May 18, 2023 | NewsDepth 2022-2023 | Episode 29

(upbeat music) - Coming up next on "NewsDepth": The end of the pandemic has brought changes to immigration policy.

We get motivated to move our bodies this summer.

We visit the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Cleveland for this week's "Know Ohio".

And NewsCat has a very special announcement to make.

"NewsDepth" is now.

(upbeat music) The official end of the COVID public health emergency has brought changes to policies.

Hello, everybody.

I'm Rick Jackson.

Thank you for joining us.

After more than three years, the World Health Organization stated at the beginning of the month that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency.

And in the U.S., the public health emergency declaration expired last Thursday, May 11th.

That means policies set in place to assist the public and the regulation of the spread of the virus also came to an end.

The CDC, or the Centers for Disease Control, will no longer track COVID-19 cases, and vaccines and tests aren't free anymore.

The SNAP program or food stamps will be rolling back their requirements to qualify, and Title 42, which restricted asylum to immigrants coming into the United States, also expired.

Okay, I know that last one sounded like a lot of jargon, so let's go through it together.

During the pandemic, immigrants, who are people trying to move from their native country to another country, could not receive asylum while they waited to be processed.

That's if they were trying to cross without proper documentation.

So they would have to turn back.

Asylum is the protection granted by one nation to someone who's left their native country as a refugee.

With the end of Title 42, the government estimated a surge of about 150,000 migrants from Latin American countries, such as Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Venezuela, were waiting to cross at the U.S. southern border.

Border cities were preparing with shelters to allow overnight stays.

Hospitals were stacking up medications to assist with health issues, and thousands of federal personnel were dispatched to help local authorities.

But border officials did not see as substantial an influx of migrants as they were expecting.

- We're starting to see more order on the border.

We're starting to see an orderly process of migrants not coming at the numbers that they were.

And the numbers that are crossing now are under the capability and capacity of border patrol and CBP and law enforcement on our border.

- Although the U.S. southern border remains not as chaotic as predicted, officials are still expecting an increase in immigration.

Shelly Molaschi has the latest.

- [Shelly] What started out as a packed week at the southern border is a much different scene this weekend in El Paso, Texas.

The border restriction policy known as Title 42 expired on Thursday, and many border cities are not seeing the surge they anticipated.

- On Monday, we saw about 3000 people there, and the border patrol, with assistance from a lot of agencies, went in and handed out handouts to be able to help them register and get processed.

- [Shelly] Now in its place, the Biden administration has reverted to the decades-old border policy known as Title 8.

It requires longer processing times and imposes consequences for migrants who enter the U.S. illegally.

- We've been very, very clear that there are lawful, safe, and orderly pathways to seek relief in the United States.

- [Shelly] On Thursday, a judge blocked President Joe Biden's plan to release migrants without court dates following a lawsuit filed by the state of Florida.

Under the plan, some migrants would be released on parole on a case-by-case basis and be required to check in with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On Friday, the White House responded to the lawsuit.

- It's sabotage.

It is a harmful ruling, and the Department of Justice is going to fight it.

- [Shelly] Meanwhile, thousands of personnel and troops sent by the Biden administration continue to help with asylum requests at the southern border.

- Thank you, Shelly.

Now get your running shoes ready because we're changing lanes now.

It is officially running season, and you might have seen a few runners in your neighborhood, possibly training for a marathon.

A marathon is a long-distance race that lasts 26.2 miles.

Lots of cities hold marathon races.

Here in Cleveland, the marathon is this weekend.

Two weeks ago, Cincinnati held theirs.

It's called the Flying Pig, known as one of the most challenging races in the U.S. Now the marathon is a finish line not many people have crossed, but a Pennsylvania man just finished running 50 marathons in 50 states, accomplishing a goal he set out to do more than a decade ago.

Jamie Apody has his story.

- [Jamie] Keith Tindall loves to run.

- Every day, the alarm goes off early, you get up, you go out no matter what it's like.

You run for a couple hours.

- [Jamie] And this past January, the 54-year-old Harleysville resident reached a goal he set out to accomplish more than a decade ago, 50 marathons in all 50 states.

- Well, each medal took about four hours or a little less.

But, yeah, overall, it was 15 years to earn the whole thing.

So, yeah, big deal.

- [Jamie] It's a journey that has taken him quite literally across the country.

