All Entries in the "Telegraph Editorial" Category
Analysis: Net Neutrality keeps local, online news flowing
By Matt DeRienzo ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Repealing Net Neutrality would allow giant chain media to work in concert with internet conglomerates to limit access to independent, alternative and local news and information, warns LION Publishers about the upcoming vote by the FCC. “Giving a clear go-ahead for a tilted playing field would be the […]
Editorial: To avoid problems, Chester should invest in planning
© 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Town Manager David Pisha told Chester’s Town Meeting in March that two functions of town government have become increasingly complex and would be better handled by professionals. Pisha pointed especially to the function of listers, saying that state statutes have made the work more complex over the years. Residents agreed […]
Editorial: Condos should take his own advice
We are big fans of Secretary of State Jim Condos. For years we have attended his Transparency Tour events and applauded his advocacy for the state’s Open Meeting Law as well as his call for a powerful state ethics commission. And for this newspaper and many more, his work on behalf of a robust interpretation […]
Commentary: When fake news is fun
By Cynthia Prairie ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC A new online “news” site has recently emerged from the ether. The Winooski, which bills itself as “locally sourced organic Vermont satire” and “Vermont’s Fakest News,” has, unlike other northern Vermont based publications, agencies and radio stations, realized that stuff does indeed happen south of Route 4 and […]
Editorial: Good grief, Gov. Scott!
© 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Local representatives and select boards hoping to get Route 11 between Londonderry and Chester repaired for years must have felt a bit like Charlie Brown. Autumn after autumn, in the Peanuts comic strip, he tried to kick a football held by his nemesis, Lucy. And no matter how solemnly she […]
Editorial: Chester Select Board should reject secrecy
A few days before each meeting, members of the Chester Select Board receive a packet of documents relating to upcoming agenda items. Among the draft minutes from previous meetings and liquor license renewal applications for Wednesday’s session is a recommendation from Town Manager David Pisha for how the board should interview candidates for the Planning […]
Editorial: Ill winds in Grafton and no end in sight
By Cynthia Prairie ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Grafton may have already lost. Even before the voters cast one ballot on the Iberdrola wind project, the town is torn apart. Incivility reigns. All it took was the prospect of this industrial wind project for community members to lose sight of the characteristics that have made Grafton […]
Where are all the candidates?
By Shawn Cunningham © 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC Many years ago a police officer in a large, East Coast city gave me some house-hunting advice. He said that if you are looking at buying a house, walk down the street in that neighborhood and ask passersby how to get in touch with the Neighborhood Watch […]
Commentary: Vote for the Chester water project — at least vote
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC In less than two weeks, Chester voters will go to the polls again to vote on whether to go ahead with a $4 million upgrade to the municipal water system. At its most basic, the project will correct some major problems including insufficient pressure during fires and a […]
Commentary: Save Yosemite Firehouse, save Chester’s history
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC This past weekend Chester memorialized the late Merritt Edson with a stone monument on the Green. Edson, a Chester resident and Marine Corps general who won a Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in World War II, was also the founder of the Vermont State Police, which […]
From the editor: No surprises in complaint rejection, but hope for transparency lives on
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015-Telegraph Publishing LLC Two weeks ago, the Chester Select Board unanimously adopted a motion from a letter by town attorney Jim Carroll as a reply to The Chester Telegraph’s complaint that it had held an illegal executive session back in November. The Chester Telegraph claimed that the Nov. 19 executive session was […]
Commentary: Do it in public — a call for transparency and accountability
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015 The Chester Telegraph The Chester Telegraph has sent a formal letter of complaint alleging that on Nov. 19 of last year the Chester Select Board held an illegal executive session. You can read a copy of that complaint here. That seems like a pretty serious step. But the fact is that […]
Commentary: Signs for our times
By Cynthia Prairie ©Telegraph Publishing LLC-2014 The Chester Planning Commission has begun considering making further changes to the sign regulations within the Unified Development Bylaws after tweaking them in the last go-round. (You can read them at right.) It had amended the Home Occupation and Home Business standards by cutting in half the allowable signage […]
Editorial: Chester officials can do more to engage the public
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 Tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 17, the Chester Select Board is scheduled to adopt new zoning regulations, and from comments made by board members at the Sept. 3 meeting, Chester residents either don’t have an opinion on the regulations or are not engaged in the process because they have […]
Editorial: Penny wise and still no new Chester government website
©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 If members of the Chester Select Board honestly believe that $10,000 would buy the town a brand-spanking new website with all the bells and whistles that would lure businesses to Chester and be a useful tool for its residents, I’ve got a ski mountain in Ludlow I’d like to sell […]
Editorial: Bringing business to businesses on Chester’s Green
Last week, The Chester Telegraph ran a series about Chester’s Green, what makes it different from other Vermont greens — it’s characterized by its businesses — and what can be done to ensure the success of businesses along The Green and in Chester as a whole. Over the years, The Green has faced its share […]
Editorial: Targeting cultural and economic growth
By Cynthia Prairie Two weeks ago, I wrote about the desire of many area residents and interested parties to see a concerted push for economic vitality in the town of Chester, whether it is for a fairgrounds and kiosk, an observatory or a new business. We’ve read it many times in The Telegraph Polls, […]
Editorial: Chester, start your economic engine
When The Chester Telegraph started producing its Telegraph Polls shortly after its own launch back in January of 2012, we thought it would be a great way to continue conversations and register opinions that until then were only rarely conducted in public. The results have been heartening and enlightening. I bring the Telegraph Poll up […]
Time to vote
The Norman Rockwell image is that Vermont governments are supremely open and Vermonters ensure that openness through hearty civic participation through institutions like Monday’s annual Town Meeting and Tuesday’s Election Day. That belief is reinforced each March by national media reports that tell of the quaintness and fervor of Vermont’s Town Meeting day. So, it’s […]
From the editor: Thank you for an exciting 1st year
One year ago, if you were interested in news about Chester, you might find the occasional story – fire, crime, accident or town government issue – in the Southern Vermont sections of the Rutland Herald or the Eagle Times. Or chances are, you turned to the blog at Chestervermont.org. But for the past year, The […]
