(upbeat music) - Coming up next to our "NewsDepth."

We have some tips to make getting your flu shot easier.

Inflation has raised the prices of this year's pumpkin crop.

Football is back.

We speak with inspiring high school football players and Mary shares about Ohio's early female athletes.

NewsDepth is now.

(cheerful music) It's officially flu season and that comes with extra complications, thanks to the Coronavirus.

Hello everybody, I'm Rick Jackson.

Thank you for joining us.

Health officials say that a positive result of social distancing and masking during the COVID pandemic is that flu nearly disappeared in the US.

That means most people haven't been exposed to the virus in two years leading to lower immunity.

Now, there are so many sick kids being admitted to Children's Hospital of Orange County and California, that doctors there are starting to sound the alarm to parents.

Michelle Gile reports.

- It's just the triple whammy is what we're calling it.

- [Michelle] There are so many sick kids being admitted at Children's Hospital of Orange County.

The emergency department here had to expand.

In fact, a record was set on Monday.

418 patients came through the ED, which has never happened before.

- So many patients everywhere.

We have never seen anything like this.

In fact, I started at CHOC 35 years ago.

I've not ever seen so many patients, even during our busiest times in the winter.

- [Michelle] Nurses say the majority of these young patients are battling the flu, the respiratory virus RSV and COVID.

Two year old Anthony Vasquez has left CHOC this afternoon after being checked out for pneumonia.

- It's a high cough, I wouldn't say smokers cough, but it's like a cough where it just keeps going and going and wouldn't stop.

- [Michelle] Flu cases are on the rise.

The season is expected to be a bad one.

At Children's Hospital of Orange County, there are 120 cases compared to none last year at the same time when kids weren't in school.

- There wasn't any flu last year, all the kids have gone back to school.

We have COVID now, we have flu.

They didn't have RSV last year either, and so some of those kids, they didn't get the immunity that they normally get in school with the RSV and flu and now we're seeing that.

- The real flu season won't hit us until a couple months from now where we get that big bump.

- [Michelle] Dr. Jim Keany runs the emergency services at Providence Mission Hospital.

It takes a few weeks for immunity to build up after getting a flu shot.

So the doctor says, "Now is the time, the healthcare system is stretched thin."

- The whole health system right now is just frazzled, recovering from COVID, nursing shortages, and so we all are ready for the next big battle.

- Thank you Michelle.

Flu activity in the United States usually starts to increase in October, then peaks between December and February.

Health experts say the best way to protect yourself from getting severely sick is to get vaccinated.

In today's Health Minute, Mandy Gaither has tips on how to make the process of getting all the recommended fall vaccinations easier.

(coughing) - [Mandy] It's that time of year again when viruses tend to ramp up.

- It's definitely vaccine season right now.

- [Mandy] The two most recommended to get before fall gets in full swing an updated COVID-19 booster and a flu shot.

- This year is gonna be even more important to do both.

- [Mandy] That's because the flu season is expected to be more severe this year.

Coupled with COVID-19, that could mean crowded hospitals.

Dr. Barbara Bawer with the Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center says, "You can make the process of getting all those shots easier by stacking vaccines."

- Really, there's no data to show that if you get them all on the same day, that's going to make you feel worse or it's going to cause you more side effects because you got two or three shots instead of just one.

- [Mandy] Bawer says to also take time to rest.

Don't be afraid to give yourself a little break after getting fall vaccines and have over the counter pain medication on hand that can help relieve any discomfort.

Finally, start early so your body has time to build up a defense to the viruses.

- Go ahead and get them between now and absolutely, I would say no later than the first week of November.

- [Mandy] For Health Minute.

I'm Mandy Gaither.

- Thanks Mandy.

Getting a flu or COVID vaccine is a decision that falls on individuals and families.

So having the latest information on the vaccines is important.

Pfizer says Early clinical data shows its updated COVID vaccine substantially increases antibody responses against two major omicron sub-variants.

Compared to the original vaccine, the latest Pfizer-Biontech vaccine targets the original strain as well as sub variants B-A-4 and B-A-5.

The company said it tested 900 people and saw a significant antibody response one week after receiving the updated vaccine.

The updated vaccine has so far been administered in the US under emergency use authorization, the new data will be used to seek full approval.

Okay, time to switch gears.

We've been hearing the word inflation a lot lately.

Inflation means a general increase in prices and a decrease in the purchasing power of your money.

