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Update on the Future: No silver bullets to cutting costs

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC As school districts are working on their 2025-26 budgets, the deadline for the preliminary report from the state Commission on the Future of Public Education’s — including short term cost containment strategies —  is fast approaching. The message from recent subcommittee meetings is that it’s complicated and […]

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

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 […]

Analysis: Southern Windsor and the emerging Republican Party

By Cynthia Prairie ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC While there was never any doubt that incumbent Democratic Sens. Alison Clarkson and Becca White and anointed Democratic candidate Joe Major would win election for the three seats for the Windsor District, the nascent Chester Republican Committee has made a formidable premier foray into politics while the Ludlow […]

No one injured as Sunday morning fire destroys Chester home

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC A fire Sunday morning on Jewett Road in Chester destroyed a home and an outbuilding, but no one was injured as the homeowner escaped the building amid black smoke. According to Chester Police Chief Tom Williams, around 9:15 a.m. this morning, a motorist spotted smoke coming from […]

Local Republican Senate candidates make strong showing against north county Democrats

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Republicans from Cavendish, Ludlow and Weathersfield showed electoral strength on Tuesday running for seats in the Windsor County Senate delegation against a slate of Democrats from the northern part of the county. And while they lost overall, their campaigns were a clear challenge to a longstanding majority […]

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  • Fund drive started to help Chester man rebuild after Sunday fire

    Fund drive started to help Chester man rebuild after Sunday fire

    © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC A fundraising campaign has been started to help Charles Wright, who lost his Jewett Road home in Chester to a fire on Sunday. The Go Fund Me effort has a goal of $20,000 to help Wright to rebuild his home, which was uninsured. According to his niece Grace Wright, who […]

  • Counterpoint concert film showing in Weston

    Counterpoint concert film showing in Weston

    Burr and Burton Academy seniors Tyler Keyes and Jordan Houghtaling put their cinematography skills to use recently by recording Counterpoint, Vermont’s premier professional vocal ensemble. The concert, titled The Sceptered Isle, was recorded in St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover, N.H. on Oct. 26. The program of secular and sacred music is drawn from the […]

  • Patient thanks Londonderry Volunteer Rescue Squad; how you can help the service

    Patient thanks Londonderry Volunteer Rescue Squad; how you can help the service

    On June 29, 2023 Cole Williams of Londonderry was involved in a serious motorcycle accident on Middletown Road. A passerby called 911 and within 10 minutes personnel from the Londonderry Volunteer Rescue Service and Londonderry Technical Rescue were on the scene. Londonderry Fire also assisted. LVRS members involved in the call were Pete Cobb, Judy […]

  • Children's Thanksgiving art workshop Nov. 16 in Weston

    Children’s Thanksgiving art workshop Nov. 16 in Weston

    Wilder Memorial Library, 24 Lawrence Hill Road in Weston, invites children of all ages to a Giving Thanks workshop with art teacher Casey Junker Bailey at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16. Children will create fabric print banners and small thankful books with decorative papers. These will make charming additions to any Thanksgiving celebration. The […]

  • Burn ban in S. Vermont extended to Nov. 18

    Burn ban in S. Vermont extended to Nov. 18

    ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The statewide outdoor burn ban of debris that was to end at 3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, has been extended for one week in the southern Vermont counties of Windsor, Windham, Bennington and Rutland, the state Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation has announced. According to the state, persistent dry […]

  • Henry Homeyer: Final garden chores before winter sets in

    Henry Homeyer: Final garden chores before winter sets in

    By Henry Homeyer ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Winter is fast upon us. The shortest days of the year are ahead, but gardening is done for most of us. That being said, I still have flowers in bloom outside: My witch-hazel trees are showing gorgeous, twisty-petaled yellow flowers, even after a light snow and several hard […]

  • Springfield Hospital's Hearts of Hope Campaign under way

    Springfield Hospital’s Hearts of Hope Campaign under way

    The Hearts of Hope Campaign, sponsored by Springfield Hospital and its volunteers, provides the opportunity to pause and reflect on those who have meant so much to us. When you contribute $15 or more, a handmade heart ornament will be placed on the Hearts of Hope holiday tree. All donations support Springfield Hospital services. The […]

  • Conversation about grief, death Nov. 16 in Weston

    Conversation about grief, death Nov. 16 in Weston

    Grief while facing loss can be paralyzing. Death denial in the United States is commonplace. Fear about dying in pain from a lingering illness, a lack of certainty about what happens to our physical presence or how loved ones left behind will cope when we die make it easier to simply avoid the conversation. Susan […]

  • Andover Select Board agenda for Nov. 11

    Andover Select Board agenda for Nov. 11

    The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday Nov. 11 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 October 28th meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five minutes per visitor, 10 […]

  • To the editor: Rep. Chase thanks supporters, congratulates Charlton

    To the editor: Rep. Chase thanks supporters, congratulates Charlton

    Dear Residents of Chester, Grafton, Windham and Athens, The voters have spoken, and while the outcome wasn’t what we hoped for, I want to take a moment to congratulate Tom Charlton on his victory. The people have made their choice, and I respect that decision. Serving as your representative in Montpelier  has been an incredible […]

  • Many voters favor mail-in ballots, early voting amid brisk turnout at the polls

    Many voters favor mail-in ballots, early voting amid brisk turnout at the polls

    By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Turnout was brisk on this warm and breezy Election Day, in which Americans were choosing a new president and Vermonters were deciding on their gubernatorial and State House seats. Mail-in ballots at times rivaled or surpassed in-person voting in many of our south-central Vermont towns. […]

  • Republicans victorious in two of three local State House seats

    Republicans victorious in two of three local State House seats

    By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Republican candidates found enough traction Tuesday to flip two local State House seats held by Democrats, while a Democratic candidate was victorious in a district that has been held by independents for a decade. Anger over higher school and property taxes — and a perceived dysfunction in […]

  • 1993 Craven film screened Nov. 14 in Londonderry; part of the Vermont Film Festival

    1993 Craven film screened Nov. 14 in Londonderry; part of the Vermont Film Festival

    The Vermont Film Festival returns to the Depot on Route 100 in South Londonderry at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14 with the showing of Where the Rivers Flow North. Set in 1927, Where the Rivers Flow North is the 1993 Jay Craven film that tells the story of an old Vermont logger (Rip Torn […]

  • Ludlow businessman Caruso pleads guilty to kickback scheme in New York

    By Cara Philbin ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ludlow business owner Troy Caruso, 57, who also lives in Smithtown, N.Y., pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of “honest services wire fraud conspiracy” for a kickback scheme that lasted from early 2021 until late 2023. The Chester Telegraph reported his arrest in December of 2023. “Honest […]

  • Ludlow Rotary Club donates to eradicate polio worldwide

    Ludlow Rotary Club donates to eradicate polio worldwide

    ERADICATING POLIO: The Ludlow Rotary Club recently heard from District Rotary Foundation Chair Diane Barclay about Rotary International’s work to eradicate polio in the world through vaccinations. Ludlow Rotarians are shown here with their annual checks to support the cause, helping RI to raise $50 million to be matched 2:1 by the Bill & Melinda […]

  • Proctorsville Ghost Walk Nov. 10

    Proctorsville Ghost Walk Nov. 10

    Proctorsville village is home to Vermont’s most haunted inn. One house includes a ghost in the deed, and the fire department is visited periodically by “Homer.” Learn more about these and other eerie tales at the Proctorsville Ghost Walk to be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10. This event is sponsored by the […]

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