Top stories developing across the region at the noon hour:
Vermont’s Administration Secretary Charles Smith is to issue a plan by week’s end to accelerate the closing of the Vermont State Hospital; almost 200 UVM students are still being housed in a hotel while their Redstone Apartments complex is examined and tested for safety; Killington leaders visit New Hampshire to discuss their secession effort; a federal agency has approved a transfer of licenses for hydroelectric dams to energy giant TransCanada; a year ago, Howard Dean’s presidential campaign was coming apart in Iowa but this week, he’s moving strongly toward the chairmanship of the Democratic Party; the Vermont Supreme Court is to rule on whether enough water is flowing through the Clyde River near Newport to support a spawning salmon population.
(To hear the Midday Report, click on the “Listen” icon.)