NewsDep! Season 49 Episode 10

[Kid] NewsDepth is a presentation of WVIZ PBS ideastream Education as made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

[Rick] Coming up next to our NewsDepth. The holiday shopping rush is on, but Christmas tree pickings are slim! Pedal to the metal! Mary zooms through Ohio's auto history! NASA reaches the red planet, now what? We'll tell ya! Plus, get off your butt, doctor's orders of course! NewsDepth is now!

Three, two, one, blast off! Or rather three, two one, touchdown! NASA has landed on Mars.

Hey everybody, I'm Rick Jackson. Glad to be back from Thanksgiving break 'cause we've got a ton to talk about starting with NASA's amazing feat at the end of November.

Way back in May, NASA launched the Insight spacecraft, on its way to the red planet.

[Man] The liftoff of the X5, launching the first interplanetary mission in the west coast and NASA's Insight, the first out of space robotic explore to study material in Mars.

[Rick] If the 300 million mile journey there wasn't tough enough, landing on the fourth planet from the sun has its own complications. According to NASA, only 40% of missions to Mars have been successful.

The planet's thin atmosphere makes it hard to slow down the spacecraft for a safe landing without bouncing around and damaging the sensitive equipment inside.

Plus the possibility of a dust storm meant that Insight had to be equipped with a special heat shield to protect it from being sandblasted away.

The spacecraft has two scientific tools on board. They will be used to learn more about what's inside of Mars, and to give us some new clues about how Mars and Earth were formed. Randy Paige has the story for us.

- 300 meters.

[Randy] These scientists inside the command center of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory spend in some cases decades of their professional lives on this mission. And it all came down to the final few seconds.

- 50 meters, constant velocity.

[Randy] Watch these two communications experts, Sandy Krasner on the right who spent seven years of his life on this project and Kris Bruvold on the left who spent five. Watch Sandy's chin and Kris' eyes in the silent final five seconds.

[Woman] Touchdown confirmed!

- I was terrified. You know, I mean just all the things that could go wrong and we've been practicing this and we've been training and we've been thinking about it, and it's just an amazing experience. - In the culmination of all that time and having everything go right and all the work that's gone into it and all the testing, and to know just how precarious it really is and how big of a challenge it is, and how the team just made it look so easy, but to watch it unfold like that is just it's mind-bending.

[Randy] Now the real science begins in the next two or three months, Insight's two powerful instruments will be deployed, a seismometer will measure movement inside the planet and a heat probe will be pounded into the surface to measure fluctuations in temperature. Scientists will be able to understand more about how the planet formed which can teach us a lot about our planet as well. Insight principle investigator, Bruce Banerdt.

- We can basically use Mars as a time machine to go back and look at what the Earth must have looked like a few tens of millions of years after it formed and by doing that, we can then look at our physical models, our theories of how the Earth evolved and understand why the Earth became the way it is.

[Rick] Thanks Randy. Insights mission is expected to last two years. Can't wait to see what it discovers!

Now, back on planet Earth, folks in California have been facing a harrowing experience of their own. When we left for break, the Camp Fire was deemed the most destructive wildfire in the state's history, burning through more than 153,000 acres of land and ruining right about 14,000 homes.

Nearly 90 people died because of the fire and it's taken heroic efforts by fire fighters and first responders to finally contain the flames. Reporter Marc Thompson spoke with firefighters about the dangers they faced.

[Marc] The Folsom strike team arrived at the Camp Fire Thursday afternoon just as the blaze was tearing through town.

- Basically our primary mission was evacuations and rescue.

[Marc] As the flames bore down, the Folsom crew made several daring rescues but soon found themselves cut off and needing to make a quick escape.

- We were able to kind of save ourselves so to speak and in that process, we found some other people that were trapped by debris, trees, wires, et cetera. We assisted in getting them out and then ultimately, we made our retreat all the way back down.

[Marc] Using every available means.

- We put 'em in our truck, in our fire engines, there were other civilians that were coming down. We were able to flag them down.

[Marc] At the same time nearby, a Sacramento strike team was moving towards Paradise. Their mission to save structures in a town already ablaze.

- When you roll into town and Safeway is on fire and when McDonald's is gone and everything around it is gone. That day I knew it was a big one and we were gonna be here for a while. [Marc] With limited resources, the Sacramento crew saved house after house but it's the ones they couldn't protect that they'll remember the most.