And just as each medal is different, so too is each experience: crossing finish lines as the sun shines and as the leaves turn, from the mountains of Montana to the deserts of Arizona and across the Alaskan seas.

- Yeah, that's actually been the neatest part about it is just getting to see this country, all the states, and a lot of them I'd never been to.

But yeah, there's flat ones, there's hilly ones, there's high altitude, low altitude.

I mean, there's a lot of different challenges.

- [Jamie] And two months ago, he finished the Maui Oceanfront Marathon in Hawaii with his daughter by his side.

State number 50.

What was the feeling like when you crossed the finish line in Maui, knowing you completed your goal?

- Emotional: just thinking about it now, it's kind of hard not to get choked up.

But yeah, when you put that much work into something for 15 years, and your whole family's there and, you know, just to think that I can't believe I did it, you know.

- [Jamie] As for his next challenge, this summer, Keith plans on running clear across the state of Pennsylvania, from Lake Erie to Penns Landing, to raise funds and awareness for Destiny Rescue, a children's charity.

- Thank you, Jamie.

Turns out most of us aren't as active as we should be.

Okay, I don't expect you to go out and run a marathon, but let's try to make our bodies move a little more, shall we?

To find a little more motivation for moving, Margaret spoke with Gina Schaffer, a certified personal trainer, to learn more ways to stay active.

(upbeat techno music) - I have a confession.

Sometimes I just like to sit around and be lazy.

Like I get home from work and head straight for the couch.

Okay, so maybe it's not that crazy of a confession, but I know I should be moving more.

And it's not just me.

A study from the National Institute on Aging found that beginning in elementary school, kids aren't moving enough, and it keeps getting worse.

By age 19, most teens are only moving as much as a 60-year-old.

Not cool.

So to find a little motivation, I met with Gina Schaffer, a certified personal trainer from the fitness center at UH Avon Health Center.

I started by asking her, "What exactly is a fitness trainer?"

- We help people motivate to get in shape.

They wanna lose weight, we teach them how to lose weight.

If they needed to work on some of their issues, like a bad knee or a bad shoulder, something, we help them learn how to take care of those things.

- And so what kind of science is behind being a personal trainer?

- Well, it's really a lot about physiology, anatomy.

Anatomy is, you know, the study of your muscles and bones, and the physiology is like your cardiovascular system, your pulmonary system, how you breathe, how your heart beats.

- So you really have to know how your entire body works in order to help it work better.

- Pretty much.

Pretty much.

- And for someone like me who sits at a desk most of the day, or for the students that watch who sit in school all day, what would you suggest is a good way to start moving?

- Well, if you'll just start being aware of it, you know.

If you feel like you're sitting too long, you're probably sitting too long.

So you wanna get up, walk around, start doing some things that you don't normally do.

Like maybe you always get driven places.

Maybe you could walk to a couple of places, you know.

Maybe you could take a walk for lunch.

Just get up and move around a little bit more than you normally do.

Get away from the TV, get away from the video games, and start playing outside more.

- So I don't have to hit the gym and do a bunch of pushups and lift a ton of weights?

- It's not necessary, but it's great if you can do that.

But if you're not into that kind of thing, I'm sure you could move around more than you normally do.

- And so what's the benefit of just moving a little bit more every day?

- Well, your body becomes stronger, you know.

What we do is we work on our bodies a little bit.

We stress them a little bit.

We sleep, and our body gets a little bit stronger.

So every time you stress your body a little bit, it gets stronger when you sleep at night.

So you wanna keep doing it and keep that more consistent, and then you keep getting stronger and stronger and stronger over time.

- And you had told me that there's some studies that show that it actually makes you happier and smarter.

- Makes you happier.

It makes you happier and smarter.

It actually increases the serotonin in your brain, and serotonin makes you feel happy.

So there's studies that show that people that exercise have a lot less depression.

So if you're kind of feeling blue a lot, then you might wanna go out and take a nice brisk walk.

You'll probably feel a lot better.

- Awesome, well, I mean we probably shouldn't stand here much longer.

Let's get moving.

- That sounds good.

- Thanks, Margaret.

And Gina is right.

My mood usually does improve after I take a long walk.

Now I enjoy spending time outdoors, but I don't have such an ambitious goal as this next family.

A two-year-old Texas girl and her parents are visiting all of the national parks in the United States.

That means they'll visit Ohio at some point and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

But this week, their journey brought them to Joshua Tree.

