribution center near Cleveland.

Karin Caifa has a look at what the end of the strike means for the car industry and you.

- [Karin] An unprecedented strike appears to be ending.

On Monday GM and the United Auto Workers Union appeared to have reached a tentative agreement according to a source familiar with negotiations.

The move ends nearly seven weeks of an unprecedented strike against the Detroit big three automakers, GM, Ford, and Chrysler owner, Stellantis.

A total of nearly 50,000 workers walked out of their jobs during some part of the strike, demanding better benefits and pay citing the auto industry's record corporate profits.

- We haven't had a raise in years.

We've been giving and giving and giving.

- [Karin] While the exact terms of the deal have not yet been released, it is expected to be along the lines of the deals already announced at Ford and Stellantis, including guaranteed pay increases and the return of cost of living adjustment, which combined would lift workers pay more than 30%.

- For every member, the money will be significant.

For many members it will be life changing.

- [Karin] So what does this mean for the auto industry and for consumers?

The long labor strike hurt the automakers financially.

A prolonged dispute would create a painful domino effect that would trickle down to vehicle parts suppliers, car dealers, and eventually to you.

Even if you're not in the market for a car.

That's because experts say it could have led to fewer cars on lots and made it harder for shops to repair your car.

- Thank you, Karin.

Two popular North American amusement parks are merging.

Six Flags announced last week is merging with Cedar Fair in an $8 billion deal creating a theme park powerhouse.

Cedar Fair's flagship park, Cedar Point, is right here in Ohio in the city of Sandusky.

Cedar Fair also owns King's Island near Cincinnati.

It also owns Knott's Berry Farm in California.

Schlitter-Bahn water park in Texas, and Canada's Wonderland in Ontario.

Six Flags has about 20 parks in the US, two in Mexico, and one in Canada.

The new company will keep the Six Flags name, and will operate a total of 27 amusement parks and 15 water parks across North America.

We have a "Know Ohio" you can watch online about the history of Cedar Point and you can watch me ride a rollercoaster.

Okay, now we're onto the news.

Did you know that the environment can have a substantial impact on the economy and economic activities can have a significant effect on the environment?

The Mississippi River has reached its lowest level since 1988.

A drought has caused the river to drop by 10 feet since September.

Scott Simmons reports that the low river levels are impacting shipping.

- [Scott] Crew members from a ship traveling the Mississippi River are having to be shuttled on shore using much smaller boats because of the low river conditions.

Chief engineer Jaquatte Deavens says it's getting harder to navigate.

- It's really rough.

You got a whole bunch of low spots and you know, it's kind of an all hands on thing because you gotta really watch out, gotta be prepared for grounding at any time.

- [Scott] The US Army Corps of Engineers has dredging vessels moving up and down the waterway.

Not only is the shoreline becoming more visible by the shrinking river, but dangerous sandbars like this one are dramatically reducing river traffic.

- We're seeing stages that we hadn't seen since 2012.

- [Scott] The Corps says it is a constant battle from Cairo, Illinois south to New Orleans.

Those barge vessels moving from troubled spot to troubled spot.

- Anywhere we have a crossing going from a right bend to a left bend, that's where the water flow slows down a little bit and we have problem problem areas there.

So the the challenge is when the dredge is working in a narrow channel, the river closes.

- [Scott] And that impact is being felt at the port in Vicksburg where they are down to using one dock to on and offload cargo because the water is so low.

- Millions of dollars of impact and also reduction of efficiencies, right?

And so that has an effect that kind of goes down the line.

- Thank you, Scott.

Billions of snow crabs continue to disappear from the waters around Alaska.

It's causing big problems for fishers and is having a ripple effect on the economy as a snow crab harvest in the Bering Sea is now canceled for a second year in a row.

Erica Zucco has the story.

- [Erica] From the Bering Sea to boatyards in Ballard.

A decline in opilio snow crabs has a ripple effect on the economy.

Questions are still floating concerning the reasons behind it, but the impact to Washington crabbers is clear.

- You're always gonna see highs and lows as a commercial fisherman.

Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, feast or famine.

But lately the highs are a lot lower, and the lows are even lower than that.

- Captain Mark Casto of The Pinnacle says, "It's a relief to at least see Bristol Bay Red King Crab back up and running."

- King crab and bairdi seasons go up there and have them, you know, just a safe productive season.

And, you know, get paid a fair price so, you know, we can make some money and the crew can make some money.

