A WSTB Update

Streetsboro High School radio station WSTB/88.9 is still off the air as of this writing, but the circumstances that forced it off the air have become somewhat clearer.

And for that matter, it all seems rather silly at this point.

An article written on the web site of the weekly "Gateway News" newspaper, which we linked here earlier this week, cited "inappropriate photos" as the reason school officials took out WSTB computers Monday night. The move took out the computer used to operate the station on-air, leading to the loss of programming.

What were the "inappropriate photos", a phrase attributed to school officials by local newspapers? Probably not what some thought.

From the Akron Beacon Journal, this morning:

One photo showed a party and there was a question of whether a student was there drinking, (Streetsboro police) Detective Richard Polivka said Wednesday.

However, there was no criminal wrongdoing and the investigation was concluded, he added.

So, it would appear to be all said and done...oh, except for the fact that WSTB's "AlterNation" alt-rock format is still among the missing as of this writing, and for that matter, it's not known if this weekend's "Sunday Oldies Jukebox" will be able to broadcast on the station.

The absence of WSTB's 88.9 signal has brought some listeners south and west of Akron the signal of Ashland University's WRDL/88.9 Ashland.

Oh, speaking of "Sunday Oldies Jukebox", an adult-run all volunteer effort...while trying to figure out how to get back on the air, SOJ volunteer program director Bill Weisinger shares his own thoughts on the past few days with OMW.

"As we expected, it turns out to be much ado about nothing....the nothing being a few (fully clothed) ADULTS at a New Year's party. Any of these pictures could have been printed on ANY newspaper society page in the nation," "Uncle Bill" tells OMW.

He adds, "(it) seems someone in the administration was misled, or just got bad advice, that resulted in this storm of inappropriate and unnecessary bad press for a station with over 30 years of solid community service."

If "SOJ", which provides a popular oldies format on Sundays to the Akron market, returns this coming weekend, it might be without computer assistance.

It's not known how the station's on-air computer was dismantled, and not known if it can be easily returned to service. If there's a problem, the "SOJ" volunteer on-air personalities could well break out the CDs on Sunday, instead of running music off of computers.

But with the situation resolved, here's hoping they, and the student-run "AlterNation" format which airs Monday through Saturday, return soon...