(bright music) - Coming up next on Newsdepth, we meet the mayor of Mount Vernon, Ohio.

Speaking of mayors, we learn about former Cleveland Mayor, Carl Stokes, a black political icon.

Our very own broadcast engineer tells us about her job.

And a school in North Dakota sees the impact of a four day school week.

Newsdepth is now.

(bright music) With Governor Mike Dewine's two terms coming to an end, Ohio will elect a new governor later this year.

Hello everyone, I'm Gabriel Kramer.

Thank you for joining us.

Ohio's race for Governor is part of the 2026 midterm elections.

Midterm elections are national elections that take place halfway through a President's four year term.

The primary elections for the midterms will be on May 5th, and the general elections on November 3rd.

The midterms help determine who works for Congress, state level positions like governor and local races, which sometimes means the mayor or other leadership roles for a city.

They can also cover other ballot issues like constitutional amendments or local tax proposals.

Although midterm elections often have less voter turnout than presidential elections, they still shape our country and are important to follow.

The midterms determine who controls Congress, which affects what the president can accomplish, and they shape national policy for the next two years.

On the ballot this year in Ohio, voters will elect the positions of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and two Ohio Supreme Court Justices.

The party endorsed candidates for governor of Ohio are Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.

Endorsed when talking about the elections means that they are the candidate that the political parties are officially nominating.

Acton previously served as the Director of the Ohio Department of Health under Governor Dewine.

Ramaswamy ran for president in 2024 and backed Donald Trump after the presidential primaries.

Local government is a huge part of your cities or towns, whether you know about it or not.

Your mayor and city council manage operations in the city such as managing its budget, creating local laws, and even ensuring the water in your house is running every day.

Newsdepth intern, Olivia Stein, went to her hometown Mountain Vernon, Ohio to interview Mayor Matthew Starr about his role as mayor.

- I tell this to everybody, democracy doesn't come with an embossed invitation.

You gotta show up.

How committed are you to your community?

And that's really sort of the underlying delivery for that.

(playful music) My name is Matthew Starr.

I'm the mayor of the city of Mount Vernon here.

A mayor is elected to office by his citizens in his jurisdiction.

You have to live in the city limits in order to be elected mayor.

You are elected for mayor for four years.

People think that the governor is my boss, the governor is not my boss, the citizens are my boss.

I work for them.

So being elected mayor, there are two requirements in the State of Ohio that you have to be at least 18-years-old and you have to live in the city limits for at least a year.

As mayor for a statutory city like the city of Mount Vernon, there are no term limits.

Every day as a mayor is different.

You're constantly on, and in fact, when you're the mayor or an elected official in a small town, you're constantly working.

I wanna have an impact on my community.

You really had to be in a leadership role in public service, if you really wanna see some things change.

And much of the changes that I'm working on, and I'm working with my team on are things that lift everyone's quality of life.

We're talking about infrastructure, public safety, roads, sidewalks, things that people can use everyday, parks.

These make a huge difference in people's lives, and you don't think about it when you turn that water faucet on where that water comes from, you just take it for granted.

There's a lot of work that goes into it afterwards and beforehand, and that's what my job is.

And where we've come, where we need to go, and what laws or restrictions we have before us you've gotta be creative about figuring how you're going to provide those basic, fundamental governmental services.

Much of what I do is enforcing the laws that are created.

With that, you have some flexibility in order to create a vision for where you want to set priorities.

And so, it's really about motivating the staff of about 180 people to come around a mission and a vision and be able to provide services on a daily basis.

You take an oath as mayor, as an elected official, to uphold the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution and laws of the State of Ohio, and the ordinances of the city of Mount Vernon to the best of your ability.

That's really my main job is to get everybody rowing in the same direction.

One of the things I'm most proud of is starting a Mayor's Youth Leadership Council.

Again, going back to the thought that when you graduate high school, the last time you had any kind of education on the local government was in the third grade.

You receive information on what's happening at the federal government, at the state government as you go on, but the decisions that really impact your life are at the local level.

