RSSAuthor Archive for Shawn Cunningham

Salvage yards neighbors ask Chester Select Board for help

Salvage yards neighbors ask Chester Select Board for help

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Neighbors of three properties off Route 10 in north Chester are asking the town’s select board for help with accumulating junk. Approximately two dozen people concerned with the situation attended the Sept. 6 board meeting. Two properties – one on either side of Chandler Road at the […]

South Derry firefighters practice on building before demolition

South Derry firefighters practice on building before demolition

By Shawn Cunningham ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC There was  a lot of  smoke, but no fire last week, as the Champion Fire Company turned out at the former Outlet Barn on Rt. 11 to practice interior search and rescue. That’s most likely the last purpose the property will serve before it’s taken down in the […]

UPDATE: I-91 Rockingham Bridge construction schedule including NIGHT WORK

UPDATE: I-91 Rockingham Bridge construction schedule including NIGHT WORK

The Vermont Agency of Transportation has begun replacing the bridges on I-91 over the Williams River in Rockingham. The projected completion date is May 18, 2020. Here is the anticipated construction schedule for the week of Sept. 5, 2017. I-91 NORTHBOUND & SOUTHBOUND ARE REDUCED TO ONE LANE WITHIN THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE. I-91 NORTHBOUND MOTORISTS […]

Weston Ladies seek green for the Green with weekend concert - CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

Weston Ladies seek green for the Green with weekend concert – CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Nearly 34 years before the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote, the Vermont legislature gave nine Weston women the power to establish, own and maintain a park in the center of their town. And on Sunday, Sept. 3 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., the successors […]

Jack's Diner returns to Chester DRB with expanded plans

Jack’s Diner returns to Chester DRB with expanded plans

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With lawyer Amanda George doing most of the talking Monday night on behalf of Jack’s Diner owner Jacques Dodier, the Chester Development Review Board began consideration of a new plan to complete the long-dormant project on Route 103 South. Dodier is asking for a conditional use permit […]

New owners work to upgrade the mountain without losing the 'Magic'

New owners work to upgrade the mountain without losing the ‘Magic’

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing, LLC With the issuance of an Act 250 permit on top of a successful first season, the new ownership group at Magic Mountain says it’s continuing to repair and upgrade the long-neglected ski resort while being careful to preserve its “throwback” character. Last year, a group of 13 […]

Conservancies eye Chester lands for preservation

Conservancies eye Chester lands for preservation

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Sept.6 is shaping up to be a very big day for conservation in Chester. On that Wednesday, the Vermont River Conservancy hopes to close on its purchase of land that gives access to the Rainbow Rock swimming hole and turn it over to the town of Chester. […]

Solid waste money to fund planning, wayfinding in Chester; Sunoco proposal returns

Solid waste money to fund planning, wayfinding in Chester; Sunoco proposal returns

By Shawn Cunningham ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With two unbudgeted projects on the horizon, the Chester Select Board, at its Aug. 16 meeting, weighed the use of a couple of pools of money that could pay for them or be set aside as investments. The monies are approximately $31,000 from a contingency fund held by […]

Car hits quilt shop building, interrupts Chester Select Board meeting

Car hits quilt shop building, interrupts Chester Select Board meeting

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Forty minutes into last night’s Chester Select Board meeting, just as Water and Sewer Superintendent Jeff Holden was outlining the progress those departments have made this year, board member Ben Whalen’s fire department beeper sounded and he left the meeting. Shortly thereafter, The Telegraph got a report […]

Can't go to the eclipse? Make the most of it here

Can’t go to the eclipse? Make the most of it here

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Just a heads up. Next Monday afternoon it’s going to get pretty dark. Apparently the moon is going to pass in front of the sun for a couple of hours. And while it’s going to be dark here, down south it’ll be way dark. Wait, you knew […]

Billy Bob prevails in fierce match at Stone Hearth hot dog cookoff

Billy Bob prevails in fierce match at Stone Hearth hot dog cookoff

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With nine contestants vying for tube steak glory, Chef Billy Bob’s Big Easy was voted Top Dog of the sixth annual Hot Dog Cookoff held Sunday at the Stone Hearth Inn in Chester. The Free Range Restaurant’s Uncommon Reuben Dog took Best in Show. The event, which […]

AOT to Olsen: Interim paving on Rt. 11 to begin soon

AOT to Olsen: Interim paving on Rt. 11 to begin soon

© 2017 Telegraph Publishing, LLC State Rep. Oliver Olsen of Londonderry has shared an email in which Agency of Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn confirmed that work on the worst parts of Rt. 11 between Chester and Londonderry should begin shortly. “…if the weather holds, the contractor may begin paving this section of road on Thursday […]

Police arrest second burglary suspect

Police arrest second burglary suspect

© 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont State Police arrested a Westminster man Thursday on multiple charges for burglaries that took place in July. On Tuesday, police arrested Chelsea Oviatte, 22 of Springfield, on charges that she had burglarized a number of businesses along Route 5 in Westminster, Putney and Brattleboro, but they were unable to […]

Chester board OKs 'audit' of town zoning regs

Chester board OKs ‘audit’ of town zoning regs

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a couple of years of controversy over Chester’s zoning regulations and the way they are implemented, the town’s Select Board at its Aug. 2 meeting gave the go-ahead to an “audit” of the town’s development statutes. Noting that the town’s zoning code is old and that […]

Judge continues $100,000 bail for Stocker; police cite witnesses in latest case

Judge continues $100,000 bail for Stocker; police cite witnesses in latest case

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC WHITE RIVER JUNCTION Windsor County Superior Court Judge Theresa DiMauro continued the $100,000 bail imposed on Ryan Stocker over the weekend as he appeared for arraignment Monday on new charges in the latest of five involving forced sexual contact over the last two years. Stocker, who plead […]

Lawsuit pending, Jack's Diner owner re-emerges to seek DRB OK

Lawsuit pending, Jack’s Diner owner re-emerges to seek DRB OK

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Six years after Chester’s Development Review Board denied a conditional use permit for an expanded Jack’s Diner with apartments above it – and while the town of Chester is currently suing him for zoning violations – Jacques Dodier is back with a new application that will be […]

Battle of Bands set to cover medical expenses for Chester woman

Battle of Bands set to cover medical expenses for Chester woman

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a near-death bout with infections, a Chester woman has a long road to recovery ahead and, this Saturday, members of the community will be holding a benefit Battle of the Bands at MacLaomainn’s Pub to help cover her large and growing medical bills. Just a few […]

Chester board OKs old waste district fund disbursement

Chester board OKs old waste district fund disbursement

By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With board chair Arne Jonynas under the weather and members Dan Cote and Heather Chase traveling, the July 19 Chester Select Board could have been canceled for lack of a quorum. But using a speaker phone  — which is allowed by the state law that permits members […]

Weston Playhouse directing trio to step down next year

Weston Playhouse directing trio to step down next year

By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Thirty years after taking the reins as artistic directors at the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, Malcolm Ewen, Tim Fort and Steve Stettler announced today that they will be stepping down after the 2018 season. The announcement came in a press release this morning. In […]

Volunteers prep for annual book sale

Volunteers prep for annual book sale

© 2017 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The weather was warm and sunny on Friday afternoon as a host of volunteers laid out scores of cartons of books sorted by topic ahead of the Wilder Memorial Library’s annual book sale. The event is a fundraiser for Weston’s public library and will occur under the tents in Farrar […]