(upbeat music) - Coming up next on "NewsDepth", We take a look at Ohio's candidates ahead of the elections.

Nick tells us what it means to be the governor of Ohio.

We celebrate Halloween with loads of sugar!

And Gabe talks about diversity in children's programming.

"NewsDepth" is now!

(upbeat music) Voters across the US are getting ready to cast their ballot!

Hello, everybody!

I'm Rick Jackson.

Thank you for joining us.

Tuesday, November 8th is Election Day, and Ohioans will be choosing who will be the leader of our state, for the next four years.

The candidates are Governor Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent running for re-election and Nan Whaley, the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor.

Incumbent means currently in oce.

So, let's meet our candidates.

(transition whooshes) Mike Dewine grew up in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and attended Miami University.

That's where he met his wife, Fran.

He was elected governor of Ohio in 2018, but has held other oces including Attorney General of Ohio, United States senator, and Ohio's lieutenant governor.

Nan Whaley was born in Indiana and moved to Ohio when she attended the University of Dayton.

She was the st person in her family to graduate college.

She met her husband, Sam, in Dayton.

She eventually ran for city commission and later became mayor of Dayton.

Now both candidates say, "They will focus on making life better for the state's kids, if they win in November."

Dewine said, "Our goal should be to make sure there is access to every Ohioan who needs help, to every family who needs help, that there is access within the community."

Nan Whaley said she'd continue many of the investments that have been made in physical and mental health care for our children and for their parents.

Whaley also said she'd focus on making schools and kids safer by implementing part of a gun reform plan that Dewine initially proposed, that would keep guns out of the hands of people, who could pose a danger to themselves or others.

Governor is just one of the slates that will be on the ballot, November 8th.

Voters will also elect other state positions, such as Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General among others.

And some local positions are up for grabs too, like, the Cuyahoga County executive seat and Common Pleas Court judge positions in Franklin and Cuyahoga Counties, among others.

(transition whooshes) Although Election Day is November 8th, as we said, early voting already began, back on October 12th.

In Georgia, early in-person voting set a record when the polls opened there.

Ryan Young has more on the continued push to the polls.

(people chattering indistinctly) - [Ryan] Georgia is energized.

- I think this is a really critical election.

- [Ryan] As the balance of power in congress and some key state-level positions are being decided in these midterms election.

- This is gonna be a close race, you know, two big races, you know, the Senate and the governor's race and I wanna make sure my vote is counted.

- [Ryan] Turnout for the st day of early voting here in Georgia nearly doubled that of 2018s midterm elections, setting a new state record according to state election ofials.

- It was very busy and It's very encouraging that people are taking the opportunity to vote so that we won't have any nonsense about votes not being counted properly.

- [Ryan] More than 131,000 Georgians cast their vote on Monday.

These numbers, almost as large as the states st day of early voting turnout in the 2020 presidential election, according to Georgia's secretary of state.

- We need a governor who believes in access to the right to vote- - [Host] All right.

- And not in voter suppression, which is the hallmark of Brian Kemp's leadership.

- [Host] Thanks.

- For someone to say that we have been suppressive in our state when we've seen turnout increase over the years, including with minorities, like African Americans, Latinos and others is simply not true.

- [Ryan] A major controversy ahead of these elections, Georgia's senate bill 202, also known as the "Election Integrity Act", passed in March of 2021, which many critics say, "Restricts voters."

- What Brian Kemp did is a strategic surgical voter suppression law.

He said Joe Biden won by 11,000 and some votes, of those 11,000 and some votes 7,000 of them were provisional ballots that were counted in his race.

So, what did Brian Kemp do?

He got rid of provisional ballots on election day.

What does the Abrams campaign do then?

Really push early voter turnout because Georgians can vote in any location during early vote.

- [Ryan] Georgia election ofials disagree.

- The main thing is it's kinda hard to say you're suppressing the vote when you're seeing record turnout.

We make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.

