Coming up next on NewsDepth... Several politicians broke barriers on election night, even here in Ohio.

How does a bill become a law?

Nick is here to explain.

Ohioan Lucy Stone spent her life fighting for women's rights.

And we're unearthing fossils, some of them local.

NewsDepth is now.

Democrats dominated the midterm elections to gain control of both the U.S.

House of Representatives and the U.S.

Senate, giving the party control of Congress for the first time since 2023.

Hello everyone.

I'm Gabriel Kramer.

Thank you all for joining us.

We gave midterm election results on our last episode.

Now let's dig deeper into those results.

Democrats flipped several Senate and congressional seats, meaning roles that were previously Republican were won by Democrats.

And it happened in a number of Republican leaning states, including Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina, Kansas and Texas, with congressional control going to Democrats in the last two years of Republican President Donald Trump's term, it may alter or even halt policies that Trump tries to instill.

After the election, the president said he would work with Democrat-controlled Congress.

The election also featured several historic victories, including Doctor Amy Acton, Ohio's first woman elected as governor.

Ohio is one of 17 states that elected women to be their governors on election night, a nationwide record, according to Rutgers University data.

The historic wins are inspiring some young women who are considering running for office one day.

It feels possible.

It brings me joy to see that women bring as much enthusiasm as men do.

And it's like, well, men aren't the only people who can do it.

Well, I can do that.

I can do anything you can.

See that Amy Acton is actually doing it.

It feels really good.

It's like being a role model.

It's like I should live up to that standard, be able to live in such a way that empowers other people and leads them towards a better place.

This is my promise to Ohio.

No one will ever be unseen by me.

Other women elected for governor positions Tuesday include Keisha Lance bottoms, who became the first black woman elected as Georgia's governor, Deb Haaland in New Mexico, who will become the first Native American to govern any state.

And Gina Hinojosa, who will be the first Latina governor of Texas.

Across the country, voters also elected the first Muslim U.S.

senator, the first Native American woman elected to Senate, and Florida's first black governor.

Maddie Gannon reports from Washington, D.C.. From Maine, to Texas, And both South and North Carolina, Democrats flipped control of the House and Senate, The president said he did not see the Republican losses as a, quote: "Hit on me" Vice president JD Vance pinned his party's losses on the war with Iran in an election postmortem on X. He also cited the high cost of living, among other factors.

As for historic wins, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won in Michigan, becoming the first Muslim senator in U.S.

history.

And Democrat Peggy Flanagan won Minnesota's senate seat, becoming the first Native American female senator.

Republicans also added to the history books, with Byron Donalds elected Florida's first Black governor.

Thanks for the report, Maddie.

With Democrats now controlling both the House of Representatives and the Senate, Congress will have a major role in deciding which ideas become new laws.

But have you ever wondered exactly how a law gets made in the first place?

For this week's Politics on Point, Nick takes a closer look at Congress and the law making process.

Did you know that it is a federal crime to damage a lamp owned by the government?

So who or what determines what's illegal and what isn't?

Laws.

Today we're going to talk about how two of the three branches of government work together to create new laws.

The legislative branch and the executive branch.

Laws start at the legislative branch.

As a reminder, the legislative branch is made up of two chambers in the federal government the Senate and the House of Representatives.

All 100 senators and 435 representatives make up Congress.

A law starts as a bill.

A bill is just a fancy word for an idea for a new law.

Depending on what kind of law this would be the bill can come from either chamber of Congress.

But let's use an example that follows a bill from the House of Representatives.

A representative with an idea for a new law proposes the bill to the House, so they can vote on it before they vote on the bill.

This House assigns a committee for due diligence.

Due diligence means that enough research and analysis has been made to cover all possible scenarios that could be affected by this new law.

If the bill passes by a simple majority of the House of Representatives voting in favor of it, then it gets sent over to the Senate.

The Senate debates and votes on the proposed bill one more time.

If at least 51 senators out of the 100 vote to approve the bill, this means the bill is one step closer to becoming a law.

The bill is now off to the executive branch or the president.

It has to be a little more official than just sending the president an email.

The final version of the law has to be printed on parchment paper and hand-delivered to the president, becoming an enrolled bill.

The president now has to carefully review the entire document, and only has ten days to sign the bill into law.

If the president does not sign the bill within those ten days, however, it becomes a law by default if Congress is still in session.

But if he has some concerns and vetoes the bill instead, it goes back to Congress.

In our case, it goes back to the House of Representatives, where the original idea came from.

They can now vote to override the president's veto.

If the bill makes it all the way to the finish line and becomes a law.

It must then be taken to the office of the Federal Register at the National Archives to be assigned an official public law number.

