All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Sands may have violated Grafton Code of Conduct in meeting Iberdrola
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Grafton Select Board chair Al Sands may have violated the town’s two-year-old Code of Ethics by meeting with representatives of international wind industry company Iberdrola Renewables. That possibility was brought up on Thursday, May 26, at Town Hall, during a special Select Board meeting held for the purpose […]
Two arraigned in Webster’s House animal cruelty case
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC WHITE RIVER JUNCTION On Tuesday morning, May 24, at Windsor County Superior Court, Mary Donaldson and Jessica “Remy” Fecteau of Webster’s House in Chester pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from an investigation into cruelty to animals at the shelter. According to court documents, Donaldson and […]
Citing lack of information Chester board nixes firehouse, likely to revisit question
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Citing a lack of information on the process of transferring the Yosemite Firehouse to town ownership, the Chester Select Board defeated a motion to accept the building from the Chester Historical Society by a vote of 3 to 2 at its meeting on Wednesday May 18. The […]
Londonderry land purchase shot down at town meeting
By Christopher Biddle ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Per the wishes of its citizens and despite the full support of the Select Board, the Town of Londonderry will not be purchasing a parcel of land adjacent to the town Transfer Station, as a clear majority of a crowd of 91 residents voted down the purchase by […]
Improper warning forces rescheduling of Grafton special meeting; Sands questioned on meeting with Iberdrola
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC What was supposed to be a special meeting of the Grafton Select Board to begin — and maybe even fill — the vacancy left when Gus Plummer resigned exactly one week previous turned into an informal session in which new Town Administrator Emily Huff plead mea culpa for […]
Chester residents concerned over changes to zoning regulations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC While a large portion of the time spent at last Monday’s Chester Planning Commission public hearing on changes to the town’s Unified Development Bylaws was concerned with commercial uses being added to residential districts, one of the recurring themes was the need to craft a document that […]
Londonderry Parks Board seeks all proceeds from bottle returns
By Christopher Biddle © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Jim Ameden’s last meeting as a member of the Londonderry Select Board was short and sweet, lasting just under an hour on Monday night, May 16. The board opened bids for a new town truck, received an update on soil tests for a possible land purchase and […]
Attorney lays out blueprint for Grafton in wind project talks
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC ON THE COVER: Attorney Richard Saudek, center, speaks as he is flanked by Select Board members, from left, Skip Lisle, Cynthia Gibbs, Al Sands and Ron Pilette. After a rocky start that began with the announced resignation and departure of Select Board chair Gus Plummer, the Grafton Select […]
Chester board tours firehouse, proposes panel on its future
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC ON THE COVER: From left, Select Board chair John DeBenedetti and Town Manager David Pisha. The Chester Select Board met Friday at 4 p.m. to tour the Yosemite Firehouse and talk about forming a fact finding committee to look at the potential and the pitfalls of the […]
After threat, Grafton S.B. chair to resign over safety concern
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC ON THE COVER: Gus Plummer is flanked by fellow board members Cynthia Gibbs, left, and Alan Sands. Through a quavering voice, Grafton Select Board chair Gus Plummer told an audience of 60 Monday night that he had received a note that so upset him – especially when it […]
Reeds sell iconic Misty Valley Books to another Vt. independent
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC This morning, a Chester institution changed hands as Bill and Lynne Reed sold Misty Valley Books, which they have owned for 15 years, to Michael DeSanto and Renee Reiner, the owners of Phoenix Books, an independent bookseller with stores in Essex, Burlington and Rutland. In an interview […]
AN EDUCATION: How trans kids, allies triggered policy change
By Cynthia Prairie 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC ON THE COVER: GMUHS Principal Tom Ferenc holds one of the ‘Gender-Neutral’ signs replaced by ‘Restroom.’ The issue was resolved almost as quickly as it arose, when Two Rivers Supervisory Union Superintendent Bruce Williams announced at the Green Mountain Union High School board meeting Thursday night that “any […]
New uses in all districts in proposed Chester zoning changes; public hearing May 16
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday, May 16 at 7 p.m., the Chester Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at Town Hall, 556 Elm St., to receive comments on substantial alterations to the town’s zoning regulations less than two years after sweeping changes were adopted by the Chester Select Board. […]
Chester Select Board mulls offer to accept Yosemite Firehouse
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Saying that it needed an answer sooner than later because it has two other parties interested in the property, the Chester Historical Society formally offered to give the Yosemite Firehouse to the Town of Chester at the May 4 Select Board meeting. The organization included all of […]
HIGH IN FIBER: Six Loose Ladies yarn shop to move to Chester
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC By July 1, Six Loose Ladies, the Proctorsville yarn shop with the unusual name, should be settled into its new home in Chester, at 287 Main St., between the Southern Pie Co. and Country Treasures quilting shop. The peach-colored building — which might not stay that color for […]
Grafton board opts to make all VLCT correspondence public
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC In what may have been a most surprising and quick boost to transparency in local government, a three-person quorum of the Grafton Select Board on Monday night unanimously agreed that correspondence between board members and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns be open to public inspection. The […]
Londonderry Board considers solutions to ‘malfunction junction’
By Christopher Biddle © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Matt Mann, a senior planner with the Windham Regional Commission, told the Londonderry Select Board on Monday that according to its Road Safety Audit Review for the intersection of Middletown Road, Main Street and Route 100 in S. Londonderry, seven accidents have occurred there since September 2013. […]
Construction springs up throughout Chester this summer
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC In addition to road closures for bridge work in Weston and culvert work in Andover with paving all around the area, Chester will be busy with construction on municipal and private jobs all summer. Work on a new Jiffy Mart and the Dollar General has begun and […]
Webster’s House manager charged with animal cruelty
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Mary Donaldson and Jessica “Remy” Fecteau have been ordered to appear in Windsor Superior Court on Tuesday, May 24 following a three-month investigation into their practices and treatment of animals at Webster House’s cat shelter in Chester, according to a press release from the Chester Police Department. Donaldson […]
Windham house destroyed in afternoon blaze
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC By the time firefighters reached the house at the top of Windham Springs Road Tuesday afternoon it was entirely ablaze, said Windham Fire Chief Rick Weitzel who was in command at the scene. “The walls were still standing, but the roof was gone and the garage was […]
