Top stories developing across the region at the noon hour:
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean and conservative commentator Pat Buchanan find common ground; a technology group managed by Dartmouth College launches an $8.5 million research program; Capitol Hill reporter Melinda Wittstock says Vermonters may have succeeded in starting a dialog on the use of the National Guard; Senator Jim Jeffords praises the president’s nominee to head the EPA; Vermont is named the third most livable state for the second year in a row.
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