People

Slain in a broadcast underground

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Michael Taylor believed in second chances — he was living proof that they come along. Before the early 1990s, the Los Angeles resident had been an addict, a dealer, eventually homeless. But one day he decided to turn his life around, and achieved the miracle — sobered up, straightened out and found his legitimate passions: community activism and radio. He became a reporter and later an occasional host of public affairs programming on Pacifica station KPFK. So he was a felt presence among Los Angeles’ South-Central community of leftists and grassroots organizers at the time of his cold-blooded murder over nothing more than a low-power radio transmitter, in April 1996.

People

Pacifica reporter found murdered in Los Angeles

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Michael Taylor, a reporter for Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles, has been murdered. Friends believe the execution-style shooting may have been related to Taylor’s involvement in developing a micro-power radio station. Taylor’s body was found April 23 in a vacant lot near railroad tracks in south Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times. His hands were bound and he had been shot several times, reports say. A former homeless man who, according to a friend, had struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, Taylor turned his life around after he entered KPFK’s 15-month apprentice program.