Top stories developing across the region at the noon hour:
Dick Heaps of Northern Economic Consulting told the Vermont Economic Outlook Conference this morning that the state’s economy should be healthy and vigorous this year, with growth in jobs; Brattleboro is looking for additional sources of tax revenue; Melinda Wittstock of the Capitol Bureau in Washington says Senator Patrick Leahy opposes the immigration initiative announced this week by President Bush, and that Senator Jim Jeffords and Congressman Bernie Sanders have yet to speak on it; a legislative committee is meeting today to review drafts of a plan to contain the costs of public education in Vermont; on the presidential campaign trail, Vermont’s Howard Dean is spending all day in New Hampshire, where General Wesley Clark is gaining strength among potential Democratic primary voters.
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