Unlike in other states, the foreclosure crisis left Vermont relatively unscathed. But Burlington International Airport's effort to buy properties and relocate residents from neighborhoods awash in noise from airplanes has created a scene that resembles that crisis.

Airports in Rutland and West Lebanon, New Hampshire, both benefit from a federal subsidy program that's been the subject of a bitter dispute in Washington over the past two weeks. The quarrel has been temporarily resolved. And the airline that serves both communities says their service is strong and growing.