Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Boards struggle with holding annual meetings during pandemic Legislation may give municipalities more options
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Town Meeting day is more than two months away, but municipalities — including school districts — throughout Vermont are working out how that annual ritual of direct democracy will be handled during a global pandemic in which personal contact can be hazardous. When Gov. Phil Scott announced […]
3 GM board members eschew re-election, annual meeting in flux
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC On the evening following a snowstorm that normally would have cancelled all school activities, the Green Mountain Unified School District board and finance committee met remotely last Thursday with three members announcing they would not run for re-election and the board deciding to hold a Zoom annual […]
Chester board mulls dismantling 131-year-old Jeffrey Barn Lack of insurance, upkeep at core of Select Board decision
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board is looking for a contractor to dismantle the 131-year-old Jeffrey Barn on Rt. 103 North after learning that the town’s insurer will no longer cover it. Town Manager Julie Hance told the board at its Wednesday, Dec. 16 meeting that the Vermont League […]
GMUSD board and Finance Committee agendas for Dec. 17
The Green Mountain Unified School District Finance Committee will meet at 5 p.m. on Dec. 17, 2020 via zoom. Click here to join the meeting. Below is its agenda. CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF AGENDA: (Additions & Deletions) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: a. November 23, 2020 Special Meeting NEW BUSINESS: OLD BUSINESS: a. Superintendent’s FY22 GMUSD […]
New owners for Erskine’s, iconic Chester store Bartonsville family keeps 'Erskine' name, products as it targets young clientele
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC This afternoon, R.B. Erskine Grain & Supplies officially became Erskine’s Grain and Garden as the feed store in Chester Depot was sold to new owners. The similar name is not the only thing that will be familiar to long-time customers. As Bartonsville residents Janessa Purney and Burleigh […]
Chester board continues budget work, appoints Zoning Administrator Resident proposes civilian oversight of police
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Dec. 2 meeting, the Chester Select Board continued working on the budget, department by department, and even converted into its alter ego – The Chester Water Commission – to look at the numbers for 2021. As has happened in previous meetings, most of the budget […]
TRSU board OKs half-time buildings coordinator
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC During last Thursday’s meeting of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union, Green Mountain School Board chair Joe Fromberger revisited topics he has been adamant about in the past: who pays for what and who controls what. Fromberger twice expressed his opinion that each of the two districts with […]
Deadline Extended: Put your home or business on our Holiday Lights map!
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Want to share your holiday spirit with others – at a safe distance – and brighten the season? If you are planning to put up up a display of holiday lights at your home or your business, send us an email at contest@chestertelegraph.org with your name and address and we’ll […]
GMUSD to conduct routine GM principal search Fierman to review shared elementary principal structure
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Three months into an unusual school year, Two Rivers Supervisory Union Superintendent Lauren Fierman broached the subject of administrative position at the schools of the Green Mountain Unified School District. Fierman was speaking to the Nov. 19 GMUSD board meeting that included on the agenda forming a […]
Chester board continues speed limit discussion
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Speed limits once again took center stage at the Chester Select Board’s Nov. 18 meeting with a discussion of the data collected on River and High streets and Andover Road and requests by residents of those areas seeking reductions in the speed allowed. To see the speed […]
Construction crews work on 2 Chester firehouses
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC At either end of Elm Street in Chester, construction crews have been working on fire houses: one from the past and one for the future. On Route 103, just north of Elm Street, Wright Construction was installing a beam above the doors on the south end of […]
Yosemite Co. gives CAES classroom sound gear
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC The Yosemite Engine Company, the independent, non-profit fundraising arm of the Chester Fire Department, on Friday presented 12 classroom sound system units to Chester-Andover Elementary School. “The Yosemite Engine Company and Chester Helping Hands had a discussion about things the school might need that were not in the […]
Put your home on our Holiday Lights map!
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Despite the pandemic there is no reason that we can’t share the season with family, friends and neighbors by decorating the outside of our homes for everyone to enjoy as they drive by in the safety of their cars. So this year The Telegraph is putting together a map […]
109 cases: Vermont shatters daily Covid-19 record Exceeds pandemic daily record by 51 percent
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC For the second day in a row the Vermont Department of Health logged a new record of Covid-19 cases today, Thursday, Nov. 12. The department’s Covid-19 Dashboard reported 109 new infections for a state total of 2,651. A department press release this afternoon said that is the highest number of […]
Vt. Covid-19 cases hit high one-day total of 72
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont is no exception to the spike in coronavirus infections seen across the globe as the state Health Department today reported 72 new Covid-19 cases, surpassing the previous highest one-day number on April 4. The total number of cases in Vermont since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at […]
Board begins looking at Chester police policies, complaint procedures
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Police issues took center stage in separate discussions at the Chester Select Board meeting on Wednesday Nov. 4 as questions of policies, complaint procedures and a new budget hit proposed by the Vermont State Police. Board chair Arne Jonynas noted that the issue of policing and use […]
TRSU schools to go remote during holidays Fierman cites travel, visitors, returning college students
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC With Covid 19 cases rising across the northeast and the prospect of families and school staff traveling or hosting family members from other areas over the holidays, Two Rivers Supervisory Union Superintendent Lauren Fierman has announced that the five schools that comprise TRSU will go to remote […]
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 […]
