All Entries in the "Featured" Category
GM board hears of PCB contamination, splits on Reilly replacement
By Cara Philbin © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weighing in at three hours, the June 15 meeting of the Green Mountain Unified School District’s board was long, but as recent meetings go it was one of the calmest and most cooperative, even when the board could not agree on a candidate to appoint as a […]
PCBs at Green Mountain High School – What you need to know
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC After high levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls — PCBs — found in the Burlington High School led to moving that school’s students to an empty department store while a new school is being built, the Vermont legislature mandated testing every publicly funded school built before 1980. Through that […]
Green Mountain graduates 47 in the Class of 2023 Commencement moved indoors due to threatening weather
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Green Mountain High School’s five year run of perfect weather for its outdoor graduations came to an end last Friday as commencement ceremonies were moved to the gym for the 47 seniors, their families and friends. At his final graduation as principal, Keith Hill welcomed everyone […]
Community spirit alive in Cavendish businesses
By Cara Philbin ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ask nearly any business in Cavendish why they’re in this small town in the shadow of a major ski resort, and you’ll get a slightly different version of the same answer: community. “We take pride in everything we put out, we treat everybody like family,” says Laura Jennings-Ryll, […]
Chester to expand ambulance service with new full-time hire
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Ambulance Service could become a more extensive operation, providing community health services as part of that expansion if Town Manager Julie Hance’s vision comes to fruition. The first step came last Wednesday night when the Chester Select Board approved hiring a second full-time ambulance employee. […]
Cannabis grower addresses Andover concerns
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Dustin Sherman believes he did not get much of a chance to address the concerns of the Andover community at Tuesday night’s hearing conducted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment at Andover Town Hall. With about 70 people in person and on Zoom, the meeting was more like […]
Andover residents criticize proposed pot farm Applicant's proposal barely gets a hearing
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The potential for a lot of cannabis growing in their backyard drew more than 70 people in Andover to Tuesday’s Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing on a proposal to build up to four 24- by 96-foot greenhouses high up in the hills east of Terrible Mountain. The applicant, […]
Meeting to discuss PCB levels at GMUHS Wednesday night State officials to be on hand to discuss test results
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The results of the State of Vermont’s testing of schools for PCBs has found that various parts of the Green Mountain High School building have elevated levels of the chemical, the school announced Monday. In response, the school will hold an information meeting regarding the problem and […]
CTES principal candidates meet the public
By Shawn Cunningham ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC On the face of it, the two candidates hoping to become the next principal of the Cavendish Town Elementary School couldn’t be more different. For one, it would be her first principal post, while the other has nearly 25 years of principal experience at several elementary schools. At […]
Two members returned to GM District Board Anger, confusion reigns in meeting attended by 100+
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC By the end of an especially chaotic meeting on Wednesday night, the Green Mountain Unified School District Board did not interview candidates for principal of Cavendish Town Elementary nor did it appoint a new principal, as was on the agenda. Instead, it formally accepted the resignation of […]
After resignations, two former GMUSD members hope to return to posts
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Since Thursday night’s turmoil at the Green Mountain Unified School District board meeting — in which three board members and the supervisory union superintendent announced their resignations following a vote to uphold the school’s name ‘the Chieftains’ — two board members are seeking to get reinstated while another […]
GM board votes to keep Chieftain; Fierman, 3 members resign Board member cites confusing motion, spotty internet in vote that upheld name
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The divisive issue of using the Chieftain name by Green Mountain High School came to a head at last night’s school district board meeting and, by the time it was over, the board in effect voted to keep the “Chieftains” name and three of its […]
GM board offers Bellows Falls principal contract
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a public forum and an interview with two candidates on Monday night, the Green Mountain Unified School District board voted to offer Bellows Falls Union High Principal John Broadley the principal post at Green Mountain High when Keith Hill steps down at the end of June. […]
Tractor trailer rollover shuts down Rt.11 for nearly 12 hours
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC For nearly 12 hours on Thursday, Route 11 at Elm Street in Chester was closed as emergency crews worked to recover a tractor trailer that rolled over while exiting Gold River Industrial Park. According to a Chester Police press release, Howard Hubert Jardine, 58, of Arlington Mass. […]
Chester Select Board suggests alterations to zoning proposals
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Wednesday, May 3 meeting, the Chester Select Board held a hearing to review a set of amendments to the town’s zoning regulations known as Unified Development Bylaws. And while they thanked the Planning Commission for its work, in the end they sent the amendments back […]
School restructuring panel begins discussing ‘right-sizing’ of Cavendish, Chester-Andover elementaries
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a struggle in which the Cavendish members of the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District lobbied for more representation on the new school restructuring committee because the results would impact their elementary school the most, the first meeting of the committee as originally proposed […]
Cavendish school concerns rise to top at GM board meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The agenda for last Thursday’s Green Mountain Unified School District board meeting looked pretty tame compared to recent meetings but, as it unfolded, the board’s discussion was described by some in terms of “animosity” and by others in terms of “intensity” and passion. The difference depended on […]
Chester board makes planning appointments, reduces cannabis commission
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board’s April 19 meeting was pretty much an exercise in housekeeping with some interviews and appointments for town boards as well as routine approvals and updates on old business. After public comment and old business, the board appointed Deb Aldrich to the positions of […]
Merrill sentenced to 10 years in prison for possession of child porn
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Former Green Mountain middle school teacher Norman Merrill, a Chester resident who plead guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material, was sentenced on Monday afternoon to 10 years in federal prison by Judge Christina Reiss in Burlington. On May 19, 2022, a federal grand jury in […]
GM board hears complaints that Chieftain name violates policy
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Tuesday night, Chester resident Matt Gorsky told the Green Mountain Unified School Board that the harm in using the Chieftain name is “in the inescapable connection between it and 50 years of a racist mascot depicting people this country has conducted cultural genocide against….” He was […]