Crystal Jimenez has more on how the family's plan is working so far.

- Who's this?

- [Valerie] Another brother.

- [Crystal] 50 national parks down, 13 more to go.

Traveling has been in two-year-old Journey Castillo's blood since she was just days old.

Her parents, Valerie and Eric Castillo's goal is visit all 63 national parks by the time Journey turned three.

Here's why.

- They're, you know, parks that aren't promised.

They're not amusement parks.

They're not, you know, guaranteed to be here down the road for the next generation.

So for us, it's just to create that awareness for parents to get out there and take their kids to experience these parks.

- [Crystal] According to the National Parks Conservation Association, climate change is a threat to parks like Joshua Tree National Park.

The Castillos say they want to bring awareness to these issues.

- 'Cause we're lucky we get to see these parks.

We're lucky we get to visit them.

They're not in the state that they were 50 years ago.

And in 10 years, in five years, they're not going to be in the state that they are today.

- [Crystal] And that's what they hope little Journey gets out of this; to become a beacon of hope for the future of these national parks.

- Environment is going, and for her generation, I think that what we're doing, she could potentially have a foundation to make an impact in the natural world with what we're doing today.

- Yeah, we wanna give her a voice, and build her character from the very beginning.

We're not waiting.

- Yeah.

- [Crystal] Journey turns three in September.

The Castillos say when they finally reach their goal, they plan to continue their mission working with legislation to help conserve the land's natural beauty.

- Okay, some of us are not so much into getting a lot of steps in.

Some people prefer a calmer sport like fishing.

Water quality is extremely important for fishing because it can directly affect the health and survival of fish populations.

A new report out in Maryland is judging the health of one of the most important water systems, Chesapeake Bay.

It says it will require an effort from cities that surround the bay as well as industry, farmers, and even the general public to bring it back.

Brad Bell has the story.

- [Brad] Joe Rush is an avid fisherman.

Today was a good day in his kayak on the bay off of Sandy Point State Park.

He caught and released a handful of striped bass, but he says days like this are increasingly rare.

- I Think a lot of people are giving up on the recreation of fishing because it's not what they remember.

- [Brad] Such stories are one way to judge the health of the Chesapeake, but now dozens of scientists have worked together to release this new report looking back at the last 40 years of efforts to restore the bay.

Their findings matched the fisherman's observations.

- The system did not respond the way we expected it to.

We didn't know then what we know now.

- [Brad] Denice Wardrop of the Chesapeake Research Consortium is co-editor of the report.

It finds only slight increases in water quality.

Pollution reduction not happening fast enough.

Changes in farming practices not yielding hoped-for results, and climate change hampering efforts even more.

- Increasing temperature is a very big deal to the bay ecosystem.

- [Brad] Hilary Harp Falk is president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

She says the report can't be ignored.

- Every one of us can have a huge opportunity to improve the bay from our own backyard.

And this report highlights the importance of stopping pollution entering cities, towns, farms.

And so, we each need to continue to make progress on our own work, while we also hold elected officials accountable for making progress at the state and federal level.

- Thanks, Brad.

Now for this week's poll, we wanna know, how do you plan to stay active this summer?

Head over to our poll page online to vote.

You can choose between hiking, running, fishing, playing a sport, playing in the water, or riding your bike.

Now, last week we asked you to tell us how you watch television.

50% of you said you used streaming apps.

32% said you don't watch TV all that much.

25% of you said you watch TV online.

Most of you are probably watching us right now on our website.

21% said you watch TV through social media.

And lastly, 20% of you watch TV live through broadcast.

I think that's how I usually like to watch, tuning in to watch "NewsDepth", of course.

Now, if you happen to be taking a walk in your city trying to stay active this summer, why not check out some of the monuments you bump into?

You might learn a little bit about your town's history.

Right here in downtown Cleveland, we have one called the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument.

It commemorates Ohio's role during the Civil War.

To commemorate means to celebrate and show respect for a person or an event.

Let's take a tour together of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in this week's "Know Ohio".

- My name is Greg Palumbo.

I am the executive director of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Public Square in Cleveland, Ohio.

(upbeat music) We were dedicated July 4th, 1894, almost 30 years after the Civil War.

We are a monument to Civil War veterans.

(marching music) So General Barnett brought together his 1200 men: he's the highest ranking military official from Cuyahoga County, to have a a meeting of veterans.

