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.
Free Range to offer free to-go family dinners Donations of produce, money sought to bolster effort
By Cynthia Prairie ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Jason Tostrup, chef and owner of the Free Range restaurant in Chester, and Andover resident Chris Meyer are teaming up to ensure that Chester and Andover families — especially those with school children — are provided with some dinners over the next eight weeks of the Covid-19 crisis. […]
Event cancellations and changes
The Chester Telegraph is compiling a list of events that have been cancelled or changed in some way due to concern over contagious Covid-19 virus. We’ll update the list as information comes in so check back daily. If you have an event to cancel or change, please send the information to info@chestertelegraph.org and we’ll publish […]
Holden, Dakin win Chester Select Board seats Wade, Alexander eke out wins in close GM school board race
By Cynthia Prairie ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was inevitable that Chester voters on Tuesday would elect new members to its most important boards: The Select Board and the board of directors of the Green Mountain Unified School District which saw the only contested seats of the day. But the number of new members was […]
Chester OKs spending articles at Town Meeting Large 2019 Highway Dept. deficit blamed on weather
By Cynthia Prairie ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC About 100 Chesterites filled the old wooden benches in the refurbished Town Hall Monday to vote on — and pass almost unanimously — 22 Articles, most to allocate funds for town equipment and non-profit organizations that serve residents. The first two of the 24 total articles will be […]
Editorial: Vote ‘yes’ on the GM budget, then demand better
The $14 million Green Mountain Unified School District budget, which will go before the voters on Tuesday March 3, isn’t perfect. One glaring error is that the school board failed to fight harder to include the long promised foreign language program for the district’s elementary schools, but still managed to be 9 percent over last […]
Meet the candidates for board of the Green Mountain Unified School District
Three candidates are vying for two three-year positions on the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District: Incumbent Rick Alexander; Patty Davenport and Jeannie Wade. Marilyn Mahusky decided not to seek re-election this year, leaving that position open. Three weeks ago, The Chester Telegraph sent the candidates a series of questions for them to […]
Meet the candidates for Chester Select Board
Three candidates are vying for two one-year positions on the Chester Select Board: Incumbent Leigh Dakin, who won her seat last year in a write-in campaign; Scott Blair, who ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign last year; and Water/Sewer Commissioner Jeff Holden. Select Board member Ben Whalen deciding not to seek re-election. Board chair Arne Jonynas […]
Editorial: The GM school board is leading
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC When a public body should be criticized, at times the loudest voice you’ll hear comes from me. Today, that will be true for one that deserves praise: The Green Mountain Unified School District Board of Directors and its Finance Committee. Over the past several months, these elected members […]
TRSU board agenda for Dec. 5
The board of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union will meet from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5 at Black River High School , 43 Main St. in Ludlow. Below is its agenda. I. CALL TO ORDER: a. Roll Call II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: (Additions & Deletions) III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: a. Nov. 05, […]
Andover Select Board agenda for Nov. 25
The Andover Select Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 25 at Andover Town Offices, 953 Andover Road. Below is its agenda. 1. Call Select Board meeting to order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes: Act on minutes from the Nov. 11 meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five minutes per […]
Andover resident celebrates 100th; Londonderry Rescue Squad gives kids a taste of EMS work
© 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Andover resident Barbara Brady celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday, Oct. 5 with 45 friends and family at the former Baba a Louis Bakery in Chester. Brady and her late husband Joe, who died in 2015, were both New Jersey natives and had built a home in Andover to indulge […]
Vermont reports 1st vaping illness in state; 7th death occurs in California
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing The Vermont Department of Health is reporting the first case of severe respiratory illness associated with vaping in a Vermont resident. Five more possible cases are being investigated. A spokeswoman for the department, citing federal HIPAA rules, refused to reveal an age-range, sex or county where the patient lives. […]
Editorial: A question of judgment
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Meg Powden took the reins of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union in 2016, when our schools were in the throes of Act 46 consolidations and all parties involved worked hard to make the transition smooth. At the time, Powden was an unknown entity, so we sat back and […]
Derry Rescue Squad building damaged in an ‘inside job’
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Kevin Beattie, of the Londonderry Rescue Squad, was preparing to head out to a rescue in Winhall Monday evening. A woman had slipped at a pond and he could make use of the specialized equipment on the Rescue 1 truck to aid in her recovery. He turned from […]
New owner, name slated for Chester bookstore From avid reader to bookseller to store owner
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vicki Thornton loves to read. It was reading that brought her to work at Phoenix Books Misty Valley when the owner’s daughter and store manager, Katie DeSanto, was looking for some help in January to free her from the frequent days away from her East Hardwick home. And […]
Pollards open flower shop at Chester Hardware
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Come Saturday, Aug. 17, the almost yearlong absence of a flower shop in the town of Chester will come to an end, thanks to a simple question from the owner of Chester Hardware. It was October of 2018 when the long-time owners of Chester Flowers and Village Children […]
Editorial: Next step in openness: Process, clarity in school budgeting
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC With the satisfactory resolution of the Open Meeting Law violation and other issues, the Green Mountain Unified District Board of Directors seems to be getting a firm grip on its responsibilities, stepping away from the rubber-stamp function that seems expected by the Two Rivers Supervisory Union. But the […]
Editorial: The public wins out at GMUSD board
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Democracy is a rough ‘n’ tumble and startling beautiful occurrence. And it is rare to witness it being wrenched back from darkness. But last Thursday night, the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District did just that and handed a resounding victory to you, the public, when […]
After year delay, new CAES playground dedicated
©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Fund-raising and planning took quite a number of years. Then, last August, when Chester-Andover Elementary School and the volunteers of the Parent-Teacher Group were ready to welcome kids back to school and celebrate the brand new and very blue playground that they had labored so long for, a water line break […]
Tractor-trailer accident closes Route 103 North of Chester
Time: 8:14 p.m. June 11 A single-vehicle accident involving a tractor-trailer heading south on Route 103, just north of Chester’s Stone Village at Palmer Road, has stopped traffic in both directions. The accident occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11. No one was injured. But Chester Fire Department personnel are concerned about fluid from […]
