DIED
The signature of Houston's flourishing indie hip-hop sound is the technique of slowing down a track to simulate the effects of the scene's trippy drug of choice, codeine-laced cough syrup. Among the nationally recognized stars of the genre was Big Moe, known for fusing spoken verse, singing and complex melodies. The University of Houston graduate--whose 2002 album, Purple World, reached No. 3 on Billboard's hip-hop charts--was 33 and apparently died of a heart attack.
As a retired Air Force officer with a stellar record at the Pentagon, Charles Riechers was supposed to help revamp the USAF's procurement office, saddled by...