Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Spooky Specials



No tricks, just treats this week leading up to Halloween on WSBE Rhode Island PBS!

Night owls will love A Cemetery Special at 4 A.M. overnight tonight (technically tomorrow) Thursday, October 27, or 2 A.M. on Saturday October 29. The rest of you can watch it at more civilized hour at 10 P.M. tomorrow night, Thursday, October 27. A Cemetery Special takes a look at graves, monuments, family plots, sculpture, and the way cemeteries interconnect with many aspects of modern American culture. Traveling from Key West to central Alaska, the program features examples of burial grounds as special sites where history and art are preserved, where flowers and trees can be important attractions, where people make pilgrimages to the final resting places of the famous and the familial, and where old and new traditions often combine in fascinating ways. The documentary is by Rick Seback - the same artistic mind that has delighted us for years with such quirky but charming documentaries as Sandwiches You Will Like, An Ice Cream Show, Great Old Amusement Parks, and A Flea Market Documentary.

On Friday at 4 A.M., we bring back Lizbeth: A Victorian Nightmare, a documentary by local filmmaker Ricardo Rebello, about what is arguably the region's most infamous unsolved double murder and the woman at its center: Lizzie Borden. Lizbeth: A Victorian Nightmare also airs on Saturday, October 29 at 7 P.M.as part of WSBE's ongoing series, Rhode Island Stories.

On Sunday night at 10, we encore Haunted RI, the darkumentary that explores the vampire legend of Mercy Lena Brown in Exeter, and visits Ramtail Factory in Foster.

On Halloween night, October 31, tuck the kiddies into bed after a fun-filled and safe evening of trick or treating, and tune in for your own treat: Haunted RI airs at 8 P.M.

Monday, October 17, 2011

A Lively Experiment, October 14, 2011


Panel
Dyana Koelsch – moderator
Jim Hummel – executive director, The Hummel Report
Dave Layman – communications consultant, former TV news director
Maureen Moakley – political science professor, URI
Don Roach – GoLocalProv.com columnist


Topics
  • Objectives of the Occupy Providence demonstration  
  • Dealing with cost of living adjustments for state employees as part of a pension reform package
  • The state's redistricting process

A Lively Experiment airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1) Fridays at 8:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 7 p.m. on WSBE Learn (36.2), and Sundays at noon on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1).

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; in Massachusetts: Comcast 819HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on Cox 808; Verizon 478; Full Channel 109; and Comcast 294 or 312.

Can't get to the TV? Watch the episode online anytime and anywhere on our YouTube channel. Episodes of A Lively Experiment are generally available to watch on the next business day. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and YouTube will notify you when a new episode is uploaded.

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Friday, October 14, 2011

Powering the Future: Your Comments

Do you have comments about Powering the Future: Rhode Island's Energy Alternatives?

Have your energy use habits changed? If so, how?Why?

Your comments are welcome about the program in particular, or more general topics of energy conservation, the environment, "green" technologies, wind, solar, water, biofuel, nuclear, or traditional energy sources, advantages or unintended consequences of the new technologies and products.

Click here to go back to the Web site for Powering the Future: Rhode Island's Energy Alternatives.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Powering the Future: Rhode Island's Energy Alternatives


Whether one arrives at energy conservation out of concern for the environment, or out of the defensive need to save money, the bottom line is: old energy habits are changing.

Powering the Future: Rhode Island's Energy Alternatives surveys Rhode Island's current energy conservation thought and practice – the research, policies, and programs that feature renewable, sustainable, alternative, and cost-effective energy. Powering the Future also probes the truth and the hype behind using these "green" technologies as a path for economic development and job creation in Rhode Island. WSBE Rhode Island PBS presents Powering the Future: Rhode Island's Energy Alternatives on Monday, October 17 at 8 P.M.

"Our goal is to give Rhode Islanders an overview of the state's current energy picture, what's going on now and what is down the road," explained Dave Layman, producer and discussion moderator of Powering the Future: Rhode Island's Energy Alternatives.
"Some options are very expensive and we are – or will be – picking up the tab. We are doubly invested as energy users and ratepayers," Layman added. "We need to know what we are buying and if it is worth it."

Current Environment

In many ways, Rhode Island is already making changes. Rhode Island has all the elements to successfully lead alternative energy research and implementation. Rhode Island is known as "The Ocean State" for its 411 miles of shoreline on Narragansett Bay in the Atlantic Ocean. It is home to the world-class College of Environment and Life Sciences at the nationally-recognized University of Rhode Island. Rhode Island's compact geographical size, and strategically located air, sea, and rail transportation make it an attractive site to conduct environmental and energy research and testing.

But for Rhode Island to attract the investment needed for development, the stakeholders – the political and regulatory decision makers, private investors, taxpayers, ratepayers, and residents of the project area – need information.


Unintended Consequences

An important part of balanced information gathering includes considering the unintended consequences of abandoning the devil we know – coal and oil as fuel sources, for example – and blindly embracing the devil we don't know – nascent "green" technologies and products that may pose a greater environmental threat at the end of their life cycles. For example, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) last longer and use less electricity than incandescent bulbs, but a broken CFL leaks toxic mercury.

Powering the Future goes beyond the light switch to explore the resource – and cost – choices behind "green" energy. Layman interviews advocates and opponents, experts and consumers in recorded video segments and two in-studio panel discussions.


Panelists

The first panel frames the state's energy needs and practices in context, with invited panelists Dr. Marion Gold, co-director of the URI Energy Center; Tim Horan, president of National Grid-Rhode Island; Jeff Grybowski, chief administrator of Deepwater Wind; Abigail Anthony, policy analyst for Environment Northeast; and Dr. Edward Mazze, distinguished university professor of business administration and former dean of the URI college of Business Administration.

The second panel focuses the discussion on Rhode Island's proposed wind energy project, with perspectives from the equally passionate proponents and opponents. This discussion will also examine the project's feasibility as an economic development vehicle; the estimates of new jobs that will be created vary widely. Jeff Grybowski and Dr. Ed Mazze return for the second panel, and are joined by Rosemarie Ives, a Block Island resident leading the opposition to Deepwater.

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After its premiere on WSBE Rhode Island PBS October 17, Powering the Future: Rhode Island's Energy Alternatives will air on October 19 at 12:30 A.M. and 4 A.M., October 22 at 3:30 A.M. October 23 at 10:30 P.M. October 25 at 2:30 A.M. On WSBE Learn, Tuesday, October 18 at 10 P.M., October 19 at 5 A.M. October 20 at 2 A.M.


WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on cable services: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon 08 / 508HD, Full Channel 08, Comcast 819HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on cable: Cox 808, Verizon 478, Full Channel 109, Comcast 294 or 312.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS is operated by the Rhode Island Public Telecommunications Authority, a public corporation established by Rhode Island General Laws 16-61-2. WSBE is a viewer-supported member of the PBS network of public broadcasting stations, and transmits on two channels: WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1. Rhode Island cable channels are Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; in Massachusetts, Comcast 819HD; on satellite, DirecTV 36, and Dish Network 7776. WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on Cox 808; Verizon 478; Full Channel 109; and Comcast 294 or 312. Committed to lifelong learning for more than 44 years, WSBE uses the power of commercial-free media to educate, engage, enrich, inspire, and entertain viewers of all ages in Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and eastern Connecticut. For more information about the programs and education services at WSBE, visit www.ripbs.org.

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