Featured Articles

Tempest in a coffee cup? Area micro-roasters face harsh brew of tariffs, other price increases

By Lorien Strange ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC You may have noticed that your bag of fresh roasted coffee has been taking a bigger chunk out of your wallet lately. Or you may just be wondering just when those tariff-induced price hikes are going to kick in. The good news is that four local coffee micro-roasters […]

Chester solons get Class 4 earful

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the Chester Select Board wordsmithed a final version of its policy on the maintenance and use of Class 4 highways at its Oct. 1 meeting, two landowners addressed objections – not to the policy in general – but to how it impacts their properties specifically. Board […]

Act 181 is coming: How will it affect your property?

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In 2024, the Vermont Legislature passed Act 181 that makes a number of changes to the state’s laws on land use with special attention to encouraging new housing in downtowns. But there may also be changes to the way rural land is treated and landowners should pay […]

Is Chester’s long-delayed sidewalk project in the Depot finally a go?

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Children in second grade at Chester-Andover Elementary today had not been born when the Town received an $800,000 grant to build a sidewalk from Bargefrede Road at the lower portion of Depot Street to Town Hall. But after an eight-year delay that doubled the project’s cost, the […]

Chester board talks Class 4 roads, economic development and flags

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a relatively short meeting last Wednesday, the Chester Select Board covered a lot of territory including looking at forming an economic development commission and further refining the language of a policy on the maintenance and use of Class 4 roads. Economic Development Commission Town Manager Julie […]

Chester planners consider bylaw change to allow LED sign for GM, but zoning glitch may preclude it

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing On Monday evening, Chester’s Planning Commission got down to work on an issue that’s been on its radar for a while. That being “electric message display” signs or EMDs. The idea of such a sign for Green Mountain Union High School has been raised at past planning meetings […]

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  • Henry Homeyer: Bulb-planting and garden cleanup for winter

    Henry Homeyer: Bulb-planting and garden cleanup for winter

    By Henry Homeyer ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a hot, dry summer – with a drought in most parts of New England – we had a very early frost this year, Sept. 20. Not enough to kill our late potato vines, but enough to kill squash and dahlias. I was caught off guard. I am […]

  • CAFC's 7th Annual Empty Bowl fund-raising dinner set for Nov. 8

    CAFC’s 7th Annual Empty Bowl fund-raising dinner set for Nov. 8

    The Chester-Andover Family Center announces the return of its 7th Annual Empty Bowl Dinner, a cherished community tradition and vital fundraiser supporting local families. The event will be held from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the American Legion Post 67, 51 Legion Way off VT Route 103 South in Chester. Guests […]

  • Black River Action Team makes another 'Clean Sweep'

    Black River Action Team makes another ‘Clean Sweep’

    For a quarter of a century, volunteers from the Black River Action Team have been pulling trash of all sorts from the bed and banks of the river in and around Springfield. The recent 26th Annual RiverSweep did not disappoint. Twenty-five volunteers joined forces early in the morning on Saturday, Sept. 6 and tackled a […]

  • West River Farmers Market closes out the season this Saturday

    West River Farmers Market closes out the season this Saturday

    ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC This Saturday, Oct. 11, is the final day of the West River Farmers Market in Londonderry for the 2025 season. Don’t miss a beautiful fall foliage weekend and the last chance to purchase holiday gifts from some of your favorite craftspeople while picking up farm grown veggies, meats and flowers, grabbing […]

  • Ludlow Rotary Chili Cook-Off returns Oct. 11

    Ludlow Rotary Chili Cook-Off returns Oct. 11

    The Ludlow Rotary Club is sponsoring its 34th Annual Chili Cook-Off from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11 at the traffic light on Depot Street in Ludlow. Proceeds will benefit the Ludlow Rotary Charitable Fund to enable the LRC to continue its programs of local support. More than 20 entrants will be […]

  • Speak Out for National Coming Out Day at Springfield Town Library Oct. 11

    Speak Out for National Coming Out Day at Springfield Town Library Oct. 11

    VINE Sanctuary, in collaboration with Springfield Town Library and the LGBT National Help Center, invites the public to a Speak Out for National Coming Out Day from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Springfield Town Library, 43 Main St. A Speak Out is a community forum where LGBTQ+ people and their […]

