All Entries in the "Featured" Category
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 […]
Signs of the times: Chester Green hosts third No Kings rally
Elvis did not leave the Green during the two-hour protest. All photos by Shawn Cunningham unless otherwise noted. By Cynthia Prairie ©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC While some of the signs carried angry messages, most of those carrying them did not. Instead, they offered up smiles and humor as they spoke of serious subjects that drew […]
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’s Chase announces run for Democratic nomination for state Senate’s Windsor District Jonathan Gleason of Ludlow seeks Republican nomination
Heather Chase, a business owner who has served on the Chester Select Board and in the Vermont House of Representatives, announces her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the Vermont Senate from the Windsor District on Saturday, March 14, 2026. Despite the cold temperatures and blowing slow, more than 40 people turned out on […]
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. […]
Chester votes down 1% Local Option Tax; Frank Kelley steps up as Town Moderator
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC The proposed 1 percent Local Option Tax on meals, rooms and consumed alcoholic beverages that would have brought an estimated $60,000 annually into the Chester Housing Commission’s Housing Reserve Fund went down in defeat on Monday night by a vote of 59 to 76. In […]
Q&A: Ucci challenging incumbent Jonynas for three-year Select Board seat
The Chester Select Board is made up of five members voted at large — three are three-year terms, which are elected on a staggered, and two are one-year terms, which are, of course, voted on every year. This year, incumbent Arne Jonynas, who holds a three-year term, is being challenged by Jerry Ucci. You’ll find […]
Q&A: Spaulding, Roper, Mancuso and Fierman compete for two Select Board seats
The Chester Select Board is made up of five members voted at large — three are three-year terms, which are elected on a staggered, and two are one-year terms, which are, of course, voted on every year. Those two one-year seats are currently held by Tim Roper, who is seeking reelection and Ariana Knapp, who […]
Q&A: Miles & Bailey face off for an unexpired term on the Green Mountain district board
From left, Randy Miles and Jesse Bailey The Green Mountain Unified School District Board has 11 members; six of whom represent Chester, the largest town by population within the school district. In addition to Chester, there are three representatives from Cavendish and one each from Baltimore and Andover. Two Chester residents are vying for one […]
Q&A: Ucci, Hance & Benelli vie for two three-year seats on the GMUSD board
The Green Mountain Unified School District Board has 11 members; six of whom represent Chester, the largest town by population within the school district. In addition to Chester, there are three representatives from Cavendish and one each from Baltimore and Andover. Three Chester residents are vying for two three-year terms. Those candidates are Patricia “Penny” […]
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 […]
Candidates’ Night forum in Chester on Tuesday Feb. 17
© 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Tuesday evening, Feb. 17, the Town of Chester will host an opportunity for voters to meet and hear from candidates running for seats on the boards of the Whiting Library and Green Mountain Unified School District as well as the Chester Select Board. The candidate forum will take place […]
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 […]
Small Chester group gathers in vigil for 2nd Minnesota killing Alex Pretti, 37, was shot by Border Patrol, echoing Renee Good's death
By Cynthia Prairie ©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC He lived and died 1,300 miles to the west, in a climate familiar to all, in cold and snowy Minneapolis, Minn. No one at Monday night’s vigil on Chester’s Green knew him. But the 17 people who showed up in 19-degree weather during a late afternoon snow squall […]
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. […]
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 […]