(upbeat music) - Coming up next on "NewsDepth".

NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni William return to Earth.

extreme rainfall and tornadoes hit part of the United States.

Take a hike, just like Grandma Gatewood did back in 1955, an iceberg in the Antarctic unearths new aquatic discoveries.

"NewsDepth" is now.

(upbeat music) American astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have finally made it back down to Earth after 286 days in space.

Hello everybody, I'm Gabriel Kramer.

Thank you for joining us.

The NASA astronauts were originally deployed to complete an eight day mission aboard the International Space Station, but that got expanded to over nine months.

They hitched a ride back home aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule and made it back to Earth on March 18th.

Williams and Wilmore spoke publicly during a press conference last week.

Sherrell Hubbard has more on what the astronauts say were some lessons learned while they were far and away.

- I'm back.

- Back indeed.

After spending 286 days on the International Space Station, the astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were originally slated to be away from home for an eight day mission, but had their timeline extended to more than nine months.

They worked in performed science experiments while waiting for retrieval from Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague.

- They were productive, pushing the station mission forward.

- Despite widespread fears for the astronaut's safety, William says she was always optimistic.

- We were always coming back.

- [Sherrell] The Boeing Starliner they rode up to space in was deemed unfit to return them due to helium leaks and propulsion issues.

The pair were able to hit your ride back home aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Wilmore weighed in at Monday's news conference.

- But I'll start and point the finger and I'll blame me.

There were some issues of course that happened that prevented us from returning on Starliner and I'll start with me, there were questions that I as a commander of the spacecraft that I should have asked and I did not.

- [Sherrell] Wilmore says he does not want words like stranded, abandoned, or stuck to be the words that describe their journey.

The astronauts would like the human space flight program to be defined as prepared and committed.

- Resilience and being able to take a turn that was unexpected and make the best of it.

- Thank you Sherrell.

If you would like to learn more about Ohio native Suni Williams and other astronauts from our state, you could check out our Know Ohio all about it on our website and YouTube channel.

Moving on to some weather news.

Volatile spring weather is coming in hot this year.

Last week, severe thunderstorms, dangerous tornadoes and life-threatening flooding affected tens of millions of people in the central and eastern United States, Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee were particularly hit hard.

People in Ohio also experienced the storms.

Electric supplier AEP Ohio reported that around 20,000 customers were without power across the state last week.

In Nevada, Missouri, an EF one tornado rolled through last Wednesday morning.

The enhanced Fujita scale or EF scale is used to assign a tornado, a rating based on estimated wind speeds and related damage.

An EF one tornado can reach wind speeds of to 110 miles per hour, and the National Weather Service said this storm came with winds of 98 miles per hour.

Multiple homes and businesses were damaged.

Adam Woodbury spoke to some residents who are grateful things weren't worse.

- [Ramon] We heard the sirens go off at about 7:20 this morning and we headed for the basement and about 10 minutes later we heard like a train coming, roof's gone.

- [Adam] Trees uprooted, buildings destroyed in Nevada after an early morning tornado tore through town.

- It got real quiet and then you hear just like they say, that train, that sound, without the whistle, just that and it got louder and louder.

- [Adam] And still, just hours later power lines are down and people have their chainsaws out.

- Well we've just been cutting up trees.

This tornado came through and just plowed about everything in its path.

I mean about every tree in our yard was snapped in half.

- Blake Pryor was on his way to work when the storm hit.

Now he's cutting up trees all across his property.

He was nearly finished remodeling his home and now turns to repairs.

But he's glad the damage isn't too severe.

- One of the more fortunate ones 'cause we don't have awful, a lot of damage, but I mean like that guy down there down the road, his roof came off.

- And it was over in about three minutes and we come out here, everybody was safe.

It blew out all the windows on the south side of our house.

- [Adam] The windows at Mike Brigham's home shattered during the storm.

Part of his floor was also broken up.

Through it all though, he says his neighbors were looking out for him - And we had our people from church.

It was nice and enough to come here and board us up to keep the rain out of our house so we could get windows put in.

- [Adam] In his case, he's had some time to get a lot of the debris cleaned up.

But as for the rest of Nevada, the cleanup is just beginning.

- When I got here it shook me 'cause I mean the roofs and people were just wandering outside, you could see into people's houses and it was definitely an odd feeling.

