Top stories developing across the region at the noon hour:
A 30 percent increase in lottery ticket sales is also may also be responsible for a significant increase in cigarette sales; Capitol Hill reporter Melinda Wittstock recaps with week in Washington, including Senator Jim Jeffords’ letter of complaint about the Bush administration’s environmental policies; the Water Resources Board will consider a request to designate approximately 60 waterways in the Green Mountain National Forest as “outstanding resource waters”; the town of Hyde Park has been awarded $126,000 in federal funds to buy a new fire truck.
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