- When I turned around and have to walk away from a house and I look at that house, I'm like, this is someone's retirement home and everything they have is inside that house. And there's nothing I can do.

[Marc] Both crews say the people of Paradise were grateful reaching out however they could to offer thanks. Selfless gestures from people who themselves have lost so much.

- I've been out on other strike teams before and wild land fires before. Nothing like this.

- And then you throw on top of the number of life lost this close to holidays, it does leave an impact on you.

[Rick] Thank you, Marc. Californians are no stranger to wildfires. Long hot summers with little rain make the land prone to catching fire. Prone, that means likely to experience something that is usually unwelcome.

Over the summer, the Carr Wildfire destroyed more than 1,000 homes and it burned close to 230,000 acres of land. That was in California's Shasta and Trinity counties. But the students who lived through it are sharing their experiences and encouragement with victims of the Camp Fire. Dylan Brown reports.

[Woman] My sister was scared, don't worry, you will be safe. Do not cry, here's a coat, C-O-T-E.

[Dylan] Sweet and kind words from students at Grant Elementary School are being sent to victims of the Camp Fire.

- That's first gradees.

- Seriously, like.

- I love this jacket.

- Jacket.

- Jackait.

- Jackait.

[Dylan] Put into coats supplied by the staff and many others, but written by kids who lost everything in the Carr Fire.

- When you read the kids' notes and you know that kid's backstory or that kid lost everything a couple months ago and he's saying, you'll be okay, right? Happy face.

- Yeah.

- Yes.

- Like wow. [Dylan] Stephanie Rebelo and Sheena Zearly say the idea came about a couple days ago. That's when they reached out to Grant Elementary School Super Intendant Mike Freeman.

- Some of us were out of our homes for weeks. Some of us lost homes, okay, but they've lost businesses, they've lost places of employment--

- And a community.

- They've lost schools.

- Many lives.

- We had this school to come back to. What does elementary school look like in Paradise?

[Dylan] The idea to help.

- So Burrito Bandito--

[Dylan] Then took off.

- Quality market and Plaster's Starbucks over here said, "We're gonna give you 10 gallons of coffee."

[Dylan] And multiple readying businesses started pitching in.

- The Jamba Juice that's also over here said, "Hey, we'll call our Jamba Juice in Chico.

[Dylan] And for those affected by the Carr Fire, it's more than just resources being sent.

[Woman] I got evacuated, it was the worst thing in my life but now I'm safe, I know it's really sad. I give you this coat to make you happy, hope you get a house soon. I hope you like this jacket.

[Dylan] It's about the message they're sending as well.

- If we could send a message to Paradise to people, you know what? You're stronger than you think, we all are, there is a resiliency in community and--

- And you will make it, you just need to reach out and ask for help, and there are a lot more people willing to help than I think you realize, when you're going through it.

[Rick] Thanks Dylan. What a sweet way for those students to pay it forward! Now closer to home, workers are saying that their employer is doing just the opposite of paying it forward.

General Motors, the company that builds Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC vehicles recently announced it would be closing several factories in North America, including one in Lordstown, Ohio, that's in Trumbull county.

Workers and lawmakers have said that the company should be loyal to the employees and tax payers, since taxes were used to bail out the company only about 10 years ago. A bailout is the act of giving a business money to keep it from closing. But General Motors says closing the plants is the right move for the company. Steve Nannes has the story. [Steve] General Motors is taking major steps to restructure its organization and it will come at the cost of many of its workers. On Monday, the motor vehicle giant announced it will cut 15% of its salaried workforce. That's about 8,000 people and thousands of hourly workers will either lose their jobs or be reassigned. The move is part of a broader shift to new technologies and away from traditional car production. Underscored by the company's new motto, zero crashes, zero emissions, zero congestion. In a statement, GM CEO, Mary Barra said quote, "The actions we are taking today "continue our transformation to be highly agile, "resilient and profitable, while giving us "the flexibility to invest in the future." Shortly after the announcement, president Trump expressed his disappointment over GM's move.

- We let our position be known and we're not happy about it.

[Steve] GM's Oshawa assembly plant in Ontario is one of five North American facilities that will shut production.

- They come to work everyday and they make General Motors a lot of money. They're the best workers in the industry, they're the best workers in General Motors, and this is the reward they get.

