Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Green Mountain’s Virtual Graduation Walk Kameron Cummings
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Each day from May 2 until June 18, The Chester Telegraph will spotlight one member of the Green Mountain High School’s class of 2020. While nothing can replace the thrill of walking across the stage to receive your diploma at your high school graduation, we hope this moment “on stage” […]
Quick action by firefighters prevents large blaze in South Derry
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The quick action of area fire departments kept a late morning chimney fire from getting out of control in South Londonderry today. Firefighters from the Champion Fire Company responded to the fire at the corner of Middletown and Crescent roads a little after 11 a.m. and when […]
GM school board names new CTES principal with insufficient warning
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Green Mountain Unified School District board held a special meeting last night to have an executive session on “contracts,” but that closed door confab was actually to discuss an administrative re-shuffle to replace outgoing Cavendish Town Elementary Principal Deb Beaupre. The result was yet another instance […]
Select Board hears of Jersey Girls’ lawsuit against Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Chester Select Board went into executive session on Wednesday night to discuss the lawsuit Jersey Girls Dairy owner Lisa Kaiman has filed against the Town of Chester seeking damages for losses she says her businesses have taken resulting from the weight limits on the bridges that […]
Large turnout protests racial injustice GM students highlight 'teaching moment' at Chester event
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Saturday, more that 150 people turned out on the Chester Green to join a student-led protest against racial injustice. Organized by students from Green Mountain High School to confront racism and police brutality in the name of George Floyd and other African-Americans […]
Police investigate human remains found in Chester
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Police are investigating the discovery of human remains in Chester yesterday, Thursday, June 4. In a press release this morning, the Vermont State Police say they were notified early Thursday evening that a badly decomposed body had been located along Wymans Falls Road in Chester. According to police detectives with the […]
Chester’s iconic Fall Festival cancelled
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Just before the end of the Chester Select Board meeting on Wednesday night, board member Leigh Dakin announced that the Chester Rotary and the Fall Festival Committee have decided that they will be unable to hold the 46th edition of the iconic festival scheduled for Sept. 19 […]
‘We are BR’ banners go up in Ludlow
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Late on Monday afternoon, Otis Nelson and Nick Miele were parked at Diamond Realty having just mounted the second set of banners on a light posts on the nearby bridge. Each of the 26 banners features the photo of a Black River graduate with the slogan “We […]
Dozens protest racism, police violence
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Carrying signs that read “Black lives matter,” “No justice, no peace” and “I can’t breathe” among others, more than 40 demonstrators assembled in front of the Fletcher Memorial Library in Ludlow on a misty Monday evening to protest racism and police violence. Organized by Sara Stowell and Susan […]
Main St. display recognizes GM Class of 2020
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the end of the school year approaches with little prospect of traditional graduation ceremonies and celebrations, schools, parents and others are working to recognize their seniors in non-traditional ways. The latest of these – the brainchild of Matt and Amber Wilson of Chester – is a […]
Principal Beaupre to leave CTES at the end of June
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Cavendish Town Elementary School Principal Deb Beaupre announced on Wednesday that she would be resigning her position at the end of this school year, after two years in the post. In an email to “Cavendish Town,” Beaupre said she did not take the decision lightly but that […]
Kelley gives up sabbatical; GM board votes no raises next year
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC At the Green Mountain Unified School District Board meeting on Thursday, May 21, Chester-Andover Elementary teacher Frank Kelley asked that his request for a one-year sabbatical be rescinded and he be re-instated for the 2020/21 school year. Approved at the Oct. 17 meeting, Kelley’s paid leave was […]
Chester OKs picnic tables on the Green as restaurants begin to reopen Board reviews landscaping plan for public safety building
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a discussion about several aspects of their request, the Chester Select Board on Wednesday, May 20, gave Scott Blair of Southern Pie Cafe and Jason Tostrup of the Free Range Restaurant permission to put five 6-foot picnic tables on the east end of the Green for […]
West River Farmers Market opens Saturday under new restrictions
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The West River Farmers Market will begin its 26th season on Saturday in a totally new format – just like everything else these days. The market must adhere to state guidelines to address the Covid-19 pandemic, which means that the music and social aspects of the market […]
Statewide school budget re-vote garners little support Politics in Covid response, says teachers' union
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Facing an enormous shortfall in the state education fund that needs to be addressed, the Scott administration put a suggestion on the table last Thursday that seemed to be a non-starter with members of the House Ways and Means committee, some of whom said it would lead […]
Troopers look for suspect in mask-related assault
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC An altercation over wearing masks has resulted in the Vermont State Police searching for a man accused of assault. According to a VSP press release, on Sunday just after 2 p.m., Police were notified of a fight in progress at the Jiffy Mart at 301 Vermont Route […]
TRSU boards search for savings amid Covid crisis Telegraph: School boards again violate Open Meeting Law
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an effort to keep teacher salary negotiations a secret, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union board and its two constituent school district boards decided to hold a joint executive session on the topic last Thursday. But the closed door confab went for naught as one member spilled […]
Hance seeks savings in Chester budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a review of Chester’s financial picture, Town Manager Julie Hance told the Select Board that the town is holding off spending as much as possible so that it would not have to draw on its tax anticipation note or TAN. The note is like a line […]
Scott: Mask compliance through education, not mandate Visitors still must self-isolate for 14 days
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC While Gov. Phil Scott often says that his administration’s Covid-19 related decisions are “data driven and based on the best science,” when it comes to compliance with its public health directives (including the use of masks and the self-quarantining of people coming from out of state) it […]
Sam Lloyd Jr. dies at 56: Weston native, GM grad and actor/musician remembered for uplifting spirit
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Sam Lloyd Jr., an actor and musician who moved easily between comedy and drama, stage and screen and Hollywood and his hometown of Weston, Vermont, died on Thursday, April 30 at a respiratory care facility in Los Angeles with his wife Vanessa by his side and his sister Laurel Facetiming […]