And that meeting of veterans decided in 1879 that they were going to build a monument.

In 1888, they held a vote to decide what that monument would look like.

And they had a 50/50 split because there were two styles of monument, the Memorial Room, which is where we're standing now, or the statues around the outside of a tower, and on top of that tower is a statue.

The architect and sculptor, Levi Scofield, said, "I can do both," and he put both together into this very unique monument.

(marching music) That monument took several years to make.

The sculptures started in 1888.

It wasn't until 1892 that they started to break ground on the monument.

It took about a year and a half to build, and in 1894 we were open.

Outside the monument, we have the four different branches of the military represented.

And as they go around, they get more violent, showing the progression of the war.

At the beginning, we see the Navy in practice.

They're practicing shooting mortars.

And we have the Navy, the Artillery, the Infantry, and the Cavalry.

At the top of the shaft is a 17 foot tall figure of freedom.

She's the goddess of freedom, and she's being guarded by a shield of liberty.

And her sword is in a defensive stance, ready to defend our freedoms.

She is an interesting character because she's modeled after Levi Scofield's wife, Elizabeth Scofield.

She's really important because she did the research on the 9,000 names that we have on the interior of our monument.

(upbeat music) We have a lot of visitors that come in and talk about their family member that's on the wall.

We actually had a group in just recently of a family reunion.

These members had never actually met before.

They met over the internet, and they created a connection based on their research into their family tree, and that led them to their ancestor, who's on the wall here in the monument.

And they all came together and took pictures with his name.

- The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monuments open daily to the public, and sometimes during the spring, they hold tours of their underground tunnels that support the structure.

If you're curious about that part of the monument's history, you can check out this video online.

Now Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States.

It's observed on the last Monday in May.

It's a day for remembering and honoring the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

A family in Boston's able to remember their relative who fought during World War II, thanks to an Italian teenager.

The teenager found a bracelet of the American soldier in the woods near his home.

Emily Maher reports on his discovery and journey.

- Beyond what you find, there's always a history.

- [Emily] And with that history is always a story.

- I was like interested in seeing who was this person.

- [Emily] 19-year-old Gabriele Pavolttoni was metal detecting in the woods near his home in Pisa, Italy, when he heard the noise every detectorist waits for.

- And then my metal detector start like bing, bing, bing, bing.

- [Emily] He started digging when something shiny caught his eye.

- So I pull it out from the ground.

I put it in my hand.

And I saw, okay, this is a bracelet.

- [Emily] A silver bracelet with a World War II soldier's name engraved on the front, the date 1943, and another name on the back.

- And I saw Lt. Ernest A. Holtzclaw.

- [Emily] Gabriele knew he wanted to return it to the family of Captain Ernest Holtzclaw, a member of the US Army's 34th Infantry Division.

- I found his grave in Boston.

- He and his mom hopped on a plane heading to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with an important mission that would bring him right to Mattapan.

When Gabriel spotted the American flag here at Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan, he knew he was getting close to finding the soldier's grave.

It was then he stumbled right into the man who knew how to help.

- I noticed them kind of walking around endlessly, not set at any one grave.

- [Emily] Jim Killeen and another man who works at the cemetery helped Gabriel track down the grave and the family's home.

- [Gabriel] We went for a ride.

I mean, just three miles away from here.

- [Emily] And when they got to the house, the soldier's family, stunned and in awe, were returned the bracelet of Captain Ernest Holtzclaw, a World War II American soldier.

- I was shaking because, wow, this is his family.

- Thank you, Emily.

Now this week's A+ Award winners are a group of motivated sixth graders from Cincinnati.

This group of students wanted to get more out of their sixth-grade experience than just learning about science, math, and social studies.

So they started to brainstorm about how they could help their community and decided to raise money for their local dog shelter.

The sixth-grade class then got to work.

Morgan told us they were motivated by their teacher Mrs. Walker because she recently fostered a dog from the local shelter.

Anna added that they really wanted to help the dogs that were in that shelter and felt the best way to do that was to raise money to help provide the dogs with food and toys.

Carly explained that they decided to host a bake sale and donate all the money they made to the shelter.

They wrote announcements to be read over the intercom.

They wrote emails to teachers.

They had a meeting with the principal, had a discussion with the head custodian.

They even wrote an article for the parent newsletter.

