Here are the top stories at the noon hour.
The state says newly tested grade-schoolers are scoring a little better this year, except in writing; Could the New Hampshire Primary be an endangered institution? State Auditor Tom Salmon is defending his choice to appoint a man who sells financial management software to lead a committee that will advise local governments on how to improve their financial accounting; the Townshend road foreman wants to use criminal offenders to provide labor for road repairs.