- [Ryan] The bill expanded early-voting access for many counties including an additional mandatory Saturday and extended voting hours.

Potential issues resulting from some of the bill's other changes such as time constraints for when one can apply for an absentee ballot and the deadlines for when ballots must be counted won't be known until we get closer to November 8th.

For now, many passionate about the issues at hand aren't waiting until election day to cast their vote here in Georgia.

- As we're talking about elections, we've already touched on when people are voting and what they are voting for.

But once a governor is elected, what does the leader of our state actually do?

In this edition of "Politics on Point", Nick Castel walks us through the real duties of being a governor.

(patriotic music) - The president of the United States gets a lot of attention, but what about the president of just a single state, ever heard of them?

Okay, so that's not the right title, but I'm talking about governors.

Each state has a governor who is in charge of it, and like the president these guys, or gals, hold some big powers.

Let me explain.

The st thing to know is that the governor is an elected position.

This means that the people of a state vote for who they want to be their governor.

Most governors are elected every four years, but there are some states that vote every two instead.

The opposite of an elected position is an appointed position, that's where someone chooses who gets the job, no voting required.

This is good to know because governors have that power to appoint other important people in the state.

Governors might choose who's in charge of anything from transportation to agriculture to schools.

Another big task for a governor is to make a budget for the state.

A budget is an estimate of money you have and how you'll spend it.

The governor has to decide how much of the state's money to give to those people to use in their areas that we mentioned earlier.

Not overspending and also making all the departments happy can be tough.

Governors can use the budget to promote what causes they think are most important to their state.

So if a governor wants to add a high speed rail to their state, (bell clinks) they might put more money into transportation or if they want to raise the quality of education, they might put more money there.

Governors have a lot of iuence.

They're able to push for laws that they want to see in their state.

Once a state law is passed by the state's senate and House of Representatives, it heads to the governor for approval.

Sounds like a familiar process right?

It's basically the same way the President signs off on laws for the whole nation.

Governors have the ability to veto or stop laws that they don't approve of from going through too.

Plus governors can issue executive orders, which are quick ways to get things done.

Like the governor can call for immediate spending after a natural disaster or they can call for an investigation into something that has gone wrong.

It's a big role and just how each state works is a little different, just like, each governor's job is a little different.

But that let's each state be unique!

You might be surprised to hear that the qualcations to become governor are also unique to each state.

Many states require candidates to be at least 25 or 30 years old.

Not in Ohio, though!

Here you only need to be 18 and a current resident to run for governor.

So who knows?

Maybe you could be governor in a few years!

(logo whooshes) (logo whooshes) (logo boings) - Thank you Nick.

Now that brings us to this week's question.

If you could be governor just for a day.

What would be one issue where you would focus?

Head online to tell us about your platform.

And last week, we asked you, "Who do you d inspiring?"

Let's see what you had to say by opening up our inbox!

(transition whooshes) (upbeat music) Zoe from Parkside Elementary in Concord is inspired by an olympian.

"Dear NewsDepth, one person who inspires me is Simone Biles because she won a gold medal in the Winter Olympics from 2016 and 2021.

And also, because she is a gymnast and so am I!

That is one person who inspires me."

(notification chimes) Chase from Harding Middle School wants to be just like his favorite baseball player.

"Dear NewsDepth, the person who inspires me is Shohei Ohtani because he is a pitcher in baseball and he is one of the few that hit as well.

So he is exactly what I wanna be when I grow up.

That is why he inspires me."

(notification chimes) (upbeat music) Charlotte from East Woods Intermediate School in Hudson found inspiration in her own family.

"My brother inspires me because he is a smart, encouraging person and he is always so generous and giving to others, no matter who they are.

My brother is my best friend and I will do anything for him.

All in all, my brother is the most inspiring person to me."

(notification chimes) (upbeat music) Andrew from Rushwood Elementary School in Sagamore Hills Township wrote, "Ind Metallica inspiring.

