All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Chester planners consider bylaw change to allow LED sign for GM, but zoning glitch may preclude it
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing On Monday evening, Chester’s Planning Commission got down to work on an issue that’s been on its radar for a while. That being “electric message display” signs or EMDs. The idea of such a sign for Green Mountain Union High School has been raised at past planning meetings […]
Chester board talks optional sales tax, Class 4 roads and 40-year-old money
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday’s Select Board meeting agenda was heavy with discussion and pretty light on action items. And for long-time Chester board watchers it was like old times with multiple comments from former members Derek Suursoo and Bill Lindsay. Three agenda items came in for substantial discussion: a 1 […]
‘Workers over Billionaires’ at Chester rally on Labor Day Peaceful protest follows organizers' rules
Drone video by Scott Wunderle By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 200 people turned out on the Chester Green on Labor Day for a rally for workers’ rights and in opposition to the policies of the Trump administration. As a continuous stream of upbeat songs played on a large sound […]
The Ultimate Guide to the 2025 Chester Festival!
© 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Welcome to the 51st Chester Festival on Green, a weekend filled with friendly faces, fine crafts, wonderful arts, great food and superb music and entertainment for the whole family. Editor’s Note: Please return often to check for updates to music, events and vendors. The Festival this year will be held […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 featured in presentation on creating resilient public spaces beautifully Public invited to Aug. 21 event at Town Hall
By Cynthia Prairie ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC A stone table down a stone path on a dead end street, its backdrop a swinging bridge. A gracefully curling bench surrounded by flowering perennials. A town-owned flood area, with trees planted along the embankment. A flat expanse of land once dotted with homes is now a riverside […]
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 […]
Cavendish Board approves new tax rates
By Lorien Strange ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Homestead property tax rates in Cavendish have increased by about 9% this year, according to data released at a Select Board meeting last Wednesday afternoon. The board held a special meeting to sign off on the new rates. The homestead rates increased by 25.66 and 23.53 cents per […]
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 […]
Newly appointed state school redistricting panel weak in Southern Vermont representation
By Cynthia Prairie ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC This week, members of the Vermont House and Senate named appointees to the new School District Redistricting Task Force. But only one of these 10 appointees represents the southern part of the state below Route 4. That one member is Wendy Harrison, a state senator who represents Windham […]
