All Entries in the "Telegraph Editorial" Category
From the editor: 10 thoughts on elections and voting
By Cynthia Prairie ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Most of you may have already voted by mail or in early voting, but I wait til Election Day. Going to the polls is an experience I have cherished since I turned 18. In all the years since, in all the cities I have lived in and for […]
Editorial: Moving on from the Chieftain name
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing It’s time to move on from the chaos and drama that has plagued the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District since last March, when a reconstituted board took over and a volcano of anger and distrust over the future of the “Chieftain” name upended the normal flow […]
Editorial: Misinformation 1; Transparency 0
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC No one likes to be called out in a public meeting. And for that to happen to a newspaper, it can be more than a little disconcerting. Journalists tend to not to like to be the center of attention. We write about the news, we don’t make it. […]
Editorial: School board should fix voting error
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing Whatever your view about the appropriateness of the Green Mountain High School team name and mascot, there is one thing we should all be able to agree on: That what happened last night at the school district’s board meeting during and after the vote is nothing short of distressing. […]
Opinion: A federal act to save local journalism instead harms it
Editor’s Note: The following letter went out this week to leaders in both U.S. House and Senate. It was written by three public information organizations promoting internet access and its responsible use: Public Knowledge; Fight for the Future and Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers. The Chester Telegraph, a long-time member of LION, has communicated […]
Editorial: Regulate unhosted short-term rentals
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph spent months looking into the housing crisis in the central tier of southern Vermont, trying to understand where it stands now and, if necessary, what can be done about it. Today’s article, Hollowed Community?, which you can read here, pinpoints several factors into the causes […]
From the editor: A poll is just a poll, not a vote
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Every so often, The Chester Telegraph rolls out a poll to take the pulse of our communities on various issues: bringing a big box store into Chester; what type of restaurants you would like to see move in; cannabis laws etc. Voters have been respectful in their voting, […]
Editorial: Keeping an eye on the public’s business
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC One of the most important missions of any newspaper is to be a check on government officials and agencies, including those with the state and towns and school systems, any place that has control over taxpayer funds. From its launch almost 10 years ago, The Chester Telegraph has […]
Editorial: Give Keith Hill the contract
By Cynthia Prairie editor, The Chester Telegraph ©2021 Telegraph Publishing There have been plenty of instances over the years that The Telegraph has been covering various boards when members claim that their decision is based upon the recommendations of either another body or of the general public, whom they have been elected to represent. So […]
Editorial: Why Black Lives Matter
By Cynthia Prairie ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC You say “All Lives Matter?” Let me be clear that Black Lives Matter now because they have never mattered. They haven’t mattered to the majority of white Americans and white America holds all the cards and all the privileges. As a nation, we have enslaved black lives to […]
Editorial: Vote ‘yes’ on the GM budget, then demand better
The $14 million Green Mountain Unified School District budget, which will go before the voters on Tuesday March 3, isn’t perfect. One glaring error is that the school board failed to fight harder to include the long promised foreign language program for the district’s elementary schools, but still managed to be 9 percent over last […]
Editorial: The GM school board is leading
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC When a public body should be criticized, at times the loudest voice you’ll hear comes from me. Today, that will be true for one that deserves praise: The Green Mountain Unified School District Board of Directors and its Finance Committee. Over the past several months, these elected members […]
Editorial: A question of judgment
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Meg Powden took the reins of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union in 2016, when our schools were in the throes of Act 46 consolidations and all parties involved worked hard to make the transition smooth. At the time, Powden was an unknown entity, so we sat back and […]
Editorial: Next step in openness: Process, clarity in school budgeting
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC With the satisfactory resolution of the Open Meeting Law violation and other issues, the Green Mountain Unified District Board of Directors seems to be getting a firm grip on its responsibilities, stepping away from the rubber-stamp function that seems expected by the Two Rivers Supervisory Union. But the […]
Editorial: The public wins out at GMUSD board
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Democracy is a rough ‘n’ tumble and startling beautiful occurrence. And it is rare to witness it being wrenched back from darkness. But last Thursday night, the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District did just that and handed a resounding victory to you, the public, when […]
Editorial: If you want changes in the school system, drop Facebook, attend board meetings
By Cynthia Prairie ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Since the fall of 2015, The Chester Telegraph has reported extensively on the Two Rivers Supervisory Union, the Act 46 merger plans and votes, the school budgets, new school districts, etc., publishing more than 95 articles about the system in less than four years. These have been highly […]
Perspective: A free press and a free country
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Every day, we journalists work to make sure our news stories reflect the truth as best as can be gleaned from the sources that we have. We strive to make those stories pertinent to our community and, most importantly, we work to ensure that our stories are informative, […]
Editorial: Sunshine for Southern Vermont
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC This week, we “celebrate” Sunshine Week, that annual effort by journalists and good government advocates around the country to raise awareness of the crucial role that open meetings and public documents play in our democracy. Of course, for journalists, every week is Sunshine Week. And, over the years, […]
EDITORIAL: Involvement is the next step in fixing GMUSD budget
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The voters of the towns of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester have spoken, voting down the new Green Mountain Unified School District’s first ever budget, amounting to $12.5 million. The outcome was far from inevitable. While there were strong objections to the proposal, many teachers and parents as […]
Editorial: Vote ‘No’ on GMUSD budget: It’s not ‘for the kids’
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph urges the voters of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester to vote NO on Tuesday, March 6 on the proposed $12.5 million school budget for the new Green Mountain Unified School District. The GMUSD school board needs time to retool its budget to offer the added […]
