All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Northshire Act 46 panel to vote on merger plan Monday
By Bruce Frauman © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The changing landscape in education governance in Vermont surfaced during the Londonderry Select Board meeting of Monday, Nov. 7. Northshire Merger Committee member Dick Dale told the board the committee will reach the end of its process at its Monday. Nov. 14 meeting. In the meantime, Board […]
Grafton, Windham voters deal fatal blow to Iberdrola wind proposal
By Cynthia Prairie © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a decisive blow to a proposed industrial wind project, the voters in Windham and Grafton have voted against putting a 24-turbine industrial wind project along the Stiles Brook tract of land that straddles the two towns. When the votes were counted on Tuesday night, Grafton defeated […]
Suspicious emails to Vt. town clerks traced to Yale Law School
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC A survey by a Yale University Law School professor set town clerks throughout Vermont and election officials in at least 11 other states on edge just before Election Day, and has been pulled after the intervention of a nationwide association that represents Secretaries of State. Just one […]
TRSU Act 46 study panel reboots, takes comments on merger proposal
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC After nearly a year of meetings focusing on planning, finance, property and governance, the Act 46 study committee for Two Rivers Supervisory Union has – in effect – gone back to the drawing board and started over. Last night in Ludlow, the committee outlined what it was […]
Chester considers sex offender ordinance, stalls on board appointments
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC While Chester’s town attorney asserted that it could “enmesh” the town in a lawsuit “that you will lose,” resident Randy Miles stressed the need for an ordinance that would limit where sex offenders could live, saying he was willing to spend taxpayer dollars fighting to keep the […]
Sparse but enthusiastic group turns out for Chester planning forum
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing, LLC If Harry Truman was right and “decisions are made by those who show up,” then on Saturday, around 50 people began charting the course for Chester’s downtown for years to come. Despite efforts by town government to bring people out to express their opinions on issues facing […]
Ornithologist downplays turbine danger to rare bird
By Cynthia Prairie © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC A Vermont ornithologist is downplaying concerns that the at-risk Bicknell’s thrush will be imperiled should the 24-turbine Stiles Brook wind project go through. Some in the anti-wind community in Grafton and Windham are hoping to use the plight of this small songbird as the Nov. 8 vote […]
Windham board says town now has less control over wind funds
By John Hoover ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Windham Town Treasurer Peter Chamberlain has told the Windham Select Board that while Iberdrola’s latest offer, presented on Oct. 4, totals $1 million, most of it will not be available for the town to decide how to use. Portions of the $1 million will go to the fire […]
Derry board unhappy with state delay in repaving Route 11 east
By Bruce Frauman © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a response to a letter of apology received by Rep. Oliver Olsen, the Londonderry Select Board on Oct. 17 voted to send a letter to Agency of Transportation Secretary Chris Cole expressing its “dissatisfaction” of the agency for not repaving Route 11 from Londonderry to Chester […]
Weston board splits on land gift, talks school merger
By Bruce Frauman © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Select Board on Tuesday, Oct. 11 told Forestry District manager Nate McKeen that the board was split on landowner Maurice Kahn’s proposal to donate about 1.7 acres of land to the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. The land, on Fulton Road adjacent to […]
Citizen Matt: Chester Det. Wilson takes on a new beat
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC In just a few days, Matt Wilson will no longer be a Chester Police detective. The 15-year veteran of the force will be leaving the department in late October to take a position a little closer to home — as a matter of fact, in his home, where […]
Months in, Derry residents upbeat on State Police presence
By Bruce Frauman © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Thirty-three residents of Londonderry gathered at the town office building on Wednesday, Oct. 12 for an information session held by the Londonderry Policing Committee to help it in making a new recommendation during the Select Board’s budget review process starting in November. Londonderry contracts with the Vermont […]
Black River Produce sold to midwest food giant
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Reinhart Foodservice, the nation’s fifth largest distributor of food to restaurants and institutions with 29 warehouses in the east, midwest and south, announced Friday that it has agreed to buy the brand names and distribution business of Springfield based Black River Produce. Some aspects […]
Chester Master Plan steering committee expands to 10; other appointments on hold
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The long awaited master planning process for downtown Chester is about to begin its year-long run and at its Oct. 5 meeting, the town’s Select Board was slated to appoint its steering committee, but there was a twist. As late as Wednesday morning at the Chester Economic […]
Chainsaw carvers create buzz in Cavendish
Photos and Story by Kevin Kunze ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Amid chainsaws buzzing like a musical ensemble more than 100 spectators sit in a semicircle of timber benches. Three wood carvers are quick-carving wood sculptors, with chips flying, creating art. Within an hour, they were finished and their works were auctioned off. An 8-foot tall […]
Iberdrola offers ‘partnership’ payment to Grafton voters
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Iberdrola Renewables is offering the registered voters of Grafton a minimum $428 annually in “partnership” payments should its pared down 24-turbine ‘industrial wind farm be built on the Stiles Brook property that straddles Windham and Grafton. EXCLUSIVE: Iberdrola sweetened the pot, but Windham residents stirred it. On Wednesday […]
Iberdrola sweetened the pot, but Windham residents stirred it
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Following the rollout on Tuesday of Iberdrola Renewables’ “sweetened deals” to the towns of Windham and Grafton, there were outcries that the Spanish wind company was “bribing” and “buying votes.” (See also, Iberdrola offers Grafton voters ‘partnership’ payments) However, the new proposals, which eliminated four of the 20 […]
Londonderry sets eyes on sculpture to snowboardmaker Burton
By Bruce Frauman © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Londonderry may become the home of a new monumental cast bronze sculpture to honor Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards, on the 40th anniversary of the birth of the sport. Mimi Wright told the Londonderry Select Board on Monday, Oct. 3 that she was called by […]
Grafton board officially sets wind vote for Nov. 8
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 – Telegraph Publishing LLC The Grafton Select Board on Monday night voted unanimously to make Tuesday, Nov. 8, the date for the townwide vote on the Iberdrola wind project and also adopted the same language that Windham adopted for its vote. Registered voters in the Town of Grafton will be able […]
Iberdrola cuts number of turbines in Windham, ups its financial packages
By John Hoover and Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its much anticipated meeting with Windham residents on Tuesday, Oct. 4, Iberdrola Renewables has changed its industrial wind proposal by cutting the number of turbines planned for the Town of Windham from 20 to 16 and raising the benefits package from $715,000 to $1 […]
