Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Weston board considers reappraisal, tables municipal tax-rate decision
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Tuesday evening, the Weston Select Board heard from Listers Greg Carroll and Dan Hanenberg who suggested that the town might want to consider a reappraisal of properties for the grand list. Noting that last appraisal was in 2005 and that the “cost table” and “land value schedules” […]
Chester taxes jump as reassessment cancels CLA cushion
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday night, the Chester Select Board set tax rates and, even though municipal and school budgets have seen only minor increases for this year and the 2021-22 school year, Chester taxpayers are looking at an increases of about 13 cents per hundred of assessed value (or […]
Derry resident arraigned on federal drug charges
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A South Londonderry man pleaded not guilty in federal court (via Zoom) this afternoon on drug charges dating back to 2017 that apparently involved an overdose death. Timothy J. Slade, 29, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of heroin distribution and maintaining a drug-involved […]
TRSU boards look at their roles during retreat Association continues to push for less hands-on approach
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC School boards don’t operate schools.” If there is one takeaway from a presentation that facilitator Susan Holson of the Vermont School Boards Association gave to members of the Green Mountain and Ludlow Mount Holly district boards during their June 30 retreat, it was that school boards hire […]
Story ballet ‘Thumbelina’ sparkles on Cobleigh Field
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On a perfect early summer evening, 11 local dancers marched on to Chester’s Cobleigh Field to premiere a new “story ballet” choreographed by Ashley Hensel-Browning and set to Vermont composer Evan Premo’s Thumbelina. The cast danced to a recording of Premo’s original musical setting of Hans Christian […]
Greenhouse siting takes center stage at Chester Select Board meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The question of where to put a large greenhouse for community use was once again front and center on at the June 15 meeting of Chester’s Select Board with some questions and and a bit of push back from neighbors at each of the sites under consideration. […]
Green Mountain graduates 50 in a return to normal commencement
By Shawn Cunningham 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Green Mountain High’s commencement exercises on Friday were a welcomed return to normal compared to last year’s drive-thru graduation. Hundreds of parents and friends watched as 50 members of the class of 2021 received awards and diplomas. (A gallery of graduates is at the end of this story.) […]
GM board wrangles over approval of minutes from Hill appointment
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its first in-person monthly meeting in more than a year, the Green Mountain Unified School Board on June 17 continued its rumpus over the minutes taken during the meeting in which Keith Hill was named high school principal. For 45 minutes, the members wrangled over parliamentary […]
GM student represents Vermont in Smithsonian History Day exhibition
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A Vermont History Day presentation on Suzy ‘Chap Stick’ Chaffee researched and created by Andover student Violet Haight at Green Mountain High School has been selected to compete in the National History Day Contest. It was also chosen to be showcased virtually by the Smithsonian’s National Museum […]
Scott lifts restrictions as state hits 80% vaxx goal State of emergency to expire at midnight Tuesday; businesses can retain masking
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At a press conference called for this morning, Gov. Phil Scott announced that Vermont has reached the goal of 80 percent of all residents ages 12 and older having received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and followed through on his promise to lift all […]
Chester board looks at possible greenhouse locations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board took a field trip before its meeting last Wednesday night, visiting two town-owned properties that have been proposed as possible sites for a large public greenhouse and gardens project that has come before the board in the past. Identifying the sites follows a […]
Missing Ludlow man found dead
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A missing Ludlow man who has been the focus of a multi-agency search since Monday was found dead this afternoon. According to a Vermont State Police press release, at about 3 p.m. on Friday, June 4, the body of Russell Nord was found by a search team in a wooded […]
State panel finds ‘reasonable grounds’ in Chester Police discrimination case
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Human Rights Commission has found “reasonable grounds” that a Chester police officer illegally discriminated against a Black man when it stopped him in May of 2019, a claim that the Town of Chester strongly denies. The commission investigates allegations of discrimination under state law to […]
Pandemic postponed annual meetings take place under sunny skies After 3-month delay, Weston, GM school district meet
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the Covid-19 pandemic seems to be winding down, a number of municipalities are catching up with meetings (under sunny skies) that could not be held in their traditional March time slots this past winter. By the time the country was shutting down in mid-March 2020, most […]
Police ask help looking for missing Ludlow man
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont State Police are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing Ludlow man. According to a VSP press release, Russell Nord, 76, was last seen in the area of East Hill Road in Ludlow around 7 p.m. on May 31. Nord was wearing a green baseball hat, […]
Move to oust GM vice chair Brown fails in a tie
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Just before the end of last Thursday’s meeting in the ongoing crisis that is the Green Mountain Unified School District board of directors, member Michael Studin moved to unseat board vice chair Deb Brown for actions he called “unbecoming of someone in a position of leadership.” The […]
GM board member wants much less detail in meeting minutes, destruction of notes, recordings
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A member of the Green Mountain Unified School District Board of Directors wants that panel to streamline the minutes of its meetings, eliminating much of the detail of its discussions, and to destroy notes and recordings of those meetings after the minutes are approved. Some of those […]
Sign panel gives Chester wayfinding a go-ahead of sorts State will work with town to clear final hurtles
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its first meeting in more than a year and a half, Vermont’s Travel Information Council considered Chester’s long-waiting request to erect wayfinding signs as a downtown economic development move and gave the plan a partial but enthusiastic approval. The council is administered by the Agency of […]
Chester board names new Zoning Administrator Will tour sites proposed for community greenhouse
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC For the second time in six months, the Chester Select Board appointed a new zoning administrator for the town. The appointment took place at its meeting on Wednesday, May 19. The board took the unanimous recommendation of the Planning Commission and appointed Preston Bristow of Woodstock to […]
Cavendish schedules sewer repair with late summer paving
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Town of Cavendish is looking to resolve a longstanding sewer pipe problem on Main Street in Proctorsville this summer by piggybacking on the state’s work on Route 131 At Monday night’s Select Board meeting, Town Manager Brendan McNamara said that the 8-inch asbestos-cement sewer line between […]