An easy way to remember that it comes from the word inflate, like how you inflate a balloon.

And purchasing power, that refers to the ability to buy goods and services.

The new inflation data shows something you already know.

High prices are hitting us hard.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows people are struggling with high prices despite lower gas cost and despite the attempt from the Federal Reserve to tame inflation.

Overall consumer prices and important measure of inflation jumped by 0.4% in September, which was more than economists expected, and up by 8.2% from the year before.

As these numbers tick up, there is concern the Federal Reserve will continue with historic rate hikes.

Isabel Rosales explains what this means for your wallet.

- [Isabel] The Labor Department reporting a larger than expected increase Wednesday in the Producer Price Index.

The report gauges prices paid for goods and services before they reach you the consumer.

Energy was up a little under a percent in September.

Food prices jumped 1.2% and services are up about a half percent.

While these increases represent the wholesale prices, they are likely to be passed on to the consumers in the form of higher grocery prices.

- Historical experience suggests that the kind of inflation we have rarely returns to normal levels, to target levels of around 2% without some kind of recession.

- [Isabel] The fight to bring down decades high inflation has become a major concern for the Federal Reserve.

The Central Bank has been hiking interest rates at an unprecedented pace in an effort to pull down the economy, but there are concerns that it's happening too fast and could soon lead to a recession.

- No.

Look, they've been saying this now how every six months they say this.

- [Isabel] President Joe Biden remains confident in the economy.

- I Don't think there will be a recession.

If it is, it'll be a very slight recession.

- Thank you Isabelle.

Pumpkin season is in full swing, but those gourds might be weighing on your wallet.

Like other produce, people are seeing the price of pumpkin's rise.

Ophelia Young reports it's especially bad in Las Vegas because of the extreme weather that impacted that region in August and September.

- [Ophelia] The average pumpkin weighs about 15 pounds, like this guy right here.

So he would've cost about $8 last year.

This year he costs about $12.

That's a 50% increase and the director here at Gilcrease Orchard blames higher cost of labor as well as that heat wave back in September that we all remember.

(indistinct chatters) A little more spice in your pumpkin's price.

- (indistinct) there was a few smaller ones and only a couple real big ones.

- [Ophelia] But to buyers, it's still everything nice.

(speaker speaks indistinctly) - [Customer] It's worth it.

It's worth it.

- [Ophelia] They didn't think twice.

- If you do that kind of thing when you're having fun, then it's not fun.

So we just wanna have fun.

- [Ophelia] A cashier said last weekend was the busiest she had ever seen the orchard.

Mark Ruben has been the director of the orchard for 13 years now.

- There's probably a little less pumpkins than last year.

- [Ophelia] Less pumpkins, more expensive labor.

Just a couple reasons for pumpkinflation.

- Our fertilizer costs are much higher, shipping.

- [Ophelia] More than half of their pumpkins are shipped in from Utah.

- And they really had a hard time this year too.

- Have you noticed a difference in these?

- They're smaller as well.

- Yeah.

- And there's another one that's pink.

- How much smaller would you say?

- Oh, it's probably 20% smaller.

- [Ophelia] The price uptick is nationwide, but even higher in Las Vegas because of some of the extreme weather since the seeds were sown in July.

- It came off of August where it was humid and and cooler, and then in September it got really dry and really hot for I don't know how many days.

Seemed like 10 days at least, and they're just stressed out the pumpkins as a result of that and so they had to hurry up and mature.

- [Ophelia] Back at the checkout line.

- $41.

Yeah.

And I don't think that was so awful.

- Everything that's going on it's crazy in the world right now, so it doesn't really surprise me.

(chuckles) - [Ophelia] A few dollars more worth the gourd memories.

- It's the experience.

Having the ability to go out into the field and actually pick a pumpkin.

- I didn't have to go school either, so I'm happy about it.

(laughs) - Thanks Ophelia.

Hey, did you buy a pumpkin for pumpkin season?

This is mine.

It's bigger than my head, but it doesn't compare to the pumpkins growing in one California community.

People from across the country have gathered in Half Moon Bay for the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off.

Lena Holland reports.

♪ Judgment day in ♪ - [Lena] Pumpkin by pumpkin lifted by a forklift and weighed each one bigger than the last.

- 175.

- Oh, it's great.

It's great.

You never see anything like this, right?

Except in Half Moon Bay.

- Yeah, I always tell people back home, I'm like, "It's a Super Bowl of pumpkins."

