Author Archive for Cynthia Prairie
Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor more than 40 years. Cynthia 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, and has won numerous state awards for her reporting. As an editor, she has overseen her staffs to win many awards for indepth coverage. She and her family moved to Chester, Vermont in 2004.

Telegraph Business Ticker Fullerton Inn and Moon Dog on the move ...
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing Fullerton Inn & Tavern closed for Spring Revitalization The Fullerton Inn and Tavern, at 40 the Common in Chester, has closed for a few weeks for what owners Bret and Nancy Rugg are calling “Spring Revitalization.” The inn will reopen for lunch at 11:30 to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, […]

Editorial: Sunshine for Southern Vermont
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC This week, we “celebrate” Sunshine Week, that annual effort by journalists and good government advocates around the country to raise awareness of the crucial role that open meetings and public documents play in our democracy. Of course, for journalists, every week is Sunshine Week. And, over the years, […]

EDITORIAL: Involvement is the next step in fixing GMUSD budget
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The voters of the towns of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester have spoken, voting down the new Green Mountain Unified School District’s first ever budget, amounting to $12.5 million. The outcome was far from inevitable. While there were strong objections to the proposal, many teachers and parents as […]

First GM Unified School District budget goes down in defeat
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The voters of the towns of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester — well, 739 of them anyway — rejected the first ever proposed budget of the new consolidated Green Mountain Unified School District. The ballots were all brought to Chester Tuesday night to be counted together since the […]

Editorial: Vote ‘No’ on GMUSD budget: It’s not ‘for the kids’
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph urges the voters of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester to vote NO on Tuesday, March 6 on the proposed $12.5 million school budget for the new Green Mountain Unified School District. The GMUSD school board needs time to retool its budget to offer the added […]

Facebook’s making it harder to see The Chester Telegraph; here’s what to do
By Cynthia Prairie 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Facebook has never been the best way to receive news since, over the years, it altered users’ algorithms to limit how much they see in their News Feeds. Then just a week ago, Facebook announced that it would show users more posts from friends and family while hiding […]

Adams Funeral Homes in Chester, Ludlow to close by early February
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Adams Funeral Homes & Cremation Services in Chester and Ludlow will be closing their doors by early February. The two funeral homes have been managed under the Dignity Memorial brand, which is owned by Service Corporation International, the Houston, Texas, based company that, as of 2013, owned […]

Telegraph Business Ticker
©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Green Mountain Bookkeeping opens shop in Chester Mary Richardson has opened Green Mountain Bookkeeping & Office Support on Main Street in Chester. With more than 25 years of experience, Green Mountain Bookkeeping is offering bookkeeping and office support to small business owners as well as individuals. Richardson said that her services […]

Telegraph Business Ticker
New businesses coming online in Chester By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The business landscape continues to change in and around Chester, much of it for the better. Nancy and Hugh Pennell of Smokeshire Road have transformed the former Post Office and grocery at 3630 Route 103 in Gassetts into a warm showroom and […]

Andover Select Board agenda for Nov. 27, 2017
The Select Board for the town of Andover will meet at Town Office, 953 Andover Road, at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 27. Below is its agenda. 1. Call Select Board meeting to order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes: Act on minutes from Nov. 13 meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five […]

Commentary: Chester is emerging with new energy
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Several years ago, at a Chester Town Meeting, a resident told those gathered that she believed that the town was stagnating. Then, others noted there were empty shops on the Green, houses were not selling and those that did sell were getting prices far lower than their assessed […]

New Derry Town-Zoning Admin hails from rural New York
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Londonderry Select Board has hired Robert Nied of Richmondville, N.Y., as its new Town Administrator and Zoning Administrator, for the first time combining the two positions under one person. Nied (pronounced need) will be replacing Stephanie Thompson who served as Londonderry’s Town Administrator from 2015 until her […]

Springfield Recycling rates hiked starting Monday, Oct. 2
By Cynthia Prairie ©2013 Telegraph Publishing LLC As of Monday, Oct. 2, the cost for a sheet of 25 tickets for the Springfield Recycling Center will increase $2.25 from $11.25 to a base price of $13.50 a sheet. Each ticket is good for 4 pounds of trash, or 100 pounds per sheet. Consumers will see […]

Restaurant owner: I painted over mural ‘as favor to community’
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ed Brown, owner of the Mill Tavern, told The Telegraph last night, that on Monday, using a gallon of dark colored concrete stain, he did indeed paint over the floral mural that has decorated a retaining wall at Routes 11 and 100 in Londonderry for the past three […]

Burglar makes off with cash at Londonderry Transfer Station
An office at the Londonderry Transfer Station was broken into overnight and someone made off with $90 in cash, Vermont State Police announced this afternoon. Police said that they were notified of the burglary around 9 a.m. today. The complainant said that the cash was taken sometime overnight. The Londonderry Transfer Station, at 7060 Route […]

Chester man held on $100,000 bail as new charges brought
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC An 18-year-old Chester man, charged earlier this year on two counts sexual assault, was arrested today by Ludlow Police and charged with kidnapping, attempted aggravated sexual assault and lewd and lascivious conduct with a child in connection with a July 2015 incident in Ludlow. According to Ludlow Police, […]

People on the move
Realtor McEnaney expands volunteerism at Pan-Mass Challenge On the weekend of Aug. 4 through 6, Betty McEnaney of Chester, a Realtor with the Bean Group, will once again volunteer for the Pan-Mass Challenge, hoisting the luggage of cyclists from one stop to another as part of its Luggage Crew. More than 6,200 cyclists from more […]

Grafton begins looking at Town Hall refurbishment
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Grafton Select Board has begun of looking into possible renovations to Town Hall, the 200-year-old building at 117 Main St. that houses not only the offices of the clerk, treasurer and administrator, but the U.S. Post Office as well. The board hopes to one day return its […]

GM seniors recognized during busy annual Awards Night event
Green Mountain Union High School held its annual Senior Awards Night on Friday, June 9 at the school. Below is the list of awards and their winners. Chester High School/Green Mountain Union High School Alumni Association $1,000 scholarships to Mikayla Call and Kimball Schultz Chester Art Guild Scholarship $2,000 scholarship to Kimball Schultz Chester Fire […]

Commentary: When fake news is fun
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC A new online “news” site has recently emerged from the ether. The Winooski, which bills itself as “locally sourced organic Vermont satire” and “Vermont’s Fakest News,” has, unlike other northern Vermont based publications, agencies and radio stations, realized that stuff does indeed happen south of Route 4 and […]