[BC] Anyone know the details?

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

I knew a Chief Engineer who was laid off during the days when all the radio stations had a chief engineer –30 years ago. The station manager just told him that they couldn’t afford him anymore as he handed him his final paycheck and demanded the keys to the buildings. It was a daytimer so there were no on-duty requirements. Within an hour, the transmitter was off the air and the former chief couldn’t be located. The station manager called the police and charged him with all kinds of criminal acts. I don’t know the exact charges. An APB went out for the engineer and he was found in Las Vegas and arrested. He had stopped by his home, grabbed his wife, and headed to Las Vegas for a long-awaited vacation.

After spending a week in jail, he and his wife were sent back to his state to answer the charges and put in jail. The prosecutor tried to find out what terrible destruction had occurred at the transmitter site, but the station manager did not know where it was! This was the second week of being off the air. This gets better.

Therefore, the police department visited the sites of the three towers in town to find the one that the keys fit! After they found the site, they found that the transmitter was running, but not on the air. It turns out that the remote-control unit had gotten unplugged at the studio, well after the engineer was ushered out of the station with his final paycheck.

The engineer sued and became a station owner. There is sometimes justice.

Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson
Book: http://www.AbominableFirebug.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dana Puopolo" <dpuopolo at usa.net>

Enquiring minds want to know...

-D

    It appears a Cumulus station went silent during the chief engineer's
mandatory furlough week.