Benjamin and Matthew Royer: It’s Matthew Royer…it’sBenjamin Royer, and the Channel One News starts right now!
Azia: Thanks to the stars of Disney's "Best Friends Whenever" for kicking us off. They are coming up a little later in the show.But first up today, Election Day is 11 days away, and many of the places people go to vote are in schools. Now many schools have decided to cancel classes on Election Day,November 8, and it is all because of fears over violence.
Public schools are perfect for voting. They have plenty of parking and can hold large crowds. And the idea of closing schools on Election Day isn't new; in fact,New York City does it every year.But now some schools are under pressure from parents to close because they are worried there might be violence between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton supporters.
In fact, a new poll out from “USAToday” shows 51 percent of likely voters expressed some concern of violence on Election Day. Another reason many schools are closing is because districts believe there is going to be higher voter turnout this year than previous election cycles, which may overcrowd schools. But some disagree and say it just causes kids to miss another day of school that they have to make up later in the year.
All right, next up, law enforcement from at least seven states was called in yesterday to begin removing protestors in North Dakota. Already, more than 100 have been arrested for trying to stop the construction of an oil pipeline.Officials say that some of the protestors set fire to bridges, tires and debris as well as trespassed on land owned by the pipeline company.
Sheriff Paul Laney: Our emphasis here is we don't want a confrontation. The last thing North Dakota law enforcement wants is a confrontation.
Azia: But protestors say the land is really theirs because of a decades-old treaty.
Angelo Sison: We're gonna try to do it as peacefully as possible, with prayer, and, you know, that's all we can hope for.
Azia: The protestors have been camped out here since April to block construction of an oil pipeline, which they say would put their drinking water at risk and disrupt sacred sites of the Sioux tribe. Supporters of the pipeline say it would bring jobs to the area and help provide gas to the country. Thousands of people from more than 200 Native American tribes have joined the protest, and more than 127 protestors have been arrested over the last few weeks.
All right, after the break, we are checking out a super-sweet job.
Azia All right, guys. Now,Halloween is just days away, so it is time to get that candy ready.And get this,Americans spend over $2 billion on Halloween candy.
Tom: Yeah, that is a lot of candy corn, am I right? But did you ever think what it takes to make the candy? If you are wondering what next after high school, how about a career in candy?
This is a sweet story about candy and the people who make it, or in this case, the young people learning to make it.
Dandre Smith: So far,I experienced a lot. The hard candy, the vitamin line…
Tom: And don't forget the quality control lab where they test acidity, color and flavor.
Marlon Montgomery: Yeah, I was surprised the way they make it;there’s so many steps that go into it.
Tom: The students working the line at Ferrara Candy Company are high school interns, part of a new outreach program to get more people interested in the company's manufacturing jobs.
Mitch Udany: I think manufacturing has probably gotten a bad stigma over the years. When we open people's eyes to what manufacturing really is,I think we can get past that very quickly.
Tom: Yes, this job is considered manufacturing — an industry that is struggling to find enough skilled workers. That is why Ferrara is trying to get students interested and trained up early.
Vocational training like this is a great alternative for students that may not feel that college is right for them and who don’t want to take out school loans. The average college grad owes $26,000 in debt.
Smith: This company, they have a program,like, you can go to school here, and they will pay for it.
Tom: At Ferrara it can mean starting hourly pay near $15 an hour, and after a few years, promoted workers can take home $50,000 to $70,000 a year. That is competitive with salaries for liberal arts college graduates.
Montgomery: I see everybody’s job is important here. Every job leads to something better.
Tom: And when you are looking for a job, that is a treat. Tom Hanson, Channel One News.
Azia: Thanks, Tom.
Okay, up next, Arielle is here with a story about a plan to help a marine mammal get back to the wild.
Arielle: Yeah,Azia. Her name is Washburn, and her story of survival is pretty incredible.
Washburn the manatee is back in Florida to live in her temporary new home at Sea World. Washburn became a celebrity over the summer after being spotted far from home, all the way up north in the choppy waters off Cape Cod,Massachusetts.
