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.
From the editor: On the recent downs and ups of the Chester Telegraph
Around 11:20 a.m. last Tuesday morning, as we were editing and writing articles for The Chester Telegraph, the company that hosted our website began experiencing instability on its servers. As you probably noticed, attempts to access the paper were met with 502 errors, 504 errors and other messages that indicated we and other websites hosted […]
Commentary: Do it in public — a call for transparency and accountability
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015 The Chester Telegraph The Chester Telegraph has sent a formal letter of complaint alleging that on Nov. 19 of last year the Chester Select Board held an illegal executive session. You can read a copy of that complaint here. That seems like a pretty serious step. But the fact is that […]
Environmental judge upholds Chester DRB on Dollar General permit
By Cynthia Prairie ©2014-Telegraph Publishing LLC Environmental Judge Thomas Walsh handed the billion dollar Tennessee-based Dollar General corporation an early Christmas present by striking down an appeal of the Chester Development Review Board’s OK of a developer’s plans for a 9,100-square-foot store across from the Country Girl Diner. The decision was signed on Monday, Dec. […]
$20 AND UNDER: Gifts they’ll love without breaking your bank
By Cynthia Prairie © 2014 Telegraph Publishing LLC Welcome to the 3rd annual Chester Telegraph Shop Local Holiday Gift Guide. Although the economy seems to be on the upswing, we felt that this year it was a good idea to focus on gifts priced at $20 and under. You may be under the impression […]
Commentary: Signs for our times
By Cynthia Prairie ©Telegraph Publishing LLC-2014 The Chester Planning Commission has begun considering making further changes to the sign regulations within the Unified Development Bylaws after tweaking them in the last go-round. (You can read them at right.) It had amended the Home Occupation and Home Business standards by cutting in half the allowable signage […]
Appeal of Environmental Court OK of Dollar General goes before VT Supreme Court
By Cynthia Prairie ©2014 – Telegraph Publishing LLC MONTPELIER Chester’s Dollar General opponents took their fight to the Vermont Supreme Court Tuesday, a venue that — by its very nature as the court of final decision — awards more technical wins based on nuances of law than KOs delivered by an attorney’s one-two punch. Thirty […]
As Grafton begins to look at updating Town Plan, its citizens brainstorm
By Cynthia Prairie © 2014 – Telegraph Publishing LLC Almost 50 Grafton residents turned out at the elementary school Monday night to offer up their views of and hopes for the town that they call home. The input will be gelled into a more concise form and will likely become part of a new Grafton […]
Amid steady turnout, governor’s race tight, Huntley holds slight lead against Lindberg
By Cynthia Prairie @The Chester Telegraph – 2014 In what appears to be a tighter than expected race, incumbent Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin will retain his seat for another two years despite a strong showing from Republican Scott Milne. Statewide, and with 231 of 275 precincts reporting by 3 a.m., Shumlin was ahead 84,015 to […]
Children’s safety at the fore at DOC meeting on transitional housing
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 The safety of Chester’s children was the main concern expressed by many of the 50 residents who turned out last Thursday to hear from three officials with the state Department of Corrections on how it chooses a home and inmates to take part in transitional housing programs […]
Sawdust christens Chester Festival Grounds as carving event creates a Big Buzz
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 The sawdust flew under bright blue skies as the Big Buzz Chainsaw Carving Festival christened the new Chester Fairgrounds this past week. About 40 carvers from as far away as Germany traveled to Chester for the weeklong event, which culminated in a busy Columbus Day weekend of […]
High waters: Two neighboring towns face very different challenges
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 Londonderry and Chester are 14 miles apart and lie in two different river valleys: Londonderry in the West River; Chester in the Williams. Both were flooded in 2011 by Tropical Storm Irene, but Chester fared far worse. Then, on July 28 of this year, torrential rains soaked […]
High waters: Vermont adopts ‘counter-intuitive’ approach to river management
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 “One hundred years ago,” says Vermont river engineer Todd Menees, “it made sense to build on rivers — for hydro-power for mills, for commerce, for travel … ” as well as for some of the best farmland that lies in the floodplains. But, he says, “We now […]
Police Log for June 19 to Aug. 25, 2014
Editor’s Note: The Chester Telegraph Police Log is a sampling of incidents directly from Chester Police reports. We do not identify individual victims of crimes nor those who have been arrested. Thursday, June 19, 8:29 p.m. Police received a call that a car had passed a school bus that had its red lights flashing and […]
No surprises in a primary election with ‘ridiculously low’ turnout
With 97.8 percent of the precincts reporting in Vermont’s primary held Tuesday, Politico.com is reporting that Democratic incumbent Gov. Peter Shumlin easily defeated H. Brooke Paige with 82.5 percent of vote from those picking up Democratic ballots. He garnered 15,164 votes to Paige’s 3,225. Republican Scott Milne also came out on top against two other […]
Primary election set for Tuesday, Aug. 26
©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 The primary election is being held next Tuesday, Aug. 26, to determine which candidates will represent their parties during the November General Election. Seventeen offices are on each ballot and no party has put someone up for every position. Since Vermont is an open primary state, voters will be given […]
All Aboard! Green Mountain Flyer restarts Fall Foliage excursions
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 The Green Mountain Flyer will begin using Chester as the hub for its regular Fall Foliage excursions beginning on Tuesday Sept. 23 and running through mid-October. In preparation, employees of the Vermont Rail System, which is celebrating its 50th year this year, have been working in and […]
Editorial: Penny wise and still no new Chester government website
©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 If members of the Chester Select Board honestly believe that $10,000 would buy the town a brand-spanking new website with all the bells and whistles that would lure businesses to Chester and be a useful tool for its residents, I’ve got a ski mountain in Ludlow I’d like to sell […]
Public meeting in Chester to address school funding, tax formulas
The Chester Select Board has invited Steve Jeffrey, executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, and James Knapp, director of the state’s Department of Property Valuation and Taxes, to address issues surrounding school funding and tax formulas, Chester town manager David Pisha said on Monday. School funding and property tax formulas have […]
Flood cleanup estimates over $1.5 million; FEMA tours damage
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 Preliminary figures indicate that the Chester-Andover-Windham area suffered between $1.5 million and $1.8 million in damage from the torrential rain storm and subsequent flooding of Monday, July 28. These figures also include $100,000 in damage to both Reading and Weathersfield. On Tuesday morning, Aug. 5, representatives from […]
Editorial: Bringing business to businesses on Chester’s Green
Last week, The Chester Telegraph ran a series about Chester’s Green, what makes it different from other Vermont greens — it’s characterized by its businesses — and what can be done to ensure the success of businesses along The Green and in Chester as a whole. Over the years, The Green has faced its share […]