[Steve] The other four plants are located in Detroit, Michigan, Warren, Ohio, White Marsh, Maryland, and Warren, Michigan. GM says the plan will safe the company $6 billion by the end of 2020.

[Rick] Thanks Steve. The auto industry has been important to our state for a super long time like almost since the first car was invented. Mary's got more for us in this week's Know Ohio. Check it out!

KNOW OHIO: AUTO HISTORY

[Mary] I bet you didn't know that Ohio played a big role in the development of cars, get ready to rev your engines 'cause I'm gonna race through Ohio's long car history.

While the car itself wasn't invented in Ohio, we certainly helped shape it into the vehicle we know today. This includes the invention of the first gas-powered American car. In 1891, John William Lambert of Ohio city built a vehicle in secret.

Decades before, his father had brought him to see a gas-powdered engine and that invention stuck in his mind. So when he heard about cars being built in Germany, he put the two together.

Here's his first car or horseless carriage as they were called at the time. You can see the gas engine beneath the seat. It might look pretty simple compared to what we have today but at the time, Lambert's invention was almost too modern. He wasn't even able to find any buyers for his car.

This first model had two forward speeds and no reverse. It could reach top speeds of up to a brisk five miles per hour. Okay, not so fast but still, the car had two big wheels in the back and one small one in the front. This wasn't the most stable design so his next model included two front tires. Over the years, Lambert's invention developed more and more. Of course, with cars, come accidents and unfortunately, Lambert is also credited with the first automobile accident in America. In the same year that he invented his three-wheeled car, he crashed it.

While out in a drive with a friend, Lambert hit a tree root and his vehicle went out of control and it crashed into a hitching post. Luckily, there were no major injuries.

This leads us to our next Ohio involvement with the automobile, insurance. Another early car inventor, Gilbert Loomis, here's one of his vehicles, purchased the very first automobile insurance.

In 1897, he bought a $1,000 policy from Traveler's Insurance Company in Dayton. This would cover the cost of any damage caused by him getting in an accident. He was well ahead of his time because nowadays, auto insurance is required by law for every driver.

By the early 1900s, cars had caught on and that is much to the credit of Clevelander, Alexander Winton. Winton started a bicycle company in Cleveland in 1891. But by 1897, he had switched to motor carriages. His company was the first to sell vehicles to the public starting with the Winton Six. This vehicle was as advanced as they came and it was able to drive all the way across the country.

The more popular cars became the more competition there was among inventors and manufacturers. Other Ohio companies set out to best Winton. For example, the Packard Motor Car Company was founded in Warren, Ohio in 1899 by brothers James and William Packard.

Here's their very first car, the Model A. For a few years, they built their luxury cars right in their hometown before moving operations to Detroit. Packards were so swanky that they were owned by the rulers of several countries including Japan, Switzerland and China. Here is the Packard of His Highness, the Maharaja of Gwalior in India.

Other early car companies found great success at Ohio including the Peerless Motor Company, with their huge manufacturing plant in Cleveland. Like Packard, they too produced mainly high end vehicles.

Also in Ohio was the Baker Motor Vehicle Company, which sold Thomas Edison his first car. In the 1910s, they made a car that could reach speeds of 75 miles per hour and included the first seat belts.

While these companies are long gone, you can see that the futures they developed paved the way for the cars we have today. Oh and Ohio is still one of the top spots in the nation for automobile manufacturing and assembly. So yeah, Ohio is definitely car country.

[Rick] Thanks, Mary. And by the way, put one of those vintage cars on my holiday wish list, could you? Well, perhaps you participated in a little or a lot of shopping over Thanksgiving break.

The Friday after Thanksgiving has become known as Black Friday, when stores offer big sales to shoppers. Then there's Small Business Saturday, promoting shopping at local stores. And of course Cyber Monday, when online stores offer their best deals. According to the National Retail Federation from Thanksgiving day through Cyber Monday this year, more than 165 million Americans shopped either in store or online.

But this time of year can be a complete whirlwind of consumerism. Consumerism is the theory that buying goods is a positive thing for the economy. Reporter Clare Sebastian was inside an Amazon Fulfillment Center in New Jersey on that company's big day, Cyber Monday. Clare?