These are truly some organized and determined students.

Now Kenzie told us they decided to hold the bake sale during the school's annual fine arts and book fair night because they knew there'd be a lot of people who would buy the muffins and the cupcakes and the brownies and the cookies.

Okay, now I want dessert.

The bake sale was a huge success.

They raised nearly $1,500.

They're hoping future fine arts nights will also have a community service component.

Emmy told us she was amazed at how much they were able to raise and said they were so successful because they worked as a team, relied on each other, and took the time to plan.

Reese added that she's very proud of their work because she believes they truly made a difference for their community.

So, of course, this week's A+ Award goes to this group of super sixth graders from Wilson Elementary in Cincinnati for being motivated to serve their community.

Okay, I think we've given NewsCat long enough to find us a good story.

Let's see what she has for us in today's Petting Zoo.

(slow drums playing) (cat meowing) Hey there, NewsCat.

Hey, I like the tie.

Oh, wait, wait, you think you're dressing up like me?

Pay attention.

I'm not wearing a tie, NewsCat.

I am flattered, though.

Thank you.

So what'd you find this week?

Woo, a story about a couple who started a company that babysits ducks and chickens while their owners go on vacation.

To check out how the flock is being taken care of, click the Petting Zoo button on our website, and thank you, NewsCat.

Hey, wait, I thought you had a special announcement to make.

(cat meowing) Okay, NewsCat wants you all to know that she will be retiring from "NewsDepth" at the end of the season.

She's been assigned on other projects now, like chasing mice, and won't have time to work as closely on the show.

And there is another change coming that I wanted to tell you about personally.

After 18 years of hosting "NewsDepth" for all of you, all across Ohio, I am retiring too: not just from NewsDepth, but from all the other programs I host here in Cleveland as well.

I've been working in television and radio for 45 years now.

All or parts of 37 of those years here in Ohio.

For the write-in prompt this week, our producer decided she'd love to see some goodbye messages for NewsCat and for myself.

Next week, of course, will be our last episode for the 22-23 season.

We wanna start the summer on a very positive note.

I promise to read them all.

Okay, last week, we asked you what you thought life on the moon would look like.

Let's see how you picture outer space by opening up our inbox.

Kennedy from Ledgeview Elementary School in Macedonia starts us off with "Dear NewsDepth, It would look dark every morning you wake up and normal every night you go to bed.

Also, it would take a long time to get on your spacesuit just to play outside.

Also, it would be very easy to cook food because you could take your spaceship to the sun."

Using the sun to cook your food, that's pretty resourceful, Kennedy.

Scarlet from Roosevelt Elementary in Lakewood can already picture life in space.

"Dear NewsDepth, What I would do on the moon is I would create a camera and take photos of Earth and the moon.

I also drew a picture to show the details of what I would take a picture of."

Oh, that's cool.

"And the moon is one of the places I've always wanted to visit.

Well, just space, really."

Me too, Scarlet.

Knox from Tremont Elementary School in Columbus can't wait for the future where this could be possible.

"I think it would be awesome to be in space because you could see the International Space Station, and you could float mid-air because of the lack of gravity.

And I would want to try an ice cream bar in space and also touch the moon."

Hayden from Holland Intermediate in Holland also sent us a drawing of outer space.

"I think life on the moon would be hard.

Why?

Because we wouldn't be able to breathe on the moon.

Sure, the dome, or whatever your house is, could provide oxygen, but you're a kid like me: you most likely wanna go outside and play, right?

Well, if you forget your space suit, you could die.

That's why I think life on the moon would be hard."

And finally, Jadorian from Springdale Elementary in Springdale thinks living in space could get complicated.

"Dear NewsDepth, Life on the moon will be super hard.

The reason why I think this is because there's zero gravity on the moon.

All the things we put down will be floating, for example, like a bed.

This is why I think life on the moon will be hard."

Well, thanks for writing in everybody, but I'm afraid that is all the time we have for today.

But you know, we do always wanna hear from you, like those letters, and there are plenty of ways for you to stay in touch with us.

You can write to us.

We are at 1375 Euclid Avenue, right here in Cleveland, Ohio.

Our zip code is 44115.

You can email us at newsdepth@ideastream.org, or you can tweet us.

Our handle is at @NewsDepthOhio.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Rick Jackson.

We'll see you right back here next week.

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

(upbeat music) (ambient music)