Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Dollar General, Jiffy Mart could go head-to-head on construction
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Gird yourself Chester. If all goes as stated, heavy equipment will descend on Main Street as two large construction projects – within spitting distance of each other – begin in mid-April. After an unexplained delay, the developer the Zaremba Group is expected to start […]
Bondville pizza restaurant owner faces federal drug charges
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The U.S. Attorney for Vermont announced yesterday that Marco Antonio Lam Peralta, 42, of South Londonderry was arrested Tuesday and charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Lam Peralta was arrested in connection with a shipment of 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of heroin seized in Miami last October. […]
Sandri floats idea of purchase, lease of town land;
historical society says Yosemite will have new owner
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The president of Sandri Cos. asked the Chester Select Board last Wednesday if it was open to selling town land so the company could add a Dunkin Donuts franchise to the convenience store and liquor outlet that it already runs at its Sunoco gas station on Main […]
Low-income heating program benefits from bank’s challenge
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Merchants Bank and the Champlain Valley Office for Economic Opportunity have announced the results of their fundraising for WARMTH, a program to help low-income Vermonters pay home heating bills. The statewide fund received a $40,000 challenge grant from Merchants Bank and went on to raise a total of $107,000. The […]
VSP unveils new website, includes cold case info
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC As part of its announcement of a website update, the Vermont State Police today unveiled a new tool for soliciting public help in working on 55 unsolved homicide and 35 missing persons cases. The “unsolved” page features Vermont maps with clickable figures, each representing a case that […]
Champlain Oil donates, dismantles house to make way for larger Jiffy Mart
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC After unsuccessfully offering to give the Burbank house at the corner of Main and Pleasant streets to anyone who would move it from the site, Champlain Oil has donated the structure to a not-for-profit — EcoBuilding Bargains — and contracted with another company to dismantle it. EcoBuilding […]
Sandri probes land buy for Dunkin Donuts drive-thru in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC With construction of a new Jiffy Mart across the street just a month away, Sandri, the owner of the Sunoco station on Main Street in Chester, is asking the Select Board if it would sell a strip of town-owned land so the company could add a Dunkin […]
Chester welcomes new Select Board members, considers new paper of record
Editor’s Note: The Chester Telegraph has reported on most Chester Select Board meetings since 2012. In the interest of full disclosure, we want readers to know that in our coverage of the March 2, 2016 meeting, we are reporting on an issue in which we are involved. To ensure that the information available to our […]
Kids build a universe of worlds at annual LEGO contest
The fifth annual St. Luke’s Episcopal Church LEGO contest drew 47 entries from 19 towns in Vermont and two towns in New Hampshire to the NewsBank Conference Center in Chester on Saturday. With construction categories from pre-kindergarten to seventh grade plus family entries, the clever uses of the little plastic blocks included large buildings, fantasy […]
Londonderry accepts one-year State Police contract, votes to study gravel pit purchase
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Wendell Coleman’s last Town Meeting as Londonderry’s moderator turned out to be a six-hour doosie that saw a controversial proposal to hire state police to patrol the town turn victorious on the impassioned speech of a just-defeated select board member. The meeting was more than three hours […]
Andover Town Meeting addresses status as education tax ‘sending town’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The single longest discussion at Saturday’s Andover Town Meeting was for an article funding early education to the tune of $21,077. But it wasn’t the amount of the article that was at issue, but education funding in general. Gordon Payne rose to ask several questions about the […]
Chester board raises water rates, hears grant request from Rod & Gun Club
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board began its Feb. 17 meeting in the guise of its mild-mannered alter ego, the Chester Water and Sewer Commissioners, which voted to raise the price of water by $2 per quarter. The hike is one step in reaching the rate structure required by […]
Truck accident closes Route 103 in Wallingford
UPDATE: Feb. 23, 3 p.m. According to Vermont State Police, one lane is now open on Route 103 in East Wallingford. There were minor injuries in the crash, but no one was transported to the hospital. Traffic is moving, but the log truck is resting on its side. © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont State […]
Chester wins one of three state grants for downtown planning
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The towns of Chester and Springfield are two of the three municipalities chosen from 10 applicants statewide to receive Strong Communities, Better Connections Grants given by a partnership of the state agencies of Transportation and of Commerce and Community Development. The funds are meant to help municipalities […]
Policing expenditure proposal draws lots of questions during Londonderry’s Candidates Night
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Although Londonderry was hosting its annual Candidates Night on Tuesday, Feb. 9, a number of the 55 people in attendance said they had turned out mainly to hear about a proposed expenditure for police protection that they will vote on on March 1. The back-to-back meetings were […]
Frigid temps fail to keep away Winter Carnival goers;
Delayed events to be held on Feb. 27
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC With temperatures just above zero and winds making it feel even colder, a large number of hearty adults and kids still turned out at the Pinnacle Recreation Area to enjoy winter sports on Saturday. In addition to sledding on a bumpy course, those in attendance could play […]
A big chill is coming: Vermont Emergency Management urges caution
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont’s Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security is warning Vermonters to brace for this weekend’s chill, in what might be the coldest temperatures of the season. The National Weather Service is forecasting below zero wind chills Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Some areas could reach a wind chill of 30 […]
Chester introduced to erosion, runoff issues in relatively quick Select Board meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC “Wow,” exclaimed Chester Select Board member Bill Lindsay as that body adjourned its Wednesday, Feb. 3 meeting after only an hour and 12 minutes. While there may have been a light agenda, that’s seldom kept the board from adjourning before two hours. Katherine Otto of the Southern […]
Wandering Grafton man found after search
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC An 82-year-old Grafton man suffering from dementia was reported missing on Sunday night when he went outside his Chester Road home, but did not return after an hour. The Vermont State Police began searching for Thomas Brown just after 7 p.m. A “canine track” began at about […]
GM hoopster Cooper McCoy hits 1,000 points
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Green Mountain Union High School’s Cooper McCoy passed the 1,000 point mark playing against Twin Valley on last Tuesday night. The 5-foot-8 inch point guard scored his milestone on a free throw as his parents — Jodie Parker Peebles and Brett McCoy and 30 friends and relatives […]
