Author Archive for Cynthia Prairie
Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor more than 30 years. She has worked at such publications as the Raleigh Times, the Baltimore News American, the Buffalo Courier Express, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Patuxent Publishing chain of community newspapers in Maryland. She and her family moved to Chester, Vermont in 2004.
Grafton board chair ‘as private citizen’ starts drive to force Chester to repair Route 35
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Members of the Grafton Select Board are hoping to push the Chester Select Board to expedite repairs to Route 35 from the Williams River bridge to the Grafton line, after its chairman, Joe Pollio, mounted a petition drive that could possibly lead to court action. […]
Chester gets state grant for EV charging station Hopes to have Cobleigh site up by late summer
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester is one of nine towns and organizations to be awarded a state grant to install an electric vehicle charging station. Gov. Phil Scott announced the $400,000 in Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Grant Program awards last week. Town Administrative Assistant Julie Hance, who wrote the grant proposal for […]
Chief Cloud confirms two GM threats are related No arrests made; 'persons of interest' questioned
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester Police Chief Rick Cloud said Thursday evening that the bomb threat called in to Green Mountain High School that morning is indeed related to the social media threat made to a student and the school on Monday. However, he did clarify that the caller […]
When a child’s text message of love is ominous A mother and son tell their story
By Cynthia Prairie © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Heidi Skinner was at her computer Thursday morning researching colleges for her 18-year-old daughter Camille when a text message came in from her 14-year-old son Isaiah. Besides Camille and Isaiah, Skinner has another child at GM, 12-year-old Hannah. It was 11:27 a.m. and Isaiah wrote, “I love […]
Lock down, evacuation at Green Mountain Parent, student tell of harrowing morning
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Here are links to the latest stories on the school lockdown. – When a child’s text message of love is ominous – Chief Cloud confirms two GM threats are related Green Mountain High School was evacuated early on Thursday after the school received a telephone […]
GM threat came from Midwest Concerned GM, CAES parents kept children home
© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester Police have identified the person making a threat against Green Mountain High School as someone in the Midwest, according to Principal Lauren Fierman. Fierman issued a press release on Tuesday that gave a bit more information about the threat, which had many parents concerned enough to keep their children […]
As storm closes in, towns urge caution Here's some hints and phone numbers you should have
Emergency management officials around the area are warning everyone that this weekend winter storm, which will start Saturday evening, could deliver 1 to 2 feet of snow, and bitter weather of as low as 20 below. This will be an especially difficult weekend since it’s also the national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King […]
After four months of repairs, CAES opens to a new year
© 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Four months after Chester-Andover Elementary School was set to welcome its 240 pupils in the warm weather following summer vacation, they instead embraced the children with warm welcomes beneath a cloudy, snowy sky. ON THE COVER: 3rd Grade teacher Laurie Birmingham gets her classroom at CAES ready for her students. […]
Vail reverses ski program rate hike for kids on Fed lunch list Reduces lift pass benefit to Snow Sports volunteers
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vail Resorts has rescinded its announced price increase for those local families on the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program whose children want to participate in school ski and snowboard programs at Okemo Mountain, according to those close to the situation. The Chester Telegraph reported the initial rate-hike […]
Ski programs at Cavendish Town, Chester-Andover mount fund-raisers Okemo hikes rates, ends reduced fee for qualifying families
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing Winter sports program coordinators have scrambled to set up Go Fund Me campaigns to ensure that children at Cavendish Town and Chester-Andover elementary schools can participate, after Okemo Mountain Resort raised prices from $19 to $47 a child and eliminated lower fees for families qualifying for the Federal Free […]
Family Center receives more than $1,000 from Chester Cookie Tour, Andover Snow Riders
The Chester-Andover Family Center has recently received more than $1,000 from two local organizations. The Overture to Christmas Committee presented a check for $500 from monies raised during its 2nd Annual Holiday House Cookie Tour, held on Sunday, Dec. 9. Cookie tour passports — containing information about each Main Street venue toured and recipes of […]
Telegraph Business Ticker Made to Move Pilates moves to bigger locale; Smokeshire Designs awards 2nd Grand Prize; SAPA-TV hosts a public domain Christmas
Made to Move Pilates of Chester, owned by Patty Nader, has moved from School Street to an expanded space in a former laundromat at 288 Depot St. The new studio is set to open on Wednesday, Dec. 19. The studio, which opened five years ago in a small space on School Street, had undergone renovations […]
Early plan for Chester EMS building unveiled
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC A preliminary plan would put Chester’s Police, Fire and Ambulance departments into a single new building on Pleasant Street and rehab the Town Garage on Depot Street solely for the Highway Department. The total cost for both projects is estimated at $4.6 million, with the new, single-story, 14,500-square-foot […]
Misty Valley bookstore reopens on limited basis
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC After reconsideration, Phoenix Books Misty Valley has reopened its doors, at least until Christmas, Katie DeSanto, a Phoenix employee and daughter of owner Mike DeSanto, told the Telegraph Tuesday morning. The shop on Chester’s Green, which stayed shuttered for more than a week, reopened the afternoon of Monday, […]
Misty Valley Books shut after staff apparently quits Local purchase of store from Phoenix Books abruptly ends
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing On Tuesday, Nov. 6, Phoenix Books Misty Valley in Chester was open. On Wednesday, Nov. 7, it was not. Sometime on Thursday, Nov. 8, it will open again, at least through the weekend. But when it will reopen again permanently is not known by the owners, who still hope […]
Brisk turnout for cold, rainy midterm contests
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Tuesday’s General Election had three strikes against it: Most Vermont races – from U.S. Congress to the governor’s mansion and the State House – were pretty much foregone conclusions even before Tuesday and wouldn’t make a huge impact on the national scene; Mid-terms are usually ho-hum affairs that […]
Telegraph Business Ticker Smokeshire Design celebrates 1st anniversary; Chef Tostrup launches community fund-raisers
Smokeshire Design celebrates first anniversary Smokeshire Design, the fine home-wares shop of locally made and handcrafted goods located 3630 VT Route 103 North in Chester, will be celebrating its first anniversary for a week of events and giveaways. The celebration starts on Friday, Nov. 23 — Glass Friday — with a daily door prize drawing […]
Derry bear was ready for his close-up
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s not every day that a Vermonter gets to shoot a bear up-close without inflicting bodily harm on the bear, but that is exactly what Londonderry resident Julie Adams did on Sunday morning. Adams was fast asleep when, around 12:15 a.m., she was awakened to the barks of […]
Carlton acquires Stocker Plumbing & Heating
©2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC After 50 years in the plumbing and heating business — the last 35 running his own company — Rich Stocker of Chester is packing up his pipes and handing his customer list over to the next generation of independent plumbers. In addition to his “Rolodex” and other equipment, the owner of […]
Retirement to close Chester Flowers & Village Children’s Shop While 33-year business partnership comes to an end, a longer friendship continues
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC After more than 30 years in business, through changing times and tastes, Diane Stocker and Cheryl LeClair, who have kept area children fashionably dressed and local tables and special occasions in bloom, are retiring. Sometime in mid-October, the Village Children’s Shop and Chester Flowers, at 145 S. Main. […]
