Published: August 03, 2006 10:48 pm         

Firefighters’ union buys morning on radio show

A Terre Haute firefighters’ union bid $1,725 on eBay to win naming and co-hosting rights to an Aug. 15 morning radio show on WBOW.

The station’s B-102.7 put its morning show, “The Morning Buzz,” on sale last week on the popular online auction site. The idea came when the hosts of the show, Chris Carter and Doug Edge, continued to hear rumors that the station was for sale. In an effort to make fun of the rumors, they decided to auction off their morning show for a day.

Fire Capt. Darrick Scott, who is also a Vigo County councilman from District 2, said the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 758 in Terre Haute plans to rename the morning show “102.7 The Blaze.”

“We thought it would be good public relations for us and allow the public a chance to know about us. We want to promote safety and get our views across on the [union] contract” with the city of Terre Haute, Scott said.

“We have been portrayed in a negative manner. We also plan to kick off our MDA boot-a-thon and contributions for the United Way of the Wabash Valley,” Scott said. “We will use a variety of music, even perhaps some [heard in some fire stations] from the 1960s.”

The firefighters’ union last week approved a no-confidence vote against Fire Department Chief Jay Utz. The 97-8 vote came because of some union members’ concerns over Utz’s decisions as fire chief, said Michael Morrison, the president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 758 in Terre Haute.

Utz responded by saying he was surprised at the vote and in a prepared statement said that firefighters have various options to address concerns, including their normal chain of command, monthly safety committee meetings, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Fire Merit Commission and normal litigation.

Terre Haute Mayor Kevin Burke in late June announced that the city had requested arbitration on a 2007 contract after negotiations stalled between the city and the firefighters’ union. The present contract will expire Dec. 31 and would be carried over though Dec. 31, 2007 if no agreement is reached through arbitration.

“We as the city on behalf of taxpayers decided to go to arbitration. The firefighters’ union negotiators gave us every indication that they did not wish to arrive at a contract,” said Pete Ciancone, communications director for the city.

“We encourage the firefighters to spread whatever word they feel is appropriate. We are excited about them emphasizing safety and excited about them sponsoring Jerry’s Kids and we wish them well,” Ciancone said.

Edge, who is station manager at WBOW, said he did not know the identify of the other bidders for the air time. The second highest bid was for $1,700, Edge said.

The bids started out Thursday morning around $400, he said.

“We put a $400 reserve on it and we just had the idea that whatever it goes for, we will have fun with it. We thought if it brought around $1,000 that would be pretty good, so it kind of went a little higher than what we expected,” Edge said.

Edge and Carter will meet with firefighters today to work out the radio show details.

“I think they’ll use the time to get their points across that they want to get across about their situation and their issues on the Fire Department, but they also made it very clear to us that they really want to have fun with this and educate people on their job and what they do in the community” and the Fire Department’s work with charities, Edge said.

Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.