Featured Articles

Pause to revise Act 181 likely

By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC At last week’s Chester Planning Commission meeting focused on Act 181, Land Use Review Board member Alex Weinhagen said his group would like more time to work on getting new rules — which make major changes to Act 250 — right. Then, in an interview with The […]

Chester Select Board OKs funds to assess three properties for housing; July 4th event on Green

By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board meeting again had an agenda filled with non-controversial, routine tasks for the board with documents to sign, appointments to make and approvals to grant. The board looked at a request from the town’s Housing Commission for $11,300 from the housing reserve fund […]

Judge in 4 year-old murder case aims to pick up pace

Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than six years after truck driver Roberto Fonseca-Rivera was shot and killed on Rt. 103 in Rockingham and more than four years after Jozsef Piri was charged with 2nd degree murder in the crime, the justice system continues to grind slowly toward a trial, which lawyers on […]

Signs of the times: Chester Green hosts third No Kings rally

Elvis did not leave the Green during the two-hour protest. All photos by Shawn Cunningham unless otherwise noted. By Cynthia Prairie ©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC While some of the signs carried angry messages, most of those carrying them did not. Instead, they offered up smiles and humor as they spoke of serious subjects that drew […]

Chester board names paper of record despite chair’s complaints about Telegraph

By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board agenda for March 18 promised a low-key meeting with mostly routine appointments, liquor license and entertainment permit approvals and review and adoption of some policies. The most contentious item – given recent dustups over school board appointments – seemed to be whether to […]

GMUSD board re-organizes with several new members

By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC The effects of the recent Town Meeting Day elections and filling of its two vacancies are looking like a sea change in the operation of the Green Mountain Unified School District board if last Thursday’s meeting is any indication. The new directors —  Michael Ripley of Cavendish replacing […]

  • Other Recent Articles

  • Get ready for Green Up Day with a free 'Culvert Crawlers' workshop April 22 in Proctorsville

    Get ready for Green Up Day with a free ‘Culvert Crawlers’ workshop April 22 in Proctorsville

    Culverts are designed to convey stormwater runoff but can easily become clogged with fallen leaves, vegetation and debris, which can lead to flooding. On Green Up Day. Saturday, May 2, residents are encouraged to take the time to check culverts, ditches and drains — while out picking up trash — to make sure that they […]

  • Drumstick primula is an early spring bloomer.

    Henry Homeyer: Spring brings two columns each month and new ideas for your garden

    By Henry Homeyer ©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC This was supposed to be my very last gardening column, but (spoiler alert) it is not. I started writing a gardening column in 1998 and wrote weekly for 25 years. Then, in late 2023, I dropped down to once a month. I liked the extra time and freedom […]

  • Green Up Day returns Saturday, May 2

    Green Up Day returns Saturday, May 2

    Green Up Day has been held each spring since 1970. The event is still going strong 56 years later, with tens of thousands of volunteers collecting hundreds of tons of trash annually from roadsides and waterways. This year, Green Up Day is Saturday, May 2. Cavendish volunteers can sign up now and claim roads in […]

  • More than 20 Vermont organizations host Changemakers Summit on April 11

    More than 20 Vermont organizations host Changemakers Summit on April 11

    A broad coalition of Vermont nonprofit organizations representing public health, food security, social justice, environmental and other interests is hosting the 2026 Vermont Changemakers Summit from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 11. The free, all-day event will take place at Harwood Union Middle & High School, 458 Vermont Rte 100 in Moretown. […]

  • Part 1: Disability Rights: From institution toward independence

    Part 1: Disability Rights: From institution toward independence

    By Anne Henshaw ©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC For much of American history, people with disabilities were seen as “others;” as problems to be managed. Disabled people were denied access to public schools, barred from employment, denied voting rights, subjected to eugenics laws, sterilized without consent and segregated banished from public life. They were not only […]

  • Free 'Stop the Bleed' training in Springfield

    Free ‘Stop the Bleed’ training in Springfield

    Accidents can happen anywhere – at home, in the yard, on the road or just out running errands. Bleeding is the leading cause of preventable death after injury. Come learn the simple skills needed to potentially save a life. Stop the Bleed, a free training event, will take place at the Black River Innovation Campus, […]

