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WPT's In Wisconsin Features Wisconsin Native and NASA Astronaut Jeffery Williams

Dec. 15, 2008

For More Information:
Lynn Brockmeyer, WPT publicist, 608-263-3364, lynn.brockmeyer@wpt.org
Christine Sloan Miller, WPT executive producer of news and public affairs, 608-263-7124, christine.sloan-miller@wpt.org

This week, In Wisconsin on Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) features Winter Native and NASA Astronaut Jeffery Williams, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, and a report on a barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes.

The newsmagazine airs at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18 on WPT and WPT/HD. It repeats at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21. It also airs at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21 on WMVS-TV in Milwaukee.

Producer Art Hackett talks with NASA Astronaut Jeffery Williams, who grew up in the Sawyer County community of Winter, and his family and friends. Williams is scheduled to make his third flight into space in early 2010; he will command a flight on a Russian rocket to the International Space Station. Williams discusses growing up in Wisconsin and his experiences in orbit.

Producer Frederica Freyberg visits Sister Constance Walton, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse. The sisters respond daily to prayer requests from across the world. Freyberg learns how the Internet has boosted their prayer duties and about the uninterrupted prayer that's been going on at the convent for nearly 130 years.

The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River system may be the throughway for invasive Asian Carp to access the Great Lakes. Between the Lakes and the carp is an electronic barrier that has in the testing phase for years due to safety concerns. Producer Andy Soth talks with officials from the Army Corps of Engineers, who built the barrier, about when or if it will be activated.

This program's video postcard takes a winter tour of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum in Dane County.

Funding for In Wisconsin is provided, in part, by Alliant Energy and Animal Dental Center of Milwaukee and Oshkosh.

WPT is a service of the Educational Communications Board and University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Wisconsin Public Television is a place to grow through learning on WHA-TV/DT, Madison; WPNE-TV/DT, Green Bay; WHRM-TV/DT, Wausau; WLEF-TV/DT, Park Falls; WHLA-TV/DT, La Crosse; and WHWC-TV/DT, Menomonie-Eau Claire.

DESCRIPTION: IN WISCONSIN #712
In Wisconsin features Wisconsin Native and NASA Astronaut Jeffery Williams, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse and a report on a barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes.