Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
Required spending vexes GM finance panel Tasks administration with finding cuts, lowering increases
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC After four meetings, the Green Mountain Unified School District’s Finance Committee elected to punt last Thursday night. Staring down a nearly 6 percent increase for the 2020 fiscal year (which begins on July 1, 2019) the board sent the budget back to the administration with the directive […]
Ripley resigns as Cavendish emergency chief
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Cavendish Select Board member Mike Ripley forgot his homework, but board chair Robert Glidden gave him a sheet of paper to recreate it before the board could move to accept his resignation as the town’s Emergency Management coordinator. Ripley had left the original on his computer. Ripley, whose […]
McNamara: No ‘crime problem’ in Cavendish Weathersfield area policing plan fails to gain traction
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC There is no “crime problem” in Cavendish, said Town Manager Brendan McNamara at last night’s meeting of the town’s Select Board. “The article (in The Eagle Times) did not portray Cavendish accurately,” he added. The article, “Weathersfield may provide police service to Cavendish, Baltimore” published in the […]
GMUSD budget committee weighs increases
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC With an increase in spending of more than $217,000 since the draft budget was first rolled out two weeks before, the Green Mountain Unified School District Finance Committee took its second look at the spending plan for the 2019-2020 school year in a meeting that was scheduled […]
2nd Annual Chester Holiday Cookie Tour tickets now on sale
© 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Tickets for the 2nd Annual Holiday Cookie Tour, the premier adult-oriented event of Chester’s Annual Overture to Christmas – are now on sale. Last year’s tour was a sellout and tickets are expected to go fast. Main Street in Chester is lined with wonderful Victorian and Federal style homes. Visit […]
Power outages enter fourth day as new storm approaches GMP warns further outages possible, be prepared
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC For more than 2,500 Green Mountain Power customers in Southern-Central Vermont, this was another morning of waking up to find that electricity had not been restored overnight. And with final restoration slated for Saturday night, GMP is now warning of another storm that could cause outages at […]
Explainer: GMUSD FY20 budget process has begun
By Shawn Cunningham ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Thursday night, Nov. 29, the Finance Committee of the Green Mountain Unified School District will take up its 2019/2020 budget. At its last meeting, the committee called for representatives of the public to join in the work and added Jeannie Wade of Chester to the committee. The […]
Chester will open warming shelter if needed Fire Department will go door-to-door tonight
© 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC At 5:30 this evening, the Chester Fire Department will go door-to-door to households affected by the widespread power outages brought on by heavy snows asking if anyone needs to go to a warming shelter tonight. The trucks will have their emergency lights on so that residents will know who is […]
Snow cripples area, thousands without power Falling trees, heavy snow hamper cleanup
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Area residents awoke on Tuesday morning to cracking tree limbs and the woosh of heavy snow cascading off those trees and roofs. They also awoke in the dark as hundreds of trees, weighed down by the wet snow, toppled onto wires and roads and snarled traffic. Schools […]
Deja vu in GMUSD budget process, public participation sought
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Anyone attending the Green Mountain Unified School District Finance Committee meeting on Nov. 15 might have been struck by a sense of deja vu, but in reality, we have been here before. Last year, after a series of meetings – mostly short, one-hour affairs just before full […]
Benches installed, Chester pocket park nears completion
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC In March, Chester voters approved an outlay of $25,000 to construct a “pocket park” at the end of School Street by the suspension bridge over the Middle Branch of the Williams River. The park was one of the first ideas that from the Village Center Master Planning […]
Chester board: Public needs more info on Tomasso property study
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC A request for the Chester Select Board to accept a $20,000 grant from the Open Space Institute at its Nov. 7 meeting sparked a lengthy discussion around the question of the town owning the 1,800-acre Tomasso property in Smokeshire and the public’s perception of what is happening. […]
Electric service bid adds weeks to CAES opening Hopes for a Thanksgiving opening fades
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC When a bolt broke on a water main flange in late August, flooding the Chester-Andover Elementary School boiler room and ruining the the infrastructure necessary to open to students the following week, officials predicted that the school would be back in service in four to six weeks […]
N.H. man charged with luring a child in Chester
© 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation has charged a New Hampshire man with luring a child while living in Chester. According to a press release, police were alerted to a possible luring complaint in March, 2018. On investigation, members of the BCI determined that Christopher Bell, 22 of […]
Compromised electric to be replaced at CAES Planned conduit was never installed; more digging needed
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Green Mountain Unified School District board held a special meeting on Monday night to discuss a new wrinkle in repairing the problems caused by flooding at Chester-Andover Elementary and returning 243 pupils to their classrooms. While schools officials are still hoping to reopen […]
Firefighters’ quick response saves building, delays Halloween
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC When a call came in for a fire in an outbuilding on Popple Dungeon Road around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, 12 or so Chester firefighters were already at the station wearing their turnout gear. They were on the road in less than 30 seconds and the […]
Locals rally to support environmental lawsuit
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 20 people showed up on the Chester Green on Sunday to register their support for the plaintiffs in Juliana vs. United States, (also known as colloquially as Youth v. Government), a lawsuit brought by 21 young people demanding a science-based national climate recovery plan to […]
After four-year hiatus, Seesaw’s rides again
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC We usually say that it’s easier to tell you what hasn’t been retained than what has,” says Kim Prins as she begins to give a tour of the new Seesaw’s Lodge in Peru. As late as 2014, Johnny Seesaw’s Restaurant was a local institution with a storied […]
GMUSD board talks CAES repairs, next year’s budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Bfore getting down to a long agenda at its Oct. 18 meeting, the Green Mountain Union School Board heard an update on the progress of repairing the damage done to Chester-Andover Elementary by two flooding incidents caused by plumbing system breaks. CAES Facilities Director Jim Spaulding told […]