- Now following up on a story from last week, North Carolina officials said last week's storms brought much needed rain that helped reduce the fire danger across the Carolinas, but firefighters still have a job to do.

They're now working hard on clearing debris that under the right conditions could be a source for fuel for the wildfires.

Thanks to Hurricane Helene from last fall, countless thick trees were left scattered across the forest floor.

Peyton Furtado explains.

- [Peyton] After the rain, comes the rainbow and Tuesday fire officials have a positive outlook, using today to mop up.

- And our crews are going in up to a hundred feet perhaps from that established fire line going as far in as they need to to extinguish smoldering material.

- [Peyton] With not a cloud in the sky or a wisp of smoke in the air, some of the only things in their way?

Trees downed during Hurricane Helene.

- They come up against that and they can't push it, so they're gonna have to try to go around the top if they can.

And even that can be challenging.

- Those thick trees, the source of the continued smolder on the Table Rock and Persimmon Ridge Fires and part of the reason we could see fires like this again, if conditions are right.

- In normal situations you have a buildup of of litter or duff that you know can certainly service fuel.

But in this case we had a lot of dry wood that was on the ground and it just magnified the intensity of the fires.

- [Peyton] Officials tell us it's impossible to remove all the debris even though they do conduct controlled burns.

Plus 88% of forests in South Carolina are on private land.

- I think for years to come it could be a problem, but we're hoping we don't have another event like this for many, many years.

- [Peyton] If rain continues normally, Russell Hubright with South Carolina forestry, says there may be nothing to worry about, but if we experience a drought.

- Not much we can do about it other than try to be prepared.

- Thank you, Peyton.

Springtime is primetime for one of my favorite outdoor activities, hiking.

And Ohio can thank Grandma Gatewood for our statewide hiking trail, The Buckeye Trail.

Grandma Gatewood's achievements as a hiker and adventurer were remarkable for a woman of her time and she challenged the prevailing stereotypes and expectations of women's abilities.

Her legacy continues to inspire hikers and adventurers around the world and she is remembered as a pioneer in the outdoor and women's rights movements.

Anna Huntsman tells us her story in this week's Know Ohio.

(upbeat music) - There's a first for everything and this determined grandma made history by being the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail.

Her name is Emma Gatewood, but is most famously known as Grandma Gatewood.

Grandma Gatewood was born October 25th, 1887 in Gallia County in southeastern Ohio.

She grew up working on her family's farm.

She was married, divorced, had 11 children and 23 grandchildren.

But one morning in 1953 when she was 65 years-old, she read an article on "National Geographic" and she decided she felt like going on a hike.

She was going on a 2,190 mile long hike on the Appalachian Trail.

The National Geographic article she read talked about the first man to through-hike the Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine.

But Grandma Gatewood saw this as a challenge.

She said, "If a man can do it, so can I."

Hikers who travel through the entire trail in one season are known as through-hikers.

Because of the rough terrain, changing weather, possible injuries and the months it takes to complete, most people who attempt it don't finish.

Grandma Gatewood's first attempt to complete the trail in 1953 ended because she broke her glasses and had to be rescued after getting lost.

But that didn't stop her.

Just two years later in 1955, she tried again.

And on September 25th, 1955, she became the first woman ever to complete the trail on her own.

She was known as a pioneer in long distance hiking.

So what did Grandma Gatewood bring with her on the trail?

She only brought a homemade denim bag with a blanket, a shower curtain, a cup, a canteen and bottle for water, a small pot, a spoon, a Swiss army knife, a first aid kit, a flashlight, two coats, a change of clothes, and her trusty sneakers.

In fact, she wore out seven pairs of sneakers by the completion of her hike.

She was averaging 14 miles per day, so it took her 146 days to finish.

Two years later, she returned to hike the trail again, making her the first person to hike the full Appalachian trail twice.

Once back in Ohio, Grandma Gatewood helped found the Buckeye Trail Association because she wanted to build a long distance hiking trail in her own backyard.

The Buckeye Trail is nearly 1,444 miles long and loops around the entire state of Ohio.

The Buckeye Trail Association is a non-profit which maintains and promotes the trail.

All 26 sections of the Buckeye Trail are open to the public year round, and since it is all marked with a blue blaze, you can start at any trail head and hike for as long as you'd like.

