All Entries in the "Featured" Category
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 […]
VTrans outlines Weston bridge replacement, Rt. 100 closure timeline
By Christopher Biddle ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Agency of Transportation came to Weston on Tuesday, April 26 to give residents a rundown on the planned replacement of Bridge 98 on Route 100 that will take place this summer. Jennifer Fitch, a project engineer with VTrans, told a crowd of 25 in the Weston […]
Historical society votes to offer Yosemite Firehouse to Town of Chester
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The membership of the Chester Historical Society voted on Thursday night to give the Yosemite Firehouse to the Town of Chester. Organization President Ron Patch told the April meeting at the Academy Building that he thought most people would be pleased with the proposal for disposing of the firehouse that […]
As Ameden prepares to leave office, his contributions are appreciated
By Christopher Biddle ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Each Town Hall Meeting Day, 8th graders take over several rows in the balcony at Londonderry Town Hall to watch direct democracy in action. It was this annual ritual, this history class requirement, that ignited a political spark in 8th-grader Jim Ameden that he carries with him today. […]
Chester to host Red Nose Day May 26; Hearse House rehab progresses
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC There are red letter days and red flag days, but having gotten the approval of the Chester Select Board to hold a walkathon on The Green at the April 20 meeting, a group of local volunteers will bring a “Red Nose Day” to town next month. Going […]
UPDATE – Forest fire hits Missing Link Road
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 25 pieces of firefighting equipment from 13 departments lined Missing Link Road (Route 5) in Springfield this afternoon as more than of 40 firefighters worked in the woods up the steep incline from the road. According to Springfield Fire Chief Russ Thompson, who was incident […]
Agenda item sent back for rewarning in another contentious Grafton board meeting
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Even before the Grafton Select Board could begin revisiting whether it should formally sanction a committee to address possible financial benefits from a proposed wind project, Board member Ron Pilette stopped the meeting cold. The Monday night meeting, attended by more than 40 residents, many to hear this […]
Londonderry board chair Ameden steps down
By Christopher Biddle © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Longtime Londonderry Select Board member and current chairman Jim Ameden, announced on Monday that due to a family emergency he will be resigning from his post effective May 24. “Due to a turn of events with my family, the time that I foresee it’s going to take […]
Have Lab, Will Tinker: Portable lab to bring joys of tinkering to TRSU schools
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Come Sept. 1, Venissa White hopes to be ready to travel around the elementary schools of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union with her portable Tinker Lab, introducing kids to the thrill that discovery, exploration and working with your hands can bring. Tinker Lab is a relatively recent movement […]
3-alarm brush fire in Londonderry draws large response
UPDATE: The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation has posted today’s predicted fire danger as “High” for the state, but has noted that it may be “Very High” in southern Vermont due to higher winds. Open burning requires a permit from your town fire warden. By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Fire […]
Select board hears of fund-raising event for Chester kids; again questions Academy Building lease
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The agenda for last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board meeting looked mostly like routine housekeeping: grant applications to sign, a couple of liquor licenses to renew, the annual update of the local emergency plan and a review of new cemetery policies. But the meeting was anything but routine. […]
