13 year old, Steve Odom, was gunned down one year ago outside; a couple feet away from his Mattapan home in Boston, Massachusetts.

A young proud church man from a Christian home and once a proud straight "A" student @ The Tilmity Middle School in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Sadly, his life was taken too soon, mistaken for another target. Unfortunately, the suspect(s) has not been found.

What is cause of the young kids of the City of Boston who are involved in criminal activity?

Baratunde points to the recent loss of WILD-FM as yet another example of why Boston will keep losing and scaring off young blacks:

... [I]n Boston, the black folk are all stashed away down in Roxbury and Dorchester. Out of sight and out of mind. There's no black nightclubs in the main areas of Boston. No substantial black political power. Never even had a black mayor.

And now we lost a radio station. Tell me this. How do you lose an "urban" format station in America 2006??? Hip Hop is the hottest selling thing since guillotines during the French Revolution, yet it lost to Classic Rock??

This is weak, yall. A city that can't keep its young people is destined to fail. A city that can't keep its young black people is just sad.

Lisa Williams links to more comments on the end of the station and says it wouldn't have been possible without the Telecom Act of 1996, which our own Ed Markey helped write:

... Markey's Telecom Act of 1996 lifted ownership limitations on media companies, clearing the way for those juggernauts of bland Clear Channel and Infinity Radio, each of which now own hundreds of radio stations across the US, many of which have been converted to robo-programmed format stations with no live or local DJs. Oh, that bill was supposed to lower your phone and cable bill by introducing competition. Has yours gone down? No? ...

Third Decade mourns the passing of WILD-FM:

... Jam'n 94.5 is so corny that Hot 97.7 was my alternative on FM. I appreciated their gospel Sundays, the Time Tunnel (old school soul and R&B), and the daily mainstream hip hop and R&B. ...

The Globe reports that WILD-FM will soon become a repeater station for WAAF, the better to reach headbangers on the South Shore (WILD-AM will remain as is).

John Daley sighs:

WILD has been a Roxbury radio station for as long as I can remember. Now it has been sold and will, unfortunately, go from being a city station to being a booster for suburban rock music fans.

Ciao reports that WILD has moved uptown, to 24-hours-a-day FM, 97.7 to be exact:

We're only the last major city in the United States to have an Urban AC station, where you can hear old school R&B and contemporary artists like Maxwell.

Not everybody is happy with the change.

The old WILD-AM, which shuts down at sunset, is now gospel.