Grandma Gatewood was a trailblazer.

She inspired so many people to go outdoors.

In her interviews, whenever she was asked why she wanted to through-hike the Appalachian Trail, she would always just answer because I wanted to.

- Thank you Anna.

That bag looks pretty heavy.

You probably want to put it down unless you're trying to hike in one of Ohio's 76 state parks.

For our poll this week, we'd like to know what's your favorite state park?

Jump over to our poll page to vote.

You can choose between Salt Fork State Park, Buckeye Lake State Park, Shawnee State Park, Hocking Hills State Park, Lake Erie State Park, Mohican State Park or my favorite park is a different park.

On our episode last week we learned that museums and libraries could be losing federal funding and we wanted to know if you had a library card.

Let's check out the results of the poll.

57% of you said yes, I have a library card for my local library.

I do too, which reminds me I do have some books I need to return and another 43% of you said you don't have a library card, but do want to sign up for one.

Thank you all for voting.

Believe it or not, I love winter sports.

I've tried skiing, snowboarding, and even skijoring.

Okay, maybe not skijoring, but one winter sport that I really like is ice skating.

I especially love watching my niece Brooke ice skate, she's at Brunswick High School.

Ice skating is graceful, a great workout and quite honestly, it's a lot of fun, at least when I'm not falling to the ice.

Recently we met up with a group of students who are using their love of ice skating to make a difference in the lives of others and they're this week's A+ Award winners.

Gliding Stars is an organization that teaches and coaches ice skating to children with unique needs.

They even provide special, adaptive skating equipment to children to make sure they can skate safely and successfully.

The program pairs children with unique physical needs with coaches and volunteers to learn to skate.

The stars we spoke with told us that the program is a lot of fun and that it's important because the participants build strength, balance and confidence all through learning how to skate.

One volunteer that we spoke with from Incarnate Word Academy in Parma Heights told us that it's a great way to build community and make new friends.

We were really impressed when we met Gliding Star Esther.

She nicknamed her fellow skaters the pink spinners.

She showed us her favorite trick on the ice, spinning on one or two feet.

I tried that one, landed straight on my back.

Ali was another Gliding Star that we got to meet.

She's a true team player and we could tell that she was having a great time, but her favorite part of skating was seeing everyone else having so much fun.

The participants are from all over northeast Ohio.

Every year, the participants even put on their own ice show where they show off their skating skills.

I bet that's a lot of fun.

This week's A+ Award goes to the volunteers and skaters in Gliding Stars for overcoming challenges and putting on an exciting ice show.

Keep up the great work.

Okay.

Unfortunately, it's time for us to talk about ticks.

We're entering the season when these parasites come out.

A parasite is an organism that lives in or on an organism of another species.

Examples include tapeworms, ringworms, fleas, and ticks.

Ooh, it's grossing me out.

Experts say it's important to be aware of your environment outdoors as these creatures can transmit a number of potentially harmful germs, including those that cause Lyme disease.

In today's Health Minute, Mandy Gaither has more on what to expect for the 2025 tick season and how to best protect yourself.

- [Mandy] The ground is thawing.

The weather's getting warmer and you're not the only one ready to enjoy the outdoors.

Ticks are starting to come out.

- They will be looking for their first blood meal of the season.

- Dr. Bobbi Pritt with the Mayo Clinic says ticks will be out now through fall with peak times in June and July.

The more humid and warm the climate, the more likely you'll come across one of these parasites which can spread potentially dangerous diseases.

- Some of these pathogens can be transmitted quite quickly, so you want to avoid tick bites at all costs.

- [Mandy] To prevent bites, spray tick repellent on exposed skin.

Pritt recommends those with DEET, keratin or lemon eucalyptus.

You can also wear long sleeves and pants, tucking pants into socks so that ticks can't crawl up pant legs.

Treat clothing and gear with permethrin, which can kill ticks on contact and do frequent tick checks on people and pets.

- If you find a tick, don't panic.

If the tick is embedded, you just want to remove it as quickly as possible.

- [Mandy] To safely do that, Pritt says to use fine tip tweezers, grasp the tick as close as possible to the skin at a 45 to degree angle, pulling the creature out slowly in one motion and avoid squeezing it.

- And you don't wanna use any of those folk remedies that may damage the tick, like touching it with a match or putting petroleum jelly on it.

