Midday Newscast: December 12, 2007

Vermont’s senior federal judge is taking a lead role in reforming the way sentences are crafted for crack cocaine offenders; Senator Patrick Leahy says the Senate has revived the national farm bill and he’s confident policies important to Vermont will remain in it; a Vermont fuel dealer was in Washington today testifying about how fuel prices are manipulated by national companies; officials say there have been three days of negotiations in Maine this week designed to salvage Verizon’s sale of its land-line phone system to FairPoint Communications.