All Entries in the "Featured" Category
No More Pencils: GMUHS graduates the Class of 2016
Fifty-seven seniors graduated from Green Mountain Union High School on Friday, June 17, as staff and students said farewell to Fritz Wendlandt, long-time music teacher, band director and musical theater impresario. This was also the end of supervisory union Superintendent Bruce Williams’ tenure. Salutatorian Robert Haseltine and Valedictorian Sarah Baker spoke as did English teacher […]
Wylie to fill Ameden select board seat in Londonderry
By Bruce Frauman © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC With new member Will Reed participating by phone from vacation, the Londonderry Select Board voted to appoint Bill Wylie, a South Londonderry resident, as interim Select Board member to fill the seat of former board chair Jim Ameden until March 2017. The only other candidate was former […]
UPDATE: Response from Iberdrola;
Citing site concerns, Windham Select Board asks Iberdrola to suspend wind project
UPDATE: Below is the full text of the response received from Iberdrola on Wednesday night By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Select Board of the Town of Windham voted 2 to 1 at its Monday night meeting to send a letter to Iberdrola Renewables asking the Spanish wind turbine company “to suspend your […]
Weston celebrates birthdays of local icons: Playhouse turns 80, Country Store 70
By Leah M. Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The sun shone brightly as the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company celebrated the start of its 80th season of producing summer theater. The town of Weston, along with many others, came together to acknowledge the occasion with a grand birthday party. The morning started off with a […]
Scholarships, honors fill GMUHS 2016 Awards Night
Green Mountain Union High School held its annual Senior Awards Night on Friday, June 10. In addition to awards, the winners of a number of scholarships and the names of the salutatorian and valedictorian were announced. The awards and their recipients are: THE CHESTER FIRE DEPARTMENT Recognition and gift Lucas Trask TOM SPATER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS […]
Long meeting on Yosemite, Academy and fire buildings, but little action by Chester Select Board
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a busy, three and a half hour meeting, the Chester Select Board again took no action in examining the Academy Building lease or the transfer of the Yosemite Firehouse, set aside the conflict of interest policies for future discussion, reduced the scope of the sidewalk project […]
Grafton town attorney sees ‘no violations’ in Sands’ meeting; suggests use of Iberdrola-funded escrow account
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Grafton town attorney Robin Stern, in an email to Town Administrator Emily Huff and copied to Select Board chair Al Sands and Town Clerk Kim Record, says that she has found no violation of the Grafton Code of Conduct on Sands’ part in meeting with Iberdrola Renewables and […]
In an agreeable meeting, Grafton board sets election date, foregoes bid process on winter sand
By Cynthia Prairie ©Telegraph Publishing LLC Monday’s Grafton Select Board meeting was a quiet and quick affair. With only three of four board members present — chair Al Sands was away — vice chair Skip Lisle moved through the long agenda relatively quickly. It would likely have been a longer meeting if, as suggested by […]
A BRUSH WITH THE GREATEST: 39 years ago, Muhammad Ali came to Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the days following the death of Muhammad Ali on Friday, June 3, the airwaves, internet and print press have been filled with appreciations and recollections of the three-time world heavyweight champion’s life. And in a small house in a quiet Chester neighborhood, a few residents have […]
Fire truck buy spurs Weston board to improve purchase procedure
By Christopher Biddle © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC With lessons learned from the unforeseen length of time it took to take delivery of a new town dump truck, and with the forthcoming purchase of a new fire truck, the Weston Select Board wants to improve the way it plans for big-ticket equipment costs. At its […]
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 […]