Gas Station

Rapper DMX was arrested in South Carolina early Wednesday on a charge of driving without a license. The rapper recently completed a stint behind bars after his probation was revoked for the same reason and because he refused to submit to a drug test. The 42-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was arrested after police said they saw him leaving a gas station in Greer, in northwestern South Carolina, around 1 a.m., the Associated Press reported. He was taken to jail, then released after paying a fine.

Colorado Rockies superstar Todd Helton, who has made $156 million in his career, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Wednesday near Denver. And what was so pressing that the first baseman needed to be allegedly driving while drunk? He went to a gas station to buy lottery tickets. That is, according to the official report filed by Thornton, Colo., police. According to the report, cops tracked down the all-star first baseman after receiving a tip that his car had struck the center divider in the street before turning into the gas station.

California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris has filed a civil lawsuit against BP West Coast Products, BP Products North America Inc. and Atlantic Richfield Co., accusing them of violating state laws on hazardous materials and hazardous waste. The lawsuit accuses the parties of failing to properly inspect and maintain underground tanks used to store gasoline at more than 780 gas stations in California. "Safe storage of gasoline is not only common sense, it is essential to protecting the integrity of California's groundwater resources," Harris said.

Record gasoline prices in 2012 and calls for investigation of California's fuel markets have brought into focus a persistent peculiarity of the state's service station world: the wild swings in price any brand has from one location to the next. Known in the industry as zone pricing, the controversial practice was apparent one afternoon when Culver City resident Michael Denis, on a jaunt to downtown Los Angeles, stopped at a Chevron station to feed his Fiat 500 some gasoline at $4.69 a gallon.

An elderly man was charged with murder in the shooting death of a 65-year-old woman after his motorized wheelchair "made contact" with her car at a Georgia gas station, authorities said. The collision, which occurred as Linda Hunnicutt was pulling in to the station about 1 p.m. Tuesday, led her to step out of her Buick Lucerne and briefly exchange words with the man, a spokeswoman for the Macon Police Department said. The man, identified as Frank Louis Reeves, then shot her in the chest,  police said.

In 2008, the screenwriter Mark Boal sought an appointment with a retired special-forces operator. Boal was researching a movie about the fruitless search for Osama bin Laden in the caves of Tora Bora six years before, and he wanted insight into how U.S. forces gathered intelligence. The agent agreed to meet, but under strict conditions. Boal would be kept in the dark about where the encounter would take place until just before, when he'd be given directions, via GPS, to what turned out to be a gas station.

The artist who painted the mural that greets drivers entering the little town of Welch in West Virginia's coal fields added the figure of Ed Shepard at the last minute. Ed, as everyone calls him, is a fixture in town. He has manned his service station for 62 years. Plain-spoken, self-educated, and blessed with a remarkable memory, at 89 Ed is a seemingly endless source of knowledge about Welch and surrounding McDowell County. McDowell County used to dig more coal than anywhere else in the country.

New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman has put 13 gas station operators on notice that the state is investigating them for allegedly taking advantage of needy customers and inflating prices in the days after Superstorm Sandy. The notices, sent out Thursday, alert the business owners that the state is beginning to enforce its price-gouging laws, a New York statute that can carry steep fines. “Our office has zero tolerance for price-gouging and we are taking action to send a message that ripping off New Yorkers is against the law,” Schneiderman said.

They spend their days exposed to the elements, getting their hands dirty and rarely receiving tips -- until now. New Jersey gas stations are all full service, a pleasant surprise to many out-of-state drivers who attendants say will tip them for their trouble. Not so the average New Jersey driver, although that appears to be changing as post-Sandy gas shortages persist.   FULL COVERAGE: East Coast hit by deadly storm "My guys are one of the most disrespected jobs.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Michaelle Solages, 27, is on the ballot here Tuesday for a New York State Assembly seat.  A Democrat and a lawyer, she has campaigned door to door, but she has found that one of the best places to talk to voters is at gas stations.  Wrapped in a long black wool coat, she walks the lines of people that snake through the gas station parking lots, handing out fliers she has printed with information about shelters and FEMA reimbursement programs.   INTERACTIVE: Before and after   Hurricane Sandy She carries a notepad that  is filling up with the addresses of those she meets whose homes still lack  power.