- [Lena] Travis Gienger drove his massive pumpkin 35 hours from Anoka, Minnesota, the Halloween capital of the world to the pumpkin capital of the world.

- This size.

I mean, I've been hitting it with fertilizer 14 times a day.

- [Lena] Holding the 2020 champion title for a pumpkin weighing in at 2,350 pounds.

He's hoping lightning will strike twice.

- They all said it was a once in a lifetime type thing.

And gosh, hopefully we can do it as a two in a lifetime thing.

- [Lena] But he's up against some heavy competitors.

- It's estimating to be around 1500 pounds.

- [Lena] Cindy Tobeck, the 2016 champion out of Washington is back for more this year.

- These take so much care and they also take a lot of water, which I know is a challenge here in California.

I've got my own well at home, so unlimited free water is to my advantage over the California growers.

- [Lena] This third grade teacher says in her time away from the classroom, she's watering 150 gallons per plant per day and it's the people of Half Moon Bay that keep her coming back every year.

- The community of Half Moon Bay, their roots are in agriculture and pumpkin farming specifically and they honor and love the pumpkin farmers and I just feel that love.

- Wow.

Pumpkin spiced lattes, pumpkin spice cookies, pumpkin spiced cereal.

Why is it in the fall we just can't get enough of the good stuff?

Margaret Cavalier shares why We love everything pumpkin spice.

(cheerful music) - Uh, don't mind me.

I'm not really pigging out.

I mean pumpkins are vegetables or fruits or something healthy, right?

Okay, so maybe pumpkin pie isn't the healthiest option, but why is it that when fall rolls around, I want to eat all the pumpkin spiced flavored things?

Turns out there's some science behind it.

First, let's start with what exactly is a flavor?

It's more than just how something tastes.

Often just the smell of our favorite foods can get our mouthwatering.

Tiny food particles that you sniff in hit the smell receptors in your nose and tell your brain something tasty is on the way.

Then with just one bite, the taste buds on your tongue send even more information to your brain about what's going on.

So add aroma and taste together and you get flavor.

Some people even think there are other sensations that come into play like temperature and mouth feel, which is just what it sounds like, how something feels in your mouth.

Taffy might be sticky while potato chips are crunchy.

Think about it, you probably wouldn't enjoy a crisp taffy or sticky chips.

Ough!

With all of these links from flavor to the brain, it's also a big link with memories.

Smells can get tied to happy and sad memories.

Lucky for pumpkin spice, most fall memories are cozy and happy.

So even the sniff of pumpkin pie can transport you back to last year's fun family thanksgiving.

Now, pumpkin spice is usually a blend of things like cinnamon and nutmeg and sometimes it doesn't contain pumpkin at all.

What makes the blend particularly addictive is the sugar in it.

Sugar hits your brain like an exclamation point.

The more you have, the more you want.

And unfortunately, too much sugar is not good for you.

So use a little restraint.

Maybe just one bite.

I mean it's science guys.

I have to.

- Thanks Margaret.

Okay, our poll this week will probably start a debate in your classroom, but we wanna know, do you like pumpkin spice?

Head online to choose between yes PS everything or not for me.

And for last week's poll, we did ask you this, what's your favorite art form?

The results proved my suspicions that you are a very creative bunch.

28% of you said that you love sculptures.

23% like painting and looking at paintings.

19% are moved by music.

12% of you like writing, 10% voted for theater and 8% like to express yourselves with dance.

I think my favorite art form might, mm, maybe also be sculpture.

That can cover anything from Michelangelo's masterpiece of David made out of marble to something a little more contemporary.

Contemporary means something from our time, like the bright orange sticky residue that Cheetos leave on your fingertips.

The Cheetos brand directed a giant 17 foot statue of a hand holding a massive Cheeto.

The statue is in the Cheeto community of Alberta, Canada.

Why there?

Because cheetle is actually what the Cheetos company calls it's infamous cheesy fingertip dusting.

The unique art piece will only be in cheetle until the 4th of November.

After that, it embarks on a Canadian tour to celebrate its cheesy goodness with other Cheeto fans.

Now, let's pass the ball to Iowa where a football player is making quite a name for himself, not because of his skills, but because of his determination.

Scott Seville introduces us to Thad, a seventh grade football player without arms.

- [Scott] Thaddeus Longmire was born without arms, but that doesn't stop him from playing the game he loves.

- Football is very fun and that stuff being a tight end and blocking and feeling like a part of the team.

