Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Chester Select Board OKs funds to assess three properties for housing; July 4th event on Green
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board meeting again had an agenda filled with non-controversial, routine tasks for the board with documents to sign, appointments to make and approvals to grant. The board looked at a request from the town’s Housing Commission for $11,300 from the housing reserve fund […]
Judge in 4 year-old murder case aims to pick up pace
Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than six years after truck driver Roberto Fonseca-Rivera was shot and killed on Rt. 103 in Rockingham and more than four years after Jozsef Piri was charged with 2nd degree murder in the crime, the justice system continues to grind slowly toward a trial, which lawyers on […]
GM board to consider ‘reduction in force’ ahead of next budget vote
UPDATE April 1: Last night the GMUSD board voted to issue a reduction in force for its employees ahead of the re-vote of the district budget later this spring. We will have more on this story in the coming days. By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Thursday evening, the Green Mountain Unified […]
Chester Select Board agenda for April 1
The Chester Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday April 1 at Town Hall, 556 Elm Street and remotely via Zoom. Below is the board’s agenda: 1. Approval of Minutes of March 18, 2026 Select Board Meeting 2. Citizen’s Comments 3. Old Business 4. Sharon Baker; Permission to Use Green […]
Chester board names paper of record despite chair’s complaints about Telegraph
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board agenda for March 18 promised a low-key meeting with mostly routine appointments, liquor license and entertainment permit approvals and review and adoption of some policies. The most contentious item – given recent dustups over school board appointments – seemed to be whether to […]
GMUSD board re-organizes with several new members Board chooses two new Chester representatives
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC The effects of the recent Town Meeting Day elections and filling of its two vacancies are looking like a sea change in the operation of the Green Mountain Unified School District board if last Thursday’s meeting is any indication. The new directors — Michael Ripley of Cavendish replacing […]
First hearing in MacGinnis v Chester perplexes judge
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC WOODSTOCK For most of the status conference in the lawsuit that Kirk and Michelle MacGinnis have brought against the Town of Chester, Superior Court Judge Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady struggled to understand what the plaintiffs wanted and whether the type of action they brought was the right one. Kirk […]
Chester board adopts policy on public records requests
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The first Select Board meeting after the town’s annual meeting is usually a light one and last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board confab was even lighter than its agenda promised. Sharon Baker was expected to present a request to use the Chester Green for a Vermont Food Festival […]
Whisper, internet campaigns fail as Jonynas, Roper, Fierman, Bailey win their Chester races Benelli, Ucci take school board seats, 18-year veteran Hance comes up short; school budget rejected
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC With an unusually large number of contested races and two instances of controversial election shenanigans, Chester’s results for Select Board and school board campaigns have been highly anticipated. In the end, Democrats had a blowout night with all of their candidates victorious and most by substantial margins. […]
What’s on Chester’s March 2 and March 3 ballots Infrastructure projects fall in the shadow of contested elections
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Tuesday, March 3 Australian ballot will contain more than just the contested races for Chester’s Select Board and for Chester seats on the Green Mountain School District Board. And on Monday, March 2, the Town Meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. will offer […]
Chester board to consider Act 250 ‘tier status’; rural areas to see tighter rules Initiative to spur village housing may make building more difficult elsewhere
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Wednesday, the Chester Select Board will hold a meeting with only one topic to be discussed in the public: “Adopt Municipal Resolution on Tier 1B Status.” This is part of a new law that exempts downtowns and village centers from Act 250 regulations to increase the […]
Class 4 roads continue to generate dust-ups for Chester board Road salt shortage limits use to main highways
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board is having quite a moment with Class 4 roads, a subject that heats up from time to time like a dormant volcano. While the board has been working on a policy for the use of those ancient rights of way — which the […]
Chester clerk reminds owners to renew their pooch’s license Rabies clinic and registration event scheduled for March 7
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC There’s Stellas and Ellas and Bellas and Belles, Lunas and Triggers and Bears. Oh my. Contrary to the popular Florence and The Machine song, the dog days are not over. In fact, it’s time to get ready to have your furry friends registered with Chester Town Hall […]
Chester board approves budget and Town Meeting warning Hance explains response to questions of deficits
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC At last Wednesday’s meeting, the Chester Select Board finalized the March Town Meeting warning and the budget it will put before the voters on Monday, March 2. The board also heard from Town Manager Julie Hance regarding the question of budget deficits for the years 2024 and […]
Who’s on the March 3 ballot for offices in Andover, Cavendish and Chester?
By Shawn Cunningham ©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Monday, Jan. 26 at 5 p.m. was the deadline for candidate petitions to be turned in at Town Clerks’ offices all over Vermont. While some area towns — like Andover, Weston and Londonderry — nominate and vote town offices from the floor of their Town Meeting, others will […]
Peru Fair ends but warm memories will live on Started in 1978, it grew to be a major southern Vermont attraction
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie* © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC After more than 40 years in, the annual Peru Fair’s 2025 edition was its last, organizers recently announced, much to the surprise of many vendors and fairgoers. The fair began as a tag sale in 1978 according to the organization’s website. In a Jan. […]
Gravity + water + frigid temps = winter art
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC One of the joys of driving on Popple Dungeon Road every day in the winter is watching the evolution of self-creating ice sculpture at Peter Delaney’s place, where the blacktop ends and the gravel road begins. Each fall, Delaney brings out a wooden structure he’s created that […]
Local Trump supporters mark anniversary of inauguration
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the sun was setting and the temperature was dropping below the mid-teens, a group of stalwart supporters of President Trump gathered on Chester’s Green late Tuesday afternoon to mark the one- year anniversary of his taking office for the second time. “We’re here in support of […]
Chester Board adds vote on local option tax to Town Meeting warning
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than a year after it was originally brought up and after several months of discussion with the public, the Chester Select Board decided at its Jan. 7 meeting to put the question of adding 1 percent to the current sales tax on rooms, meals and alcohol […]
Smoke detectors save family from blaze in Proctorsville
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Fire and police officials are crediting a smoke alarm with alerting a Proctorsville father and two young children in time for them to escape their burning home early Monday morning. According to a Vermont State Police press release and a Facebook post by the Proctorsville Fire Department, […]