Top stories developing across the region at the noon hour:
Residents in 23 towns in northwestern Vermont will vote next month on a proposed $44 million regional technical academy; Vermont’s largest health insurance company opposes a Republican plan that would tax premiums to provide coverage to the uninsured; an escaped Vermont inmate has been recaptured; in New Hampshire, the president has a slight lead over Democratic challenger John Kerry according to a poll released Monday; Vermont Democrats have raised almost $130,000 more than Republicans since 2002; Governor Jim Douglas has hired his seven campaign staff workers, converting them from independent contractors; candidates for statewide races on are the campaign trail and Elizabeth Ready and Randy Brock are preparing for the auditor’s debate tonight on VPR.
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