All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Grafton Select Board OKs junk vehicle regulations
By Mark Burbela Grafton ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 Despite objections from some of the 25 residents in attendance, the Grafton Select Board on Monday, July 21, passed a new ordinance regulating the storage of junk and junk vehicles, in an attempt to address numerous complaints about junk stored at private residences and to ensure […]
Torrential rains wash out Route 11, a number of Andover roads
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 A clickable photo gallery is below the article. Thanks to our photo contributors: Mark Burbela, Stacie Goodman Hill, Melissa Ryan and Marc Thomas. The skies opened up over Chester on Monday, and stayed that way, warranting the largest flood response since Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. […]
Wetlands delay Popple Dungeon repairs; education taxes discussed by Select Board
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 Proposed work to the decaying portion of Popple Dungeon Road has been put on hold because the Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Vermont have declared that an area that would be used to straighten the road and pull it away from a hillside is […]
Public questions lot size, noise proposals in Chester zoning regs
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 The Chester Select Board reconvened its public hearing on new zoning regulations on Wednesday, July 16 with a much larger crowd than had attended the July 2 meeting, in which only two members of the public attended. At that July 2 meeting, some thought the sparse attendance […]
Part III: Dining out on the lure of a restaurant
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 T he Chester Green not only has two new antique stores – the Bargain Corner, just east of the Moon Dog Cafe, and VintageVermont, opened by a Bartonsville family in the Spater Building. But its new restaurant – in the Victorian house at 90 The Common that […]
Part II: It’s not easy being The Green; Defining a unique space
By Cynthia Prairie © The Chester Telegraph – 2014 When Vermonters talk about their town’s “Green,” they are speaking of a gathering place, one that likely sports a large bandstand on an expansive lawn — more square than long and narrow. Typically, public buildings or churches and some homes surround these greens, while the town’s […]
Part I: Chester’s Green a window on the health of local economy
By Cynthia Prairie © The Chester Telegraph – 2014 With three new businesses opening this summer along Chester’s Green in what had been empty storefronts, many merchants in and outside the immediate downtown area are sighing with relief. It’s not that businesses along The Green are any more important than those, say, along the Route […]
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 […]