- NOAA is experimenting with pH and water temperature to see what kind of roles ocean acidification or warming may have played, and studying the effects of predators like cod.

Fish biologist Erin Fedeway says, "Bristol Bay Red King crab has been declining steadily for years, but with snow crabs the population collapsed."

- You know, I do think for an arctic species the future is uncertain.

I, like I said, I'm an optimist and I can only hope that the conditions continue to support, you know, viable populations of snow crab.

- [Erica] Alaska Department of Fish and Game research supervisor Benjamin Daly says, "It hurts to have to close or limit the fisheries, but that it's a decision made for long-term sustainability."

- We're trying to, you know, err on the side of conservation and give them the best shot that they have for kind of thriving in the future given the challenges that they're facing in the environment.

- Thank you, Erica.

The scientist who first sounded the alarm on climate change decades ago has another warning.

James Hansen, a director at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, says the planet is on track to heat up at a much faster rate than scientists previously predicted.

Hansen and more than a dozen other scientists looked at how ecosystems have responded to climate and environmental changes in the past, specifically studying polar ice cores and tree rings.

They found the earth is much more sensitive to climate change than previously understood and a climate emergency has already begun.

According to their research, warming will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius this decade and will exceed two degrees Celsius before 2050.

That temperature threshold will worsen issues of extreme heat, drought, and floods.

Creating dangerous conditions for humans to adapt to.

This year is set to be the hottest on record.

An environmental activist is someone who advocates for the protection and preservation of the natural environment.

For our write in question this week we want you to send us your questions for an environmental activist about their job.

And next episode we'll have an activist answer some of your questions for our Career Callout segment.

To stick with the environmental theme, let's hear what you think about littering.

Let's open up our inbox to read your answers to last week's write in question.

Amelia from Mansfield's Seventh-Day School in Mansfield starts us off with, "Hey 'NewsDepth', I think littering is bad because many plants and animals could get badly hurt from the harmful plastics and chemicals.

Animals could choke on this plastic and die.

Plants get harmed by the pollution that is let into the world.

Chemicals in these products that we litter can also harm plants and animals.

Littering can also cause an area to look very unpleasant and unsafe for children.

That's why I think littering is bad.

Your friend, Amelia."

Jaxson from Maumee Intermediate in Maumee wrote, "Dear 'NewsDepth', littering is terrible.

It's bad for our environment and it can kill living species.

Littering can pollute our river or ponds and environment.

Sincerely, Jaxson."

Very insightful, Jaxson.

Presleigh from Botkins Elementary in Botkins cares a lot about animals.

"Dear 'NewsDepth', littering is bad because it can destroy the homes of millions of animals, plants, and insects.

For example, let's say people dump their trash in a forest on a bunny's burrow and the bunny is inside the burrow and it's hungry.

But it can't get out because of the trash.

So then the bunny would die of starvation.

That's why littering is bad."

Maddix from John P Parker School in Cincinnati, "Littering is bad because it is bad for Earth.

It also pollutes our oceans, which can kill the animals in the ocean.

It can also get to other places and then the animals think it is food and they eat it and then they die.

If animals die, that means we will not have as much food as we need to.

Lastly, if we litter, the world would not have things we need to live."

NewsHound is very happy to hear how much all of you care about animals.

And Kylie from Firelands Elementary School in Oberlin said, "Dear 'NewsDepth', I think littering is bad for a couple of reasons.

Animals that live outside can eat the garbage and get really sick.

Sea life can get trapped in the garbage and not be able to swim their way out.

Also, littering can cause pollution to the air, it can cause bad gases to go through the air.

Thanks for reading, Kylie."

And thank you for writing, Kylie, and everyone else of course.

Your letters keep getting better and better.

Okay, now, 12 years ago, engineer Ken Burns took his idea of creating a compact version of an already existing system to the workshop.

The result originally called TinyDuino is a small little modular electronic system, almost like Legos, where you can kind of stack things together as Burns describes it.

This was the start of the company, TinyCircuits.

In electronics a circuit is a complete circular path that electricity flows through.

In this installment of Making It, we visit this Akron business that creates tiny processors, tiny video games, and even tiny TVs.

- So the goal of TinyCircuits is we make cool stuff.

So we just really like to, you know, make some cool things to help teach and educate with our little Thumby product, which is like a little game system you can easily learn to program, even if you're in grade school.

(upbeat music) Hi, I'm Ken Burns, I'm the president of TinyCircuits.

TinyCircuits is a company that makes tiny little electronic products.

