Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
In densely busy meeting Chester board picks sidewalk design
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC With the Chester Select Board meeting once a month – rather than twice – during the summer, meeting agendas can grow and sometimes bring together large and complex issues. Last Wednesday was a perfect example. The board held a two hearings, discussed and approved a zoning change […]
Area firefighters repurpose FEMA houses for skill building Chester homes on Route 11 now ready for demolition
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Tuesday, two houses near the Williams River along Route 11 in Chester were put to one final use before they are to be demolished as part of a FEMA buyout. Dozens of firefighters from West Weatherfield, Ascutney, Proctorsville, Winhall and Chester took part in a hands-on […]
Curran inducted into Vermont’s Ag Hall of Fame Chester resident, Black River Produce co-founder earns Lifetime Achievement Award
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Mark Curran’s life took an unlikely turn when the college philosophy major decided to take a year off and spend it as a carpenter and ski bum in Vermont. Little did the Pennsylvania native know that — 51 years later — he would be inducted into the […]
Chester to test pedestrian solutions for the Green
Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Starting this week there will be some strange looking construction around the Chester Green as the town tries out some ideas for solving a few traffic problems in an attempt to make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists. From Thursday, Aug. 28 to Thursday, Sept. 11, Local […]
Chester considering a local option tax to support new housing initiative
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Wednesday, Aug. 20 meeting, he Chester Select Board again broached the subject of a local option sales tax as a way to begin a town-wide conversation on generating money to spur the development of affordable housing in town. Last January, as the board was finalizing […]
VSP seeks public help in Londonderry theft investigation
© 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Police are looking for a man in connection to a “retail theft” from the Londonderry Village Market on Friday, July 18 but need help in identifying him. According to a Vermont State Police press release at about 9 a.m. on Monday, they received a report of a theft involving the […]
Archeologists dig in Chester, give sewer project a green light
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC For three days last week, a crew of highly educated and well-trained people toiled in the heat and humidity, digging holes and finding nothing of significance. And that constituted “mission accomplished.” The group were archeologists working for Hartgen Archeological Associates of Rensselaer, N.Y., and their job was […]
Welcome to Chester, with style
New Welcome to Chester Village signs have been sprouting up around town, offering a warm greeting and introduction to Chester. On the left is the Welcome sign along the Grafton Road near River Street. On the reverse is the Thank You for Visiting sign, which can also be seen in the right-hand photo, taken along […]
Large solar proposal in Chester gets a public airing
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s ironic that a glitch in the video conferencing system at Town Hall delayed a meeting Monday about a large solar field proposed for 14 acres along Route 103 south in Chester, but Planning Commission members found a workaround and the presentation went on, albeit late. Thomas […]
Eagle Scout candidate works to raise funds for Cobleigh Field scoreboard
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC If Jacob Studin has his way, next spring people attending Chester Recreation’s softball games at Cobleigh Field will know the score, and he will have reached the pinnacle of scouting. For his Eagle Scout project, Studin, 15, decided to raise the funds to buy and install a […]
Chester’s National Night Out a big draw for families
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC While rain threatened late in the afternoon, Chester instead was graced with beautiful weather and a large turnout for its National Night Out on Tuesday night. The event took place at the Pinnacle recreation area and although it can be hard to count people in a venue […]
West River Coffee Barn comes to Londonderry after percolating for four years
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Leaving the West River Farmers Market in Londonderry one Saturday in 2021, Kristin Nelson looked at the intersection of Routes 100 and 11 at the flashing light and thought to herself that something was needed to bring the area and the community together — right there. “Something […]
Chester planners invite public for presentation on proposed solar field
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC A large solar farm is being proposed for a cornfield off from Route 103 south, and the Chester Planning Commission is inviting the public to a presentation by the developers, Savage Solar Energy, on Monday, Aug. 11. Commission chair Hugh Quinn said the purpose of the meeting […]
Chester OKs ordinance to seek reimbursement for fighting some fires Update on GM sidewalk plan; traffic calming on the Green
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC A 17 item agenda including a hearing for a new a ordinance and a presentation on alternative designs for a sidewalk to the high school looked daunting, but the Chester Select Board got through all of it – except an executive session – in less than two […]
GMUSD appoints Jerry Ucci new Chester rep
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing Tuck Wunderle told the Green Mountain Unified School District board – on which he served – that he would be resigning to take a fellowship at a graduate school. That was at the board’s April 17 meeting, which, under state law, also started a 30-day clock during […]
GM Board finds no Open Meeting violation but agrees to Open Meeting training
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Thursday, five of the 11 member board of the Green Mountain Unified School District assembled in the GM High School Library. A sixth joined by Zoom to make it a quorum. They weren’t there for a regular meeting but rather to answer an Open Meeting Law […]
D.C. chaos finally hits Vermont, TRSU schools
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC School budgets in Vermont begin on July 1 and end the following June 30. Budgets for the 2025-26 year were hammered out in the fall of 2024 and approved by voters beginning on Town Meeting Day in March. Grants and aid from various sources were firmed […]
GM board member complains of improper executive session Telegraph request for public docs only partially fulfilled
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Thursday, June 19, when we last spent an evening with the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District, the agenda contained an item to “cure” a violation of the Vermont Open Meeting Law relating to an executive session at a previous meeting. Also on the […]
Two Chester residents named to state boards
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two Chester residents have been named to Vermont state boards by Gov. Phil Scott, according to a press release issued Tuesday. Included among the 83 people appointed are Heather Chase, who will continue to serve on the Vermont Economic Progress Council and Mark McKeon who will join […]
GMUSD board gets PCB update, continues internal wrangling
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC A few years ago, state sponsored testing found that chemicals known as PCBs are present at the Green Mountain High School. Last Thursday, Kassandra Kimmey of the state Department of Environmental Conservation gave a presentation on PCBs to the Green Mountain Unified School District Board that outlined […]