  • Chester Townscape offers hanging baskets

    Chester Townscape offers hanging baskets

    Chester Townscape is once again taking orders for beautiful hanging flower baskets. They are available in a choice of hot or cool colors that are especially selected for reliability and beauty and the ability to thrive in sunny or shady locations. Click here to download the order form. The baskets make a perfect Mother’s Day […]

  • To the editor: Chase promises grit, clear-eyed vision as she seeks Windsor Senate seat

    To the editor: Chase promises grit, clear-eyed vision as she seeks Windsor Senate seat

    In case you haven’t already heard, I am officially running for the Vermont Senate to represent Windsor County. I launched my campaign on the Chester Green in mid-March, surrounded by supporters and loved ones. I’ve spent my life serving others: as a nurse, a successful business owner, a member of the Chester Select Board and […]

  • CAFC receives $3,000 grant from Vail-Okemo

    CAFC receives $3,000 grant from Vail-Okemo

    Chester-Andover Family Center was recently awarded a $3,000 EpicPromise cash grant from Vail-Okemo. Funds will be used to support the CAFC Food Shelf Recipe Kit Initiative. Volunteers work with the Food Shelf manager to determine what produce and shelf-stable foods will be in abundance each month and develop and test main dish recipes using the […]

  • 24 Hours of Stratton breaks record to support Community Foundation

    24 Hours of Stratton breaks record to support Community Foundation

    The 24 Hours of Stratton brings together people from across the region for an unforgettable weekend of endurance, camaraderie and philanthropy. Participants skied through the night under the lights, all in support of programs addressing hunger, basic needs, health and education for children in southern Vermont. Team Ravenwood took top fundraising honors (raising more than […]

  • Make paper flowers April 11 in Proctorsville

    Make paper flowers April 11 in Proctorsville

    Continuing its 250th Anniversary Celebration of the Declaration of Independence, Cavendish Historical Society, together with the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library, is sponsoring a free paper flower making workshop at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 11 at the library, 573 Main St. in Proctorsville. Faux flowers, made from paper, silk and wire, were favorites of the […]

  • Chester Select Board agenda for April 1

    Chester Select Board agenda for April 1

    The Chester Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday April 1 at Town Hall, 556 Elm Street and remotely via Zoom.  Below is the board’s agenda: 1. Approval of Minutes of March 18, 2026 Select Board Meeting 2. Citizen’s Comments 3. Old Business 4. Sharon Baker; Permission to Use Green […]

  • Young Child Family Festival & Touch-A-Truck April 11

    Young Child Family Festival & Touch-A-Truck April 11

    Springfield Area Parent Child Center will host the 33rd Annual Week of the Young Child Family Festival & Touch-A-Truck from 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, April 11 at Riverside Middle School, 13 Fairground Road in Springfield. This free family-friendly event will feature activities inside and outside of the school. Inside the gym, families can […]

  • Chester Town-Wide Yard Sales return May 23-25

    Chester Town-Wide Yard Sales return May 23-25

    After a long hiatus, Town-Wide Yard Sales are returning to Chester on Memorial Day weekend. They will be held from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday through Monday, May 23 through 25. To secure your location on the map, please send $5 to Kathy Goodell, P.O. Box 101, Chester, VT 05143 by Monday, April […]

  • To the editor: The reluctant activists

    To the editor: The reluctant activists

    Watching the evening news with my mom in the 1960s, we saw the daily body count from Vietnam — mostly young, working-class men, drafted and placed in harm’s way to fight a war without clear objectives;  too young to legally buy a beer, but old enough to die in the jungle half a world away. […]

  • Talk on strategic wood addition to Vt.'s streams, rivers March 25

    Talk on strategic wood addition to Vt.’s streams, rivers March 25

    What did Vermont’s streams and rivers look like before European settlement? What can be done to restore streams and rivers to a more natural and ecologically productive state? Jud Kratzer, a fisheries biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, will give a talk on strategic addition of wood to Vermont’s streams and rivers at […]

  • All Recent Articles