Keith: What's up friends? It is Thursday, August 20. And today, we head way up north
where the ground is literally slipping away. And, do you ever feel brainless without your
phone? Well, you are not the only one. I am Keith Kocinski and Channel One News
starts right now.
Let's start off with headlines, and first up, a massive landslide in Alaska has left a trail of
destruction in its path. Three people are missing and feared to be dead.
Reports of landslides and sink holes came in early Tuesday morning after the city of
Sitka was hit with two and a half inches of rain in just 24 hours.
Homes and roads were no match for the raging waters. This is what the aftermath
looked like. Debris covering the road after the waterlogged hillsides couldn't take
anymore and gave way.
Police closed streets after the landslide destroyed at least one home and took three
men with it. But rescue crews still can't get in because the ground is still unstable.
And just to be on the safe side, the city has ordered the evacuation of another 30
homes nearby.
Next up, wildfires continue to rage in the Northwest. The National Weather Service has
issued a red flag as breezy winds and high temperatures are helping the flames spread
even faster.
More people are being rushed out of their homes as wildfires spread across Washington
State. Just yesterday, one fire jumped the containment line, racing off the mountain and
toward a town of 200. Everyone in the area was ordered out.
Hundreds who evacuated their homes have new worries today, the fear of a looting,
people stealing in the midst of the chaos.
The fires are taking a toll on firefighters, who are stretched thin on the front lines. Black
Hawk helicopters sent in by the National Guard are making water drops on new flames
sparked in remote hills.
Kurt Stitch: Since the month of June, we’ve had crews out almost every week for those
14-day assignments, on fire after fire after fire.
Keith: Some of the burning terrain is so remote and dangerous that firefighters known
as smoke-jumpers are parachuting in to battle the flames and put out hot spots.
And last up, we are taking a look at what's on your plate for lunch as a new survey
shows an overwhelming majority of Americans support healthy meals in schools.
School lunches took a twist five years ago, going for fewer calories and shooting for
higher nutrition. That's when pizza and fries went away and fruits and veggies were
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brought in.
President Obama signed the legislation in 2010, requiring schools to update their
nutritional value for the first time in 15 years, part of first lady Michelle Obama’s "Let's
Move" campaign.
Now five years later, a W.K. Kellogg poll shows 86 percent support the higher nutritional
standards. That's a pretty big jump, considering only 26 percent supported the law five
years ago. And it comes just as the guidelines are set to expire on September 30.
So far the law hasn't been renewed because supporters and opponents are arguing
over the cost. Some say it costs too much for schools, in part because fresh fruit and
vegetables are more expensive.
Alright coming up, it is a day that changed the world forever.
It was a turning point in the deadliest war ever, World War II. The United States used a
brand new weapon with unheard of power. The location was Hiroshima, Japan.
Today, Maggie Rulli shows us how the people of this city reflected on this tragic day 70
years later.
Maggie: On August 6, thousands gathered in Hiroshima, Japan, remembering a day 70
years ago, and reflecting on a loss that no one will ever forget. Survivors say it is a story
that must be told.
Keiko Ogura: Must be told because nuclear weapon will kill the future generations.
Maggie: Keiko Ogura was 8 years old when America dropped a nuclear bomb just a
mile and a half from her home. In an instant, it took more than 70,000 lives.
Ogura: Attacked by a hundred bombs, we thought.
Maggie: It was just one. The most powerful weapon ever created. It was in this exact
location when at 8:15 in the morning on August 6, 1945, the first nuclear weapon was
used in war.
Instantly, this entire area was devastated. Just days later, Japan surrendered, ending
years of war. The scars from 70 years ago have been paved over in the rebuilding of
this bustling, modern city. But the pain is still there. And it is still felt by today’s
generation.
If we had a show of hands, who here had a family member or a close family friend who
was here at the time of the atomic bomb and is a survivor?
At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, we see everyday items that tell the story of
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what happened.
These are clothes that have been ripped to shreds by the blast of the bomb. Look at this
one. This was just a girl who was a first year in high school, so just a freshman. And it is
just completely been ripped apart, what's left of a 4-year-old boy's tricycle, or this
student’s lunch box, melted by the heat.
Temperatures reached 7,000 degrees, hotter than the surface of the sun, destroying
these everyday items and the people who owned them.
Male: Today there are 16,000 nuclear weapons on earth, so it is important to take
another look at what happened here.
Maggie: Five nations are officially recognized as having nuclear weapons. Three other
countries are known to possess them. And two others are believed to have nuclear
weapon programs.
Young people in Hiroshima want the memory of what happened here to start a
conversation.
Female: It’s really important to worry about peace or nuclear weapons, because this is
really huge problem in the world right now. Maybe since I’m in Hiroshima, I have to tell
about this story for the people of the world.
Maggie: Both generations striving to move forward while remembering the past.
Maggie Rulli, Channel One News.
Keith: Alright, Azia is here with a sign of the times, checking out how well our memories
work in the age of cell phones.
Azia: That’s right Keith, and I have a phone number for you. 652-555-3482. Alright, we
are going to see if you remember, but if you are like everyone else, you probably won’t
do so well.
Keith: I got this.
Azia: It connects us with our friends, reminds us of appointments, stores our photos, all
that important information so that we don't have to remember it, right?
Do you have your phone number memorized?
Males 1 & 2: No.
Female: I know a lot of people that don't know their own phone number.
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Male # 3: I got one better for you. We forget our own home phone number.
Azia: This is not unusual. But are we relying too much on our smartphones instead of
our brains?
A new study from a software security group, Kaspersky Lab, finds that many of us can't
recite basic phone numbers. The results also show that almost all of those surveyed
agreed that they use the Internet as an online extension of their brain.
And more than half of young people said their smartphone serves as their memory, and
everything they need to know or recall is on it.
Jerome Freeman: The brain has built-in forgetting mechanisms, so that material you
don't require is pushed further back.
Azia: Neurologist Jerome Freeman says this "digital amnesia" isn’t exactly a bad thing.
Jerome Freeman: That's how the brain operates, as if there's a maximum. Hopefully it
frees us up for more analytical thinking and creativeness.
Azia: In fact, by not having to remember so many numbers, you can free up your brain
up for things like homework due dates or song lyrics.
Freeman: If you focus on something and say, 'I really want to remember this, this is
really important to me,' most people can remember it.
Azia: But with so much other information to remember…
Greg Ida: I have to remember my Facebook password and my email password.
Azia: …many people don’t worry about phone numbers.
Really surprising, but the survey also found that most people that rely on their
cellphones don’t back them up on a hard drive or even get security software. But really,
it is not a bad idea to memorize at least your immediate family's numbers in case of an
emergency.
So Keith, how about that number I gave you? Do you remember it?
Keith: Of course I do. It is right here in my cell phone.
Azia: Ha ha! Make sure you back it up on your computer though, really.
Keith: I will make sure I put that on my to-do list.
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Azia: How about you guys? How well does your memory work? Do you remember
phone numbers without your cell phone? Let us know at Channelone.com.
Keith: Well Azia, that's going to do it for us today. Remember, set a phone reminder to
watch Channel One and we will see you right back here tomorrow.
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