WPRO Channel 12 - 11th Hour News with Bob Wallace (1965)

Not from Chicago, but definitely Chicago related (as we'll get to in a moment) - here's a rarity, transferred directly from a 2" quad videotape, an edition of the 11th Hour News on WPRO Channel 12 in Providence, Rhode Island (which, since 1967, has been known as WPRI-TV; except for the period 1977-1995 when they were affiliated with ABC, the station has otherwise been, and is today, a CBS affiliate).

The anchor is someone you likely know well - Bob Wallace, years before becoming a fixture at Chicago's own WBBM Channel 2 in the 1970's and '80's. Even here, he displays a flash of the avuncular charm and wit that would flow through, throughout his long run with WBBM.

Includes:

Station ID slide with '12' inside CBS eye and 'clouds' background ("See best CBS on Channel 12" voiceover by ??)

11th Hour News open (with teletype sound effect), revealing slide inside screen on news set next to anchor (opening voiceover by ??)

Bob reads the following headlines:

- At an Albuquerque, NM gathering of Republicans, 1964 GOP Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater says Democrats have become captive of the radical Left, and singles out Robert F. Kennedy (whom he did not mention by name) as a traitor to this country for his overtures to North Vietnam, including an offer to give blood

- 10 governors including Rhode Island's John Chafee (who was later a U.S. Senator from 1977 to 1999) travel to Vietnam on a fact-finding mission about the war; three of them visit Lang Son region 90 miles southwest of Saigon, escorted by Provincial Chief Colonel Tran Van Don who, in a picture, is seen with Maine Governor John Reed, Georgia Governor Carl Sanders and Governor Chafee

- FBI cameras record draft card burning demonstration in New York City; five of the demonstrators burned them in public, and one person doused both the fire and the protesters with a fire extinguisher (picture shown inside frame)

- Area woodlands, due to dry weather and other factors, are in a position for forest fires; film of fire watchers all over New England is shown, and great care is urged for those with regard to flames around the forest; Massachusetts Fire Chiefs Association President Francis McDonald of Fall River advises to close all woods in the area due to said conditions and says only more rain will solve the problem (many areas in the Northeast, including New York City, were plagued by drought during this period, with "Save Water" notices everywhere including on local TV station ID's); Bob promises a weather report from Howie Holland later in the broadcast (no rain - drat!); community activists demand action on the closing of forests due to the dry weather, with 500 brush and forest fires over New England just over the past week - none serious

- Speaking of fires - the greater Providence area is plagued by one at the Holy Trinity Church Community House on Cowden Street in Central Falls; it is believed the fire was started in the area around the smoking room where youth attend dances on Fridays; film of the devastation and firefighters investigating the aftermath is shown; the parish school next door wasn't even affected

- Another fire around a fence that spread to an adjacent property at Ontario and Melrose Streets is attributed to children playing with leaves; no injuries reported; film of the burnt fence and nearby tree, and firefighters on the scene, is shown

- 38-year veteran of Providence Fire Department, 64-year-old Alfred E. Millard, dies in hospital after being run over by rear wheels of fire truck responding to a fire on the East Side on October 26th (of which, the fire was later described as "of no consequence")

- "Bizarre and senseless shooting rampage" in Durham, CT claims third victim: 8-year-old Kim Cilley, at Hartford Hospital, from wounds inflicted by her father, 43-year-old Kenneth Cilley, an aircraft worker who then turned the gun on his wife, four children, and finally himself (he died the prior night, and 2-year-old daughter Karen Cilley died earlier); mother Shirley Cilley and two surviving children in serious condition

- Still no sales tax in state (actually Commonwealth, but who's counting?) of Massachusetts; Governor John Volpe (later President Nixon's Transportation Secretary from 1969 to 1973, and then U.S. Ambassador to Italy from 1973 to 1977) is seen as glum after the largely Democratic Senate defeated his fourth sales tax plan, but is consoled by close 22-18 vote and plans to submit a fifth plan soon, based on 3% limited sales tax; Senate President Maurice Donahue wants Volpe to join them to draft a compromise

- A lighthearted item: The Northeast district of the Society for the Encouragement and Preservation of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. holds its annual convention at Hope High School Auditorium in Providence this weekend; Channel 12's news photographer, Ed English, takes some film "between fires" of the proceedings; the Attleboro Jewelry City Harmonizers placed 3rd in the chorus competition, and a segment of their performance is shown

With that, Bob uses Walter Cronkite's "That's the way it is" sign-off, and citing of the date, to close the newscast, and the camera zooms back to the title card shown inside the frame (with teletype sound effect)

"From the looks of the shirt sleeves, the only other thing besides the [Vietnam] war that's hot is the temperature."

This aired on local Providence TV on Saturday, November 6th 1965 during the 11:00pm to 11:06pm (Eastern time) timeframe. (Two days before the death of Dorothy Kilgallen, and three days before the start of the Blackout of '65 that hit New York City and much of the Northeast - including Rhode Island.)

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