The news media in northern New England came out ahead in two juvenile identity cases, one of which became moot when a judge disavowed an order attributed to him barring use of photos of three teen-agers charged with plotting to kill school authorities.

In this issue Media win in two ID cases Stocks now have two 'last' prices Contributions to PhotoStream top 1,000 for the year Technical Update Return to report index

The Richford, Vt., High School students appeared in court Nov. 23 to answer misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges. Shortly before the appearance, a deputy circulated an order ostensiblysigned by Judge Howard Van Benthuysen that prohibited the media from publishing or broadcasting images of the students, ages 16-17.

The Associated Press, the Burlington Free Press, St. Albans Messenger and television stations WCAX and WPTZ sought a reversal from another judge the next day. While that was pending, Van Benthuysen returned from a brief vacation and said he never issued the or authorized the order, which apparently had been issued and signed with his name by a court clerk.

"Of course we are delighted that this clearly unconstitutional order was all a big mistake," said Burlington Free Press Managing Editor Candace Page. "We are mystified how this could happen that a clerk could issue an order without the oversight of a judge."

And, in New Hampshire, a judge said the First Amendment trumps a state law requiring confidentiality in juvenile court cases and refused to block the use of a youthful offender's name by The Keene Sentinel.

The newspaper challenged the law by printing the name of the 16-year-old, who faces a charge of first-degree assault for allegedly stabbing a Keene man who confronted a group of young people who were destroying Halloween decorations.

The boy's attorney, John A. Bell of Keene, asked Cheshire County Superior Court to issue a restraining order against the newspaper. But Judge Philip P. Mangones said Bell's argument could not overcome the First Amendment's strong barriers against an advance banning of publication, known as prior restraint.

Mangones said the state Supreme Court has recognized the press has a constitutional right to gather news, and "prior restraints are inherently suspect because they threaten the fundamental right to free speech."

The victim of the attack was stabbed once in the arm and five times in the back. The teen-ager is at the Youth Detention Secure Unit in Concord awaiting trial, and authorities have asked that he face the charge as an adult. He could get up to 15 years in jail and a $4,000 fine if convicted as an adult and lesser penalties as a juvenile

Maybe you've noticed not everyone seems to agree anymore on the day's closing stock prices of the day. Welcome to the world of after-hours trading.

The days of all the numbers lining up in the newspaper, on television and on Web sites may be gone forever. After-hours trading has changed the meaning of the "last" price of the day.

On Nov. 29, The Associated Press, which provides financial data to more than 900 newspapers, changed the way it calculates the last price of the day.

Some questions and answers about the changes:

Q: What has changed?

A: The AP is offering newspapers two "last" prices at the end of the day.

Most newspapers - over 95 percent - will be publishing the "benchmark" last price which will be the last trade made at the end of regular trading. For stocks listed on the New York and American exchanges, this price will be calculated at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. For Nasdaq, the price is taken at 4 p.m.

The benchmark price is designed to give investors the best idea of what a stock's price is after the bulk of trading was completed for the day. Other financial number-crunchers, including the mutual fund industry and companies that provide stock indexes like the Dow Jones industrial average, generally use benchmark prices for their calculations.

In addition to the benchmark price, the AP is providing an after-hours last price, calculated at 6:30 p.m. that includes trading done after most money trading done after most money managers have gone home. Newspapers may offer this data in their main stock tables or highlight the most active after-hours stocks in a separate table.

Q: Why doesn't everyone agree on the last price of the day?

A: Different providers of financial data - the AP, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, financial cable-channels like CNBC and numerous Web sites - have made changes based on what they think makes the most sense in the new world of after-hours trading.

Although these changes started when the Nasdaq stock market and the group that provides prices for NYSE and Amex decided to report after-hours prices, neither group was responsible for providing details on how to report the information to the public.

Before these changes, just about everyone took the last price at the same time and in the same manner, assuring that the final price of the day was the same no matter where you looked. That's no longer true.

Q: Who cares what the last price is?

A: Aside from investors who want to know what happened to the stocks they own or are thinking of buying, the last price can be important for everyone from divorce lawyers who are calculating the value of a settlement to brand-new companies that want to know how much their freshly offered stock is worth.

Q: Will the prices listed in stories match the prices in the stock tables?

A: Not always. Those stock tables that display prices taken at the end of regular trading won't include late corrections or additional trading done after hours. Stories may include this information.

You should be looking for phrases such as "in after-hours trading" or "at the close of regular trading" to help describe a price in a story.

Q: Will there ever again be a uniform "last" price?

A: There's no question that, as trading hours expand, the `last" price of the day will be a moving target. However, there has been some agreement in the financial services industry about adopting an "official" closing price of the day, most likely around 4 p.m. Other countries have similar official closing prices despite continued trading.

When the NYSE and Nasdaq begin extending their own trading days next year, it's more likely that a standard will emerge and a procedure will be put in place to allow everyone to capture the same "official" price.

Good months and very good months

The 1999 drive to expand member contributions to the northern New England photo report has yielded good months and very good months,

The numbers in the chart below speak for themselves. Some months saw a near quintupling of the photos members made available to members.

There were 1,075 photos offered to the network in the past 11 months, so members have multiplied the value of a key resource simply by making better use of what already was there.

Also on these pages are recent Photos of the Month, which are chosen to recognize contributors. The winning shooter receives $50, and the top photo and two honorable mentions are displayed in a billboard format on PhotoStream.

Jill Arabas, formerly of the AP staff in Montpelier, is a membership executive in AP's New York headquarters with a special focus on technology. You can send your comments to her at arabas@ap.org