And so keeping people, young people involved at the local level to be a part of the business of running a city is incredibly important.

That's one thing I'm very proud of.

The decisions that we make today are going to impact the lives of young people.

When you're ready to graduate, when you're ready to start having a family, when you're ready to get a job.

It's so important that while you can see all the news that's going on at the federal level or the state level, where you are impacted the most is right here in your hometown.

If I were to give you one message, get involved in your local government.

Know your city council members, know your township trustees, know your county commissioners.

Know your mayors.

Get to know 'em on a first name basis, because they have information that you're gonna want to know and you'll be surprised at just how quickly they are likely to respond and be happy to communicate with you.

(playful music) - Special thanks to Mayor Starr for answering our questions.

And special thanks to Newsdepth of intern Olivia Stein for producing that Politics On Point segment.

Great job, Olivia.

In February, we celebrate Black History Month, which makes today a great day to learn about a mayor moment in Cleveland history and American history.

Like much of the country in the 1960s, Clevelanders were fighting for the civil rights of black Americans.

In 1967, Cleveland elected Carl Stokes for mayor, which made him the first African-American mayor of any major American city.

Stokes grew up in Cleveland and worked hard to earn his education and build a career in public service.

Stokes was also the first black Democrat elected to the Ohio House.

Known for his hand-on leadership, he expanded opportunities for women and black residents and inspired future generations of leaders.

Mary has a look back at all of his accomplishments and challenges in this week's Know Ohio.

(playful music) - One of the most exciting things about living in this country is that no matter where you start in life, it's possible to rise up and do great things through hard work.

Today I'm going to tell you the story of one famous Ohioan who had it rough as a kid, but he grew up to shatter racial barriers and become the first African-American mayor of a major U.S.

city.

Carl Stokes was born in Cleveland in 1927.

He was the great grandson of a slave, and when he was just two-years-old, his father died.

After that, his mother struggled to provide for Carl and his brother Louis.

The Stokes family lived in the Outhwaite Homes, Cleveland's first housing project.

A group of buildings owned by the government that served as homes for families who otherwise couldn't afford them.

The Stokes boys would help support the family by carrying newspapers and working in neighborhood stores.

Carl even dropped out of school to work full-time and eventually joined the army, serving in Germany at the end of World War II.

But when he returned home, Carl worked hard to complete his education, earning his high school diploma, a college degree and a law degree.

With all that education, Carl chose to serve the city he called home.

First he worked as a lawyer in Cleveland, but was soon elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, the first African-American Democrat to do so.

Because of his own background, Stokes became a strong supporter of racial equality and welfare for poor people.

In 1965, he was narrowly defeated when he ran for mayor of Cleveland, but two years later, he picked himself up and ran again.

His opponent the second time was Seth Taft, who was part of a political dynasty.

His grandfather was former president William Howard Taft.

But Stokes defeated Taft to become Cleveland's first black mayor, and a powerful symbol of a changing nation.

What's even more remarkable is that he won this election when the city of Cleveland's population was overwhelmingly white.

So at a time when racial tensions were high, he had to convince a mostly white population to trust him, a black man, and he did it the same way he accomplished everything else, with hard work and a sense of humor.

Because he grew up in Cleveland, he knew it well, and he used that knowledge as mayor.

When he ran in 1967, he said, "My style will be management by being on the street, management by walking around.

Third persons won't have to tell me what's going on in our city, I'll hear it, I'll see it, I'll touch it myself."

He served two terms as mayor and one of his greatest accomplishments was opening up city positions to African-Americans and women.

After he died in 1996, Carl's brother Louis, also a politician, said that his brother had inspired black Americans to aspire to higher political office all over the country.

And I think we can all agree that few things are more inspiring than the great grandson of a slave defeating the grandson of a president to hold political office in a major U.S.

city.

(playful music) - Thank you, Mary.

That brings us to our write-to-us for the week.

Imagine you are the mayor of your city, what is one thing you would want to change or improve and why?

Students can use our inbox form online or send us an email to newsdepth@ideastream.org to share your plans for your city.

