Here are the top stories at the noon hour.
Vermont expresses unhappiness with the level of communication coming from the federal Homeland Security Department; the concept of igniting civic pride through the creative economy is to be celebrated at a Statehouse conference; Federal officials are inspecting areas of central Vermont today that were hit by flash flooding a week ago; American Skiing Company, which once owned resorts from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont all the way to Colorado is selling its last ski area and going out of business.