It is a rock band and I love rock music.

Metallica is my favorite band ever.

They have been playing for 41 years!

I have so many Metallica shirts.

I listen to Metallica every day.

That is who inspires me."

Rock on Andrew!

My favorite Metallica tune by the way is "Nothing Else Matters".

(notification chimes) (upbeat music) Finally, there's Mackenzie from Nord Middle School in Amherst, who wants to follow in the footsteps of an African American pioneer.

"Katherine goble-johnson inspires me because she was one of therst three African American students to enroll in a graduate program at West Virginia University.

Another reason why she inspires me is, later in her life she was an employee of NASA.

She was in a group called "Computers" , made up of African American women who excelled in mathematics and problem-solving.

The reason why she inspires me so much is because my favorite subject is math and I am African American, so knowing that it is possible for me to be a NASA employee is so astonishing to me!"

(upbeat music) (transition whooshes) Thanks for writing in!

Your letters, as always, are inspiring!

Oh, I also have a great answer to this question!

I think the winners of this week's A+ award are inspiring.

One of our biggest goals in making NewsDepth is that students like you become engaged citizens.

That means that you learn about things that are going on in your community and you know what your responsibilities are as citizens.

Well, we're about to introduce you to two students at Central Intermediate School, in Wadsworth, they've earned this week's A+ award by being engaged citizens.

Now this year in Wadsworth, trick-or-treating is limited to the hours of 6 to 8 PM on October 31st, which is you probably know as a Monday.

Sixth graders Emma Warner and Savannah Whited, felt that their peers would have a better time if Halloween was held on a Saturday night.

"We didn't think it would be fair for kids to have to go to practice and then rush home for trick or treating," Savannah explained to us.

"We want to see other people happy and having a good time," Emma added.

That's when they got to work.

They started by creating a petition to share with the Wadsworth City Council, stating their case for moving the Halloween festivities to Saturday night.

A petition is a written request, usually with many signatures, it's presented to someone in charge.

The girls then began researching their city council and learned that they could sign up to speak at a council meeting And that's exactly what they did.

Back on October 4, they presented their petition and stated their case to the council.

They didn't ultimately change the trick or treating schedule for this year but the Wadsworth Mayor Robin Laubaugh said that they'd consider the request for 2023.

Before they gave their presentation, though they were feeling a bit nervous so they took silly sees to help relax.

Emma and Savannah told us that they're really proud of the work they did, advocating for their ideas.

They told us that even though they weren't successful, they're encouraged that the mayor will be looking into it further.

They told us that one of the biggest lessons they learned along the way was that it's important to stand up for your ideas and to work hard to achieve your goals and that's a great lesson, really for all of us.

Now, if you're wondering, Emma is dressing up as a green M&M with another classmate.

Savannah is dressing up as a person being abducted by aliens!

So this week's A+ award winners are Emma and Savannah for engaging in their city government!

Halloween is just around the corner and ahead of that sugar-led holiday, candystore.com has come out with a map of all 50 states' favorite Halloween candies.

For example, in Texas the favorites were Star-Bursts, Reese's Peanut Butter cups and Sour Patch Kids.

Californians favored Reese's Cups, M&M's and Skittles.

And I bet you're wondering what Ohio's favorite candy is?

Drum roll please.

(drum roll music) M&M's.

Second place is a Blow Pop and third place goes to Starburst.

Nationwide though the most popular Halloween candy was Reese's Cups, followed by Skittles with M&M's taking third.

Well, candystore.com used 15 years of sales data to compile this map.

The National Retail Federation estimates US consumers will shell out about, get this, $3.1 billion this year on Halloween candy.

For our poll this week, we wanna know, "What's your favorite candy?"

Head online to choose between the nation's top three, Reese's Cups, Skittles, M&M's or you can select others if none of those are your favorite.

And speaking of polls, here's the results from last week.

We asked, "Do you like pumpkin spice?"

and the results are in!