There are laws on the federal level all the way down to a state, county, or even city level.

And there are all different types of laws that are meant to protect our rights.

For example, there's laws that protect individuals from other individuals.

Laws that protect businesses.

Laws that protect properties.

And laws that protect individuals from the government itself.

Thank you, Nick.

Earlier in the show, we learned about some newly elected officials making history as the first to represent their communities in the Senate, the House and governor positions.

One of the history makers we mentioned is Georgia Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is now the first black woman to be elected as governor of any state in U.S.

history.

Reporter Ryan Young tells us about Lance Bottoms' family history and her road to office.

Keisha!

... Keisha!

... Keisha!

Cheers poured in for the first black woman ever elected governor.

Georgia, we sent a message loud and clear.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson for governor of Georgia, giving Democrats the top job in this key swing state for the first time in more than two decades.

She won because she a woman.

She won because she black.

Bottoms' family in Georgia goes back at least five generations.

And as descendant of enslaved Georgians, she described visiting her great grandmother's grave this week.

In a cemetery filled with unmarked graves, I found hers.

I don't know what dreams Betsy Peek had for her children, or for her grandchildren or the generations that she would never meet.

But I know I am standing on shoulders made of steel.

Her victory is one of many historic wins for the Democrats in statewide and congressional races across the country.

It's about everyday, hardworking people who want to be able to afford to put food on the table.

Bottoms entered the governor's race after serving one term as mayor of Atlanta, where she faced difficulties during the Covid pandemic.

We had been through a very trying time as a city, as a country.

Her win, a watershed moment in the heart of the Deep South, Seeing her go to her great great grandmother's grave, who was a slave.

That was the moment that I knew it was truly done.

A lot of people underestimated her.

She kept on fighting.

Thank you, Ryan.

Now let's see how your city voted.

Last week, we assigned you to work as a political reporter and write an article about a race or issue from your community's ballot.

Let's read about your local elections by opening our inbox.

A sixth grader from Independence Middle School in Independence researched an issue on the ballot.

People in our county voted yes on Issue 10, which helps raise money to support kids and adults with developmental disabilities.

Voting is super important because every single city gets a completely different ballot with different leaders and rules to pick from.

According to this fifth grader from Kinsner Elementary School, voters in Strongsville voted to fund school activities.

Voters in Strongsville had to decide on a tax levy that would prevent shutting down extracurricular activities like physical education and art.

We got a yes to the levy and it passed.

Now, a fourth grader from Murasky Elementary School, also in Strongsville, is telling us what this levy means for the schools.

Dear NewsDepth, in our local area Issue 9 got signed and that's a big deal for Strongsville City schools like mine.

A fourth grader from Hilltop Elementary School in Canfield is also reporting on a school levy.

In Canfield, they voted for school expenses.

About 5000 people said yes.

What about 5700 people said no.

Since the levy failed, some people could lose their jobs and students could have fewer art and STEM classes.

And a fifth grader from St Marys West Intermediate School in St Marys wrote that they're now feeling motivated to run for office one day.

I would definitely run for governor because I want to help my state, Ohio and other states.

I feel like being governor would be a ton of fun.

On our episode last week, we spoke to current Ohio Governor Mike DeWine about being the chief executive of a state.

And we wanted to know if you would consider running for office when you're older.

Let's check out the results of the poll.

A very tight race here.

51% of you said no, because your civic duty is to elect the best possible leader.

And another 49% said, yes, you would like to help make your community better.

Thank you all for voting.

In an annual tradition, people placed "I voted" stickers on Susan B. Anthony's headstone in Rochester, New York on Election day.

Susan B. Anthony was a leader in the women's suffrage movement.

She dedicated her life to securing voting rights for women and helping expand participation in American democracy.

Carleigh Minor talks to Susan B. Anthony fans.

On Election Day, it's a tradition bringing people from near and far to Mount Hope Cemetery to visit Susan B. Anthony's gravesite.

It is so powerful and profound.

I mean, I'm honestly honored that I got to come be a part of this today.

I will remember this forever.

Voters placing their "I Voted" stickers on her headstone honoring the woman who fought for a right she never got to experience herself.

For some, it's their first visit.

It was a little bit emotional.

I should have done it a long time ago.

For others, it's an annual tradition.

So I think it's so important to acknowledge her and her work and how much progress we've made, but how much still has to go.

Many even bringing their children with them.

They're our future voters.

Start them young.

You know, there's it's about them, too.

You know, it's their future as well.

It's important that they see that mom and dad did their part.

Stickers covering Anthony's gravesite.

More than a century after Susan B. Anthony fought for the right to vote.

Her gravesite remains a place where generations come together, leaving behind a small sticker with a big message.