- Well this is what Amazon's distribution network looks like on what's said to be its busiest day of the year. This is really where the journey begins. The items get shipped in on trucks, and sorted out.

And while Amazon is not the only player getting in on the Cyber Monday sales, it is by far the biggest to capture almost half of all E-commerce sales in the U.S. this year. And you really get a sense standing here in this facility which is more than a million square foot just what it takes to run an E-commerce operation on that kind of scale, and why other retailers are scrambling to catch up.

This is what's called picking, once you place your order the robot delivers it to the employee to make sure it's the right thing and then sends it off to packing.

Speaking of Amazon employees, they have faced criticism in the past for the conditions in these fulfillment centers. They did though just raise the minimum wage to $15 in the U.S. But on this, which is said to be the busiest day of the year for them, I asked them how they make sure the employees are treated right?

- So the safety of our associates is a top priority. We couldn't make this happen without them. And as you can see here today, we're all busy delivering on behalf of customers and having fun while doing it.

- These boxes are now heading out onto trucks ready to be sent to customers. Now this all looks very smooth of course, but make no mistake this is a high pressure moment for Amazon that holiday sales forecast disappointed so they're racing to recapture more sales.

They're also for the first time this season offering free shipping on millions of items to all customers not just Prime members. And all of that of course means extra pressure behind the scenes.

[Rick] Thank you, Clare. And yes, there are Amazon Fulfillment Centers here in Ohio as well.

So, if you think Americans spend a lot of money, guess what? We are way outpaced by shoppers over in China. Their biggest shopping day is called Singles Day! And their version of Amazon is called Alibaba. Reporter Sherisse Pham has the receipt for this year's huge shopping spree.

[Sherisse] Alibaba kicking off Singles Day with a four-hour long gala featuring circus acts and celebrities. And it ended the day with nearly $31 billion in sales. That's more money than Americans spend on Cyber Monday and Black Friday combined. Singles day is an informal holiday to celebrate being single. It's always on November 11, so one, one, one, one and it started in China in the 1990s. Alibaba hijacked the holiday for discount sales, and 10 years later it has become a shopping bonanza. The company usually tests out new business models during this event, and this year was no different. Like Amazon, Alibaba has some brick and mortar grocery stores. They pushed Singles Day sales there. And shoppers have to have an Alipay account to pay at those stores, so Alibaba really trying to get that online shopper into offline stores. Also likely picking up a few more users that will shop with Alibaba all year round, not just Singles Day. And like all big tech giants, Alibaba also has global ambitions. This year was the first time they pushed Singles Day sales in Southeast Asia, through an E-commerce platform they own called Lazada. Now while Alibaba picked up sales at home and abroad, there was a big slowdown in growth. This year's number of $30 billion was huge no doubt, but the growth in sales was significantly lower than last year. In 2017, Singles Day sales grew by 40%, this year's growth just 27%.

[Rick] Thanks Sherisse. That drop in spending has been attributed to a couple of things, including China's slowing economy, and the ongoing trade war between them and The United States.

Still, Alibaba says they are benefiting from China's growing middle class spenders.

Now for this week's poll, we want to know how you and your family shop for holiday gifts. Choose whichever applies to you: shopping online, in store, making gifts by hand or let us know that you don't participate in gift-giving.

Head over to our website to vote in the poll and while you're there, we want you to write to us of course! In order for all of this holiday shopping to happen, it takes lots of people working. Maybe you had a family member or family friend who had to work during Thanksgiving this year? I did! We want to know, do you think people should have to work on holidays? Tell us why or why not! And be sure to include supporting evidence, for a chance to have your letter featured in next week's episode or online.

For plenty of people in America celebrating Christmas, a symbol of the season might be harder to come by this year. The Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association says, there's a tree shortage across the country.

The organization says the supply is low because of the great recession in 2008. They say there were too many trees about 10 years ago, so growers planted fewer trees, they were trying to save money. The effects of that are now being felt around the country, as the demand for Christmas trees rises.

With low supply, and high demand, the price for trees has grown up, up, and up.

The association says shoppers could pay 10% more for a tree this year.

Yikes, a lot of money!

Now something we don't think too much about is what happens with all those holiday decorations once the big day is all over. Our tweet of the week comes from some students who put their old pumpkins to use. Principal Miller from Graham Elementary shared photos and videos from the school's first annual flyin' pumpkin open. Students tested their skills at creating catapults to send those gourds gliding. 8th grader Ashton had a winning distance of 302 feet! That's an entire football field!

