Rhode Island Blood Center Bloodmobile at WSBE studios Monday

Every day, patients in Rhode Island and Southern New England need blood transfusions to recover from illness and injury. The goal of the Rhode Island Blood Center (RIBC) is to collect about 240 pints daily to meet these patients' needs.

On Monday, August 25, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the RIBC "Bloodmobile" will be at WSBE studios at 50 Park Lane, Providence (directions here). Please come by. If today or this time is not convenient for you, check the RIBC Web site for a blood drive location near you.

Barrington Beach Cottage Chosen for This Old House Rhode Island Project

This is the news we've been awaiting since spring! This is a reproduction of the news release from the show:

THIS OLD HOUSE® TO TURN BARRINGTON BEACH COTTAGE INTO BEAUTIFUL YEAR-ROUND FAMILY HOME

Rhode Island Provides Show With First-Ever Project On Open Water

CONCORD, Mass., (August 8, 2011) – The Emmy® Award-winning PBS home improvement series This Old House® has selected a humble beach-front property in the Rhode Island for its next renovation project. Located on Barrington Beach, about 10 miles from the state capital of Providence, this 1925 modified Cape boasts spectacular views of scenic Narragansett Bay. Last updated in the 1970s, the small house has outdated features, cramped spaces, and with only two small bedrooms and no shower on the second floor, lacks the amenities necessary for modern-day living. With the help of the This Old House team and local tradespeople, this simple beach house will be transformed into a stunning year-round home for a professional couple and their young daughter.

Chicago transplants, homeowners Geoff Allen and Michelle Forcier, purchased the 1500-sq. ft. home earlier this year after more than two years of living in a rental house nearby.

Due to the close proximity of the house to the water, This Old House will be working closely with the local builder to make sure appropriate codes are met so that the home will be protected from the elements, including storm winds and wind-driven rain. Proper building techniques and material selection will be of paramount importance. The exterior will be white cedar shingles—common in New England—and the roof will be hurricane-nailed to hold up during high wind conditions. The windows also will be chosen and installed carefully, as they are a key part of keeping views in and weather out.

This Old House experts are working with Barrington builder Andy Tiplady and local architect Mary Brewster on a tasteful 450-sq. ft. expansion, which includes opening up the first floor to take advantage of the panoramic East Bay views, expanding the second floor to gain two full baths and a third bedroom over the garage, and building a second-story deck off the master bedroom that faces the beach.

Talented Rhode Island craftspeople will work with the This Old House team to create custom details and memorable spaces to capture the attention of their national television audience.

“We’re excited to be working in Rhode Island,” says senior series producer Deborah Hood. “With Providence to the north and Newport to the south, Barrington will serve as an ideal home base as we explore the best building stories the Ocean State has to offer.”

Show producers found the property on Barrington Beach after an exhaustive search, which included extensive outreach to the local building/architectural community and a public call for entries earlier this spring. That search yielded several hundred submissions from every corner of Rhode Island. When producers discovered the Barrington Beach house through Geoff and Michelle’s architect Mary Brewster, they knew they’d found the right one.

The This Old House Barrington Project, featuring 10 brand-new episodes, premieres in January 2012.

Documentary Revisits RI's Hmong Refugees 25 Years Later

Better Places: The Hmong of Providence a Generation Later is the sequel to The Best Place to Live, a 1981 documentary about the early resettlement of the Hmong community in Providence, Rhode Island. The documentary debuts on WSBE Rhode Island PBS on Saturday, August 13 at 7 p.m. as part of the station's exclusive series, Rhode Island Stories. The 52-minute film will replay on Sunday, August 14 at 11 p.m. On WSBE Learn, the documentary will air on Wednesday, August 17 at 10 p.m.

The Hmong in the original documentary came as refugees from Southeast Asia, where they had fought alongside the United States during the Vietnam War. In Better Places: The Hmong of Providence a Generation Later, RISD filmmaker Peter O'Neill and Rutgers University anthropologist Louisa Schein pick up the story 25 years later, pursuing longtime friendships to take a look at what has become of the families they had documented a generation earlier. This sequel, shot over five years, features personal and vivid footage of the daily lives, ceremonies, and ongoing relationships of Hmong Americans from one small city. Completed in collaboration with Hmong editorial consultants and translators, the sequel updates four of the original families: two families from the younger generation were just getting married in 1981, and now have grown children; two families from the middle-aged generation have continued to innovate in places to live and strategies for making a living.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Associate Professor of History Chia YouYee Vang said of the film, "Better Places is a captivating view of what has become of Hmong refugees from Laos. Not only does it chronicle recent Hmong history in Southeast Asia and the reasons for their migration to the United States, but the film also invites viewers into the daily lives of these displaced people from war-torn Laos."

The film incorporates footage from the 1981 film revealing dramatic changes both for individuals and for Rhode Island life. Scenes of weddings and funerals, gardens and farms, sprawling landscapes and South Providence interiors come together in a panorama of changing Hmong experiences.

"The comparison between the early days of their settlement in Rhode Island and their current lives - told primarily by the participants themselves - provides unique perspectives about what 'home' means to them," observed Professor Vang.

Although Providence Hmong families have dispersed to many parts of the United States, they maintain their sense of close community across long distances through family events. The documentary also explores new possibilities for Hmong-Americans, including their revisits to Laos, their former homeland.

"Inclusion of Hmong Americans' interactions with their relatives in Laos is an exceptional way to understand the transnational ties that continue to bind people of Hmong ethnicity across the globe," Professor Vang added. "[Better Places is] a great resource for anyone interested in Hmong American history."

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WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on digital 36.1; on Cox 08 / 708HD, Verizon 08 / 508HD, Full Channel 08, Comcast 819HD (check local Comcast listings for standard definition channels); on DirecTV 36 and Dish Network 7776. WSBE Learn transmits on digital 36.2; on Cox 808, Verizon 478, Full Channel 109, Comcast 294 or 312.