Midday Newscast: December 21, 2007

The state Public Service Board has rejected Fairpoint Communication’s request to buy Verizon’s land line phone service in Vermont; State treasurer Jeb Spaulding is raising questions about plans to lease the state lottery; Senator Patrick Leahy says he will fight a Bush administration plan requiring Americans to carry birth certificates to cross into Canada next month; In New Hampshire, Governor John Lynch says it was unconscionable for a Claremont company to lay off 120 workers just before Christmas.