All Entries in the "Latest News" Category
Friends, co-workers, residents celebrate retirement with Aldrich
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 120 friends, co-workers, relatives and Chester residents turned out at the American Legion on Saturday night to celebrate Town Clerk Debbie Aldrich’s retirement after 42 years. Aldrich began working as an assistant town clerk in April 1983 and became town clerk when Sandy Walker […]
Probationary firefighter charged in Cavendish barn fire
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC A probationary firefighter has been charged with first-degree arson after an investigation of a barn fire in Cavendish last week. The Vermont State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit said in a press release today that Zerrick Ausikaitis, 20, of Cavendish, “intentionally lit” a fire that damaged […]
Heather Chase elected chair of Chester Town Democratic Committee
At its Thursday, April 24 meeting, the Chester Town Democratic Committee unanimously elected Heather Chase as its new chair. Chase has served as a Chester Select Board member, chair of the Chester Board of Civil Authority, Justice of the Peace and a Vermont state legislator. Upon being seated as the committee’s chair, Chase thanked Nick […]
Town Green Up Day activities Information for Andover, Cavendish and Chester
By Stacia Spaulding ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Although Green Up Day officially takes place on the first Saturday in May, many area residents have gotten a jump-start on cleaning up the roadsides in their towns. If you would like to help, there are still plenty of opportunities available on Saturday, May 3. Many more schools […]
A primer: How Vermont law enforcement agencies must handle immigration issues
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Toward the end of last week’s Chester Select Board meeting, as members were discussing items for future agendas, Arne Jonynas asked what the relationship is between the Chester Police Department and federal immigration authorities in light of recent arrests of both documented and undocumented immigrants in Vermont. […]
Neighbors plead with Chester board to enforce on quarry violations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an otherwise light meeting – mostly followups and housekeeping – the Chester Select Board last Wednesday heard from neighbors complaining that the Julian quarries in Gassetts were continuing to violate a signed agreement with the town. The quarries were cited by the town for violations in […]
Andover Democrats form committee
The Andover Town Democratic Committee held an organizational caucus on Tuesday, April 15 to re-organize the committee, which had not met formally for several years. It also elected committee officers and delegates to the Windsor County Democratic Committee. Nine Andover residents attended the meeting at Chester Town Hall. Windsor County Democratic Chair Mark Yuengling also […]
Ludlow resident, a fugitive from Brazil, arrested on federal firearms charges
By Mike Donoghue Vermont News First BURLINGTON An international fugitive, who is wanted on a child rape charge in Brazil and has lived in the United States unlawfully for more than four years, has been arrested in Windsor County on federal firearms charges after a series of gun incidents, officials said this week. Gabriel Lopes […]
Well attended forum explores future of education in Vermont
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Monday night’s forum on statewide education reform, sponsored by the Chester Democratic Committee, attracted about 40 people of many political stripes. And it was remarkable for the extent to which members of the invited panel — also of different political persuasions — agreed on the problems and […]
Agendas for Chester Select Board and Sewer Commission on April 16
The Chester Select Board will meet in its capacity as the Board of Sewer Commissioners at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Immediately following that meeting, it will then hold a “Special” Select Board. The meeting is designated as special because of its later than usual start time. The meetings will be held at […]
Andover Select Board agenda for April 14
The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday April 14 at the Town Office, 953 Weston-Andover Road. Below is the board’s agenda: 1. Call Meeting to Order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes of March 24 meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five minutes per visitor, 10 […]
Fire danger is high today in southeastern Vermont
© 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont’s Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation’s fire danger forecast for today is showing high fire danger in a strip of towns along the New Hampshire border stretching from Norwich in northern Windsor County to Vernon at the Massachusetts line. The towns in our area that are in the yellow […]
Firings at federal heating program could impact more than 23,000 Vermont households
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Next winter could be a lot harder for hundreds of households in Windsor and Windham counties — and more than 23,000 statewide — if the federal program that provides seasonal and emergency heating assistance for low income households is not restored by the Trump administration. Last Tuesday, […]
Hands Off rally in Chester draws large, peaceful crowd
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC A crowd of around 500 showed up on the Chester Green on chilly, gray Saturday to send a message to the Trump administration and that message was “Hands Off.” Protesters brought mostly hand-made signs that expressed the taxpayer-funded services and rights they wanted left […]
Forum on education’s future at Chester Town Hall April 14 event sponsored by Chester Dems open to public
Are you puzzled by what you hear about the School Transformation Plan? If so, come to the Town Hall Forum on the Future of Education in Vermont. The event is sponsored by the Chester Town Democratic Committee and will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 14 at Chester Town Hall, 556 Elm St. […]
Spring ice storm knocks out power to thousands
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC As temperatures rise and shards of ice fall from the trees they have bent or broken, a drizzle of rain continues to fall while power crews work to restore electricity to thousands of customers in our area. The freezing rainstorm, which began on Saturday morning, deposited ice […]
Springfield man held on arson, more than a dozen other charges
A Springfield man was arrested on Saturday morning on more than a dozen charges, including arson in connection with a fire that destroyed a home in Athens earlier that day. Vermont State Police say that Benjamin Stocker, 33, was arrested at his home in Springfield and was being held at Southern State Correctional Facility on […]
Chester board talks forest management, finishes annual appointments
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board meeting was partly made up of the re-organizational housekeeping that follows each year’s March Town Meeting but also looked toward the future and the work that the town needs to do. Windsor County Forester Hannah Dallas came before the board to discuss the […]
Hands Off! protest against Trump admin to be held in Chester April 5
If you’re a southern Vermonter who wants to protest the actions of the Trump administration, meet by the information booth across from the Chester Green on Main Street at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, and join the hundred-plus nation-wide “Hands Off!” protests taking place that day. You’ll be joining people in a dozen other […]
Brisk turnout for Chester housing development open house
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC On a sunny, almost spring afternoon on Tuesday, more than 100 people gathered inside Chester’s Town Hall to attend an open house to gather the public’s opinion on ideas for developing a piece of land owned by the town for accessible and affordable housing. The presentation was […]
