Top stories developing around the region at the noon hour:
Lowe’s Home Centers and the Conservation Law Foundation have settled their long-running dispute over storm-water runoff; the Union of Concerned Scientists has just completed a nationwide survey of school bus pollution and the steps being taken to minimize it; a new tax appraisal for the Bellows Falls dam has angered the hydroelectric station’s new owners; the CEO of Green Mountain Power says utility prices are likely to rise as long as the fast growing Chinese and Indian economies continue to put demand pressure on oil and natural gas; officials in Claremont are trying to attract businesses to the New Hampshire city’s new industrial park with an unusual contest.