Here are the top stories at the noon hour.
Howard Dean says the Democrats are poised for a significant victory in next week’s elections; South Royalton remembers State Representative Rosemary McLaughlin, who died yesterday of cancer. It’s to be an afternoon of competing political news conferences, as candidates and their backers try to get as much attention as possible between now and next Tuesday, Election Day; The Catamount Elementary School in Bennington will close as soon as space for the students can be found in other town elementary schools.District officials say Catamount Elementary, a former Catholic high school, does not meet modern school building codes.