All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Chester native traces story of Romaine Tenney Travis Van Alstyne animates the farmer's last year, last days
A 40-second clip of Travis Van Alstyne’s animation.By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s been more than 57 years since Weathersfield farmer Romaine Tenney responded to the taking of his farm by the state of Vermont to build Interstate-91 by setting his barns and house on fire and nailing himself inside. Since […]
Two Covid cases send 5th & 6th graders at CAES home
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester-Andover Elementary School currently has two cases of Covid-19, causing the majority of the 5th and 6th graders to be sent home yesterday and today. According to Katherine Fogg, principal at both CAES and Cavendish Town Elementary School, they should be returning at the end of next week. CTES continues to […]
Chester Select Board to end contracting emergency services to Andover in 2022 Cites 'heightened animosity' and 'clear distrust' of Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Wednesday night, the Chester Select Board decided — after a one hour executive session — that the town would no longer provide its fire and ambulance coverage to Andover after the end of this year. When the board came out of the closed door meeting, board […]
Chester emergency departments explain costs, training, services in Andover
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC An informational meeting on emergency services between the Andover and Chester select boards Monday night was winding down when Andover board member Chris Walker slammed a travel mug on the table and walked out saying that the Town of Chester wasn’t listening and would force Andover to pay […]
Weekly Update: Fewer CAES students remain in quarantine; state seeks better tracing method
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester elementary school students have returned to in-person instruction this week, with only a handful of students in quarantine, according to Katherine Fogg, principal at both Chester-Andover and Cavendish Town elementary schools. The Springfield School District’s four schools were all closed on Monday to catch up with contact-tracing efforts, but were […]
Andover community action spares ‘The Jersey 5’
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Andover neighbors and town officials came together this past week to get help for a single ailing Jersey cow then ended up with a small herd. The “Jersey 5” are now lounging and dining in a green field of high grass on an undisclosed […]
Chester greenhouse project in flux following multiple board resignations Current, former members hope efforts continue to completion
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC An effort to erect an historic greenhouse in Chester and operate it as a community service is in the midst of an upheaval after three members of the six-member board quit in late August, citing a disagreement over what some say is the “scope […]
Visitors to new Public Safety Building treated to demonstrations, good eats and a real fire call
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Nearing the close of Sunday’s Open House for Chester’s new Public Safety Building – which featured demonstrations by both the Police and Fire departments – attendees got a chance to see a real-life response to a fire call. Click the link to take you down to the […]
Michigan man pleads guilty to 2019 GMUHS bomb scare, threats
© Telegraph Publishing LLC A 24 year-old Holland, Mich., man pleaded guilty, in federal court in Burlington to making a threat to “shoot up” Green Mountain Union High School in February of 2019. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced the plea deal on Friday, Sept. 24. According to a […]
More CAES students quarantining; over 10%
of TRSU students return to remote learning 9 Covid positives send 200 Springfield students home
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As of Wednesday, Sept. 22, more Chester-Andover Elementary students are quarantining and receiving remote instruction as combined classes of fifth and sixth graders were exposed to a member of the CAES community who has tested positive for Covid-19. This is the second CAES classroom this week to […]
GMUSD appoints new Chester director, hears results of ‘energy audit’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Green Mountain Unified School District board met on Thursday, Sept. 16 and added one more member to their ranks to replace Jeannie Wade of Chester who resigned when she took a job with Chester-Andover Elementary School, which is part of the district. On the previous night, […]
Chester board hears of safety building opening, raises ambulance rates
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the new Public Safety Building is readied for an open house on Sunday, Sept. 26, Assistant Fire Chief Ben Whalen came before the Chester Select Board to explain that much of the new furniture and other equipment that people will see were not paid for by […]
CAES classroom quarantines after Covid exposure Ludlow Elementary classroom follows suit
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A second-grade classroom at Chester-Andover Elementary School is meeting remotely today because the administration learned early Friday morning that the students and teacher had come in contact with a “member of the school community” who had tested positive for coronavirus, according to Two Rivers Superintendent Lauren Fierman. […]
See you this weekend — Sept. 18 & 19 — at the Chester Festival on the Green!
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Community Events committee is excited that its months-long efforts for this weekend’s Chester Festival on the Green are finally coming to fruition. But committee chairman Scott Blair told The Telegraph on Thursday that he wanted to clear up some possible confusion. Contrary to one media report […]
Andover Board, residents complain about Chester emergency service, cost Negotiations, creating a fire department among strategies
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A discussion of the amounts charged by the Town of Chester for fire protection and ambulance service took up a large portion of the Monday, Sept. 13 Andover Select Board meeting with one board member saying he had been shopping the service around but no other town […]
State tightens vaxx requirement for employees; AOE extends school masking til Oct. 4
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an ongoing effort to bring the Covid-19 under control, Gov. Phil Scott have announced updated pandemic controls for both state employees and public schools. State employees, Scott said, will be required to be vaccinated against Covid-19, mirroring the recent mandate issued by President Joe Biden for all federal employees. In […]
Schools open with masks, Ludlow man continues to object
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At a Thursday, Sept. 2 meeting, Two Rivers Supervisory Union Superintendent Lauren Fierman once again explained that when schools reopened, which they did on Tuesday, everyone in the schools would be masked for the first 10 days and after that any building that had 80 percent of […]
Chester board mulls cost of fire, ambulance coverage for Andover
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Members of the Andover Select Board came to the Sept. 1 meeting of the Chester Select Board to begin discussing the cost of fire and ambulance coverage. Vermont towns are required by statute to provide fire service, however those that are too small to have a fire department […]
Levine recommends indoor masks; first 20-29 year old dies of Covid-19
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As area students prepare to return to school on Tuesday and as positive Covid-19 cases are rising in both nursing homes and correctional facilities around the state, Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine is recommending masking indoors in public spaces regardless of vaccination status. This is in line with a […]
Weston board mulls zoning enforcement, talks reappraisal
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Tuesday, Aug. 24 meeting, the Weston Select Board heard from Zoning Administrator Will Goodwin who spoke about a rewrite of the town’s development bylaws and asked whether the board wanted to move forward on enforcing violations of the zoning regulations. Goodwin told the board that […]
