the Island sale, WSTA was sold to William M. O'Neil in 1960. O'Neil applied for an increase in power to 1,000 watts in 1961; the station was permitted to relocate its transmitter in 1975, when the studios were moved from the Frenchtown area to their present site, but a power increase was denied on account of potential interference to a co-channel station in the Dominican Republic. After 24 years, O'Neil sold WSTA for $450,000 to Ottley Communications Corporation in 1984; the lead owner was Athniel C. "Addie" Ottley. Ottley had already been associated with the station; he was its manager in 1970. Also in 1984, the station went to 1,000 watts, and Addie Ottley took over the morning shift. He remained heavily active with the station until his last show on January 28, 2022, less than two weeks before his death; his last shows were done from his daughter's house in Indiana, where he was recovering from a fall. Under Ottley's stewardship, the station remained on the air while hurricanes Hugo and Irma lashed the Virgin Islands; it was out of service for less than 24 hours at the height of Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. After Hugo, the station's transmissions provided a vital source of information, as telephone lines were inoperable and WBNB-TV, the television station on St. Thomas, was permanently put out of commission by the storm. After Marilyn, the station began airing regular "good news" segments. WSTA also previously operated on FM as WSTA-FM 102.7 in the 1980s and 1990s. Due to more than a year of silence, the FM station's license was automatically canceled by the FCC in 1998. Dianne Quander worked at WSTA-FM as well as at radio stations in Washington, D.C. References External links STA News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1950 1950 establishments in the United States Virgin Islands