Karen Adams

Mike Montecalvo

Tony Petrarca

Patrick Little

EYEWITNESS NEWS on WPRI 12 #1 at 11pm

For the first time in station history, Eyewitness News at 11 on WPRI 12 was the #1 rated late night newscast in the Providence/New Bedford DMA (for the week of October 19 -23, 2009). In addition to the news win, CBS prime time programming on WPRI 12 was also rated #1 in the prime time period. Over the past several years, Eyewitness News at 11 on WPRI 12 has had the largest growth of all the late, local newscasts.

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“We’ve made a commitment to the viewers of Southern New England,” says Jay Howell, President/General Manager of WPRI 12, Fox Providence, and my RI TV. “As Rhode Island’s only locally owned TV station, I’m very proud of the Eyewitness News team and their historic achievement. Along with the dominant CBS prime time line up, this viewing trend continues to validate that more local viewers are watching Eyewitness News.”

According to News Director Joe Abouzeid, “we’re allocating more resources and dedicating more coverage to the stories that matter most to our viewers. No matter when news breaks, viewers can count on Eyewitness News to be there.”

Eyewitness News at 11 on WPRI 12 is anchored by Karen Adams and Mike Montecalvo, along with Chief Meteorologist Tony Petrarca and Sports Director Patrick Little.

October 28, 2009
For More Information
Joe Abouzeid:
401-228-1700
jabouzeid@wpri.com

For a .pdf version of this release, please Click Here

Source: Nielsen Media, October 19 – 23, 2009
_______________________________________________________________________
About LIN TV: LIN TV Corp., along with its subsidiaries, is a local television and digital media company, owning and/or operating 27 television stations in 17 U.S. markets, all of which are affiliated with a national broadcast network. LIN TV’s highly-rated stations deliver important local news and community stories, along with top-rated sports and entertainment programming, to 9% of U.S. television homes, reaching an average of 11 million households per week.

LIN TV is also a leader in the convergence of local broadcast television and the Internet through its television station web sites and a growing number of local online innovations that reach 15% of U.S. broadband households. LIN TV is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TVL”.

There’s a push to get better screening and testing done of common household chemicals, and now mommies can get on board. 

The company, Seventh Generation, has an internet campaign called the Million Baby Crawl where you can sign up to support toxic chemical reform.  According to Seventh Generation’s website, the Environmental Protection Agency requires safety testing on only 200 of the more than 800,000 chemicals on the market.  The hope is to get a million babies signed up to support legislation that will be presented to congress for a stronger chemical law to keep our families safe and healthy.  Sounds good to me!!

While I don’t always use Seventh Generation products, I have become more conscious of the cleaning products that I use around the house.  I’ve tried to ”go green” with most of the products.  For example, I use good ’ole vinegar water to clean Charlie’s high chair, etc.   It’s simple and cheap!

It only took 4 nights, but it appears my 9month old’s internal clock is finally back to Eastern Standard Time.   He woke up at 6am this morning.  Yay!  Yes–that’s a big improvement from earlier in the week, when he was happily babbling “dada dada” at 5am. 

So I have another item to add to my list of things every new mother should know:  The joys of “falling back” and getting an extra hour of sleep when Daylight Saving Time comes to an end now represents having a few very early mornings and cranky evenings with your infant as you try to reset their internal clock. And if anyone could use an extra hour of sleep, it’s a mom!

Something inside me fires up when it comes to my little guy…. an instinct stronger than any other to protect him.  It brings out a pushy side of me I haven’t seen too often. 

So when I heard my son’s pediatrician’s office got a shipment of the H1N1 vaccine on Friday afternoon–it was pure luck that we happened to be there for his 9month healthy check-up– I made sure he received one of the shots.  Seeing as he’s an asthmatic infant, we were towards the top of the list anyway.  But I’ve learned that sometimes you have to be a little pushy, and on Friday I wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

I couldn’t believe it, though, when his pediatrician told me 1) she’s pregnant! 2) she hasn’t been able to get the H1N1 vaccine yet.  Can you imagine being coughed and sneezed on all day by sick kiddos and at a high risk of complications due to pregnancy and NOT be able to get the shot? Scary. 

I’ve heard many stories similar to mine from people who were able to get the vaccines through a little luck and persistence.  A pregnant co-worker called her OB’s office every morning until she called the day they got a shipment of the vaccine in.  She dropped everything she was doing and headed straight to the office.  You gotta do what you gotta do, right?

No one loves Halloween as much as RoseAnne DeAngelis. Take a look at the Street Story video blog.

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/on_air/local_wpri_street_stories_video_blog_20091028

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The tragic news of the healthy 12-year old Bristol, RI girl who died this week from a suspected case of the H1N1 flu has sent this concerned mom into a downright panic.   How did a healthy, active little girl succomb to the flu?  How did she get so sick, so fast?  How do we prevent this from happening again?  My heart aches for her family, her friends and her neighbors in my town of Bristol. 

I’m sure I was not alone when I held my baby a little tighter last night and gave him an extra kiss good night.  Nor, I’m sure, was I alone in feeling a sense of fear and unknown about this flu season… looking at the calendar and seeing the long winter months that still lay ahead of us.  I keep wondering what else I can do to protect him and keep him healthy.  I have the added concern of having an infant recently diagnosed with asthma, which puts him in the high risk category for possible severe complications if he were to contract H1N1.  I’m frustrated that he doesn’t have access to the H1N1 vaccine.  I’m frustrated that our company just cancelled it’s flu clinic for next month because of a shortage of regular flu shots for adults.  I’ve been contemplating whether I should pull him out of his home daycare and pay for a nanny to watch him at our house instead.

Can you really truly protect them from the germs that are everywhere?  You can be clean and cautious, but they will still be exposed to them. 

I have almost daily discussions with my co-anchor, Vince, about whether the media is blowing the H1N1 flu pandemic out of proportion.  The big question is, is it worse than the regular flu?  From research I’ve done, it appears that majority of cases are no more severe than the regular flu.  But, there’s still that small subset of the population that will have a major complication from it…. healthy, young people who suddenly find their lungs under attack and end up fighting for their lives.  And that’s what is scary.

One of our Street Stories made it all the way to Belgium and attracted a unique request and you may be able to help. . .

 http://www.wpri.com/dpp/on_air/street_stories/rhode_show_search_for_honor_for_a_local_here_street_stories_200910191255964341100

Click ‘more’ to see the message/request from Belgium.

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We are looking into an audit that investigated how a local school district monitors its Student Activity Account.  You fund these accounts when you pay to see a game or give a few dollars to a fundraiser.

For bigger districts, your generosity can add up to half a million a year! Read the rest of this entry »

A softer side of rough and tumble Patriots’ defensive lineman Jarvis Green is the focus of this week’s Street Story.

He lost 8 family members during hurricane Katrina. Read that again. 8 family members! Read the rest of this entry »

Courtesy NASA: An Artist's Rendering of Distant Planets

I think I’ve written about this in in previous blog posts, but there have been hundreds of new planets discovered beyond our own solar system.    Recently, astronomers in Europe have discovered 32 new planets orbiting distant stars. 

This brings the thought to my mind that there is life out there…somewhere.   However, none of these 32 planets would likely harbor life.   I think eventually we will find a planet which has the possibility of sustaining life.    Astronomers have found some planets which almost meet certain criteria to sustain life.   Even if we found a distant Earth-like world,  it would take thousands and thousands of years to get there (with current technology).

Here’s an article about these recent discoveries:   32 New Planets Found