Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
TRSU looks to align school schedules for both its districts 'Test to Stay' keeps students in school instead of quarantine
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC During her monthly report to the Two Rivers Supervisory Union board, Superintendent Lauren Fierman spoke of “aligning the schedules” of the SU’s five schools. Currently, Cavendish Town Elementary School has an early release every Tuesday, with the remainder of the day being used by the faculty for […]
Chester board hears from department heads on budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Next year’s budget was the main item on the Chester Select Board’s agenda for Wednesday, Dec. 1 with the heads of the public safety departments and Town Clerk Deb Aldrich coming to the board to discuss their spending plans. Fire Chief Matt Wilson told the board that […]
GMUSD finance committee gets first look at proposed FY23 budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Finance Committee of the Green Mountain Unified School District got a first look at the administration’s proposed 2022-23 budget as it met on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at Green Mountain High School. The almost $15 million spending plan for running the high school plus Chester-Andover and Cavendish […]
Fire Department Christmas trees go on sale in Chester
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On the day after Thanksgiving, as snow began falling in earnest, the Chester Fire Department kicked off its annual sale of Christmas trees on Route 103 south, across from Marshall Road. The sale of 500 trees is one of the major fundraisers put on by the Yosemite Engine Company, which […]
Participants sought for workforce survey as Chester updated on Communities Challenge Chester board begins 2022 budget review; gets update on Lovers Lane Brook bridge
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Springfield Regional Development Corp. came before the Chester Select Board last week to update information on the Working Communities Challenge, a three-year, $300,000 grant program sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and several philanthropic organizations to remove barriers to work and increase the region’s […]
Stigers Rd. pond hydrant provides water supply for rural firefighting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC One of the big challenges to rural firefighting is getting enough water to the scene quickly enough to make a difference. A call for mutual aid can bring a fleet of tankers from surrounding towns, but those trucks have to get water from somewhere and the farther […]
Area towns look — cautiously — to spend large ARPA allocations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC There’s a lot of extra money in the bank accounts of town governments across the state with more coming next year. But most towns are taking cautious steps in deciding how to spend the funds. That’s because the money comes from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan […]
Chester board clears way for police union vote
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board chose not to challenge the makeup of a prospective union for the town’s Police Department after meeting in executive session last Wednesday night. An election can now take place to see if the six-member group of police employees — known as a “bargaining […]
Chester police move to unionize
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The New England Police Benevolent Association has filed a “petition for election of collective bargaining representative” with the Vermont Labor Relations Board on behalf of members of the Chester Police Department. The petition is a first step toward Chester Police officers being represented by a regional union […]
GM board calls for more precise costs on $18M of $28M proposal Energy audit firm works toward bond vote in March 2022
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At a special meeting on Monday night, the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District weighed the $28 million proposal put forward by the New Hampshire firm Energy Efficient Investments as a result of its “energy audit” and decided to ask for more details on the […]
GM board votes to stop using Native American logo
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Just a few months after adopting a format that puts time limits on every item on its agenda, the Green Mountain Unified School District went spectacularly off the rails on Thursday night running to three hours rather than the 108 minutes outlined on the agenda. The sticking […]
Chester board votes to offer emergency services to Andover If accepted, $55,755 annual fee would be $22,000 above 2021 contract
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Wednesday night, the Chester Select Board voted to offer fire and ambulance coverage to the Town of Andover for 2022 at the cost of $55,754.67. That represents a 69 percent increase over the $33,000 that Chester charged Andover for fire, ambulance and dispatch in 2021. The […]
Small public turnout at forum on fate of Chieftain mascot Speakers generally in favor of some degree of change
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC For what was expected to be a hot-button topic, the community discussion of whether to change Green Mountain High School’s Chieftain mascot last Thursday night drew relatively sparse attendance. The number of those on the Zoom call peaked at 52 toward the end of the meeting but […]
Negotiations with Chester to begin as Andover residents weigh in on fire, ambulance Tensions cool as select boards seek to find an equitable route
Video by Cynthia Prairie/Video editing by Leah Cunningham ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 35 Andover residents attended the Andover Select Board on Monday night to voice their concerns over Chester’s decision to discontinue fire and ambulance service to the town at the end of this year. […]
GMUSD board hears further details of energy audit findings Will look at prioritizing needs for a future bond issue
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Tuesday night, the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District held a special meeting to begin looking at the long list of projects that came out of an “energy audit” conducted by Energy Efficient Investments or EEI over the past two years. EEI had presented […]
Chester native traces story of Romaine Tenney Travis Van Alstyne animates the farmer's last year, last days
A 40-second clip of Travis Van Alstyne’s animation.By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s been more than 57 years since Weathersfield farmer Romaine Tenney responded to the taking of his farm by the state of Vermont to build Interstate-91 by setting his barns and house on fire and nailing himself inside. Since […]
Chester Select Board to end contracting emergency services to Andover in 2022 Cites 'heightened animosity' and 'clear distrust' of Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Wednesday night, the Chester Select Board decided — after a one hour executive session — that the town would no longer provide its fire and ambulance coverage to Andover after the end of this year. When the board came out of the closed door meeting, board […]
Chester emergency departments explain costs, training, services in Andover
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC An informational meeting on emergency services between the Andover and Chester select boards Monday night was winding down when Andover board member Chris Walker slammed a travel mug on the table and walked out saying that the Town of Chester wasn’t listening and would force Andover to pay […]
Powerful ‘Mountaintop’ built on sterling performances
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Mountaintop – now running at Weston’s Walker Farm stage – is a fantasy that imagines the last night of Martin Luther King’s life set in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis during a thunderstorm. It is April 3, 1968. King has just delivered his […]
Chester greenhouse project in flux following multiple board resignations Current, former members hope efforts continue to completion
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC An effort to erect an historic greenhouse in Chester and operate it as a community service is in the midst of an upheaval after three members of the six-member board quit in late August, citing a disagreement over what some say is the “scope […]
