Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Photo gallery: Local elections called ‘smooth’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A visitor to the polls in 10 local towns today heard the same word over and over: smooth. One after another, town clerks and other election officials told The Telegraph that turnout was light to moderate but steady. There were no long lines or waits to vote […]
Man found dead on Popple Dungeon Road in Chester is identified
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC A Vermont native who has been living in Alaska for the past five years was found dead in an SUV parked along Popple Dungeon Road on Tuesday, Oct. 27. According to Chester Police, James Johnson Jr. , 36, of Kenai, Alaska, was found dead in an SUV in […]
Cavendish begins count of mail-in votes
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC As announced earlier in October, on Friday, officials of the town of Cavendish counted the mail-in ballots received up to that point in preparation for this Tuesday’s election. Town Clerk Diane McNamara explained the procedure to Justices of the Peace Rolf Van Schaik and Doris Eddy, who […]
Chester town budget underspent so far this year
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC With 75 percent of the year past, the town of Chester had spent about 65 percent of its annual budget, having hit the brakes earlier this year when it looked as though the Covid-19 pandemic would result in delayed or delinquent property tax collection. At its Oct. […]
Clerks: Mail-in voting pace is brisk, few errors Voter registration rolls see a jump
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Area residents are embracing mail-in voting in substantial numbers and making very few mistakes, according to several town clerks. And, since Sept. 2 more than 200 people have registered to vote in nine towns. The Vermont Secretary of State used that date as the cutoff for mailing […]
PHOTO GALLERY: Excited kids flock to drive-through trunk or treat in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Cars filled with excited children lined the Green Mountain High School driveway well before the 6 p.m. start time for the Halloween celebration on Saturday. Dressed in orange, Chester-Andover Elementary teacher Frank Kelley welcomed families and directed traffic. Waiting for the kids to cruise by were ghouls, […]
Chester DRB agenda for Oct. 26
The Chester Development Review Board will hold a meeting preceded by site visits on Monday Oct. 26, 2020. Below are the times and places of the visits and meeting as well as the agenda. The meeting will be held via Zoom only which can be accessed through https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88516649788. 4:45 PM Site Visit 482 Mattson Road […]
GMUSD board sets graduation date as state cuts required days District reaches agreements with teachers/staff
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A singularly unsettled school year got a measure of certainty earlier this month with the passage of legislation that decided a number of questions that had vexed administrators and school boards, including the number of education days required in a year that started late on orders from […]
‘Little library’ for food installed at Smitty’s Market
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In another effort to eliminate food insecurity in area communities, Smitty’s Chester Market and Chester Helping Hands have teamed up to install a food pantry for those who are in need. On Wednesday morning, Stu Stocker and Smitty’s owner Garrison Smith could be found leveling a wooden […]
Prospects for Church St. sidewalk in Chester distant, dimmer Pinske questions loan fund, election update
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Many Chester residents who use Church Street as part of their walking route have long asked for a sidewalk to separate them from the traffic. But the possibility of that happening dimmed a bit on Wednesday night as Christina Haskins of Dufresne Group gave a presentation to […]
TRSU board OKs funds for LES kitchen
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The board of directors of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union approved the expenditure of approximately $17,000 from the coffers of the After School program to fund the re-installation of a kitchen in the Ludlow Elementary School, which Principal Karen Trimboli asserted was a matter of hot lunch […]
26 Covid cases found among orchard workers in Shoreham All board at same bunkhouse; one is showing symptoms
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Health Department announced today that an outbreak of 26 Covid-19 positive cases has been identified among migrant agriculture workers at Champlain Orchards in Shoreham. The workers are Jamaicans who are in the United States on H2A visas and arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport on […]
Chester board OKs Act 250 appeal, orders dog in attack muzzled
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In two special meetings last week, the Chester Select Board discussed the Act 250 District Commission’s rejection of the town’s application to extract gravel on the site it bought for a new water tank and took evidence in a hearing about a dog named Edgar that neighbors […]
Casting your ballot: A guide to voting procedures
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Voting in this pandemic year will not be like any vote we have ever cast and Secretary of State Jim Condos is suggesting that everyone have a voting plan. One suggestion is to vote by Saturday, Oct. 24 — “to reduce contact at polling places and to […]
How VTel’s phone/internet outage happened
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Multiple equipment failures brought to a standstill VTel phone and internet service to Chester, Andover, Grafton and Windham — first on Thursday, then on Friday and into Saturday of last week, prompting questions about access to public safety agencies and how to make that more robust. According […]
Hance tells board Public Safety building is on schedule
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC While it may appear to a passerby on Pleasant Street, that construction of Chester’s Public Safety Building has stalled, according to Town Manager Julie Hance, the standstill is a sign that the project is not only on schedule but also saving money. At its Sept. 16 meeting, […]
Year after blaze, Timber Works rises from ashes
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A year ago this week, a fire in a dumpster outside Vermont Timber Works in North Springfield spread to the building destroying it in a massive blaze fueled by exploding propane and gas tanks inside the building. Just shy of a year later, the company is back, […]
Act 250 denies Chester town gravel pit application
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a decision released on Friday, Sept. 18, the District 2 Environmental Commission denied the Town of Chester’s application to open a municipal gravel pit on a 139-acre property the town purchased as a site for a back-up tank for its water system. The site is off […]
First day of school goes smoothly despite changes, challenges
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The day that many have been waiting for and — and somewhat dreading — arrived Tuesday as most Green Mountain District students reported to their classes to begin a strikingly different school year. By most accounts, the results were good and several parents said that their children […]
GMUSD schools seem more prepared for reopening than NEA statewide grades indicate
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Thursday, Sept. 3, the Vermont NEA – the union that represents public school teachers in the state – released a “report card” for “overall preparation for safe start of school” as the Covid-19 pandemic continues. The grades in the report came from representatives of the local […]
