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Global News
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Global News
Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry, episode 044: The East Coast-West Coast hip-hop war
It was just after midnight on March 9, 1997, when one of the greatest rappers of all time got ready to leave for a party in the Hollywood Hills. At 12:30 am, he left with his entourage in two green 1997 Chevrolet Suburbans headed towards Steve Stoute's house. The record company executive was hosting an after-party, and the music was so overcrowded and loud, the smoke so thick, that neighbours called the Los Angeles Fire Department. When they got to Stoute's home, they shut the party down. Meanwhile, the rapper was still on his way, travelling in the front passenger seat of one of the Suburbans alongside his associates Damon 'D-Roc' Butler, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease, and driver Gregory 'G-Money' Young. The other vehicle was being driven by Kenny Story and carried Eugene 'Gene' Deal, Anthony 'Tone' Jacobs, Stevie J, and Bad Boy Records executive Sean Combs. The two SUVs were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying the company's director of security, Paul Offord, and driven by an off-duty Inglewood police officer named Reggie Blaylock. Tensions were high. The men in the two vehicles felt like they were in enemy territory. And they were right to be wary. Story continues below advertisement Six months earlier, another influential rapper had died in a drive-by shooting on a Las Vegas street. Many blamed the rapper currently making his way through L.A. streets this evening. The two had been embroiled in a bicoastal feud that would cost many more their lives. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy By 12:45 a.m., the streets were crowded at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue. Many had left venues on what is known as Museum Row as the rapper's SUV stopped at a red light. Less than 50 metres away, a dark-colored mid-90s Chevrolet Impala SS drove towards the side of the rapper's Suburban. The driver of the Impala was a Black man wearing a light blue suit and bow tie. He stopped beside the car, lowered his window, drew a 9 mm pistol, and fired six shots into the Suburban. The rapper was hit four times. He was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where doctors performed an emergency thoracotomy. Their efforts were fruitless, and he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. This time on Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry, it's the story behind the death of Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., and how his death led to a 'peace' summit in what was known as the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop war. Get Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry wherever you get your podcasts. Both Uncharted and The Ongoing History of New Music will be heard back-to-back overnights five days a week on these Corus news stations: Story continues below advertisement Showtimes (all times local)
Auto Blog
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
General Motors Donated Some Cool Cars to Help Train the Secret Service
Secret Service agents have a very important job Granted their status as one of the world's most influential political leaders, the President of the United States is one of the most protected human assets in the world. Without fail, it is nearly impossible to spot them during public appearances without being within a stone's throw away from a member of their security detail; members of the United States Secret Service. Even when the President is paraded in different countries to meet other world leaders, it would be impossible not to spot the convoy of vehicles in the presidential motorcade, which includes many different cars, including some specially equipped Chevrolet Suburbans. Although it may seem like something out of TV or the movies, Secret Service agents responsible for the safety of the President are trained to be ready for anything, even if it means commandeering an unfamiliar car. General Motors donated a cornucopia of cars to hone Secret Service agents' skills This is where General Motors comes in. Earlier this week, the U.S. Secret Service rekindled its close relationship with the Detroit automaker after it donated 10 different vehicles to the agency's James J. Rowley Training Center (RTC) in Laurel, Maryland. These vehicles serve a broad spectrum across the automaker's brands and include some of its desirable high-performance offerings. GM provided the agency with two Cadillac CT4s, two Cadillac CT5s, and two Chevrolet Corvettes—including one Corvette E-Ray. Curiously, two of the Cadillacs provided were CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings equipped with manual transmissions; a fairly unusual car for Secret Service use. A Cadillac Escalade at the James J. Rowley Training Center. A Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing at the James J. Rowley Training Center. A Chrvrolet Corvette E-Ray at the James J. Rowley Training Center. Though car enthusiasts and muscle car fans will drool over the idea that the Secret Service gets to train how to protect the President behind the wheel of a CT5-V Blackwing with a 6.2-liter V8 pumping 668 horsepower, the Secret Service sees this as a valuable teaching tool for scenarios when driving stick will be required. They maintain that its special agents assigned to foreign field offices or protective visits could be required to drive manual cars. 'Not everyone is able to operate a manual shift,' said RTC driving instructor Mark Armstrong. 'Having that platform here will enable us to give instruction on how to drive manual vehicles for overseas trips.' The fleet of vehicles donated to the Secret Service training ground also included a Chevrolet Suburban, a Chevrolet Tahoe PPV, a Cadillac Escalade, and a Chevrolet Colorado ZR2. Scott Simons, the special agent in charge at the James J. Rowley Training Center, noted that having a variety of vehicles on hand helps agents adapt to different vehicles they may encounter. Vehicles being unloaded at James J. Rowley Training Center. Vehicles being unloaded at James J. Rowley Training Center. 'Experience with different types of vehicles can help instructors teach students how to adapt their driving techniques based on the vehicle they are operating,' Simons said. 'Because each vehicle handles differently in any given situation, exposure to new cars will challenge instructors and give them an opportunity to develop more realistic training scenarios.' Constantine Gerukos, a driving instructor with 13 years of experience at the Secret Service, noted that while advanced driving is an important skill for agents, it is important to test out which vehicles are suitable for training and the field as auto technology evolves. 'I think it is cool to try out all these different platforms to figure out what is going to fit, and what we can use,' Gerukos said. 'The times are changing, and so is the rest of the world. So, we have to do the same thing.' Final thoughts In the press release, one of the driving instructors, Brandon Bohonek, noted that agents are trained to deal with various 'realistic' scenarios and that these vehicles will help add more depth to it. 'The students wouldn't be expecting it,' Bohonek said about the new cars. 'We won't have these vehicles in view. So, they won't know it is out there. They may be expecting a (police) SUV, and all of a sudden, one of these vehicles rolls up. We try to make it as realistic as possible out here, which is not always easy to do.' It should be noted that the Secret Service's responsibilities go beyond protecting the President. Up until 2003, they were a division of the U.S. Treasury, and are currently tasked with investigating a wide range of financial and cyber crimes, including credit card fraud, wire and bank fraud, computer network breaches, ransomware, as well as currency counterfeiting. It would be interesting to see Secret Service agents roll up in Cadillac CT5-V Blackwings to carry out a search warrant for a Superbill investigation or track down the origin of some hackers.
