Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Green Mountain students present ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ Nov. 6 & 7
Green Mountain Union High School’s theater program will present Arsenic and Old Lace at 6:30 p.m. on Friday Nov. 6 and at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Saturday Nov. 7. Performances will take place at the high school, 716 VT Route 103 South in Chester. In this classic comedy written by Joseph Kesselring, Mortimer Brewster […]
Chester board re-approves new sidewalk lighting on Depot Street
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Oct. 21 meeting, the Chester Select Board took a second look at a decision it made two weeks before when it gave Town Manager Julie Hance the go ahead to have “pedestrian scale” lighting installed as part of the sidewalk project to be constructed next […]
Piri murder trial scheduled for five weeks beginning in March 2027
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The second-degree murder case against Florida doctor Jozsef Piri continues to move forward almost seven years to the day after Boston truck driver Roberto Fonseca-Rivera was found dead from bullet wounds in a produce delivery truck along Rt. 103 in Rockingham. Piri’s trial now is scheduled for […]
Act 170 merger study group holds first meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC BELLOWS FALLS For the schools of the Group 7 merger study committee, the work mandated by the Act 170 public school transformation law began Oct. 13 at Bellows Falls High School. Representatives of the Green Mountain, Springfield, Rockingham, Bellows Falls High, Westminster and Athens/Grafton school districts were […]
No Kings/Vote Early rally brings 180+ to Chester Green
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Nearly 200 people gathered from throughout the area last Saturday afternoon for a get-out-the-vote rally on the Chester Green, just three weeks before Nov. 3 voting and amid early voting. While the fall day was brisk and breezy, bright sunshine cheered those protesting the Trump administration in […]
Chester board hears reaction to draft ‘Town Green Use Ordinance’ Sidewalk news and recap of busy festival weekends
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was looking like the Chester Select Board meeting last Wednesday would be contentious because a draft document for regulating the use of the Chester Green had been circulating in town. For more than a year, the Chester Green has been the venue for a number of […]
Town Manager Hance baffled by missing portion of Chester Green draft ordinance
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Tuesday morning, Chester Town Manager Julie Hance told Select Board members in an email that she does not know why a portion of a draft ordinance on the use of the town Green that she had sent them last week was cut off mid-page. She then forwarded […]
LMH exits Green Mountain merger group; First Group 7 meeting Oct. 13 Zoom failed, notes from LMHUUSD meeting 'recycled'
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Friday, the Vermont Learning Collaborative released the finalized groupings for merger study committees with only one district requesting to be moved. That district is Ludlow-Mount Holly, which has been allowed to switch from Group 7 (with Green Mountain, Springfield and Rockingham among others) to Group 3, […]
Act 170 school merger groupings announced, meetings in weeks What is good faith?
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Thursday, Sept. 17, while discussing the Act 170 voluntary school merger process, TRSU Superintendent Layne Millington asked members of the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District what other group of school districts they would be interested in merging with outside of their Group 7 […]
GMUSD Board hears need for deep cuts to avoid penalties
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC After many months of wrangling over various aspects of policy governance — a method of assigning roles of the board and the administration — the Green Mountain Unified School District voted to consign it to the ash heap and move to another model. But that sense of […]
Andover Select Board agenda for Sept. 28
The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday Sept. 28 at Andover Town Hall, 953 Weston-Andover Road. Below is the board’s agenda. 1. Call Meeting to Order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes of September 14th meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five minutes per visitor, 10 […]
Chester Hardware bankruptcy sale in the works Business could have new owners by year's end
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC If all goes to plan, according to bankruptcy trustee Raymond Obuchowski, the Chester Hardware store that declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closed in July could be under new ownership by early December. On Friday, Obuchowski and trustee Paul Levine filed notice of a motion asking the U.S. […]
Chester planners hear of alternative zoning for increasing housing
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Planning Commission is in the early days of updating the Town Plan with technical and writing assistance from the Mount Ascutney Regional Commission or MARC. But at Monday’s meeting, the most interesting moments came in a discussion of fast-tracking housing projects that could be applied […]
Chester board talks changes in finances, tax collection, budget voting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC With auditor Ron Smith attending the Wednesday, Sept. 2 meeting, the Chester Select Board again considered some big changes in the way the town handles its finances and tax collection and how the budget is approved. The board looked at a “fund balance policy,” and the idea […]
Facilitators chosen for Act 170 school merger talks to begin in October
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Learning Collaborative announced on Friday the names of the seven Act 170 facilitators who will guide school districts in evaluating the possibility of voluntary school mergers between now and Sept. 1, 2027. Any proposed mergers will be voted on by the communities involved in the […]
GMUSD board hears disappointment in response to bullying
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Running to almost two full pages, the Green Mountain Unified School District board agenda for Thursday, Aug. 20 was another gargantuan lift for the evening. But Board Chair Lisa Sanders requested a number of changes that consolidated the agenda worked to move things along. Nevertheless, a big […]
Teen lifeguard recognized for lifesaving at Pinnacle swimming pool Select Board continues look at town services
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The average Select Board meeting is a series of requests to be heard, problems to work out and questions to answer. But once in a while there’s a lighter, more celebratory moment like the one in Chester last Wednesday. That’s when recreation Director Matt McCarthy presented 16-year-old […]
Millington is finalist for Washington Central superintendent’s job TRSU super looks to leave after two years on job, despite new contract
UPDATED WITH STATEMENT FROM LAYNE MILLINGTON By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two Rivers school Superintendent Layne Millington is a finalist to take over the Washington Central Unified Union School District in the East Montpelier area as it seeks to replace former Superintendent Steve Dellinger-Pate, who resigned unexpectedly in June. If hired, Millington […]
Chester board hears wastewater treatment upgrade plan $7million project would increase capacity for building in village area
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC For as long as The Telegraph has been covering Chester town government, an upgrade to the town’s sewage treatment plant has been a problem on a distant horizon. Last Wednesday, Dufresne Group engineer Naomi Johnson told the Select Board — in its alter ego as the Water […]
Chase loses in state Dem Senate race as White, Major and Burrows head to the General Election Weyant takes Dem primary for Windsor Sheriff as Lake stumbles
By Shawn Cunningham © 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the August primaries in Vermont are often characterized by uncontested races and low turnout and summer vacations take their own toll, every few cycles something happens to pique voters’ interest and draw them to their polling places. Tuesday’s most contested races locally have been county-wide, with […]