I can't wait to see what you all have to say.

On our last episode, we went to Radio Row at Levi Stadium.

We met Brynna Rodgers, the first woman to broadcast engineer a radio show for the Super Bowl.

And we asked you to send in your questions for a broadcast engineer.

Let's learn more about this career field.

Broadcast engineering plays a vital role in keeping TV and radio stations on the air, making sure audiences receive news, sports, and entertainment clearly and reliably.

They must be skilled in operating, maintaining, and repairing equipment such as cameras, audio boards, transmitters and editing systems.

They must follow all of the latest tech and often work under tight deadlines, especially during live newscasts or on-air events.

To become a broadcast engineer, a person typically earns a high school diploma or GED, followed by college or technical training in electronics, engineering or broadcast technology.

Hands-on experience through internships or school media programs is a great way to learn the craft.

The average salary for a broadcast engineer in the United States is around $63,000 per year, depending on experience and location.

We now meet Tina Kocab, one of our senior broadcast engineers here at Idea Stream.

She's here to answer some of your questions about her job for this week's Career Callout.

(playful music) - So my name is Tina Kocab and I am a senior broadcast technician at Ideastream Public Media.

A fifth grader from Marion Local in Maria Stein wrote, "Can you describe what it's like to be a broadcast engineer?"

It's hard and fun is the most important thing about what it's like.

I get to play with really cool equipment all day long.

I get to learn really fun new things.

I get to watch TV, and I get to learn a lot about our environment and the world around us, which is really fun.

A fourth grader from Chardon Hills STEM School in Euclid wrote, "Have you ever worked with technology that you've never worked with before?"

Yes.

So that's another thing about broadcast engineering that is so much fun is the technology changes so frequently that you have to learn new things fairly frequently.

I've had to learn digital audio, 'cause when I was in school, we learned analog audio and how that's different.

And so, yeah, broadcast engineering is a lot of fun just because you have to learn new technologies all the time.

A fifth grade student from Nolly Elementary School in Akron asks, "How hard is it to be a broadcast engineer and are you always busy?"

That's a really hard question and a good question because it's hard, and not so hard all at the same time.

It's hard to learn some of the equipment and some of the different technologies, but it's not hard to get your first job.

There's so many television stations and radio stations and media production houses that if television is something you're interested in, it's not that hard to find a job just because there's so many places.

But you have to work really hard once you're in your job to learn all the different pieces of equipment and how they work.

And is it always busy?

Yes.

A fourth grader from Botkins Elementary in Botkins wants to know, "What is your favorite part of your job?"

All of it.

All of it is my favorite part of my job.

I've been in broadcast engineering for 35 years.

I'm really old.

But I love it, because I get to meet really amazing people.

I get to go to fun places and do fun things.

And I get to work with all this really cool equipment, and I get to be on TV once in a while and I get to be on Newsdepth and I get to meet kids like you that are interested in learning about the career and that are just starting thinking about what you wanna do in this world.

And so having that opportunity really is a lot of fun.

So all the parts of my job, I think, are my favorite.

So if I had any advice for kids coming into this career, it would be to work hard and pay attention, and learn computers because everything in broadcast engineering now is about computers.

So you have to have really good computer skills, but you also have to be flexible, and you need to love it.

Pick a job that you really love because then it's not so hard to go to work every day.

(playful music) - Special thanks to our good friend and colleague, Tina, for answering our questions.

Time to slip and slide over to our icy lake.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA says Lake Erie is now almost completely ice covered, except for an 80 mile crack between Canada and Cleveland that can be seen from Space.

Jeremy Roth has more.

- [Jeremy] Mind-blowing satellite images captured a massive crack as it formed across nearly frozen Lake Erie.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration shared the imagery saying the gargantuan 80 mile fracture was spotted stretching from Port Burwell, Canada, to near Cleveland, Ohio.

The agency says the lake is nearly 100% ice covered, which is a rarity in and of itself, and added, maybe the ice really is all that it's cracked up to be on Lake Erie.