Miami Herald
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
General Motors Donated Some Cool Cars to Help Train the Secret Service
Granted their status as one of the world's most influential political leaders, the President of the United States is one of the most protected human assets in the world. Without fail, it is nearly impossible to spot them during public appearances without being within a stone's throw away from a member of their security detail; members of the United States Secret Service. Even when the President is paraded in different countries to meet other world leaders, it would be impossible not to spot the convoy of vehicles in the presidential motorcade, which includes many different cars, including some specially equipped Chevrolet Suburbans. Although it may seem like something out of TV or the movies, Secret Service agents responsible for the safety of the President are trained to be ready for anything, even if it means commandeering an unfamiliar car. This is where General Motors comes in. Earlier this week, the U.S. Secret Service rekindled its close relationship with the Detroit automaker after it donated 10 different vehicles to the agency's James J. Rowley Training Center (RTC) in Laurel, Maryland. These vehicles serve a broad spectrum across the automaker's brands and include some of its desirable high-performance offerings. GM provided the agency with two Cadillac CT4s, two Cadillac CT5s, and two Chevrolet Corvettes-including one Corvette E-Ray. Curiously, two of the Cadillacs provided were CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings equipped with manual transmissions; a fairly unusual car for Secret Service use. Though car enthusiasts and muscle car fans will drool over the idea that the Secret Service gets to train how to protect the President behind the wheel of a CT5-V Blackwing with a 6.2-liter V8 pumping 668 horsepower, the Secret Service sees this as a valuable teaching tool for scenarios when driving stick will be required. They maintain that its special agents assigned to foreign field offices or protective visits could be required to drive manual cars. "Not everyone is able to operate a manual shift," said RTC driving instructor Mark Armstrong. "Having that platform here will enable us to give instruction on how to drive manual vehicles for overseas trips." The fleet of vehicles donated to the Secret Service training ground also included a Chevrolet Suburban, a Chevrolet Tahoe PPV, a Cadillac Escalade, and a Chevrolet Colorado ZR2. Scott Simons, the special agent in charge at the James J. Rowley Training Center, noted that having a variety of vehicles on hand helps agents adapt to different vehicles they may encounter. "Experience with different types of vehicles can help instructors teach students how to adapt their driving techniques based on the vehicle they are operating," Simons said. "Because each vehicle handles differently in any given situation, exposure to new cars will challenge instructors and give them an opportunity to develop more realistic training scenarios." Constantine Gerukos, a driving instructor with 13 years of experience at the Secret Service, noted that while advanced driving is an important skill for agents, it is important to test out which vehicles are suitable for training and the field as auto technology evolves. "I think it is cool to try out all these different platforms to figure out what is going to fit, and what we can use," Gerukos said. "The times are changing, and so is the rest of the world. So, we have to do the same thing." In the press release, one of the driving instructors, Brandon Bohonek, noted that agents are trained to deal with various "realistic" scenarios and that these vehicles will help add more depth to it. "The students wouldn't be expecting it," Bohonek said about the new cars. "We won't have these vehicles in view. So, they won't know it is out there. They may be expecting a (police) SUV, and all of a sudden, one of these vehicles rolls up. We try to make it as realistic as possible out here, which is not always easy to do." It should be noted that the Secret Service's responsibilities go beyond protecting the President. Up until 2003, they were a division of the U.S. Treasury, and are currently tasked with investigating a wide range of financial and cyber crimes, including credit card fraud, wire and bank fraud, computer network breaches, ransomware, as well as currency counterfeiting. It would be interesting to see Secret Service agents roll up in Cadillac CT5-V Blackwings to carry out a search warrant for a Superbill investigation or track down the origin of some hackers. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Yahoo
Large-Scale Rental Car Theft Ring Busted in Florida After 80+ Vehicles Stolen, Cops Say
A group of individuals in Florida have been arrested as part of an investigation into a major crime theft ring that's allegedly responsible for stealing at least 80 rental cars over the last few years. Last week, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement revealed it's been investigating this case since June 2022, and has finally arrested five out of six wanted individuals. These thieves specifically went after rental cars from Avis and Budget across multiple Florida counties, authorities say, but also stole vehicles in Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana and Ohio using similar methods. What, exactly, were those methods? According to Florida authorities, the thieves would start by legitimately renting a vehicle they wanted to obtain. Once it was in their possession, they'd duplicate the key, then return the vehicle to the rental company with an Apple AirTag hidden in the car. They'd return to the rental car lot at a later date with the duplicated key and simply drive it away. Thefts reportedly happened outside rental lots, too. Law enforcement says the thieves would sometimes wait for an unsuspecting victim to rent a targeted car and drive it away, track that vehicle, then steal it when left unattended with the duplicated key they already had. Either way, the thieves would then reportedly proceed to swap the VINs, obtain clean titles and sell the vehicles to cash buyers. The vehicles being targeted were typically large, expensive SUVs, according to authorities. Sgt. Steve Gaskins with the Florida Highway Patrol said the majority of the cars stolen were Cadillac Escalades, GMC Yukons and Chevrolet Suburbans. Of the 80-plus vehicles involved, law enforcement said it has recovered 12 over the course of its multi-year investigation. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car
