Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
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 […]
Andover Select Board agenda for March 24
The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday March 24 at the Andover 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 10th meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five minutes […]
Chester board talks quarrying, STRs, future rail connections and federal funds
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC With Tuesday’s elections behind it, the Chester Select Board last Wednesday got down to its annual re-organization with a bit of a surprise. When nominations for officers were opened, long-time board chair Arne Jonynas nominated vice chair Lee Gustafson to the chairman seat. The vote of the […]
Fewer short-term rentals in Chester could indicate a softening market
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC At last week’s Chester Select Board meeting, Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow and Assistant ZA Hugh Quinn updated the board on the town’s short-term rental program, which seems to have cooled down along with the entire STR market in general. The town requires property owners who rent for […]
Collapsed Chester Police carport gone; contractor expected to foot bill for vehicle damage
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In mid-February, the carport erected next to Chester’s Public Safety Building collapsed after a snowstorm trapping a police cruiser and an officer’s private car underneath. This past Sunday, a crew disassembled it and the cars underneath it were removed. The delay had to do with the unusual […]
Andover and Londonderry Town Meeting results
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two area towns, voted their Town Meeting articles from the floor on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Andover Andover voters approved a $1.24 million budget, elected two new select board members along with a slate of officers running unopposed and passed half a dozen other articles on […]
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 […]
GMUSD budget articles pass by varying margins
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC There were two ballots given to voters in Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester on Tuesday. The pair were proposed by the Green Mountain Unified School District but while they both passed, their vote totals were wildly different. The first was asked voters if a $357,395 surplus could […]
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
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
© 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 […]
Side by Side: Scott education plans past and present
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the eight years that Gov. Phil Scott has been in office, his administration has produced two reports on reforming education in Vermont. These reports that are strikingly similar in conclusions, but very different in their origins. One was said to be the result of public input […]
High winds make for dangerous conditions; ski areas pause operations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC UPDATE: 7 a.m. Wednesday Feb. 19 – Green Mountain Power is reporting no outages this morning. The wind forecast for this morning arrived pretty much on schedule and with it came the power outages. By 6 a.m. Monday, Green Mountain Power’s online outage map was showing 1,180 […]
It’s GM ‘Grizzlies’ as students vote for new mascot
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC The polls have closed, the votes have been counted and the result is in. Green Mountain Union High School’s new mascot is the grizzly bear. GM Principal John Broadley told The Telegraph on Sunday that the 200 plus students who voted to chose from five candidates picked the […]
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 […]
Scott’s ed plan gets pushback at Future of Ed Commission meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Zoie Saunders has had some bumpy days since moving to Vermont from Florida to take over the state’s Agency of Education. And Monday will go down as yet another one. During meetings of the State Board of Education and the Commission on the Future of Public Education […]
Andover Select Board agenda for Feb.10
The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 10, 2025 at the Andover 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 January 27th meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five minutes per […]
The Killarney to hold 20th anniversary celebration Wednesday
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC This Wednesday evening, Feb. 5, The Killarney — the Irish pub at the foot of Okemo Mountain in Ludlow — will celebrate 20 years of bringing award winning chicken wings (in addition to other comfort foods like shepherd’s pie) Irish music and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Pub […]
News Analysis: What’s the future for the commission on the Future of Public Education?
By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday, the Scott administration unveiled its plan – at least a rough sketch of a plan – for fixing all the problems of Vermont’s education system with a 45 minute slideshow by Agency of Education Secretary Zoie Saunders. And, depending on who you’re listening to, it […]
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 […]
