This year's Fourth of July holiday is history, but there could be more fireworks this week over GM's bankruptcy plan to sell its good assets to a new company. Last week ended with the judge in the case adjourning a three-day hearing without saying when he would rule. The government said it would cut off funding to the automaker if the sale is not approved by Friday, and a lawyer for GM said if the plan does not win approval, the only alternative would be liquidation of the company's assets, a scenario he called "horrific." One member of President Obama's automotive task force said speed was essential because the government can't keep spending billions of dollars for an open-ended period of time with no guarantee of success. Now they tell us.

Check out PG writer Tim Grant's report about how local institutions teamed up last week to help the Hill District's troubled Dwelling House Savings & Loan stay afloat.

Federal officials moved one step closer last week to doling out $7.2 billion in grants designed to bring high-speed Internet access to areas that have been neglected by large telecommunications companies. Right on. What could be more American than equal access? Equal access to celebrity gossip, shopping, gambling, porn, file sharing ...

The growth in the national unemployment rate slowed down last month, with the number of newly unemployed Americans the lowest in eight months. But economists said the bad news was hidden underneath the good: The overall employment number doesn't fully reflect the effect of the recession on groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans, whose jobless numbers are underreported. "On the whole, this was a very ugly labor market report, and there is no amount of lipstick that can improve its image," said economist Millan L.B. Mulraine.

"I wanted a job. I was desperate." -- Beverly Steward, 46, one of 4,000 people bilked by a company that promised certifications for a cleaning job for $89.

Applause and shouting broke out in the courtroom last week when notorious swindler Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum possible sentence for the 71-year-old defendant. ... Vocational schools nationwide are reporting record enrollment as the recession has workers seeking quick, affordable, practical educations. ... Pittsburgh-area gas prices continued to fall, with the average price of a gallon hitting $2.646 on Friday, about 5 cents less than a week earlier.