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.
GM middle school teacher arrested on federal charges of creating child pornography
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Norm Merrill, a longtime 8th grade teacher and Middle School coordinator at Green Mountain High School, was taken into custody today, Thursday, May 19, by Chester Police on federal charges of “producing child sexual abuse material.” The U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced […]
Derry voters seek answers as they consider future of Williams Dam Vote to be held on Saturday during Town Meeting
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC LONDONDERRY To a number of speakers at last Wednesday’s informational meeting on the future of the 1883 Williams Dam on the West River in Londonderry, the dam and the pond it creates at Route 11 and Route 100 north are a scenic, bucolic setting that attracts birds and […]
Sunflower cookies for Arman Heritage Deli steps up to boost Springfield club's effort to bring family of Ukrainian exchange student to Vermont
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Michele Wilcox of Heritage Deli in Chester loves to bake and she also loves to find a cause she can support. Wilcox’s current cause combines the two. She’s baking hundreds of cookies to sell to help bring the family of a Ukraine exchange student to the United States. […]
Chester bookstore owner hospitalized after
head-on collision
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ludlow resident and Chester bookstore owner Vicki Thornton was seriously injured late Saturday afternoon when her northbound car was hit head-on on Route 103 by a southbound car that smacked into guardrail, bounced off and veered into her lane. Thornton was heading home after closing up shop early […]
Fire destroys Windham family’s mobile home; search is on for a new one
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC A 21-year-old Windham woman and her 1-year-old daughter lost their home to an electrical fire on Saturday, Feb. 5. Now the woman’s mother, who owns the Windham property but lives nearby, is hoping to help her daughter and granddaughter establish a new home in the same spot. In […]
Driver injured in head-on crash that stops 103 traffic for more than two hours
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC A30-year-old White River Junction man was injured shortly before 9 a.m. Monday morning when his northbound 2000 Chevrolet Blazer crossed the center line on Route 103 in Cavendish, hitting a Ford van head-on that was heading south and pushing it back about 50 yards upon impact, police have said. […]
Landscape firm loses thousands of dollars in equipment in holiday theft
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was Friday, Dec. 24, and the crew from Terrigenous Landscape Architecture of Chester was looking forward to a holiday week off. They had been working in the back of a stone house in Baltimore, “putting in a stone wall and drainage to save one of these old […]
Doctor charged in Rockingham killing waives extradition from Florida
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Jozsef Piri, a Naples, Fla., resident who owns a second home in Londonderry, remains in custody in a Collier County, Fla., jail having been denied bail on Friday, Dec. 17, during his first court appearance before a judge as he faces a charge of second degree murder. He […]
Cow falls from livestock trailer in Rockingham, police search for owner
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont State Police continue to search for the owner of a cow that fell off the back of a livestock trailer on Wednesday morning at Williams Road and Route 103 north in the town of Rockingham. According to police, witnesses at the scene said that around 10:44 a.m. Dec. 15, the […]
From the editor: A poll is just a poll, not a vote
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Every so often, The Chester Telegraph rolls out a poll to take the pulse of our communities on various issues: bringing a big box store into Chester; what type of restaurants you would like to see move in; cannabis laws etc. Voters have been respectful in their voting, […]
One Londonderry seeks donations for new skating rink
The Recreation Group of One Londonderry is seeking donations to fund the construction of a 120- by 60-foot skating rink to be built behind Jake’s Restaurant at the Mountain Marketplace Plaza. The project was approved by the Londonderry Development Review Board in August, and the rink is expected to be completed by Christmas. The rink […]
New Chester gallery celebrates the art in nature Fischer Arts owner blends love of science with love of art
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Fischer Arts, a new gallery specializing in antique and modern works celebrating nature, will be holding an opening celebration from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 27, at its new shop at 102 The Common on the Green in Chester. Following the Nov. 27 event, the […]
Animals seized, Windham woman charged with cruelty
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A Windham woman has been charged with animal cruelty and more than 60 farm animals were seized from her residence after Vermont State Police descended upon her Popple Dungeon home on Friday, Nov. 5. Vermont State Police say they issued a search warrant on the home of 23-year-old Erika VanAlstyne […]
Andover board OKs dollar amount for emergency services; tables ATV ordinance till Town Meeting Chester now must draw up contract for fire, ambulance
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC During the calm portion of what turned into a headache-inducing meeting on Monday, the Andover Select Board decided that it would accept a $55,754.67 contract from the Town of Chester to provide emergency fire and medical/ambulance services, should one be offered. The price of service will fluctuate based […]
Despite letter, Drew’s Organics production to resume in 2022, owners say Facility continues to run three shifts, seeks more employees
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The worldwide supply chain crisis has hit the Schlotterbeck & Foss food manufacturing facility in Chester, which also produces Drew’s Organics dressings and salsas. And despite a seemingly definitive letter to its retail customers and distributors saying that S&F is “discontinuing production” of Chester-based Drew’s Organics, a company […]
Chester Select Board agenda for Oct. 6
The Chester Select Board will hold its regular meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at Town Hall, 556 Elm St., and via Zoom. To access via Zoom: https://zoom.us/join Meeting ID: 819 8884 2129 or https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81988842129. Below is its agenda. 1. Approve Minutes from the September 15, 2021 Selectboard Meeting and September 24, 2021 Special Selectboard Meeting 2. Citizen […]
Andover community action spares ‘The Jersey 5’
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Andover neighbors and town officials came together this past week to get help for a single ailing Jersey cow then ended up with a small herd. The “Jersey 5” are now lounging and dining in a green field of high grass on an undisclosed […]
See you this weekend — Sept. 18 & 19 — at the Chester Festival on the Green!
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Community Events committee is excited that its months-long efforts for this weekend’s Chester Festival on the Green are finally coming to fruition. But committee chairman Scott Blair told The Telegraph on Thursday that he wanted to clear up some possible confusion. Contrary to one media report […]
New at Chester Festival: Vaxx clinic, family-friendly farm events
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont National Guard will be hosting a walk-in Covid-19 vaccine clinic at the Chester Festival on the Green from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18, to administer the single dose Johnson & Johnson inoculation to anyone 18 and older. The tent will be set […]
Kinhaven employees test negative for Covid following positive results
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The five employees of Kinhaven Music School in Weston who tested positive for Covid-19 have all been retested at least two more times with negative results for the contagious coronavirus, school co-executive director Anthony Mazzocchi told The Telegraph on Tuesday. While expressing disappointment that the school had to […]