So we create these little modular electronics, almost like little Legos you can plug together.

And so you can plug in things like a little screen, a little joystick, create your own video game.

You can plug in a sensor into it to read your heartbeat.

All sorts of different things you can do just by plugging these things together.

And you can create all sorts of cool projects.

A lot of students use our products.

A lot of companies prototype things using our products.

A lot of artists use our products, so it's kind of really cool to see what people do just with all these building blocks of what they can create.

Our first product was something called the TinyDuino, which is a small little modular electronic system, almost like Legos where you kinda stack things together.

There was a much larger system, very popular among electronic hobbyists, students, artists.

And I just had a need to make it smaller for certain things.

It's kind of big and bulky.

And so I thought if we take that same basic concept and just shrink it down and make it as small as possible, it would be useful for me.

And it turned out that when I shared it with other people there was a big interest too.

And so we launched on Kickstarter with the goal of $10,000 and raised over a hundred thousand.

And so that convinced me that hey, there's an actual business here.

Kind of made the crazy decision that we wanted to make everything ourselves instead of outsourcing things, we decided to do electronics here in Ohio.

And so we bought electronics production machinery, we got office space in downtown Akron.

We hired some people and just started producing the product.

Right now we came out with a new version of our TinyTV, so it's a little TV that basically fits in your palm and that's been extremely successful.

We launched that last fall, raised more money than anything else we've done.

And we've gotten a few thousand of those shipped out and it's been phenomenal feedback.

But our true smallest product is the Thumby.

So it's a small little game system that's about the size of your thumb and it is very small.

When people see it, they see a picture of it like, "Oh, that's kind of small," but they see it in person they're like, "Wow, that's much smaller than I thought."

Looking back, I mean Ohio has a manufacturing past and so you know, being based in Akron where there's a big manufacturing base, it's just kind of cool to actually do this stuff here.

And when people here that we're doing electronics here in Ohio, it sounds like kind of crazy, but it actually makes a lot of sense 'cause we can do things here as cheaply as we could overseas.

And so in our case it really works out well that we can, you know, make things here in Ohio, we can provide a good living wage to people and like a lot more fulfilling to actually make it yourself.

- The next entrepreneur proves that you are never too young to start a business.

An entrepreneur is someone who owns or starts a business and at just three years old Mareck might be Central Texas's youngest business owner ever.

What does he sell?

Ice Pops.

Alex Fulton introduces us to the boy behind the business.

(ice cream bell ringing) - [Alex] When you hear that sound, you can expect something sweet.

- [Katie] What do you say?

- Come get your Paletas.

- Come get your Paletas.

- [Alex] It's a pretty sweet deal for the three-year-old Mareck Gomez who runs the M and M Paletas cart.

- Well, we learned about where we should put our money, right?

- In the bank.

- In the bank, yeah.

My husband had came up with the idea that he could have anything he wants as long as he's willing to work for it.

So let's teach him how to earn money.

- [Alex] So M and M Paletas was born.

- M is for Mareck, that's his name, and then his brother is Malik.

- [Alex] 30% of his earnings go towards savings, 25% to payback business supplies, 10% for tithing, and 35% for spending on toys.

- I ask him every time, "how much do you wanna put in the bank?"

And he's pretty consistent on the amount and it's usually about 30%.

- [Alex] Mareck is also learning about goal setting.

Whenever he and his family visit the store, they let him pick out a toy that he can only buy if he gets enough money.

- What have you bought with your money?

- The Batmobile, the grappling hook.

- The big Batmobile with a grappling hook, yeah.

- [Alex] It's these lessons that his parents hope he'll carry with him forever.

- Thank you, Alex.

You know, I wonder if NewsHound would like one of those ice pops, let's ask him!

(upbeat music) (NewsHound barking) Hey, NewsHound, what are you up to?

Are you eating ice cream?

He really is enjoying that.

Maybe he would like one of Mareck's Famous Ice Pops.

Anyway, while you're eating your sweet treat, NewsHound, can you tell us what story you found for the petting zoo?

Oh wow.

It's a story about a four year old that partnered up with a squirrel to grow corn.

Thanks for sharing another story of an impressive young person, NewsHound.

NewsHound would also like to thank our intern Alexandra for assisting him with the petting zoo stories.

That's all the time we have for today, but we always want to hear from you and I'm sure you know the drill by now.

Here are all the 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.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Gabriel Kramer and 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.

(upbeat music) (bright music)