Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Chester board continues work on manager search First select board meeting in refurbished town hall
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board took another step toward conducting a search for someone to replace Town Manager David Pisha, who will step down from the post on Town Meeting Day next year. Acknowledging that the window for conducting the search is growing smaller, the board approved an […]
Aging Chester Congregational Church seeks ‘replanting’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Next June, after 247 years, the ministry of the Chester Congregational Church, at 469 Main St., will come to an end. But if all goes well, it will also be the beginning of a new ministry, according to Pastor Susan E. Moody. With congregation membership hovering at […]
Stocker’s grandmother pleads guilty to obstruction
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The grandmother of a Chester man who stands accused of sexual assault, kidnapping and other offenses plead guilty on Wednesday to obstruction of justice by arranging contact with one of the victims to convince her to drop the charges. Obstruction of justice is a felony punishable by […]
First GMUSD budget meeting focuses on gathering info
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Green Mountain Unified School District board – acting as the finance committee – met on Sept. 25 and so began the budgeting process 50 days ahead of last year. The board was meeting as the finance committee to address the complaint that in the past, everything […]
GM board gets meeting law training, looks at overspending, honors Bont
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC At its Sept. 19 meeting, the Green Mountain Unified School District board received training on Vermont’s Open Meeting Law and later took steps to expand the public’s opportunity to comment at meetings – at least temporarily. Sue Ceglowski of the Vermont School Boards Association presented the training, […]
Chester board picks bridge option, sets bond warning, seeks citizens for town manager search
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday, the Chester Select Board made decisions on some issues it has talked about for several meetings, including the amount of the bond for the proposed emergency services building and which of five alternatives it would choose for the replacement of bridges along Route 103 north. […]
Injured man rescued from Knapp Pond
UPDATE Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2:45 p.m: VSP spokesman Adam Silverman tells The Telegraph that “The Vermont State Police – along with other agencies – responded to a call for an individual in crisis who needed medical assistance. Due to the nature of the call we cannot release any more information.” By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 […]
Vermont Timber Works destroyed in massive blaze
The above video was gleaned from more than 30 minutes of cellphone camera footage taken by Kelly Burton. By Shawn Cunningham and Kelly Burton © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC An early evening fire that destroyed the Vermont Timber Works factory in North Springfield Saturday was caused by spontaneous combustion of waste materials in […]
Grafton Cheese features mural by Chester artist
© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester artist Amy Mosher has completed a bucolic mural for the Grafton Village Cheese Co.’s viewing room at its facility at 533 Townshend Road in Grafton. The 340-square-foot mural portrays Vermont’s rural landscape complete with the cows and sheep that provide milk to make Grafton’s cave aged cheeses. Mosher had […]
Chester EMS building to go to vote in November
By Shawn Cunningham ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC At a special meeting last week, the Chester Select Board set a town vote on bonding for $4.7 million to construct a new building on Pleasant Street to house Chester’s police, ambulance and fire departments. It would also pay for refurbishing and bringing up to code the town […]
Londonderry institution, Clarks IGA sold to Associated Grocers
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Miner Clark was a college freshman when his parents bought the grocery store in the Londonderry Plaza in 1974. On Saturday it was announced that after 45 years, the Clark family’s ownership was coming to an end as Associated Grocers of New England has bought the store. […]
Afternoon manhunt comes up empty; police in two states search for Vermont man
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC An extensive, two-state manhunt came up empty today as police agencies from Vermont and New Hampshire searched for a wanted Westminster man. As of 6:30 tonight, police on both sides of the Connecticut River were asking the public for help. According to a Walpole, N.H., Police press […]
Chester board OKs Palmer Bridge repairs, delays vote on VTrans bridge replacement plan
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The heat from the question of taking residents’ land by eminent domain was turned up a notch at the Sept. 4 Chester Select Board meeting as Brian and Amy Mosher reiterated their claim that they would not negotiate for the right of way needed to consolidate three […]
Federal suit claims GMUSD, TRSU officials did little to stop harassment
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Late last week, the list of lawsuits against the Two Rivers Supervisory Union and its constituent school districts grew by one as a 30-count, 69-page complaint alleging a “sexually hostile school environment,” among other claims, was filed in the U.S. District Court for Vermont. The suit names […]
TRSU board ratifies Powden 2-year contract, 4% raise
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Two Rivers Supervisory Union Board ratified Superintendent Meg Powden’s two-year contract on a 3-2 vote Monday night, but only after questions and discussions surrounding dissatisfaction with Powden’s job performance. The special meeting, held at TRSU offices in Ludlow, had been called to cure three violations of […]
TRSU board reverses response to meeting complaint, will revisit Powden’s contract
Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday, Sept. 9, the board of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union will revisit Superintendent Meg Powden’s two-year contract, which it approved in February following an improper executive session. The decision was made Thursday night after members of the Green Mountain Unified School District board urged the TRSU […]
Residents oppose VTrans plan to eliminate bridges
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The recommended solution to a three-bridge problem along Rt. 103 North in Chester may result in legal action as one homeowner vows to prevent it. At a special meeting of the Chester Select Board last Thursday night, engineers from VTrans presented their recommendation for constructing one bridge […]
Derry to consider town meeting on Lowell Lake
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Londonderry Conservation Committee chair Irwin Kuperberg came to the Derry Select Board on Aug. 19 asking for an endorsement of the committee’s Lowell Lake position. While Kuperberg did not get what he wanted, he didn’t come away empty handed. After recounting a number of the objections to […]
Chester town manager to retire; Select Board OKs Yosemite feasibility study funds
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Chester Select Board Chair Arne Jonynas announced that Town Manager David Pisha will retire effective at Town Meeting March 3, 2020. Jonynas praised Pisha saying that he came on board in August 2008 with the town’s finances “in shambles” and that he had retired a $500,000 deficit […]
Wednesday tornado damages homes, property in Windham
By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC A tornado, spawned during a Wednesday afternoon thunderstorm damaged homes, barns and other structures and devastated trees in the Timberside section of Windham. On the Cover: Tom Grondine’s farm house sustained tree damage during Wednesday’s storm. Click any photo to launch photo gallery. Meteorologist Ray O’Keefe, of […]
