Author Archive for Shawn Cunningham
TRSU Act 46 panel picks merger option that could close Black River HS
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC With about 70 people in attendance at Ludlow’s Town Hall on Wednesday night, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union Act 46 Study Committee voted to go forward with an option that would – if approved by voters – dissolve the Ludlow-Mount Holly school district and unify the middle […]
Sign dust-up highlights ongoing permitting problems in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board heard nearly an hour of public comment at its Wednesday, Dec. 7 meeting. This included a discussion of an issue that echoed questions of procedures not followed and unilateral action taken in a recent zoning controversy, in which a building was constructed with […]
Surprising itself, TRSU Act 46 panel leans toward merger option
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC After more than a year of looking at the options for school consolidation, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union Act 46 Study Committee seemed to surprise itself by backing into a merger option to put before the state Board of Education and the voters of the towns in […]
Lone man robs Mascoma Bank in Hartland
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC A lone man robbed the Hartland branch of Mascoma Savings Bank in Hartland this morning, according to Vermont State Police. The VSP said the robbery occurred around 10:15 a.m. when a man – described as between 5 feet 6 and 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 150 to 160 […]
Young moose breaks the ice at family pool in early morning visit
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC How do you get a yearling moose out of your swimming pool? That was the problem Chester resident Scott Tyrrell faced on Thursday morning. But with the help of Chester Police and a Vermont Game warden, the wayward animal is now back in the woods chilling with […]
Andover board wrestles with Act 46, addresses relationship with Chester institutions
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Ahead of a public information session on the Act 46 school consolidation law, the Andover Select Board on Monday got an update on the progress of efforts to “study the advisability of forming a union school district” from school board member Joe Fromberger. Pointing to a 20 […]
Parents, teachers raise new concerns over school merger plans
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC With discussions at three meetings in three towns in just two days, it seems the movement toward an Act 46 school merger plan for schools in the Two Rivers Supervisory Union may go from a walk to a trot. But, if a plan is going to be […]
Chester prohibits dual board memberships, sometimes; reviews dept. budgets
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing, LLC After nearly a year and a half of discussing a conflict of interest policy, the Chester Select Board resolved a final sticking point last Wednesday, voting to close the door on dual memberships on the Planning Commission and Development Review Boards. But they left the key under […]
Other issues waylay special Chester board meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC What was intended to be a training session on the powers and responsibilities of the Chester Select Board and town manager, conducted by town attorney Jim Carroll, turned into a tutorial on legal aspects of several recent developments in Chester including why the Select Board believes it […]
Which option? Act 46 merger forum at CAES next Tuesday
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC On March 7, 2017, the residents of Chester, Andover, Cavendish, Baltimore, Ludlow and Mt. Holly will likely vote to decide which form a state mandated school consolidation will take for them. Those decisions could have profound effects on the quality of educational opportunities for their students, the […]
Magic deal finally closes; new owners take over
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC “The journey begins,” said Geoff Hatheway, “as an operating company, not just an investment.” Sitting in an office that looks out on the slopes of the Magic Mountain ski area on Thursday Nov. 3 Hatheway looked forward to the ski season ahead but cautioned that the closing […]
Grafton man charged with domestic assault, cruelty in puppy’s death
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC A Grafton man was arrested this morning and charged with 2nd degree aggravated domestic assault and aggravated cruelty to animals in the death of a 16-week-old black Labrador mix puppy. According to a Vermont State Police press release, troopers responded to a 911 call from a house […]
Trooper tails pup that escaped after car accident
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Yesterday just after noon, Jacqueline Stone of Newington, Conn., was driving south on I-91 between the Springfield and Rockingham exits when she had a medical emergency. Stone drove her 2011 Toyota Sienna off the road and hit a grass embankment. Stone was taken to Springfield Hospital but her 10-month-old puppy, […]
Chester limits service of Select Board members, others
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC There was more than a little interest in the conflict over wording of an ethics policy for town officials and employees at Wednesday’s Chester Select Board meeting. The idea of a conflict of interest policy has been kicking around since mid-2015, when board member Heather Chase asked […]
Chester zoning administrator’s action questioned
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Calling the situation “very disconcerting,” a Chester resident told the Select Board last Wednesday, that the town’s zoning administrator had issued a building permit for a property without a clear ‘use’ as outlined in the town’s Unified Development Bylaws. Marilyn Mahusky, who has been a vocal critic […]
Suspicious emails to Vt. town clerks traced to Yale Law School
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC A survey by a Yale University Law School professor set town clerks throughout Vermont and election officials in at least 11 other states on edge just before Election Day, and has been pulled after the intervention of a nationwide association that represents Secretaries of State. Just one […]
Temporary bridge placed over failing Popple Dungeon culvert
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC If you’re traveling on Popple Dungeon Road in Chester in the next couple of years, you might want to slow down just past the three-mile mark where you will find yourself driving up onto a one lane bridge sitting up on stone blocks. The town of Chester placed […]
Londonderry, Chester get tricked out for Halloween
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Has anyone else noticed that there have been a lot of ghosts and goblins — not to mention superheroes and pirates — roaming the streets lately? And that they all seem to have just one thing on their minds – candy? Chester and Londonderry celebrated Halloween this week each with […]
TRSU Act 46 study panel reboots, takes comments on merger proposal
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC After nearly a year of meetings focusing on planning, finance, property and governance, the Act 46 study committee for Two Rivers Supervisory Union has – in effect – gone back to the drawing board and started over. Last night in Ludlow, the committee outlined what it was […]
Chester considers sex offender ordinance, stalls on board appointments
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC While Chester’s town attorney asserted that it could “enmesh” the town in a lawsuit “that you will lose,” resident Randy Miles stressed the need for an ordinance that would limit where sex offenders could live, saying he was willing to spend taxpayer dollars fighting to keep the […]
