All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Select Board hears concerns on raising lot sizes in Chester; sets tax rate; OKs Whiting grant; discusses Open Meetings Law
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 A very small crowd showed up for the Wednesday, July 2 Chester Select Board meeting even though the topics to be discussed – zoning and tax rates – are often hot button issues. While the adoption of new tax rates is more or less proforma, the zoning […]
Opportunities grow with new hydroponic garden at GMUHS
By Greg Hart © The Chester Telegraph 2014 The Opportunities in Learning program at Green Mountain Union High School has created an indoor hydroponic garden thanks to two local grants for $2,500 each. One comes from the Chester Academy and the other from Southern Vermont Hydroponics in Mount Holly. Casey Hodge, owner of Southern Vermont […]
Whiting Library gets $99,800 in USDA grants and loans for repairs, restoration
By Karen Zuppinger Chester’s Whiting Library has been awarded $99,800 in grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Agricultural Rural Development. The award, with $340,000 to several other towns and municipalities throughout Vermont, was announced Monday, June 23 at the library by Ted Brady, regional director of USDA RD for Vermont and New Hampshire. […]
New water rates pass in Chester as infrastructure problems are highlighted
By Shawn Cunningham After more than six months of discussing the dire need to increase water rates to bring the Water and Sewer Department into the black, the Chester Select Board at its Wednesday, June 18 meeting suddenly – and with relatively little discussion – voted to adopt a new rate schedule for delivering water […]
GMUHS graduates 58 under summer-eve skies
By Cynthia Prairie Fifty-eight students graduated from Green Mountain Union High School on Friday, June 20, under dazzling summer-eve skies. Most are headed to college, while several already have full-time jobs and careers lined up. (Photo gallery is below) Salutatorian Rachel Martel urged her fellow grads to pursue the unknown. “In this new beginning,” she […]
Undefeated Lady Chiefs fall short in championship
By Greg Hart Green Mountain’s Lady Chiefs softball team took its undefeated record into the Vermont state finals, coming up just short in a tough fought 6-3 loss to Richford in the Division III championship game held in Poultney on Saturday, June 14. In spite of championship game jitters as well as the pressure and […]
Justice Center to ‘move forward’ on transitional housing in Chester
ONE THE COVER:Chester residents packed a meeting of the board of the Springfield Restorative Justice Center. From left, Chester Select Board member Bill Lindsay, Chester resident Tom Hildreth, third from left, and standing, Select Board member Derek Suursoo, Chester resident Ron Patch and Chester Select Board member John DeBenedetti. By Cynthia Prairie At 6 p.m., […]
Residents’ concern over transitional housing continues; Select Board knew about proposal earlier than indicated
By Shawn Cunningham Nearly 40 residents packed into the benches at Chester Town Hall for the Wednesday, June 4 Chester Select Board meeting. Most were there to express their views on the transitional housing proposal put forward by the Springfield Justice Center. And most were from the Gassetts area, where they believed the center intended […]
GMUHS recognizes graduating seniors with awards, scholarships
At Green Mountain Union High School’s Senior Awards Night held on Friday, June 6, Principal Tom Ferenc announced that Marjorie DesLauriers and Rachel Martel would be the Valedictorian and Salutatorian of the school’s Class of 2014. The announcement came at the end of a ceremony in which students were recognized for achievements with awards and scholarships. […]
Sale of Armory in Chester stirs some interest
By Cynthia Prairie Gary Puryear takes a guest through the empty Chester Armory like an architect proud of his work. As environmental base transition coordinator for the federal Base Realignment and Closure program, he has overseen the cleanup and spruce-up of the 14,000-square-foot cinder block building. He seems to know every nook and cranny of […]
Chester marks Memorial Day with parade, commemorations
W ith a parade, prayers, gun salutes, speeches, wreath layings and other ceremonies, Chester marked Memorial Day on Friday, May 30 – the traditional “Decoration Day” that began in the aftermath of the Civil War. This year’s remembrance was held under sunny skies as bands from Chester-Andover Elementary and Green Mountain Union High schools played […]
Attorney General releases redacted Larochelle documents
By Shawn Cunningham Documents formally requested by The Chester Telegraph under Vermont’s Public Documents law were released by Vermont’s Attorney General over the weekend. The documents show that the Vermont State Police investigation of Chester Police officer Paul Larochelle concluded that the officer’s behavior was “inappropriate and unbecoming,” but that it did not warrant criminal […]
Beautification committee plants sunshine around Chester
By Cynthia Prairie It was a blooming beautiful Thursday morning, May 29, when members of the recently formed Chester Beautification Committee gathered at Sunshine Acres garden center on Route 11 north to fill 34 large planters with soil and flowering plants — such as petunias, salvia and sun patiens. The containers were then set out […]
‘Help Wanted:’ Middle schoolers answer the call of the stage
By Josh Bodin On Thursday and Friday, May 15 and 16, the Green Mountain Middle School presented the play Help Wanted in the auditorium of the Chester high school, giving middle schoolers the opportunity to have a part in a theatrical production without having to compete with high school students. “The play was about a […]
Gas spill forces garage teardown as soil, water cleanup continues
By Shawn Cunningham Homeowner Joel Brookes watches each day as trucks haul away more and more contaminated soil from his land following the May 16 tanker accident that spilled 2,500 gallons of gasoline into his garden. At first, the cleanup was a small affair, but as gasoline reached the Williams River on May 21, the […]
Select board hears from residents for, against transitional housing
By Shawn Cunningham A small number of Chester residents turned out at the Wednesday, May 21, Select Board meeting to voice concern over a proposal by the Justice Center of Springfield to buy or rent a four-bedroom house in Chester to serve as transitional housing for inmates being released from the prison in Springfield. Justice […]
Chester’s Maci Prescott places 1st in vault at nationals
By Greg Hart Maci Prescott of Chester, age 15, won the vault event at the 2014 U.S. Gymnastics Level Nine Eastern Nationals held in Bradenton, Fla., in early May. She is the first Vermonter in more than 18 years to even make it into the event, and now she has reached the top tier of […]
Despite objections, Select Board votes Chester officer 3 months insurance after resignation
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie Over the protests of a number of town residents, the Chester Select Board Friday night voted to extend three months of town employee health insurance and to pay accrued vacation time to Paul Larochelle as a condition of his resignation from the Chester Police Department. The agreement was negotiated […]
Chester officer resigns after six-month administrative leave
By Cynthia Prairie Chester Police officer Paul Larochelle has sent a letter of resignation to the Town of Chester, in effect ending an administrative leave that began Nov. 18, 2013 following an undisclosed complaint. Local police would not reveal the details of the complaint or the reasons behind the administrative leave. In the meantime, the […]
‘The fuel has made the water’ – Fire Chief Matt Wilson
On Wednesday morning — May 21 — Joel Brookes was walking his dog Buddy near the Williams River behind his home on Route 11 near Goldthwaite Road. He smelled gasoline and looked down to see – clearly through the polarized lenses of his sunglasses – the sheen of gas pouring out of the bank below […]