We're not blue.

We're not red.

As a country, we're purple together.

Thank you, Carleigh.

Susan B. Anthony wasn't the only woman who helped expand rights and opportunities for future generations.

Another trailblazer, Lucy Stone, spent her life fighting for women's rights long before women won the right to vote.

She pushed for equal access to education, spoke publicly when women were discouraged from doing so, and became one of the first women in America to earn a college degree.

In fact, her journey brought her right here to Ohio, where Oberlin College opened its doors to women at a time when most schools would not.

Mary has this week's Know Ohio.

Whether you're a boy or a girl, you likely spend a lot of your time in a classroom.

And no matter what your gender, you probably want to graduate from high school and go on to college.

But for a large portion of our country's history, many classrooms, especially high school and college classrooms, included few, if any, women and girls.

This is because for a long time, women and girls were not encouraged to get an education.

But by the mid 1800s, knowledge hungry ladies were rebelling against this unfair system.

Today's Know Ohio actually begins in Massachusetts.

That's where women's rights activist Lucy Stone is from.

Like many women of the time, she was not given a formal education.

In fact, her father forbid it just because she was a girl.

Despite her father's refusal to allow her to receive an education, she read everything she could find and enrolled in school herself.

Then she got a job teaching so she could save up to go to college.

Alice Stone Blackwell, Lucy's daughter, wrote of her mother at the low wages then paid to women.

It took Lucy nine years to save up money enough to enter college.

There was no difficulty as to the choice of an alma mater.

There was only one college that admitted women.

That college was Oberlin, right here in Ohio.

Minister John Shipherd established Oberlin College to provide both men and women, black or white, with a college education.

When it first admitted students in 1833, 15 of the 44 students were women.

The first American women to realize the dream of a college degree got them right here in Ohio.

Lucy Stone herself graduated in 1847.

As a gifted writer, the college asked her to draft a commencement address, but a man was to read her speech because it was considered improper for a woman to speak publicly.

Lucy passed on that deal, and she would go on to travel the country giving speeches on women's rights.

She was ahead of her time and fought for many of the rights we take for granted today the right to an education, the right to speak publicly and own property.

She bucked convention by keeping her own name when she married businessman Henry Brown Blackwell.

And by wearing pants.

Yeah, that's right.

Pants.

Shocking, I know.

Because so many of her forward thinking ideas were considered controversial, she was often shouted down at lectures.

But she found another way to communicate.

In 1873, Stone and her husband became the editors of the Women's Journal, a weekly newspaper that argued for women's rights.

Lucy's daughter Alice wrote for the paper and eventually became its editor.

One of Lucy's last fights was for suffrage.

That's the right to vote.

And although she died 27 years before women would win the fight, it was her activism that laid the foundation for this right, and nearly all the rights women have gained since.

Thank you, Mary.

Ok.

Let's think if you could meet a human rights activist in person, who would you pick?

Would you rather meet Lucy Stone, a pioneering advocate for women's rights?

Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the fight for women's rights to vote.

Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader who worked for equality through protest.

or Ruby Bridges, who helped and school segregation by becoming one of the first Black students to attend an all white elementary school in the South.

I love a history lesson.

Let's rewind the clock a little bit to see what we can find.

Whoa.

We went too far back.

We made it all the way back to the Jurassic period?

Maybe we'll see a new species of dinosaur.

Well, paleontologists, those are the scientists who study fossils and prehistoric life, are currently excavating dinosaur fossils in southeastern Utah.

That may help explain what happened to dinosaurs at the end of the Jurassic period.

Researchers believe this new site contains several dinosaur species that are completely new to science, and may reveal how dinosaurs recovered after a mass extinction event near the Jurassic Cretaceous boundary.

The Jurassic Cretaceous boundary marks the end of the Jurassic period and the beginning of the Cretaceous period, it occurred about 145 million years ago.

Scientists say these findings could provide important clues about ancient ecosystems, climate change in the history of life on Earth.

Ben Winslow takes us to the dig site.

they're big, nice, honkin pieces.

Paleontologists are very carefully excavating dinosaur fossils.

You know, that guy goes on there?

I think it's a scapula.

So it's probably broken because it should go much longer.

They're finding a lot.

I think we've added up probably four different kinds of dinosaur in here right now.

This site is important because it could help our understanding what happened to dinosaurs at the end of the Jurassic period.

I wandered over here and found Ankylosaurus humerus and a scapula eroding out of these green rocks here.

Scientists theorize this may be the scene of a mass extinction event.

Just near the base of this hill, right behind us.

And then the lower slope over there is the Jurassic Cretaceous boundary.

And at that end of the Jurassic, all of our famous Moros Jurassic dinosaurs went extinct.

