Author Archive for Cynthia Prairie
Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor more than 40 years. Cynthia has worked at such publications as the Raleigh Times, the Baltimore News American, the Buffalo Courier Express, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Patuxent Publishing chain of community newspapers in Maryland, and has won numerous state awards for her reporting. As an editor, she has overseen her staffs to win many awards for indepth coverage. She and her family moved to Chester, Vermont in 2004.
Grafton hires new town administrator
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Londonderry resident Emily Huff has been hired as town administrator for Grafton, replacing Rachel Williams, who is returning to college to finish her bachelor’s and pursue a master’s degree. Huff began work last week, getting her feet wet with Williams’ help. In an interview on Thursday, Huff said […]
Local Jr. Iron Chefs win at competition;
Chester Fall Festival 2016 accepting vendor applications
Green Mountain Union’s high school and middle school teams took home wins at Saturday’s 9th Annual Jr. Iron Chef competition held the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. This statewide culinary competition challenges teams of middle and high school students to create healthy, local dishes that inspire school meal programs. This year, 17 middle school […]
Come out swinging: CAES parents, kids kick off ambitious plan for new playground
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC A group of parents, school staff and students have come together to begin working on a plan to replace Chester-Andover Elementary School’s well-worn 25-year-old playground known to generations simply as “The Structure.” The effort began several years ago when maintenance on the castle-like Structure began to get overwhelming […]
Grafton board pushes Planning Commission on Town Plan
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC With a sharply critical response directed to the Grafton Planning Commission, Grafton Select Board member Ron Pilette on Monday called on the commission to make specific changes to the Town Plan that was rejected in late December. In a short, 1-1/4-page draft response, which will be sent on […]
Sands fends off write-in candidate, Gibbs beats incumbent to win seats on Grafton Select Board
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC With 320 voters casting ballots, Grafton residents turned out one incumbent and turned aside a write-in candidate who mounted an active campaign against another in Tuesday’s Australian balloting. Cynthia Gibbs, who had served more than 30 years as Town Clerk and Town Treasurer, won her first Select Board […]
Newcomers Cote, Whalen win seats on Chester Select Board; incumbent Jonynas garners most votes
By Cynthia Prairie © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC ON THE COVER: From left, Arne Jonynas, Dan Cote and Ben Whalen. The Chester Select Board will welcome two new members when it meets Wednesday night. Chester innkeeper Dan Cote and firefighter and state police dispatcher Ben Whalen will be taking their seats along with Heather Chase, […]
Chester voters shorten two tax exemption articles at Town Meeting
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two of three articles to exempt organizations from property and education taxes were substantially changed at Monday night’s Chester Town Meeting, when both the Rod & Gun Club and the Green Mountain Softball League were given one-year tax exemptions (rather than five) and asked to return next year […]
Grafton Select Board meeting for March 1, 2016
The Grafton Select Board will hold an organizational meeting on Tuesday, March 1 following the ballot counting. Polls close at 7 p.m. and the meeting is expected to start around 8 p.m. It will be held at Grafton Elementary School, 58 School St. in Grafton. Below is the agenda. 1. Adopt Agenda 2. Elect Chair […]
Grafton voters ask the questions in a lively candidate forum
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC About 40 members of the Grafton public got a chance Monday night to ask questions of the four people seeking two seats on the Grafton Select Board. The candidates forum, overseen by town Moderator David Ross at the Grafton Elementary School, was a lively and at times pointed […]
Grafton Board seeks way to garner wind project opinions from second homeowners
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC A majority of the members of the Grafton Select Board continues to search for a way to gather non-residents’ opinions on the 28-turbine Iberdrola-Meadowsend wind project proposed for the Grafton/Windham town line. Board chair Sam Battaglino has proposed that non-resident property owners in Grafton should have a say […]
Grafton Town Administrator Williams stepping down
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Grafton Town Administrator Rachel Williams is leaving her position to complete her bachelor’s degree and pursue a master’s in business management and accounting in St. Albans. Williams, 34, the mother of two elementary school-age children, has been in the post for two years. It’s a job that involves […]
GMUHS, CAES issue annual budget requests, annual reports
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Green Mountain Union High and Chester-Andover Elementary schools have issued their annual reports for 2014-2015. The two reports, of more than 30 pages each, can be accessed online in The Chester Telegraph: GMUHS REPORT and CAES REPORT Each report contains the warnings for upcoming public meetings and votes, minutes […]
Challengers step up in Grafton, Chester Select Board races
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Incumbents on both the Grafton and Chester select boards will face challenges to their seats when voters go to the polls on Town Meeting Day, which this year falls on Tuesday, March 1. In Grafton, chair Sam Battaglino has decided not to seek re-election after […]
Ian McGrath, 52, loved coaching, was devoted to his four children
©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ian Bernard McGrath died suddenly at his Chester, VT, home on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016. He was 52. Mr. McGrath was born on Sept. 1, 1963 in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Bernard and Mary Donaldson McGrath. Mr. McGrath, a 1981 graduate of Bellows Falls Union High School, was employed by the Vermont […]
Foodbank Mobile Pantry to drop off in Springfield
On the second Friday of every month, the Vermont Foodbank “Veggie VanGo” Mobile Food Pantry will be at the Springfield Hospital Meeting House, on the hill opposite the hospital on Ridgewood Road, to distribute food for those who need it. Its next visit is from 10 to 11 a.m. tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 8. The Foodbank […]
Grafton Select Board rejects initial Planning Commission changes, asks for full Town Plan revision
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Eric Stevens, the head of Grafton’s Planning Commission, says he was at first angered, then baffled by the Select Board’s recent rejection of the changes his group had made to the Town Plan, which is actually the 2008 Town Plan that was re-adopted in 2013. Vermont requires towns […]
Grafton group agrees to pick up annual insurance tab, half of pay phone fee
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was a short pre-Christmas Grafton Select Board meeting that was well-attended as a number of residents who had come to two earlier meetings stayed on. Those earlier meetings included a short one held by the Capital Budget Committee seeking public input and a longer one by the […]
Police arrest suspect in knife robbery of Cavendish store
©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC A 33-year-old Springfield man has been charged with assault and robbery and aggravated assault in the knifepoint robbery of the Cavendish General Store on Monday. According to the Vermont State Police, Joshua Corliss was picked up by Chester Police late last night and taken to the Vermont Police Barracks in Rockingham. […]
A dustup in Grafton: Select Board chair, Treasurer spar on proposed wind panel
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC A cold wind blew through the Grafton Select Board meeting Monday night, generating electricity between two elected officials: the Select Board chair and the town Treasurer. Grafton Treasurer Kim Record proposed creating a subcommittee to research financial benefits and proposals to present to the Iberdrola wind energy company […]
Iberdrola letter to Grafton outlines 2016 timeline for wind project; says it won’t build on a ‘nay’ vote
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a letter to Grafton residents sent just before Thanksgiving, Iberdrola Renewables, the Spanish energy company that hopes to build a wind farm with 28, 492-foot-high turbines in Grafton and Windham, has outlined its plans for next year that include a timeline on proceeding with the project and […]
