Midday Newscast: April 9, 2008

A new ranger has been appointed to oversee the southern half of the Green Mountain National Forest;  Bernie Sanders has joined a group of fellow freshmen senators to lead the opposition to a free trade agreement with Colombia; more and more of the mountain snow pack is melting and that’s filling Lake Champlain.

House debates drug ‘data mining’ law

Last year, the Legislature passed a law that limited the amount of information marketers could get on the drugs that doctors prescribe. But a lawsuit was filed over whether the action was also a limitation on free speech. On Tuesday, the House debated whether to repeal the law altogether or to delay it.