That might actually increase the risk of infection.

- Thanks for the tips, Mandy.

Here's another tip.

If you find a critter crawling on you or your pet, it could become vital that you identify just what kind of tick it is.

This just became a lot easier thanks to a new app developed by a Connecticut college student.

The Detickt It app aims to give a more accurate idea of what type of tick you've encountered and what diseases it may carry.

Mark Sudol speaks with Antonia Kolb about how she created this app.

- She actually went to the International Science and Engineering Fair where you would compete against all the different countries.

- [Mark] This wall of honor at the King School in Stamford recognizes some of the achievements of past students, including New Canaan's Antonia Kolb.

- She's so smart and so talented and again, what I did was just facilitate her figuring out her next steps.

- Kolb was diagnosed with two rare tick-borne infections a few years ago.

The King School grad and now college student said she took part in a summer research program and that's how she eventually developed an app that identifies ticks called Detickt It.

- By using images and training this neural network, it would figure out, oh, this is a blacklegged tick or this is a lone star tick.

- You can take a picture of the tick on the app, it will tell you what kind it is, where it's located, the risks, and then links it to the Centers for Disease Control.

It's now an important tool that may prevent Lyme disease.

- For something that just started as just this passion project thing, I didn't think it would actually have any effect on people's lives.

- For her hard work, Kolb has also received the prestigious Princess Diana Award.

She actually received a royal letter from Prince William.

- What was really rewarding was, you know, being listed among these incredible people from around the world doing insane projects and just really impacting people.

And so to be even named within that list was just such an incredible experience.

- A couple of years ago, Congressman Jim Himes also picked the Detickt It app as the winner of the Congressional app challenge for his district.

- That's awesome.

Great job Antonia.

You know who else loves to spend time outdoors as much as I do?

News Hound, of course.

Let's catch up with our cuteness correspondent for this week's petting zoo.

(upbeat music) What's up News Hound?

What are you up to this week?

Oh, hook, line and sinker, you're out fishing with your family.

That looks like a lot of fun.

Did you catch anything good?

Oh, a story about an aquarium releasing rehabilitated sea turtles back into the ocean.

- [Narrator] Many gathering on Biloxi Beach for one shell of a good time as the Mississippi Aquarium released 19 endangered Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles back in the Gulf.

- I love animals and I love to, I think it's great that they're releasing it.

I think that we need to protect our environment.

- [Narrator] The turtles had recovered from a myriad of health issues sustained after they were stranded in the cold waters off the coast of Boston late last year.

- We're super excited 'cause it's our first release and we have a lot of people out learning and cheering the turtles on.

- To learn more about the journey of these reptiles, click the petting zoo thumbnail on our homepage.

Great story as always, News Hound.

Let's stick with some aquatic news.

Toxic algae blooms are spreading across the southern California coast.

An algae bloom is the rapid increase of the aquatic plant algae in a body of water.

The toxic algae has been sickening marine life and now it's poisoning sea birds.

Michelle Gile shows us how a Huntington Beach Wildlife Center is scrambling to save those birds.

- [Michelle] Two pelicans stranded in Dana Point and experiencing seizures have been brought to the hospital at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center.

Minutes later, another sick bird was delivered from Seal Beach.

- The number of patients that we're getting into care is very high and every, there are reports of many more that are out there that have yet to be rescued that may be difficult to get to.

- [Michelle] The sea birds have been poisoned by domoic acid.

Fish feed on toxic algae that is blooming.

Birds and marine mammals become sick after eating the fish, but if they're lucky, they end up here, getting treatment.

They'll need IV fluids, they need anti-seizure medication to help 'em with their seizures and usually, and then lots of fluids to kind of flush that out.

20 of the birds brought in over the last week have died.

There have also been cases where rescuers have brought the stranded birds as far as this hospital only to find out that they didn't survive the car ride.

Centers like this one are expecting more animals to be carried in for help as this situation worsens.

- So this is a a pretty severe case.

This is one that you know is not out of the woods yet.

We don't know whether or not it'll make it.

I'm really glad it came into care when it did because any later and it definitely wouldn't have made it.

- [Michelle] Dr. Wood is trying to keep 13 birds alive.

She got word Monday afternoon that another 10 with similar symptoms are headed her way.