Let's, into this, we got almost three thousand votes!

(transition whooshes) Wow!

This could be the closest poll we've ever had!

50.4 percent of you love everything pumpkin spice.

But 49.6 percent of you pass on the seasonalavor.

(transition whooshes) Now, last week Margaret explained why people just love pumpkin spice.

And how the sugar in it is what makes it so addictive.

But unfortunately, you know, too much sugar is not good for you.

For this week's "Spot On Science", Margaret's back, speaks to a dietician, who explains why we love sugar and how to spot added sugar in foods.

(upbeat music) - Anyone else's favorite time of day snack time?

Hmm, banana or chocolate?

Banana or chocolate?

Of course, both are tasty options and I know the banana is healthier for me, but why is it that I just want the chocolate anyways?

To get to the bottom of it, I asked Kylene Bogden to stop by the studio.

She's a dietician and nutritionist at the Cleveland Clinic, meaning she knows how to fuel up without giving into the sweet temptations.

I started by asking her, "Why is sugar just so good?"

Take a listen.

(rocket whooshes) (gentle music) - Sugar is so good, not only because it tastes great, but because it lights up the pleasure center in our brain, known as the nucleus accumbens, so every time we eat sugar and that center lights up, it says, "Hey, I'd like a little more."

- And you said that that's kinda the same feeling your brain gets if I won a sports game?

- Exactly, you win a sports game, you get an A on your test, you have that natural high and you're like, "Yes, let's do this again!"

The same feeling.

- So if I really want sugar, when of myrst places to go might be grabbing a bottle of Pop.

- [Bogden] Sure.

- But you surprised me.

There's a ton more sugar in there then I realized.

- Yes.

So when you st look at this you think, "Meh, not a big deal, it only contains about 200 calories, maybe a little more."

But when youip over the label and you see 69 grams of sugar, that is not good.

In fact, that translates to 18, almost 18 teaspoons of sugar in one little bottle of soda.

- So, maybe I want something a little bit healthier and I reach for a cup of yogurt?

- Sure, so you're on the right track and yogurt is a great option, but be careful because many yogurts are sweetened with fruits and syrups and different things.

For example, this is strawberry yogurt.

Tastes great but contains about 15 grams of sugar.

- [Margaret] Holy cow.

- Right, so that's about four to e teaspoons of added sugar.

- [Margaret] I would not have expected what I think of as a healthy snack, yogurt, to have so much sugar in it.

- [Bogden] Right.

- So, if I can't have my Pop and I can't have my yogurt, what can I have instead?

- Okay, so if you wanna quick grab-and-go treat that tastes good and is somewhat sweet, you could try dates or nuts.

- [Margaret] Mm-hmm.

- So, dates are great because they're easily portable, they have a nice texture, kind of like a caramel, and it's great for those who are very active.

You want a little energy before you play our sport or before you go on the playground, dates are a great option.

And also cinnamon coated almonds.

If you're someone who likes that crunch, but you also like a little bit of sweet, there's only seven grams of sugar in one serving of these almonds.

- Almost everything still has sugar in it.

If I'm drinking a glass of milk that has sugar but how am I supposed to know if it's good or bad for me?

- Sure, so when you're at the grocery store and you're shopping, always make sure toip over labels.

So milk, for example, let's start with that because you mentioned it.

When youip it over and you see 12 grams of sugar in that label, but then you go down to that ingredient list, and you don't see any added sugar, it just says cow's milk, that's a great option.

Versus the granola bar that you might go to next, also has 12 grams of sugar.

Doesn't sound too bad, right?

But then you go down to the ingredient list and you see the st ingredient, or second ingredient, is high fructose corn syrup or brown rice syrup or something of that nature, that's added sugar.

- So, maybe I should just stick to fruit?

(laughs) - Yes!

Real food from the earth, always.

- Great, thank you so much for coming in Kylene, I appreciate it.

- Thank you.

