All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Meet the three candidates for the GMUSD board
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph sent a series of questions to the three candidates who are vying for two three-year terms on the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District, which oversees Cavendish Town and Chester-Andover elementary schools and Green Mountain Union High. One of those two Chester seats is currently held […]
Chester Republican Committee launches inaugural candidates’ event
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After years of dormancy, the newly revived Chester Republican Committee held its first event on Sunday, drawing an audience of about 35 residents to hear from several “conservative-leaning” candidates running for Chester Select Board and the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District. The event was held at the Chester […]
Partisan candidates forum sparks concern in Chester New local GOP committee is hoping to grow dormant party
By Cynthia Prairie ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC A Chester candidates forum that has excluded half the candidates running for contested seats on the Chester Select Board and the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District is drawing concern that it could be injecting partisan politics into local elections that have not seen them in […]
Julians appeal Chester’s notice of violation
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Friday brought the latest twist in the ongoing saga of the Julian quarries in Gassetts as Julian attorney Mark Hall submitted an appeal to the Town of Chester’s notice of violation in which he said the entire operation would be shut down for 2 to 3 weeks […]
Despite objection, Chester board refuses to remove road from list Community coalition hopes to build 'safe space' for youth in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Signing the annual certification of road mileage is usually a low-key, pro forma task in a select board’s first February agenda, but last Wednesday night a land owner who objects to the classification of an old road became increasingly agitated, raising his voice and insisting the board […]
TRSU board picks OSSD Super Millington as new superintendent
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC After interviewing two candidates and after nearly 90 minutes of deliberation, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union Board voted 4-2 on Thursday night to offer the job of superintendent to Layne Millington, who currently is superintendent with the Orange Southwest Supervisory District, based in the town of Randolph. He […]
Julians are back with a new gambit and engineer
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Seven days after Chester Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow sent a Notice of Violation to the Julian companies,which operates quarries in Gassetts, he received an answer. The notice had given the Julians the choice of correcting five violations or appealing the notice to Chester’s DRB. The Julians chose […]
GMUSD settles White family harassment lawsuit for $300,000
By Ethan Weinstein ©2024 VT Digger A lawsuit alleging that Green Mountain Unified School District and some of its administrators failed to protect five sisters from harassment after one of them was raped has been settled for $300,000, according to the sisters’ lawyer. In 2017, Skylar White, a senior at the time, reported that a […]
Local drone club scores in Vermont’s first aerial competition
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Riverside Middle School’s Dressel Gym was buzzing on Saturday with the sounds of competition as teams from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts competed in Vermont’s first Aerial Drone Competition. The competition is sponsored by The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation. Fifteen teams – including four from the […]
Just a Bill: Legislating on the edge of transparency guarantees
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Any long time reader of The Telegraph will know that we take Vermont’s Open Meeting Law and Public Records Act seriously. These are the statutes meant to preserve and defend the public’s right to know what government is doing in their name, in your name and with […]
Chester cites Julians for quarry violations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After years of complaints and a recent conditional use application that dragged on but eventually went nowhere, the Town of Chester has cited the operator of three quarries for five violations and is demanding that a number of steps be taken immediately. On Jan. 17, Julian Materials […]
Chester board hones STR regulations, focusing on unhosted rental limits and raising annual fee
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After several months of discussions, the Chester Select Board, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, closed in on several additions that would tighten the town’s short term rental ordinance, especially with regard to unhosted rentals. Back in early September of last year, after many months of discussions of additional […]
UPDATE: Julians pull out of zoning application; Will DRB proceedings go on?
UPDATE- DRB accepts Julian withdrawal, Town to file notice of violation On Monday night, Chester’s Development Review Board issued an order accepting Julian Materials’ withdrawal of its zoning application for three quarries in the Gassetts area. And in answer to neighbors asking “where do we go from here” Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow said would “file […]
‘Just a Bill,’ give or take several hundred A quick look at what's up with proposed laws in Montpelier
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Covering each year’s legislative session is nearly impossible for a small, local newspaper. To begin with, hundreds of bills are introduced even in a small state like Vermont. In the first three days of this year’s session, 203 would-be laws began a journey that most will never […]
North, South Village wastewater plans proposed for Londonderry
By Cynthia Prairie ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Dufresne Group of Springfield has recommended two community wastewater disposal systems for the North and South Villages of the town of Londonderry. Christina Haskins, a vice president and engineer with Dufresne, presented the engineering company’s findings and recommendations last Wednesday before a group of residents and business […]
Chester snowmobilers: Class 4 road change could ‘cripple’ club Smokeshire land owners say road no longer belongs to town
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The discussion of a Class 4 road generally won’t fill the benches at Chester Town Hall, but last Wednesday more than 20 people turned out in person, with more attending via Zoom for a request to make a town road private. Paul Bidgood, who owns land in […]
GMUSD board votes 6-3 to drop Chieftain name Board chair Deb Brown resigns amid medical concerns
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Signalling that the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District would be holding another one of its unusual meetings on Thursday night, board Vice Chair Adrienne Williams announced that board Chair Deb Brown has resigned, citing medical issues from a concussion she suffered weeks ago. The […]
Flooding hits S. Vt.: Derry shops whacked again Dirt roads take the brunt of other damage
Video by David Lewis of Windham. The Chester Telegraph thanks all of our reporting partners who provided photos, video and insights into today’s events. See photo gallery below. To launch the gallery, click any image. By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Our southern Vermont region was hit with another rainstorm […]
Jason Julian pleads guilty to ‘environmental crime’ in Connecticut Co-owner of quarrying firm under dispute in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Jason Julian, whose firm Julian Materials operates three quarries in Chester that have been the subject of many complaints, pleaded guilty on Friday to six misdemeanor charges in a Connecticut court. The charges, brought by the State of Connecticut, say that Julian illegally disposed of fill containing […]
DRB hearing turns rancorous as Julian Materials changes quarry application New plans include moving stone cutting outside Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Years of quarry noise and months of zoning hearings boiled over at Monday night’s meeting of the Chester Development Review Board as Julian Materials proposed a heavily amended version of its conditional use application, while neighbors demanded to know when there would be enforcement of the current […]
