Top stories developing across the region at the noon hour:
Hundreds of Vermonters who provide mental health services through public and private agencies are convening on the Statehouse grounds at this hour to express their concerns over the mental health section of Governor Jim Douglas’s new budget; a new law that went into effect January 1 requires children up to the age of eight to be in a booster seat when traveling by car; New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson is on a jury in a criminal case dealing with a charge of assault; officials in the town of Ludlow want to apply for a $30,000 planning grant to study whether it’s feasible to build affordable housing for the town.
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