Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
New Andover board OKs fire/ambulance contract, mulls reappraisal
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Andover Select Board on Monday — in its first meeting since the Town Meeting Day election — approved the emergency services contract with the Town of Chester that includes fire, ambulance and dispatch. With Richard Griswold, Melissa Gates and Robin Trask as newly minted members, the […]
Chester rally raises funds for Ukraine support
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC With the temperature at 23 degrees but feeling more like 14, nearly 20 people showed up on the Chester Green on Sunday to show their support for Ukraine and raise money for World Central Kitchen, which is feeding refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of the independent nation. Organized […]
UPDATED: School schedule change considered, public input welcomed Weekly early release for teacher development proposed across the SU
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC The boards of the Green Mountain Unified School District and the Ludlow Mt. Holly Unified Union School District will meet on at 6 p.m. on Wednesday March 23 at Cavendish Town Elementary to decide if they will make a substantial scheduling change that would increase professional development time […]
Chester board reorganizes, looks at buying solar field
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Town Manager Julie Hance called the Chester Select Board to order on the day after the Town Meeting Day election to begin its annual reorganization. The board quickly and unanimously elected Arne Jonynas to the chair, but then there was the unusual sight of a contested vote […]
2-year-old, 80-year-old die in crash on Rt. 103 in Chester Driver flown to DHMC, gives birth to boy by C-section
Please see below for updates made at 5:24 p.m. and 4 p.m. By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC A minivan traveling south on Route 103 in Chester on Wednesday night crossed over the center line and hit another vehicle head-on, resulting in the death of the minivan’s 80-year-old driver and […]
Andover elects historic board; Chester voters return Whalen to Select Board after hiatus
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Andover residents, faced with three select board vacancies, created what is likely an historic board with a majority of women as members. With one member resigning his unexpired three-year seat and two members deciding not to run for re-election, Andover residents were voting to put three new […]
Chester votes ‘yes’ on retail cannabis; Andover voters say ‘no’ to street ATVs Manchester voters reject regional field house proposal
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Retail cannabis was approved Tuesday by the voters of Chester 318 to 267, an outcome that seemed to surprise both those who were for it and those who were against it. The article — Shall the Town of Chester authorize cannabis retailers in town […]
Hybrid Andover information meeting focuses on ATV ordinance Nearly 100 residents attend online or in person
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Saturday before Town Meeting Day is usually when the Town of Andover gathers its voters to do the town’s business. But in light of the pandemic – and at the urging of residents – the Select Board opted again this year to vote all articles by […]
Retail cannabis sales vote: What you should know
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Town Meeting Day this year, Chester voters will go to the polls to vote on allowing the sale of recreational cannabis within the town. For those who are still on the fence, here are some resources to help with making a decision. First, cannabis was made […]
Chester Select Board talks around cannabis vote
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC With less than two weeks to go before the town’s voters will decide whether retail sales of cannabis will be allowed in Chester, the Select Board continued to talk – and occasionally debate – about the topic including issues that are outside the scope of the vote. […]
Chester on Ice! Annual Winter Carnival lures smiling families on a snowy weekend
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC A light snowfall helped set a festive mood as the annual Chester Winter Carnival kicked off on Saturday Feb 19. By 2 p.m., more than 150 kids had ridden the mini-snowmobiles, according to the Chester Snowmobile Club, which sponsored that portion of the event. One visitor […]
Three member Andover board talks reappraisal, short term rentals Emergency services contract on hold for new board
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Recent meetings of the Andover Select Board have tended to be contentious, but the Feb. 14 meeting saw the now three-member board agreeing on most everything that came up. And with three members remaining after two recent resignations, there was no room for disagreement. That’s because with […]
Variations on a Town Meeting Day Area towns choose formats, new dates for annual votes
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Once again this year the Vermont legislature has taken its cue from the continuing Covid pandemic and is giving municipalities options in how they can manage Town Meeting Day. And area select boards have chosen several variations — from fully remote meetings and Australian ballots for all […]
Chester resident gets cannabis sales on the ballot
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester voters will be making one more choice when they go to the polls (or fill out absentee ballots) for this Town Meeting day, as a petition to put an opt-in vote on retail sales of recreational cannabis garnered the required signatures to put it before the […]
Chester board nixes putting cannabis vote on ballot; petition could force issue
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board at its Wednesday, Jan. 19, meeting, discussed and took public input on placing an “opt-in” article for retail sales of cannabis on the Town Meeting day ballot and for the second time in two years, decided against it. But a petition that’s being […]
Andover board unanimously reverses town meeting decision; two members resign
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Early in its Monday, Jan. 24 meeting, the Andover Select Board unanimously reversed its stance on how Town Meeting should be conducted, changing from all business being done by floor vote to a hybrid information meeting on one day, with voting by Australian ballot on Town Meeting […]
Frigid weather grows Popple Dungeon sculpture
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the recent cold snap has frozen pipes, drained heating fuel tanks and put deep dents into wood piles, there’s one bright side to the frigid weather. Peter Delaney’s annual ice sculpture is growing fast on his Chester property. At the beginning of the season, the mild […]
Hearth & Home: New owners blend talents to bring new life to Stone Hearth Mustoe-Eklund family take on work of transforming 200-year-old inn
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Five days before Christmas, Vicky Mustoe, her son and daughter and son-in-law arrived in Chester. Moving from Orlando, Fla., the family was about to begin a new chapter in their lives — transforming The Stone Hearth Inn and Tavern on Route 11 West into Stone Hearth Inn […]
Area towns shuffled, separated under proposed redistricting plan
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont House yesterday passed H. 589 to bypass the work done by a tri-partisan board set up to create a legislative redistricting plan. The move substitutes the bill as the design for the “initial district plan.” The text of the legislation says that lawmakers will be […]
Andover board opts for in-person Town Meeting; Bodin says voters’ voices are being disrespected
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Long simmering disagreements over a number of issues boiled over at Monday’s Andover Select Board meeting after the board decided on a 3 to 2 vote to return to a “floor vote” Town Meeting rather than using Australian ballots as it did last year due to the […]
