Archive for September, 2025

Drought-stricken Vermont now under a burn ban
Starting at noon today, Monday, Sept. 22, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation has issued an order for all Town Forest Fire Wardens to cease issuing burning permits. The order will remain in effect until it is revoked. The order may be revoked on a statewide basis or on a county-by-county basis, depending […]

Grace Cottage to host two flu vaccine clinics Non-perishable food to be collected for Townshend Shelf
Grace Cottage Family Health, 185 Grafton Road in Townshend, will host flu vaccine clinics from 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 8. Pre-registration is recommended (call 802-365-4331); walk-ins will be accommodated as space permits. You are not required to be a patient at Grace Cottage. At the same time, Grace […]

Springfield Area Parent Child Center launches online auction to support children’s mental health
Springfield Area Parent Child Center announces the launch of its Online Auction Fundraiser, which runs through Wednesday, Oct. 1. Community members and supporters are invited to browse, bid and win items in support of SAPCC’s mission of building bridges of support for young children, families and caregivers throughout 18 towns in southeastern Vermont. The online […]

Invasives Part 1: Eliminating invasive plants is a good start to reclaiming biodiversity in Vermont
By Will Danforth ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Do you care about the natural world in Vermont? Then let’s tackle foreign invasive plants. Invasive, non-native plants are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity — the vtinvasives.org site says, “Monitoring for and treating invasive terrestrial plants is one of the most important things you can do […]

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 […]

College News
The following students have been named to the Champlain College Online Dean’s List for achieving a grade point average of 3.5 or higher in the summer 2025 semester. Taylor Bowers of Springfield and Willem Bargfrede of Chester. The following students have been named to the summer 2025 President’s List at Southern New Hampshire University in […]

Free Health & Wellness Fair, BBQ lunch in Derry Sept. 19
Neighborhood Connections is sponsoring a Health & Wellness Fair from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19 at its offices in the Mountain Marketplace, 5700 VT Route 100 in Londonderry. More than 25 exhibitors will be on hand to showcase the benefits and services that are offered in the community. A free BBQ […]

Chester quilter Linda Diak awarded grant from Vermont Arts Council
The Vermont Arts Council recently announced the 26 recipients of its most competitive grant program, the Creation Grant, which awards Vermont artists up to $5,000 to be used for developing new work. Linda Diak, an award-winning quilter from Chester, was selected to receive a fiscal year 2026 Creation Grant to support the creation of art […]

Whiting Library’s Annual Book Sale Sept. 20 & 21 Coincides with Chester Festival on the Green
Whiting Library’s Annual Book Sale will take place on the library lawn, 117 Main St. in Chester, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21. It will occur in collaboration with the Chester Festival on the Green. The Book Sale comprises donated […]

New medical transportation service comes to Springfield and surrounds
TransCare VT is now serving Springfield and the surrounding communities with safe, reliable and compassionate non-emergency medical transportation. Founded by longtime firefighter and emergency services professional Bill Toner, the company is built on decades of dedication to public service and nearly 10 years of experience in non-emergency medical transportation. Toner’s career began in 1989 as […]

To the editor: Let Vermont politics remain civil
The recent murder of Charlie Kirk is a stark and tragic reminder of just how fragile our democracy and our civil society can be when disagreements cross the line into violence. Let me be clear: I fundamentally reject much of the rhetoric Kirk stood for. His words often carried racism, homophobia, and misogyny views that […]

Chester Select Board agenda for Sept. 17
The Chester Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at Town Hall, 556 Elm St., and via Zoom. To join the meeting go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81988842129 Below is its agenda 1. Approval of minutes from the Select Board meeting dated Sept. 3, 2025 and Special Select Board meeting dated […]

Chester GOP holds reorganization caucus Sept. 16 Other town GOP caucuses also set for late September
Registered voters of Chester are welcome to join the Chester Republican Committee in holding its Republican Town Re-Organization Caucus and Meeting, at 6 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 16 at the Fullerton Inn Meeting Room, 40 The Common, in Chester. The committee is electing seven officers/delegates and seven alternates to represent Chester, the largest Republican town committee […]

Ernest ‘Ernie’ Foster, 84, of Weston
Ernest “Ernie” Foster, 84, passed away at his Weston home on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, leaving behind a lifetime of hard work, devotion and love for his family. Born on Nov. 25, 1940, to Hugh and Rachel (Gardner) Foster, Ernie grew up in Weston on the family farm, where he learned the value of hard […]

Andover Dems to hold reorganizing caucus
The Andover Democratic Committee is holding a reorganization caucus at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the Andover Town Hall, 953 Weston-Andover Road. In Vermont, political parties must reorganize in September of every odd-numbered year. Parties organize by electing members at town caucuses, then sending representatives to county committees. County committees then send representatives […]

Chester board talks optional sales tax, Class 4 roads and 40-year-old money
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday’s Select Board meeting agenda was heavy with discussion and pretty light on action items. And for long-time Chester board watchers it was like old times with multiple comments from former members Derek Suursoo and Bill Lindsay. Three agenda items came in for substantial discussion: a 1 […]

Chester Townscape taking orders for spring bulbs Annual sale to also take place at Chester Festival on the Green
Chester Townscape volunteers will be selling spring-flowering daffodil, tulip and allium bulbs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21 at Chester’s Festival on The Green. Look for CT’s tall wooden trailer at the west end of the Green. All bulbs are […]

Ludlow Rotary seeks entries for 34th Annual Chili Cook-off
The Ludlow Area 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. Chilis are welcome from individuals, clubs and businesses. Entrants are asked to provide five gallons of chili, and LRC can help with servers if needed. Participants […]

To the editor: Secretary of State lying about election security
In a recent radio interview, our Secretary of State, Sara Copland Hanzas, painted a dishonestly rosy picture of Vermont’s current elections system. She responded to the host’s question about potential “ballot stuffing” by saying, “We have very detailed election procedures that our town and city clerks follow to a T, which means that whether they’re […]

Op-Ed: Two events, two parties, intersecting viewpoints
By Nicholas Boke What a contrast. A couple of hundred southern Vermont Democrats gathered — for the fourth time since Donald Trump was elected — on the Chester Green on Labor Day for Workers over Billionaires, a honk-and-wave that included speeches by several state senators and a couple of Vermont labor union spokespeople. The following […]