- Wildlife officials are also warning humans about the toxic algae outbreak.

That's because you can get sick from eating contaminated fish or by coming into contact with infected wildlife.

In January, an iceberg the size of Chicago broke loose in the Antarctic and scientists dived to the bottom of the sea and found a thriving ecosystem full of incredible creatures, some never before seen by humans.

Patrick Cornell dives in.

- Check out these mind boggling scenes under the sea, recently seen for the first time by humans.

In January, an iceberg the size of Chicago snapped off an Antarctic ice shelf allowing researchers to access areas of sea floor never explored before.

The Schmidt Ocean Institute dove directly to the bottom of the Bellingshausen Sea and saw a thriving ecosystem.

Using a remotely operated vehicle, the team documented this octopus sitting 3,700 feet below the surface, simply resting at the bottom.

This helmet jellyfish flaunting its luminescent tentacles, a giant phantom jelly drifting along.

These things can grow to 33 feet in length and a large sponge stationed next to a cluster of anenome.

Scientists say it may have been growing for decades, even hundreds of years.

Researchers expect it will take years to document all the cool and creepy critters found far beneath the ocean surface and investigate how they survived for centuries under the ice.

- That is crazy.

Thank you, Patrick.

And that brings us to our Write to Us for the week.

Imagine you are a scientist who just discovered a new underwater creature.

Now tell us all about it.

We want to hear your description of the creature, learn about the environment where they live, and if you want to send us a drawing of it, we might be able to share it on our episode next week.

Students can use our inbox form online or send us an email to newsdepth@ideastream.org to share their aquatic discoveries.

Okay, on our previous episode, we visited a town in Maine that is worried about their economy being impacted by the decrease of Canadian tourists, and we asked to hear your theories about how tourism can affect the economy.

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

Evelyn from Harding Middle School in Lakewood sent us this email.

"Tourism is a common occurrence throughout the world and it has a significant impact on the economy.

Tourists are usually unfamiliar with a place, so shops and restaurants that people live in there might think are normal or boring, tourists could find it interesting."

That is a great point, Evelyn.

Now I'm wondering which restaurants you would recommend to people touring your hometown.

Trey from Freedom Elementary in Westchester says, tourism can help the community overall.

Dear "NewsDepth", Tourism can impact the economy by generating revenue, creating jobs, building roads and schools, and overall benefiting the community in many positive and even negative ways.

Tell News Hound I said, hi."

Avery from Bellevue Elementary School in Bellevue thinks tourism can impact some cities more than others.

"I think tourism impacts the economy because some places get most of their money from tourists."

Ben, from Grant Elementary in Lakewood brings up an interesting point, that tourism has both a positive and negative side.

"I think that we need tourism because we need money for our country and it would also be bad for our country because people could leave trash in our country and cause trouble."

And Alexisia from Triangle Elementary in Mount Dora, Florida has an example for how tourism can help a community.

"I think that tourism can impact the economy because, for instance, when you spend $100 at a restaurant, they might use that money for doing things for that community.

PS, News Depth is the best show ever.

It is the only show that I watch.

Also, I think News Hound is the best dog ever.

I like him more than my own dog."

I agree, News Hound is the best.

Thank you all for writing.

We are almost outta time for this episode.

News Depth, but if our producer Natalia could spare a few minutes, I've got some shout outs to give.

Jasleen from Copley Fairlawn Middle School in Copley sent us this super realistic drawing of News Hound and wrote, I just want to say I love watching your videos every Friday and your videos are really fun.

Wanna know a secret Jasleen?

Taping "NewsDepth" is super fun.

It's my favorite part of the job.

And Hailey from Botkins sent us this letter to say, ""NewsDepth"" and News Hound, you guys are awesome and super cool.

All my classmates watch your videos every Thursday."

Please give a shout out to Mrs. Holtzapple and Mrs. Landis for being awesome teachers.

Thanks to everyone who sent us a letter this week.

I love reading all of them.

And thanks to all of you for watching this episode of "NewsDepth".

We always like to hear from you and there are plenty of ways for you to stay in touch with us.

You can send us a letter.

We're at 1375 Euclid Avenue.

That's Cleveland, Ohio.

Zip code here, 44115.

And you can email us at newsdepth@ideastream.org.

Plus you could 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.

We'll see you right back here next week.

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

(upbeat music)