- Thank you, Jeremy.

I'm getting tired of this cold weather, so let's go to school to warm up.

A public high school in New York is making history by heating its entire campus with vegetable oil biofuel.

Biofuels are liquid fuels produced from renewable biological sources, such as plants and algae.

Hannah Kliger reports from the school that is the first in the Big Apple to fully convert to the renewable energy.

- [Hannah] A continuous roar comes from the tangle of pipes and valves in the basement of Edward R Murrow High School, where four new boilers heat the entire school of 4,000 students with vegetable oil biofuel.

- We can implement that in other buildings in the city that it makes sense, in your local hospital, your libraries.

We can really save a lot of carbon emissions - [Hannah] Powered by the same oil you can use in your kitchen, says sustainability coordinator, Jesse John.

- Think of it as maybe french fry oil.

And that oil is repurposed into our boilers with a catalyst and a couple additives, and we actually make it into diesel fuel.

- [Hannah] Murrow is the first school in the city to install the renewable energy system in an effort to explore how to cut emissions in the surrounding community.

- If you ever leave here around three o'clock, you'll see that it's one of the most congested neighborhoods in the city.

There's a lot of legacy fuel being utilized to power cars, trucks all around this neighborhood.

- This is the first winter since the system was retrofitted last year, and with the brutally cold temperatures we've been having the last few weeks, it's been a real test.

The good news is, students and staff say they feel no difference.

- We won't have to like have so much carbon emissions that ruin our environment and make people like me with asthma, like have rough time.

- It really show me that even on small scale we can make change, and that we can make change in a community like Murrow.

- [Hannah] The initiative translates directly to the classroom.

Upstairs in the environmental lab, produce grows hydroponically, powered by an aquarium that repurposes fish waste.

- I find it like really, really cool, and I think that we're like making a difference.

- [Hannah] A greenhouse growing basil and radishes teaches students about food systems in the school that just got greener from the boiler to the science lab.

- Thank you, Hannah.

Now let's visit a different school in North Dakota.

In 2024, the Surrey Public School District shifted to a four day school week.

Students and staff say the schedule change has improved academic performance and even their mental health.

The benefits are felt by teachers too.

Their principal reported that teachers have found ways to be more productive during school while also being more well rested.

Reporter Kyona Rivera tells us about how the school has adjusted to their four day work week schedule.

- [Kyona] The Surrey Public School District switched over to a four day school week in 2024.

- I've had like the best grades than I've ever had when we had a five day school week.

- [Kyona] English teachers, Xander Grosz, has taught at the school for seven years.

- But what this means.

- This initiative is something he's been in support of since the start.

- Academically, we're doing well, but where I really see the benefits are in student attitude.

- [Kyona] That's especially true for these high schoolers.

- I've seen a personal improvement in my mental health and stress levels are going down.

- [Kyona] Elementary principal Tarra Hysjulien says there used to be fear of test scores dropping, or students missing out, but that hasn't been the case for the home of the Mustangs.

- Our teachers have found ways to utilize their time more efficiently, and they have found that they are more rested and ready for the school week.

- Mr.

Xander, what can you say about those who maybe be a little bit skeptical about this four day school week?

- You know, it's interesting that you say that, because our own community was quite skeptical of it at first with only about 60 to 65ish percent being either indifferent or in favor of it.

- [Kyona] Now they say there's less disruptions in a week, teachers and staff finding more consistency because of this.

- [Nora] A lot of calendars are built to have days off throughout the school year, and we've just really put those all on those Fridays.

- [Kyona] Every first Friday of the month, the school offers what they call enrichment and intervention time.

It's where students can work in small group settings or one-to-one with teachers.

- I go to make up work or get extra help from teachers in classes that I'm falling behind in.

- [Kyona] And as far as making sure meals are covered on Fridays.

- [Terra] We have the option to send home a meal, which would include breakfast and lunch.

They would take it home with them on a Thursday.

- [Kyona] The school added an extra 10 minutes per class bringing them to an 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM schedule.

