On Monday, after a long quarter-century, West Virginians said goodbye to their state's 6 percent food tax. Now to see what, if any, business we've been missing. In 1989, retailers warned that sales in West Virginia would go down if legislators imposed a 6 percent tax on food. "Whatever they put on would be passed on to the consumer," Charles Forth, who owned supermarkets in both West Virginia and Ohio, told the newspaper in February 1989. "Six percent is $6 on $100. That will make a difference when people are already hurting and trying to make ends meet." It's a lot easier to drive customers away than to win them back, a fact legislators should bear in mind when it comes to taxation.

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 Congress repealed the 55 mph national limit in 1995.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.

The Los Angeles County Tobacco Control Program (TCP) is part of the Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in the Department of Health Services. It was established as a result of the tobacco tax initiative of 1988, Proposition 99/AB75, in December of 1989. The goal of TCP is to establish policies, health services, public education, and media conditions that support the reduction of tobacco use in Los Angeles County and the associated disease, disability, and mortality.

Since 1944, the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation has been meeting the diverse needs of not only residents, but also visitors from around the world. With over 63,000 acres of parks, gardens, lakes, trails, natural areas, and the world's largest public golf course system, the Department of Parks and Recreation is committed to providing the public with social, cultural, and recreational activities to enjoy the whole year.

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.