Longtime Attorney General Darrell McGraw was a fierce enforcer of state consumer protection laws, winning billions from firms and fly-by-night outfits that committed consumer violations. For West Virginia illness and death caused by cigarettes, McGraw won two lawsuit settlements from 23 tobacco firms for $1.7 billion and $200 million. In 2002, McGraw won $56 million from 15 coal companies that used "independent contractors" to duck state workers' compensation obligations.

Six years ago, lawyer-banker-scholar Charles Morris wrote a prophetic book - 'Two-Trillion-Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High-Rollers and the Great Credit Crunch' - that foresaw the 2008 Great Recession before it clobbered America and the world. Now Morris has reversed course and sees good times ahead. His forthcoming book, 'Comeback,' predicts that surging U.S. energy independence will bring a buoyant rise in American manufacturing and jobs.

Ohio started the month of July with its pedal to the metal. The Buckeye State became the 34th state to adopt the 70 miles-an-hour speed limit. Drivers can now do up to 70 on more than 570 of Ohio's 1,332 miles of interstate highway. Congress repealed the 55 mph national limit in 1995. Despite predictions of calamity and carnage on the highways, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in October 1998 that "the traffic death rate dropped to a record low level in 1997". That pattern has continued since then.

Volunteer hosts went to the airport, picked up assigned students, fed them dinner, took them to the opening lecture at the Clay Center, put them in spare bedrooms for the night, then fed them breakfast this morning and will deliver the outstanding teens to buses that convey them to the mountain retreat where they undergo a month of intensive science training and outdoor fun.

Luckily, this year, enough local families volunteered to host all the brilliant youths. In the past, the number of guest homes sometimes fell short, and some of the visitors slept on cots and sleeping bags at local churches. They're adventurous teens and don't mind this makeshift camp-in but it's better if friendly hosts give them a more personal welcome for their stay.

A rule change was enacted before the 1974 National Football League (NFL) season to add one sudden death overtime period (15 minutes) to all preseason and regular season games. If no team scored in this period, the game would result in a tie. This rule was enacted to decrease the number of tie games. The first ever regular season overtime, a September 22 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos, ended in a 35-35 draw. It was not until November 10, when the New York Jets defeated the New York Giants, 26-20, that an overtime game would produce a winner.