[Man] That's pretty good. Good one, woo!

[Rick] Wow, don't try that at home! We love seeing your learning in action, teachers, to have your class featured in our Weekly Call Out, tweet us, we are @NewsDepthOhio. Plus, on our Twitter account, you'll also get notified when we release previews for episodes, and when our new videos post on YouTube.

Now Logan from Rushwood Elementary wrote to us over break, "I want to see behind the scenes. I think this would be fascinating and more people would watch. If you try this and succeed, don't thank me, thank my teacher for making me feel encouraged."

Well guess what, Logan? We do have some cool behind the scenes features on our Twitter account too! It will look kinda like this. Okay enough about us, are you done back there? How about this week's A+?

We're giving it out to a walking program, run by Central Christian School in Kidron. We heard from fourth grade teacher Mrs. Hamsher, who was motivated to write to us after we asked about exercise in a poll question earlier this year.

Every morning, the elementary students head outside to take a walk around the playground on the track. And they wear pedometers so they can add up the total number of steps they walk together each day.

Mrs. Hamsher tells us that collectively, the kindergarten through fourth graders walk between 30,000 and 40,000 steps every morning. And since the beginning of the school year, they racked up about two million steps!

She says, "It's a great way to start every day, outdoors and on the move!"

What a great way to demonstrate the importance of keeping active too! So here's an A+ for Central Christian School's walking program, awesome job guys!

Now starting good habits, like exercising when you're young can really help later in life. See the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is once again stating that Americans sit too much and don't exercise enough. That's bad news for our health and our lifespans.

A new study from the CDC surveyed nearly 6,000 American adults. It found one in four sit for more than eight hours a day. And four in 10 do not exercise to either a vigorous or even a moderate degree each week.

This follows a 2017 study that found no matter how much you exercise, sitting for excessively long periods of time is a risk factor for early death from any cause.

I'm sure, glad I do this show standing up, I'm saving my life. Now as this next story will tell you, it's never too late to get fit! Reporter Emily Matesic visited a senior center in Wisconsin to find out.

- I'm Miss April.

- I'm Miss May.

- And I'm Miss June.

[Emily] Ranging in age from 70-something to north of 90, these are the women of the 2019 Touchmark on West Prospect Calendar. - I was thinking, well not only are these people beautiful here, but they are strong and fit and we are gaining muscle tone all the time and I thought why don't we make a calendar to show off our fitness?

[Emily] Marge Willis and the pipes she proudly shows off may have come up with the calendar idea. But it didn't take long for the other ladies to lend their bodies to the project.

- You're never too old to try something new.

[Emily] Fitness buffs who workout at least five times a week, these ladies have worked hard for their bodies. And they understand that fitness is good for their futures.

- Not only do we need muscles, but we need those connective tissues and all of the moving helps everything to work properly and stave off the aging part.

[Emily] And it's working.

- I don't feel like I'm 70-something. I feel really like I'm still 50.

[Emily] It's that mentality and their cheeky calendar that these pin up girls are hoping will inspire others their age to get active.

- I think it's important that people understand that age is only a number. I could be 73 and very sedentary or I can be 73 and very active.

[Emily] The calendars are for sale at Touchmark for $8 a piece. And in the spirit of women helping women, all proceeds are being donated to harbor house domestic abuse programs.

[Rick] Thanks, Emily. Time to check in on our cute news correspondent now, NewsCat supposedly been working hard over the break to find a good story for this week's Petting Zoo.

Hey, lounging on the papers doesn't count. You need exercise too so get to work. Okay, she's been doing her work.

A story about therapy dogs visiting kids impacted by California's Camp Fire, that's nice. To find out about these positive pooches, click the petting zoo button on our website!

As aways, thank you NewsCat!

And as always, we wanna hear from you! You can email us. We are [email protected]. You may write to us, we're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, that's in Cleveland, Ohio 44115. Or you can tweet us, we're @NewsDepthOhio.

Plus new this season you can subscribe to our channel on YouTube to get notified every time we release a new special segment.

Alright that's one packed show, thanks for watching, I'm basically done here.

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

[Kid] NewsDepth is a presentation of WVIZ PBS ideastream Education and is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.