All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Chester board OKs Canal St. site for town gardens Group will work under Rec Dept. for community grow plots
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC After two years of back and forth discussions, the Chester Select Board voted last Wednesday to allow the Chester Community Greenhouse and Gardens group to use a portion of town land at the end of Canal Street for public garden plots. Rather than signing a lease or […]
GM board hears of racial bias incidents; reinstates Chieftain name 8th grader, family tell of school inaction; board considers rebranding 'Chieftains'
By Shawn Cunningham ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an emotionally charged meeting Thursday night, the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District heard from an 8th grade student and her grandmother who said that stress from racism that the girl has experienced since coming to the school last year has gotten to the point […]
Fuel to the Fire: Recent reports on gas stoves fail rural Vermont Propane and natural gas are not the same, but have been lumped together in news coverage
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC If you’ve read a major newspaper or watched the news on television or listened on the radio, you’ve likely heard that your gas stove is emitting toxic chemicals and other substances that can injure your health — even when the stove is not being used. But […]
Five seeking two seats on Chester Select Board Elimination of elected treasurer, clerk to be voted on March 6
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While there’s often a challenger for two of the one-year seats on the Chester Select Board, this year brings an unusually large group of candidates. With incumbents Ben Whalen and Leigh Dakin deciding not to run for re-election, seven residents took out petitions to run and five […]
Appraisal of Route 103 solar farm kicks off Chester negotiations for purchase
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a meeting that took just 30 minutes to complete, the Chester Select Board learned that an appraisal of the Route 103 solar farm has been completed and that the town is now in a position to begin negotiations to buy it from its owner, Greenbacker Renewable […]
New Chester Police Chief outlines approach, goals
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC As Chester’s new police chief, Tom Williams says he wants to bring the department closer to the community and he’s started with his office. Williams, who as a lieutenant in the department, could have continued working out of that office, but decided to move into the office […]
Chester board finalizes budget; cannabis retailer on the horizon; citizen police panel discussed Town meeting vote could end election of clerk, treasurer
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While issues like a report from the town’s Cannabis Control Commission, thoughts on a police citizen advisory board and the approval of the warning for Town Meeting were on the Chester Select Board’s Jan. 18 agenda, one line on the proposed 2023 budget took up a significant […]
Derry board considers stricter short-term rental ordinance
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Monday Jan. 23 meeting, the Londonderry Select Board took up a draft ordinance to regulate short-term rentals. The draft that was posted on the town’s website as part of the board packet was basically the ordinance adopted by the Chester Select Board back in December. […]
Andover board sends $1.066M budget to voters
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC As expected, the Andover Select Board on Monday night signed off on the town’s first $1.066 million spending plan with nary a complaint or dissent. Referring to the 2023-24 budget proposal, board member Robin Trask said, “There’s nothing frivolous here. It’s all about the trucks and the gas […]
GMUSD board agrees to ‘retire’ Chieftain name 'Indian head' image was dropped two years ago
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a move that was a surprise to at least one board member, the Green Mountain Unified School District board voted tonight, Thursday, Jan. 19, to discontinue the use of the Chieftain name. The district had voted to stop using the image of a Native American in […]
Former Flood Brook teacher offered principalship at CAES
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Board of Directors of the Green Mountain Unified School District, during a special meeting on Wednesday night, voted to offer Joanne Blane, an instructional coach for the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union and former teacher at Flood Brook School in Londonderry, a one-year contract as principal of Chester-Andover Elementary […]
Cavendish board talks energy, reappraisals and police coverage
By Cara Philbin ©2023 Telegraph Publishing After considerable discussion, the Cavendish Select Board, on Monday, Jan. 9, voted to direct the town’s Planning Commission to begin the process of adopting the enhanced energy chapter for the Town Plan. Commission chair Etienne Ting had told the board that if it wanted that outcome it should tell […]
Chester Board dips into ‘Public Funds’ to pay for cemetery work Community garden license, STR regs, solar farm purchase inch forward
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC With a quorum of just three members attending — including Leigh Dakin on Zoom — the Chester Select Board worked through a fairly light agenda on Jan. 4, from looking to bequeathed funds for money to offset a deficit in last year’s budget to sending a proposed […]
RUN FOR OFFICE! Open seats in Andover, Athens, Cavendish, Chester, Grafton, Londonderry, Weston & Windham
© 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont’s towns are run by community minded folks who step up and serve in local government positions – from town clerks and select board members to Library Trustees, Listers, Constables and more. This is the time of year that residents can take out a petition to get on the ballot […]
Andover Board nears accepting its first million-dollar budget Discussion of regulating short-term rentals dominates, but board opts for slower deliberations
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the Andover Select Board on Monday night spent more time discussing a proposed bylaw addressing regulating the growing short-term rental industry, no action was taken on the issue — and seemingly won’t be in time for Town Meeting in March, when voters would have the earliest opportunity […]
Two select boards push back on their planning commissions Short-term rentals, energy chapter at issue as ARPA fund uses discussed
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing, LLC At their last regular meetings of 2022 the Select Boards of Andover and Cavendish took issue with the work of their towns’ Planning Commission and, in one instance, broached the idea of removing members to get its way. On Dec. 27 in Andover, the board took up […]
Inclusion declaration divides Chester board Measure passes on 3-2 vote after testy discussions
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Despite statements that all five members of the Chester Select Board supported a “declaration of inclusion” adopted by other Vermont towns and proposed by members of the Chester community, the measure only passed by a bare majority of three votes to two last Wednesday night. The discussion […]
Challenges in journalism hit small rural communities: Prairie, Williams on GNAT’s ‘Press Pass’
On Thursday, Dec. 16, Cynthia Prairie, editor and publisher of The Chester Telegraph, sat down with Terry Williams, president and chief operating office of The Keene (N.H.) Sentinel and GNAT-TV news director Andrew McKeever for a discussion on the current state and challenges of journalism for McKeever’s Press Pass program. We thought our readers would […]
Judge defers decision on Merrill plea agreement
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester resident and former middle school teacher Norman Merrill, charged with three felony counts related to creating and possessing child pornography, changed his not guilty plea on the count carrying the least penalty Tuesday morning, to guilty under an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. However, U.S. […]
Christmas season kicks off with a weekend of events
By Cynthia Prairie © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Good cheer and humor fill the season with warmth no matter how chilly it gets and how much snow falls. Londonderry residents helped kick the Christmas holiday into high gear on Friday night with a parade of lighted farm equipment ushering in Santa and the town’s annual […]