- [Scott] When Thad said he wanted to play tackle football for the Northwest Junior High seventh grade team, let's just say there were some doubters out there.

- No one ever really said I couldn't do it.

They just give me like looks and that stuff.

That made me feel like that I should do it to prove them wrong.

- [Scott] It's not easy playing football without arms.

- I feel like it's dangerous depending on the size of the guy I'm blocking.

- [Scott] When Thad gets knocked down, he gets right back up and works hard to get his body in front of defenders to make a block.

Even though he knows he will never score a touchdown, he takes pride in his blocking.

- He takes a lot of pride in seeing his teammates have that success and he really, he's a selfless person.

He doesn't care if he scores the touchdown.

He wants the team to get the touchdown.

- [Scott] So why play tight end?

Because that's the position his favorite player plays.

- George Kittle.

(both chuckles) - He tells us all the time that George Kittle is his favorite player and he likes that George Kittle went to Northwest back when he was in junior high.

So it's a good inspiration for him.

It's a good inspiration for his teammates.

- [Scott] Thad gets his inspiration from his amazing family.

His sister Hannah is known as the blade runner and she is one of the top runners in the country.

Thad's mom, Lee believes her children can do whatever they put their minds to.

- Absolutely.

We always tell our kids dream big and that we're there to support you the best that we can and help you to make those dreams come true.

- Thank you Scott.

He's inspirational.

Well, fans and spectators in Milwaukee fill the stands at Pewaukee High School.

For one football player, the homecoming and senior night game was extra special for her and everyone watching.

Kayla Keys has more.

- [Kayla] A packed house for Pewaukee's homecoming and senior night game.

(crowed cheering) and one player, she's changing the game.

- I've always called her my girl boss since day one.

- [Kayla] Ava Matz under the Friday night lights and starting under center.

- I know our boys at first were kind of like, "You're playing football?"

But now I don't think they could see me anywhere else.

- [Kayla] Head coach Justin Frisky says "Matz is a leader on the team."

- Ava's just Ava and I think people, a lot of people are just saying, well, that's what Ava does and it's kind of a regular thing.

And to be honest, that might be the most powerful thing of it, is that it's not a novelty and it's not some kind of fad that she's on the football team.

- [Kayla] Matz, blazing her own trail while inspiring others along the way.

- I can't be prouder, love her to death.

That's all.

She'll remember this forever, and I'll remember this forever.

- At first it was a little kind of hard to kind of be like, where is my place?

Do I get to speak up?

Where is my role?

And now being a senior, I've realized my role is to speak up and to be included and to help others find their place too.

- So did you know that girls weren't always allowed to play sports in schools?

It wasn't until 1972 when what we call Title IV was introduced.

Mary Fecteau explains how Title IV opened the door for females to compete in all sorts of sports.

And shares about Ohio's early female athletes, including Annie Oakley in our World War II softball team all in this week's Know Ohio.

(cheerful music) - Today, it's not unusual to see women and girls swinging, shooting and kicking their way to victory, playing all kinds of sports.

So it's probably hard to believe that there was a time when female athletes were discouraged from playing competitive sports.

But some tenacious Ohio women pushed back against these norms just by doing the things they love.

Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter from a rural community in Western Ohio, shot down gender stereotypes when she became the world's most famous exhibition shooter, outperforming nearly every male competitor with her amazing trick shots.

Other talented Ohio women found their calling during World War II.

While men were overseas fighting, women filled the jobs they left behind and that included professional baseball playing.

Cincinnati native Dotty Kamenshek was playing softball in an informal league when she was scouted into the All American Girls professional Baseball League and she quickly became one of its best players.

The left-handed first basemen played 10 season for the Rockford Peaches and was considered one of the best athletes of her time.

These early women athletes proved that women were as fierce competitors as men, but female athletes weren't really given a shot until 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed a federal law that prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender in public school activities.

Title 9, as that it was called meant that schools had to give the same time and attention to girls' sports as they do to boys'.

And this was a game changer for female athletes all around the country.

Women athletes like Ohio State's track and field star Stephanie Hightower achieved greatness, remaining undefeated for three years in the 60 meter dash and hurdles.

And Clarksburg, Ohio native, Cindy Noble, who played college basketball took her talents all the way to the Olympics.

Ohio has produced some seriously fierce female athletes and new ones are scoring points all the time.

But when you're celebrating on the court, rink, or field, remember the women whose greatest victory was achieving equality off of it.