Conservationists with the International Fund for Animal Welfare sprang into action, capturing Washburn three weeks later and taking her to the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.
Dr. Jen Flower: This is an ultrasound of the calf.
Arielle: There, veterinarians discovered a surprise. This manatee was a mom-to-be.
Flower: It’s not only one manatee, but it's two, so the stakes are pretty high.
Arielle: Manatees, also known as sea cows, can weigh over 3,000 pounds on a diet of mainly seagrass. The manatees native to Florida have spent nearly 50 years on the endangered species list, but the population is making a comeback.
Dr. Lara Croft: We did have one orphan calf that was hand-reared, returned to the wild, and she gave birth to nine calves. And who knows how many calves that those calves had? One manatee can have a huge effect on the population.
Arielle: Now,Sea World has already released 17 manatees back out into the wild this year. Washburn would be No. 18. The idea is to have her deliver her baby once she is back out in her natural habitat, and she is expected to give birth in four to six months.
Arielle Hixson, Channel One News.
Azia: So cool.Thanks, Arielle.
Okay, after the break, we have got twinTV stars who are choosing kindness in our Feel-Good Friday.
Azia: All right, guys, it is Feel-Good Friday. Time to send you into the weekend with some good vibes.As we wrap up Bullying Awareness Month,I got the chance to sit down with two Disney stars who are helping to spread a simple message.
Imagine getting up and heading to a TV set, where you get to hang with your best friends whenever, and if you have time, you will hit a red carpet. For Benjamin and Matthew Royer, that is all apart of a day's workas stars on Disney Channel's "Best Friends Whenever."
Benjamin: We play the characters Brett and Chet, Shelby's younger brothers.We just do mischievous things, have fun and pretty much do whatever we can to get in trouble.
Azia: But being a Disney star isn't always all laughs.
Matthew: When we started being on Disney, we started getting a lot of cyberbullying.And the problem with cyberbullying is that most of the time you don't know where it's coming from, and that's a big problem because just because we're on TV doesn't mean we are immune to these things.
Azia: The internet intimidation led the twins to even consider ditching their social media altogether.Instead of giving up, theygot involved and joined an anti-bullying campaign,Choose Kindness, to inspire kids who may be going through the same challenges.
Benjamin: I think it's different because it's also self-encouragement.That is a message that everyone should be going by, that you can tell someone something nice instead of telling someone something rude.
Azia:By choosing kindness, you can also choose to stand up for a friend in need.The campaign includes the "IAm a Witness" eye emoji.
Benjamin: You can comment that on posts or text it to a friend that you see who has been bullied and say, “I am a witness;I saw that you got bullied. I wanna help."
Azia: For the twins, choosing kindness has changed the way they see bullies.
Do you guys still read your comments?
Benjamin: Yeah,I still read my comments because it pops up on my page.And whenever someone says something rude on my page, I either delete the comment, or I will send them back #ChooseKindness.
Azia: Their tips for dealing with trolls on your timeline?
Matthew: If you do get comments on your page that you don’t — that you feel bad about, just either block the person, delete the comment or just ignore them.
Azia: And they say that ending bullying could start with a kind conversation.
Matthew: Compliment a friend, be nice to everybody. Also, compliment a stranger too, because sometimes that stranger could be having an awful day, and you can lift their day.
Azia: Azia Celestino, Channel One News.
Okay guys, that is all for now. Have a great weekend, and make sure you get your costumes ready. We will see you right back here on Halloween.
But before we head out, here isone more thing.
Arielle: It is that time of the yearwhen farmers and gardeners haul their massive pumpkins to see who could grow the biggest, fattest, heaviest pumpkin. At the 43rd annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off in California, seven pumpkins weighed in at more than a thousand pounds.
But the winner?This 1,910-pound pumpkin nicknamed Candy Crush. Cindy Tobeck, a schoolteacher, lugged this all the way from Washington to California for the contest. She won $11,460, or $6 per pound.
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