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At Town Meeting, Chester voters OK $4.225M budget, discuss sewer, solar bond issues

At Town Meeting, Chester voters OK $4.225M budget, discuss sewer, solar bond issues Tuesday's vote: Sewer, solar field bonds approved; Roper, Knapp, Gustafson re-elected

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 100 people turned out for Chester’s Town Meeting on Monday night to vote from the floor on 18 published articles including the town’s $4.225 million budget. All passed on voice votes, although some got a bit more scrutiny from the assembly than others. For results […]

Chester Clerk Debbie Aldrich steps aside, but not too far away

Chester Clerk Debbie Aldrich steps aside, but not too far away

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In 1983, Chester Town Clerk Sandy Walker hired a 20-year-old to be her assistant. And while some in Town Hall may have felt she was too young for the responsibility, Debbie Aldrich seems to have worked out. Now, with 42 years as Assistant Town Clerk, then Town […]

A field guide to Chester's Town Meeting Day bond votes

A field guide to Chester’s Town Meeting Day bond votes

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In addition to the approving the town’s $4.2 million budget and borrowing to purchase equipment and do paving, Chester voters will be asked to give vote to two bond issues totaling a little over $4.1 million. While these may look like a burden for taxpayers, if the […]

Meet the three candidates running for two seats on the Chester Select Board

Meet the three candidates running for two seats on the Chester Select Board

© 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph sent a series of questions to the three candidates who are vying for two one-year seats on the Chester Select Board. Those two seats are currently held by Arianna Knapp and Tim Roper, who are running for re-election. These questions address some of the issues for many […]

Nick Boke chosen to chair Chester Democrats

Nick Boke chosen to chair Chester Democrats

The Chester Town Democratic Committee met Thursday, Feb. 20  to reorganize its officers and make plans for the upcoming year. Two dozen Democrats attended the meeting at Chester Town Hall, including two from Andover who had come to discuss how to create an Andover Democratic committee, as well as to collaborate with the CTDC. Windsor […]

Chester board denies driveway appeal, gets presentation on sidewalk study

Chester board denies driveway appeal, gets presentation on sidewalk study

By Shawn Cunningham ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC By a 3-1 vote last Wednesday, the Chester Select Board voted to deny an appeal by the owner of a Main Street property for a curb cut to install a new driveway. But while the vote sounds resolute, some board members spoke of how conflicted they were over […]

New GM High mascot to be chosen this week

New GM High mascot to be chosen this week

  By Lorien Strange ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Green Mountain Union High School students will be selecting a new mascot this week, more than a year since a contentious series of school board meetings ended with the demise of the original controversial mascot, the Chieftain. The original, 50-year-old mascot was considered racist and outdated and […]

36-year-old Windsor man gets prison for unlawful firearms possession in Chester

36-year-old Windsor man gets prison for unlawful firearms possession in Chester

Ryan Buckley, 36, of Windsor, was sentenced on Tuesday, Jan. 21 in U.S. District Court to 46 months’ imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release in relation to his arrest in Chester by Chester Police in June 2023. Buckley, formerly from New Hampshire, had pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after previously […]

Chester board to re-approve budget after spreadsheet glitch

Chester board to re-approve budget after spreadsheet glitch

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC A programming glitch in Chester government Excel spreadsheets detailing the proposed 2025-26 operating budget is forcing the Select Board to revote that proposed budget this morning. The new budget will be slightly higher — about $50,000 — than the one that the board earlier approved to send […]

Police search Baltimore home where stolen truck was found; arrest owner

Police search Baltimore home where stolen truck was found; arrest owner Homeowner faces drug, stolen property charges

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Officers from several area, state and federal departments searched a Baltimore home at around 2:30 today, Wednesday, Jan. 8, looking for tools missing from a truck stolen more than a week ago in Chester. In addition to recovering about two thirds of the tools, they found a […]

Chester board OKs rural zoning changes; talks 2025 budget, water meter upgrades

Chester board OKs rural zoning changes; talks 2025 budget, water meter upgrades

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC An amendment to Chester’s rural zoning regulations that’s been under consideration since July, with several hearings where it was criticized by residents and Select Board members alike, was finally adopted after  one of its most controversial proposals was dropped. The 4 to 1 vote approving the at […]

One select board meeting, 3 contentious issues and a glitch

One select board meeting, 3 contentious issues and a glitch

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board had its hands full at its Wednesday, Dec. 18 meeting as it again took on controversial changes to rural zoning but put off a vote, handed down a determination in a long-standing Class 4 roads dispute and learned that sometimes delaying a decision […]

Flurry of customers brings success to Chester's first 'Starry, Starry Night' event

Flurry of customers brings success to Chester’s first ‘Starry, Starry Night’ event

©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was a frigid Saturday evening — one that made holding a camera near impossible. But it was brightened by lights adorning trees, the gazebo and many of the shops on the Green in Chester. And that bone-freezing cold quickly dissipated from the warm and welcoming atmosphere inside the shops, which […]

Chester building owner seeks driveway permit to stop neighbor 'harassment'

Chester building owner seeks driveway permit to stop neighbor ‘harassment’

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s unusual for a permit to put in a driveway to find its way to a select board for a decision, but in the case of 116 Main St. in Chester the situation itself is unusual. Also known as the Henry Office Building, the 1880s structure at […]

Chester continues budgeting, hears Class 4 road complaint

Chester continues budgeting, hears Class 4 road complaint

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Every year, the Chester Snowmobile Club comes before the Chester Select Board to request the use of certain town roads to link together private properties and Class 4 roads to complete the trails used by its members and by other members of the statewide VAST trail system. […]

Chester Teen Center growing; donations sought to work on permanent space

Chester Teen Center growing; donations sought to work on permanent space

  ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Since its inception last March, with a focus group of six students from Green Mountain Union High School, the Chester Teen Center program has grown to serve more than 50 local students in grades 6 and up and meeting in the community room of the Congregational Church at 469 Main […]

Burn ban again extended as dry weather persists

Burn ban again extended as dry weather persists

By Cynthia Prairie ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The ban on debris burning extended through today, Monday, Nov. 18 for Windsor, Windham, Rutland and Bennington counties has been extended for an additional week, until 3 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25. Towns from Windham east to the Connecticut River are ranked “Very High” for fire danger, according to […]

After 'tragic' election night, Dems oust Clarkson from Senate majority leadership

After ‘tragic’ election night, Dems oust Clarkson from Senate majority leadership

By Sarah Mearhoff ©2024 VTDigger MONTPELIER Two and a half weeks after Vermont voters eviscerated their supermajority, Senate Democrats convened Saturday to reflect on their election losses and chart a new course ahead of the 2025 legislative session. They voted to retain one top leader — but jettisoned another. Saturday’s caucus at the Statehouse was […]

Chester board says 'no' to new zoning idea, asks for tweaks to the rest of the plan

Chester board says ‘no’ to new zoning idea, asks for tweaks to the rest of the plan Emails, in-person contacts influence the decision

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC If you have ever thought that talking to or writing your local officials is not effective, the Chester Select Board meeting of Nov. 6 might change your mind. Over the course of a couple of meetings, the board has been looking at something called “density-based zoning,” which […]

Chester Democrats invites folks to monthly meeting

Chester Democrats invites folks to monthly meeting

Been meaning to get involved in politics, but too busy to get to it? Are you a Democrat or, if not, are you generally accepting of others and humane in your views? If so, join the Chester Democratic Committee for its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21 downstairs at the Chester Town […]