All that great diversity of long neck dinosaurs, Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, the big meat eaters that fed on them, they all went extinct.

And here we're looking at the first good evidence of what the recovery was like.

And what they're finding is brand new.

We know that just about everything we find here is going to be brand new to science.

And maybe unique to the entire planet.

This is amazingly important stuff.

And it's only in Grand County.

They found new species.

I think it's a bone.

With both of Utah State paleontologists nearing retirement, one new find is being named for a member of their team.

Renaming cross pelta deblieuxae after Don DeBlieux.

Because Don has put up with me for 25 years.

He's earned a dinosaur.

What they discover out here near Moab can also help inform our world today.

There's just there's so many.

Thank you, Ben.

For our write to us this week, we want you to pretend you're a paleontologist at a dig site.

And you just discovered a new species.

Now tell us all about it.

Your scientific report should include the name you gave the species, what it looks like, and what environment you think it lives in.

Students can use our inbox form online to share your prehistoric discoveries.

Okay, so we visited Utah to check out some fossils.

But what about right here in Ohio?

For this week's Spot on Science, Margaret and scientists from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History are taking us on a fossil hunting trip to Northeast Ohio's Cleveland Shale.

I'm excited about this one.

We're headed on a hunt for fossils in a special Northeast Ohio spot with scientists from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Science is all about making discoveries and learning how the world works.

Fossils let us understand what the Earth used to be like and how it's changed.

So a fossil is any evidence of past life.

So it could be an animal.

It could be a plant.

It could be some trace that the animals leave behind, like a trackway or even fossilized poop.

I am Doctor Caitlin Colleary, and I am the assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

So behind me is actually the Cleveland Shale.

So this is a really cool area for fossils.

And it's from the Devonian period, which was about 358 million years ago, and it was the ocean.

And so we were actually a lot closer to the equator back then, too.

So it was like a tropical ocean.

And it's full of really big, weird fish.

Dunkleosteus is probably the best known.

The Dunk is pretty different from today's sharks.

For example, instead of having teeth, it had long, sharp plates on its jaws, almost like a beak.

Its features weren't passed on to modern guys because it went extinct with many of the other big weird fish.

There's really not any sort of advanced technology in terms of finding fossils still.

So we kind of just walk around looking for them.

We know where to look because we know the age of the rocks and the things that we're looking for, what types of rocks that they're in.

And so we go and walk around and look at those rocks.

What's it like to actually find a fossil?

You get really excited first, especially if you're in the Cleveland Shale because you do not find fossils very often and you excavate it if you can.

So fossils are basically the only way we really get to know about what life was like on the planet throughout all of Earth's history.

We have to be careful with fossils, and we also have to make sure that they end up in the hands of scientists.

Otherwise, there's so much information that we'll never actually get to learn.

Being a paleontologist seems like a fun job.

Thank you, Margaret.

Maybe NewsHound will take a hike with me later, and we could try to find some fossils.

But first, let's make sure he finished his assignment.

It's time for Petting Zoo.

Hey there, NewsHound.

Wait.

Are you already out on a hike?

You read my mind.

Did you find any fossils out there?

Not in Ohio, but in Turkey.

Fossil seekers found a 4000-year-old puppy paw print amongst the 3700 year old rubble ruins of a house.

That's pretty neat, NewsHound.

And what story did you find for us today?

Trail cameras used by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department captured bighorn sheep safely using specially built highway underpasses, helping keep the animals off busy roads and reducing collisions.

You can check out the full story on our website and YouTube channel.

I wonder if a million years from now, scientists will find the tracks of these sheep.

Great story, NewsHound.

We're almost out of time for today's episode, but I have to make sure we give out the A+ award of the week.

It means a lot to us here at NewsDepth that you invite us into your classroom every single week to be a part of the system that you and your teachers use to help you learn about the world around you.

Sometimes we even get the chance to join some of you in person to be learning partners with you.

This week's A+ Award winners are the third, fourth and fifth graders at Meadowlawn Intermediate School in Sandusky.

Every quarter, the students at Meadowlawn learn 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 that NewsDepth is a part of their learning system.

And we taught them about how NewsDepth is a system.

The students hosted members of the Perkins Fire Department, the Erie County Sheriff's Office, the Perkins Public Works, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and several local businesses.

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

We were honored to be 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.

We especially 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.

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

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

Go, Pirates!

Teachers, if you'd like to nominate a group of students for our A+ Award, you can fill out our A+ submission form online at newsdepth.org.

And that's a wrap for this episode of NewsDepth.

But we'll be back next week with more news and more stories.

But until then, you can keep the conversation going because we always love to hear from you.

You can write to us.

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

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