Top stories developing across the region at the noon hour:
Howard Dean says he is running for chair of the Democratic National Committee; Congressman Bernie Sanders announces funding for VA clinic programs; the Springfield Select Board is hoping to lure families to the community by offering a tax exemption on new homes; the House Appropriations Committee chair says the Medicaid deficit is the biggest challenge her committee faces; the woman who lost her husband and three children in an icy car crash in Hardwick on New Year’s Eve is back in Florida and improving.
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