  • To honor U.S. history, CHS to host tea workshop

    To honor U.S. history, CHS to host tea workshop

    To honor the 250th anniversaries of the Revolutionary War and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Cavendish Historical Society has been examining colonial life with a focus on a “Taste of History.” Until the Tea Act of 1773 and the Boston Tea Party, tea was the beverage of choice among colonists. (Thereafter the […]

  • Noted folk singer Reggie Harris to perform at Upstairs at Town Hall on Oct. 11

    Noted folk singer Reggie Harris to perform at Upstairs at Town Hall on Oct. 11

    Reggie Harris performs ‘High Over the Hudson.’ On Saturday Oct. 11 at 7 PM, Upstairs at Town Hall will present a performance by iconic folk singer, historian, educator and civil rights activist Reggie Harris. As a descendant of an enslaved Black woman and a Confederate general, Reggie Harris has embraced his unique heritage to create […]

  • 'Button Up' urges Vermonters to weatherize using state rebates and expiring tax credits 

    ‘Button Up’ urges Vermonters to weatherize using state rebates and expiring tax credits 

    As temperatures drop across the northeast, partners in the statewide  Button Up Vermont campaign are urging homeowners and renters to prepare their homes for colder temperatures using Vermont weatherization and heat pump rebates—and use soon-to-expire federal tax credits for projects completed this year. Weatherization rebates from Efficiency Vermont, Vermont Gas Systems and other partners aren’t […]

  • N.H. man sentenced to more than 6 years in prison for southern Vermont robbery spree

    N.H. man sentenced to more than 6 years in prison for southern Vermont robbery spree

    Christopher Boisvert of Swanzey, N.H., was sentenced on Tuesday, Sept. 30 by Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss to 74 months in prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release after pleading guilty in June to one count of robbing the TD Bank in Bellows Falls. He also stipulated to a second […]

  • Create Together receives $12K grant for free monthly community programs

    Create Together receives $12K grant for free monthly community programs

    Create Together at Fletcher Farm recently received a $12,000 grant from the Vermont Community Foundation to launch “Creating in Community,” a series of free monthly programs designed to bring neighbors together through collaborative art projects. The first program will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19 at its campus located at […]

  • Celebrate nature, art and language at Whiting Library Oct. 4 with local author Jonathan Otto

    Celebrate nature, art and language at Whiting Library Oct. 4 with local author Jonathan Otto

    The Whiting Library, 117 Main St. in Chester, will welcome local author and illustrator Jonathan Otto for a free family event at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4. It is best-suited for children ages 6 years and older and their caregivers. A former Chester resident, Otto will read from his illustrated children’s book Child of […]

  • Springfield Community Band seeks musicians for Holiday Concert

    Springfield Community Band seeks musicians for Holiday Concert

    The Springfield Community Band is looking for new players for its Annual Holiday Concert that is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 19. All players are welcome. Rehearsals are held from 6 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday, beginning Oct. 7, at Riverside Middle School, 13 Fairground Road in Springfield. If you are interested in joining, send an […]

  • Invasives Part 2: Non-chemical and chemical ways to eliminate non-native invasive plants

    Invasives Part 2: Non-chemical and chemical ways to eliminate non-native invasive plants

    By Will Danforth ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC There are ways to eliminate non-native invasive plants from your landscape. The method you choose should be right for the plant, for your particular environment and for you. Non-chemical approaches With over 100,000 man-made chemicals in the environment, most with untested and unintended consequences, it’s best to avoid […]

  • Chester Select Board agenda for Oct. 1

    Chester Select Board agenda for Oct. 1

    The Chester Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday Oct. 1 at Town Hall, 556 Elm St. To join the meeting click here. Below is the board’s agenda: 1. Approval of Minutes from the Select board Meeting dated September 17, 2025 2. Citizen’s Comments 3. Old Business 4. Coin Drop […]

  • Op-ed: Laughing at the Scopes Monkey Trial

    Op-ed: Laughing at the Scopes Monkey Trial

    By Madeline Bodin ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In 1925, 100 years ago this year, John Thomas Scopes lost his trial in Dayton, Tenn., a case that tested a new state law that made it illegal to teach evolution in public schools. Scopes lost the legal case, but the hearts and minds of most of the […]

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