(bell clinking) (logo whooshes) (logo whooshes) (logo boings) - Thank you, Margaret.

Boy, I didn't realize just how much added sugar is in some of those processed foods!

Okay, I've got a Halloween treat for you, but I wouldn't call it sweet, it's actually a little icky.

But still pretty cool, I promise.

Listen to this, lab grown, organs for human transplant.

Transplant is an operation in which a living organ or tissue is removed and implanted into another part of the body or in a completely different body.

A Minnesota company wants to end wait lists for organ transplants.

They believe they can do this by taking animal organs and using new technology to turn them into human ones.

Chris Hrapsky explains.

- [Chris] Nestled in an industrial building in Eden Prairie is the heart of Miromatrix, a 92-employee company attempting to change the course of human medical history.

- A bioengineered organ has never been transplanted into a human.

- And that's what you're trying to do?

- This will be arst.

- [Chris] CEO, Jeff Ross, shows us what the company has been working on for the last 12 years, what has generated $130 million in funding.

- [Jeff] What we're able to do is take a whole organ that nature already created from an animal, like a pig and simply remove all of the cellular material from it.

- [Chris] They take the kidneys and livers from pigs and transform them into what they hope to be fully transplantable, on demand human organs.

Here's essentially how it works.

They take an organ from a pig and they extract all the pig cells from the organ, just leaving this protein/collagen structure.

And then they take discarded or unused human cells from human organs and they put 'em back into the structure.

And here you've gone from a pig organ to a usable potentially human organ.

- We grow these organs over a course of 14 to 28 days to the point that they would have that level of functionality then to move forward.

- The company starts with pig organs because well, pigs don't smoke or drink.

Their kidneys and livers give the company a pristine starting point.

The human cells they use to engineer the new organ come from donors, whose organs were never placed for transplant or had certain defects.

It is essentially human cell recycling.

What do you hope for?

- To complete our mission.

To be able to have a future where a patient no longer is waiting by the phone to see, "Hey, am I gonna get a call for my organ."

- [Chris] Miromatrix has shown success in large animal study and will submit their application to the FDA for human trials by the end of the year.

- Okay, why don't we catch up with our Petting Zoo intern NewsHound to hear about this week's animal story.

(light playful music) (NewsHound barking) Wow!

NewsHound, you're running so fast!

Oh, you're excited to tell us what you've found today, is that it?

(light playful music) Okay, you're in the Halloween spirit too!

You found us a story about a cat born with two heads!

To hear about Harvey the cat's rare genetic condition, click the Petting Zoo button on our website.

(light playful music) Thank you NewsHound.

(logo whooshes) (logo whooshes) (logo boings) Aside from Halloween and Hispanic Heritage month.

There is one more thing to celebrate in October, Filipino American History month.

The celebration commemorates the st recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States.

Happened way back in October 1587, that's when Filipino sailors landed on a Spanish ship.

That voyage was at the beginning of the Spanish rule over the Philippines that would last 250 years.

The Filipino sailors landed in California 20 years before the British built their st settlement in Virginia.

Filipino Americans are now the second-largest Asian American group in the nation.

But sometimes, the media representation just doesn't rect this demographic.

Demographic means a particular sector of a population.

So up next, Gabriel Kramer tells us about a television show that makes him feel seen and explains why TV should look more like the people who are watching it.

- When I was a kid, I watched the classics.

"Arthur", "Blue's Clues", "Mr. Rogers".

But for me, these shows were missing something.

- I've searched, land and sea for rocks that look like noses, these are the very best.

- These look just like our noses.

(gentle music) How do I look auntie Jelly?

- (giggles) You look wonderful.

- [Gabriel] This is "Jelly, Ben & Pogo".

(light playful music) ♪ My name is Jelly ♪ ♪ I'm her brother Ben ♪ ♪ I'm Pogo, I'm a sea monster ♪ ♪ And we are all best friends ♪ - [Gabriel] It's a new PBS kid, short series about a sister, a brother and their sea monster friend.