- Thanks Mary.

Hey, those last few stories, they've inspired our write to us this week.

We wanna know who do you find inspiring?

I can't wait to read your letters because you guys have been doing a great job with your answers lately.

Last week we asked you send us doodle of something new you learned.

Let's check them out by opening up our inbox.

(cheerful music) Faith from Olmstead Falls Intermediate School in Olmstead Falls, Ohio got some hands on learning.

"Dear "NewsDepth" this week I learned about science tools and how to use them in science and social studies class, and we got to use some of them.

Some of these tools are pan balanced, graduated cylinder, measuring stick, measuring tape, dropper, forceps, spring scale, measuring cup, measuring spoons, thermometer, hand lens, microscope, and triple balance beam scale."

Wow, that's a lot of tools.

Seth from William Bruce Elementary and Eaton sent us this doodle and he says, "I learned that love is important because you need to love and take care for other people.

If you want to have other people love and take care for you if you fall or something else.

But if you're not nice to people, they will probably not help you unless the person is super nice.

So be nice to people like how you want to be treated."

Hadley from Freedom Elementary and Westchester sent us this diagram of the earth.

"Dear "NewsDepth" this week in science, we learned about the earth and its layers, so I doodled it.

I love to draw and doodle.

This is why I doodled the Earth."

Pascal from Fayetteville Middle School in Fayetteville learned a new song.

"This week, I learned a lot of new notes on my trombone.

The notes I currently know are F first position, E flat third position, D fourth position, C sixth position, and B flat first position.

Thanks to the new notes I've learned I can play the "Star Wars" theme song."

Good job Pascal, may the force be with you.

And Brielle from Maryland Elementary and Bexley was definitely paying attention to the episode last week.

"Here is my picture.

I did my best.

I made a picture of Hurricane Ian because I watched the episode and I wanted to draw a hurricane."

Hey, great work on those letters.

Just like the great work from this week's A+ winners.

Imagine it's the first day of school and there's a powerful thunderstorm rolling through your town and boom, all of a sudden lightning strikes and sends you back to 1985.

The only way you could get back to good old 2022 was to collaborate with your classmates to solve puzzles using your science, technology, engineering, art, and math skills.

Well, the fifth grade students in Mrs. Thorbahn's class at Chamberlain Hill Elementary in Findlay had that exact experience.

Their outstanding teamwork and problem solving earned them this week's A+ Award.

In order to hit the ground running or learning, the students spent the first few days of the school year showing off their ability to solve problems.

Caroline told us that they had to solve puzzles and challenges by relying on each other.

She explained that a big key to being successful is by showing perseverance.

Perseverance is doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

Elliot told us that one of the puzzles required them to research facts about 1985, including popular music, the space shuttles and historical events.

They even had to figure out the day of the week that the events happened on.

She told us that it was a bit challenging because they had to remember they were in 1985 and not 2022.

It wasn't all history though.

Lincoln told us that there were even challenges that required them to mix different colors to solve the puzzle.

Brenna told us that there was a lot of math as well.

They had to measure the distances between buildings and calculate the cost of mailing a letter back in 1985.

The students we spoke with told us that it was really important to be able to work as a team and to trust each other's ideas.

Brenna went on to tell us that one of the biggest lessons she learned was that it's very important to believe in yourself and you have nothing to lose by always doing your best.

Very wise words Brenna.

This week's A+ Award goes to the fifth grade team class at Chamberlain Hill Elementary School for using their problem solving skills and teamwork to get back to good old 2022 after being sent back to 1985.

Okay, I think we've given a NewsCat enough time to find us an animal story.

Let's see what she has for this week's petting zoo.

(calm music) (cat cries) Just as I suspected napping on the job.

That's not a brain break.

There we go.

Get up.

That's better.

Oh, wow.

She found a story about a 90 year old tortoise named Rocket that has a reputation as an escape artist.

To check out the enclosure that's finally been able to contain this massive reptile.

Just click the petting zoo button on our website.

Thank you NewsCat.

Well, that's gonna do it for us, but as always, we do want to hear from you and there are plenty of ways to stay in touch with us.

You can write to us, we're at 1375 Euclid Avenue.

It's Cleveland, Ohio.

Our 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.

If you're old enough, hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our new videos.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Rick Jackson.

We'll see you right back here next week.

(cheerful music) - [Announcer] "NewsDepth" is made Possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

(upbeat music)