All Entries in the "Featured" Category

Dr. Barbeau, founder of Neighborhood Connections, honored with car parade
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC .Nicole Wengerd, the new executive director of Neighborhood Connections in Londonderry, introduced founding member Delores Barbeau by saying doctors told Barbeau that she should not be alive. Barbeau has Stage 4 cancer and was not expected to live beyond May. Wengerd then joked, “What do doctors know?” The […]

Vermont reports 38 new Covid-19 cases in week Drive-in fireworks displays to be allowed as guidelines change
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Department of Health confirmed nine new Covid-19 cases on Friday, for an increase of 38 cases this week, which is trending down from last week’s addition of 54. The total number of cases in Vermont now stands at 1,236 with no new deaths reported. Total deaths in Vermont have […]

Stone table and benches complete Chester park
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In March 2018, Chester voters approved a bond for $25,000 to construct a “pocket park” at the end of School Street by the suspension bridge over the Middle Branch of the Williams River. The park was one of the first ideas that came out of the Village […]

S. Vermont in a ‘crazy’ real estate sales boom Some buyers scooping up homes sight-unseen
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Talk with any area Realtor about the current property market and one word that comes up nearly every time is “crazy.” Real estate sales in this part of Southern Vermont have heating up as the number of houses available – what Realtors call “inventory” – is in […]

Area restaurants adopt new formats, menus under Covid-19 Owners hope state reopens slowly to prevent second wave
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Restaurant owners say they are finding ways to keep their businesses alive as the Covid-19 pandemic continues into its fifth month. With curbside delivery in place, outdoor seating and limited indoor dining allowed, business has picked up somewhat. Some owners have secured federal Payroll Protection Plan loans and […]

Late night driver takes out Route 103 pole, power
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Just before 3 a.m. on Monday morning, Chester Police, Fire and Ambulance were called for a crash that sheered off a utility pole along Rt. 103 south bringing down wires and stopping traffic. But when they arrived, they found an empty car. According to a CPD press […]

Scott administration loosens restrictions on travel, hospitality as cases climb Chester one of few area towns to allow fireworks
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Department of Health confirmed seven new Covid-19 cases on Friday, for a surge of 54 cases in a week, over twice the increase of last week, with the largest jump of 20 cases being reported on Wednesday. The total number of cases in Vermont on Saturday stood at […]

A Complex Equation: State issues rules that are not negotiable Part 2 on reopening schools in the Time of Covid-19
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC This is the second in a series of articles on what schools will have to plan for when they open in the fall. To read Part 1 click here. The most volatile variable in any plan to reopen schools this fall will be the public health situation. […]

A one-of-a-kind commencement Following a parade, Green Mountain High graduates 47 in hours-long event: Video and Photo gallery
Parade video by Cynthia Prairie, Cap toss video by Tuckerman Wunderle, edited by Leah M. Cunningham Photos and story by Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Starting at 1 p.m. under a cloudless sky and ending just before 6 p.m. with darkening clouds on Friday, Green Mountain High’s commencement for the Class of 2020 […]

Truck hauling new, empty nuclear storage cask crashes in Andover Recovery closes Route 11 on Friday and Saturday
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A truck carrying a new, empty storage cask for nuclear fuel rods bound for Vermont Yankee in Vernon crashed just before 10 a.m. on Friday in Andover, leading to a two-day recovery effort. According to Vermont State Police, the east-bound truck rolled over on Route 11 near […]

Telegraph video celebrates GM Class of 2020
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Several months ago we at The Chester Telegraph began thinking about ways we could help celebrate the Class of 2020. Two ideas that rose to the top – the Virtual Graduation Walk and Gallery and a video of class members celebrating their milestone. But in a moment of distancing how […]

GM recognizes seven graduates for Outstanding Achievement
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Green Mountain High School has recognized seven graduating seniors for outstanding achievement during their school careers. At the annual awards ceremony on June 12, the school announced that Zoe Svec, Angelae Wunderle, Laurel King, Madison Wilson, Olivia Bernier, Kameron Cummings and Rileigh Thomas would receive the Outstanding Academic Achievement […]

A Complex Equation: Solving the puzzle of reopening schools Part 1 of a series on reopening schools in the Time of Covid-19
This is Part 1 in a series on the issues around reopening schools closed by the pandemic in the fall. By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The countdown clock is ticking. In less than three months the 2020/21 school year begins. And while Agency of Education Secretary Dan French is working with Vermont’s […]

Weston board OKs extending Lawrence Hill paving near Post Office loading dock
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Select Board during its Zoom meeting on Tuesday, June 9 agreed in a 3-1 vote to pave near the loading dock of the Post Office building at Main Street and Lawrence Hill Road, where a puddle forms as deep as 6 inches forms and can turn […]

Lisai’s becomes Smitty’s with new owner
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Garrison Smith is no stranger to working 12 hours a day, but it’s a long way from working as an attorney and corporate counsel to babysitting an ailing cooler until service can arrive. Smith is the new owner of Lisai’s Chester Market, whose name will be […]

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 identify remains found in Chester
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Vermont State Police are saying that the body found in a creek on Thursday June 4 near Wymans Falls Road in Chester was that of Joshua Webster, 39 of Springfield. A VSP press release says that an autopsy performed Saturday, June 6, 2020, at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in […]