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Attorney General Clark brings warning about recovery scams to southern Vermont

Attorney General Clark brings warning about recovery scams to southern Vermont

By Cara Philbin ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark hit the road last week to hear from southern Vermont residents impacted by the July floods. Together with Vermont Senate Majority leader Alison Clarkson who represents Windsor County, Stephen Clark of the Small Business Association and Emily McDonnell, a small business advocate in […]

Chester residents call for more short-term rental regulations

Chester residents call for more short-term rental regulations

By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday, several Chester residents attended the Select Board meeting to tell members that they want more regulation of short-term rentals before it’s too late and that neighborhoods like the Stone Village are full of “empty houses for tourists.” The topic was on the board’s agenda because […]

Chester to bypass vendor, roll out first phase of STR registration applications

Chester to bypass vendor, roll out first phase of STR registration applications No implementation dates from swamped Granicus

By Shawn Cunningham ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Friday’s “kick off” meeting with Granicus, the company that Chester hired to establish and manage its short-term rental registry, has spurred the town to seek an old-school route while waiting for the more hi-tech segments to be created. “Alex bravely answered our questions and stayed chipper,” Zoning […]

Path of Least Resistance: Flood survivors struggle between the government maze or going it alone

Path of Least Resistance: Flood survivors struggle between the government maze or going it alone Business owners face a different road to recovery

By Cara Philbin ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The federal government unveiled its new Disaster Recovery Center in Springfield last Friday under yet another deluge of rain and crackling thunderstorms, a seemingly new normal for this part of New England. Visitors to this new center, at 100 River St. in the Springfield Health Center, one of […]

What to know about emergency business gap funding

What to know about emergency business gap funding

The Vermont Department of Economic Development has announced additional details and guidelines for the Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program. This $20 million grant program is intended to help businesses and nonprofits restore, reopen, and bring their employees back to work after suffering physical damages to their property beginning on July 7, 2023, when severe storms […]

CAES sustained minor damage during floods

CAES sustained minor damage during floods Other TRSU schools in good shape; all to open on time

By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The area rumor mill was working overtime as people have added their own interpretations to a story about flood damage in Vermont schools that ran in VT Digger a week after the July 10 floods. With the Digger article attributing “major damage” to the school, one such […]

Work on Chester's delayed short-term rental registry to move forward

Work on Chester’s delayed short-term rental registry to move forward

By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Implementing a short-term rental registry has been a more daunting task than Chester’s town government had expected. More than five months after signing a contract to provide Chester a short-term rental registration program that was planned to launch by April, Granicus told the town on July 13 […]

Weston Theater cancels last two shows; <br> 'Singin' in the Rain' moving to Walker Farm

Weston Theater cancels last two shows;
‘Singin’ in the Rain’ moving to Walker Farm
Financial losses multiply as damage to Playhouse, other buildings mount

By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The damage to the Weston Playhouse from the July 10 flooding was so severe that the Weston Theater Company is canceling its last two shows and moving Singin’ in the Rain from the Playhouse to Walker Farm as the final show of the season. This will allow the […]

Where to donate funds, goods to help families, businesses and organizations

Where to donate funds, goods to help families, businesses and organizations

By Cynthia Prairie and Cara Philbin @2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Small businesses, organizations and individuals have all suffered from the floods of July 10, 2023. Below is a list of fundraising efforts in our communities. We are concentrating on highly local efforts. If you know of other such efforts, please e-mail them in the format […]

Cleanup begins after massive rains wallop region

Cleanup begins after massive rains wallop region Reports from Londonderry, Weston, Chester and Andover

By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The comparisons to Tropical Storm Irene of August 2011 began rolling in over the weekend as the National Weather Service rolled out its rain estimates. By Monday night, at the end of the storm that dropped as much as 9 inches of rain in […]

Weather Service says more storms on the way

Weather Service says more storms on the way

©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The National Weather Service has issued another hazardous weather warning for southern Vermont, this one until 8 a.m. Friday. With ground already saturated from early July rains and Monday’s deluge, more flooding could be expected. The NWS  says “strong to severe thunderstorms are expected … late afternoon through late evening across […]

Ludlow, Cavendish continue cleanups, rescues after historic floods

Ludlow, Cavendish continue cleanups, rescues after historic floods

By Cara Philbin ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Emergency service providers and private citizens in Ludlow and Cavendish continue to work around the clock to clear roads so that displaced residents may eventually return to their homes. Green Mountain Railroad freight service had to be suspended because railroad tracks in both Cavendish and Ludlow collapsed, according […]

THE IMPACT: Homes, businesses flooded, roads washed out

THE IMPACT: Homes, businesses flooded, roads washed out

 Gene Palma of Weston shot this video of the Weston Green. The West River once again jumped its banks in a torrent, flooding the historic Playhouse, apparently higher than it was during Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. Homes and their residents along the river and the Town Office Building are also being impacted. […]

As flood waters rise, crews rescue campers, residents in Andover, Cavendish, Derry, Ludlow

As flood waters rise, crews rescue campers, residents in Andover, Cavendish, Derry, Ludlow Drivers urged to stay off roads; Authorities expect flood waters to rise after lull

 Ali Ulrich of Weston shot this video from her home this morning. It shows the Weston Fire Department, the convenience store and several homes and cars underwater. Weston Emergency Management is urging residents to stay off the roads. This area of Southern Vermont — from Londonderry north to Ludlow and Woodstock — are especially […]

GM board hears of PCB contamination, splits on Reilly replacement

GM board hears of PCB contamination, splits on Reilly replacement

By Cara Philbin © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weighing in at three hours, the June 15 meeting of the Green Mountain Unified School District’s board was long, but as recent meetings go it was one of the calmest and most cooperative, even when the board could not agree on a candidate to appoint as a […]

PCBs at Green Mountain High School - What you need to know

PCBs at Green Mountain High School – What you need to know

By Shawn Cunningham © 2023  Telegraph Publishing LLC After high levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls — PCBs — found in the Burlington High School led to moving that school’s students to an empty department store while a new school is being built, the Vermont legislature mandated testing every publicly funded school built before 1980. Through that […]

Green Mountain graduates 47 in the Class of 2023

Green Mountain graduates 47 in the Class of 2023 Commencement moved indoors due to threatening weather

  By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Green Mountain High School’s five year run of perfect weather for its outdoor graduations came to an end last Friday as commencement ceremonies were moved to the gym for the 47 seniors, their families and friends. At his final graduation as principal, Keith Hill welcomed everyone […]

Community spirit alive in Cavendish businesses

Community spirit alive in Cavendish businesses

By Cara Philbin ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ask nearly any business in Cavendish why they’re in this small town in the shadow of a major ski resort, and you’ll get a slightly different version of the same answer: community. “We take pride in everything we put out, we treat everybody like family,” says Laura Jennings-Ryll, […]

Chester to expand ambulance service with new full-time hire

Chester to expand ambulance service with new full-time hire

By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Ambulance Service could become a more extensive operation, providing community health services as part of that expansion if Town Manager Julie Hance’s vision comes to fruition. The first step came last Wednesday night when the Chester Select Board approved hiring a second full-time ambulance employee. […]

Cannabis grower addresses Andover concerns

Cannabis grower addresses Andover concerns

By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Dustin Sherman believes he did not get much of a chance to address the concerns of the Andover community at Tuesday night’s hearing conducted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment at Andover Town Hall. With about 70 people in person and on Zoom, the meeting was more like […]