- Thank you, Kyona.

For our poll this week, we'd like to know what do you think, should schools switch to a four day work week?

Make your way over to our poll page and join the class discussion.

Yes, we could have more energy to tackle our school work, or no, it could be too hard to switch.

On our last episode, I talked to local artists about the use of AI in Cleveland's public arts scene, and we asked you if you think there's room for AI in public art.

Wow, the results are really close.

40% of you voted for no way, we need artists.

31% of you said yes, because it would make it quicker and easier to make art.

And about 29% of you said, it would depend on how AI is used.

Thank you all for voting.

I have one more school story for you, our A-plus award.

Did you know that it takes about a dozen people to create each episode of Newsdepth?

Well, a dozen and one certain puppy.

All of us need to work together within a system to make sure we're bringing you all the important news you need to know.

Recently, we had the opportunity to visit with the students at Meadowlawn Intermediate School in Sandusky to tell them all about the systems that are taking place here at Newsdepth.

Every quarter, the students at Meadowlawn learned about a topic or concept.

This month the topic was systems.

They taught us that a system is a set of things working together as parts, and we taught them about how Newsdepth is a system.

The students hosted members of the Perkins and Sandusky Police Departments, and the Erie County Sheriff's Office, the Erie County Metro Parks, the Perkins Township Parks and Recreation Department, the Perkins Township Government, and even the Perkins Local Schools' principals.

All of the schools' guests taught the students about how their organizations are systems, or parts of a system.

We were honored to be a part of the launch.

The really cool thing is that the students at Meadowlawn are a part of the Newsdepth system.

That's because there are teachers and students at Meadowlawn that give us feedback on the show to help make it better.

Throughout the day, the students even taught us about all kinds of other systems.

The third graders taught us a little bit about computer programs and computer networks, and how that is a system.

They also told us that their favorite PBS kid show is Wildkrats, and that show also talks a lot about ecosystems.

An ecosystem is a community of living organisms interacting in a specific area.

We really enjoyed meeting with the fifth graders.

Like you, they're a part of our audience, which makes them the most important part of the Newsdepth system.

The fifth graders had a lot to share with us about how Newsdepth fits into their classes, which means, you know it, we're a part of their system.

Here's a big congratulations to the students at Meadowlawn Intermediate for being this week's A-plus award winners.

We'd also like to thank you for letting us be a part of your learning system.

Go Pirates.

Did you hear that?

I think news hound has a story for us for this week's petting zoo.

(playful music) (dog barking) Hey, News Hound.

Where you headed?

Over to Newsdepth at headquarters, I assume?

What did you find for us today?

Awesome, a story about a Golden retriever festival in Colorado.

- Easy, jump.

Jump.

- Look around, where could you have this kind of crowd with this many people smiling, and just happy to be here?

Grins everywhere and dog hair everywhere too.

- Goldens in Golden will set you on just like a happiness high for like weeks to come.

It's just pure joy.

- Joy.

It's joy.

- Joy.

- It's just like a happy community, 'cause everybody here's dog lovers and dog lovers are awesome.

- Yay Golden in Golden.

- Goldens in Golden.

- Drove about eight hours yesterday right after work.

I knew I was excited just to see all the goldens, but when I actually saw it with my own eyeballs, it's just you can't not smile.

- [Reporter] How many dogs do you think you've petted today?

- Like, all of them.

- To see more about the thousands of golden retrievers in Golden Colorado, visit our website or YouTube channel.

Thanks as always, News hound.

That wraps up today's show.

Join us next week for more news and more stories.

Until then, you can keep the conversation going, because we always like to hear from you and there are plenty of ways for you to stay in touch with us.

You can write to us.

We're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Our zip code here is 44115.

You can email us at newsdepth@ideastream.org.

Plus you can catch all of our special segments on YouTube.

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

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Gabriel Kramer.

See you next week.

(bright music) - [Narrator] Newsdepth is made possible by grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

Career Callouts featured in Newsdepth are funded by the Ohio Broadcast Media Commission.

(playful music)