- Looks good to me.

- [Gabriel] And here's why I wish I had it as a kid.

- The seventh birthday is very important to us Filipinos.

- Jelly and Ben are Filipino like me and the show hasashes of Filipino culture, food.

- Lumpia, sweet and sour sauce.

- [Gabriel] Tagalog, one of the Filipino languages- (kid speaking in foreign language) And guest appearances from there, Lola, which is the Tagalog word for grandma.

- Thank you Apo.

- Thank you for everything you do for us Lola.

- It would have been great to grow up with these characters who lived like I did.

And I'm not the only one who feels this way.

- Yeah!

You like being Filipino.

- [Gabriel] Tina Enrica is Emory and Lanny's mother, a pair of siblings, like, Jelly and Ben.

Tina was born and raised in Ohio and now she's raising her own family in Ohio.

Where Filipino Americans make up a very small piece of the population, fewer than 20,000 people.

- And that's the greatest thing about this is that it makes them feel more normal.

'Cause let's be honest, we live in Ohio.

My kids are minorities here but if they can have a chance to look like, "Hey, I'm just like any other kid."

So, yeah, that's why I like it.

It's just to make 'em show that they're not different.

- (gentle music) What do you think of my nose?

- Beautiful.

- We noticed that it was, you know, yeah, they were Filipino family and then I was like, "Okay, we're watching all of these."

- [Gabriel] Diane Thompson is Ella Rose and Sebastian's mother, another sister and brother combo.

- When I grew up, you kind of were embarrassed about what kind of foods that you had.

You didn't wanna share it with your friends because nobody else had that kind of food around you.

When they see it on things, like the TV, it's totally, you know, different to them, makes them feel more comfortable with it, makes them wanna share it with their friends.

- Mango!

- Puto!

- Kutsinta!

- Several surveys suggest that the demand for diverse casting in TV and movies is growing and it's not just Filipino American kids who would bene by seeing themselves on screen, more black and brown characters, more LGBTQ characters, more diversity of every type.

Jelly, Ben, Pogo and the show's creator, director and animator Jalysa Leva are helping to meet that demand for diversity.

(notification chiming) Hey there Jalysa.

So tell me "JBP", "Jelly, Ben & Pogo".

How this all start?

- The whole reason I made "JBP" was because I was frustrated that, you know, we're seeing all these pitches crop up and not a single one had, like, real, authentic diversity in it.

And I'm thinking like, it just has to be me, like, it has to come from someone from one of these communities.

- Well, obviously I'm a big fan of the show.

So thanks for hanging out.

- Thank you.

- Because it's so rare to see Filipino Americans on TV and movies.

It's so exciting when itnally happens.

I used to watch "Blue's Clues" as a kid.

Now the show has a Filipino host and Joshua Dela Cruz.

- Paw-paw-paw!

(gentle music) - Joshy!

- Lola!

(Lola laughs) It's her.

It's my Lola.

(gentle music) - Paw-pa-paw-paw.

- Pixar has a short m about a Filipino father and son called "Float".

And Apple made "Blush", an outer space love story, featuring Filipino main characters.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm jealous of the kids who are growing up on these shows, though you don't have to be a kid to watch.

- Thanks Gabriel.

Well, that was just a trimmed version of his full story.

To watch it in its entirety, check it out on our YouTube channel.

There you'll also d all of our special segments, even past episodes.

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

But for now, that's gonna be a wrap for this week's show.

As always though, we wanna hear from you!

And there are plenty of ways to stay in touch with us.

You can email us at newsdepth@ideastream.org.

You can send a letter, we're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, that's in Cleveland, Ohio.

Our ZIP code here, 44115.

Or you can tweet us, our handle is @NewsDepthOhio.

In the mean time, thanks for joining us.

I'm Rick Jackson, we'll see you right back here next week!

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

(upbeat music continues) (gentle uplifting music)