All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Derry board nixes new maintenance position, seeks volunteers
By Cherise Madigan © 2021 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The suggestion of a new Highway, Building and Grounds Maintenance employee drew a crowd to Londonderry’s virtual Select Board meeting on Monday night after a number of residents expressed opposition to the position’s cost in a year that has been financially difficult for many. The $20-per-hour full-time […]
Weekly Covid Update: Federal vaccine reductions vex Scott administration
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A spike in the daily Covid-19 new case totals, two new deaths, and lower than expected vaccine allotments coming from the federal government capped off 2020’s final Covid-19 press conference on Thursday, Dec. 31, which also marked the 100th press conference given by Gov. Phil Scott and his state health team […]
Boards struggle with holding annual meetings during pandemic Legislation may give municipalities more options
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Town Meeting day is more than two months away, but municipalities — including school districts — throughout Vermont are working out how that annual ritual of direct democracy will be handled during a global pandemic in which personal contact can be hazardous. When Gov. Phil Scott announced […]
3 GM board members eschew re-election, annual meeting in flux
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC On the evening following a snowstorm that normally would have cancelled all school activities, the Green Mountain Unified School District board and finance committee met remotely last Thursday with three members announcing they would not run for re-election and the board deciding to hold a Zoom annual […]
Chester board mulls dismantling 131-year-old Jeffrey Barn Lack of insurance, upkeep at core of Select Board decision
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board is looking for a contractor to dismantle the 131-year-old Jeffrey Barn on Rt. 103 North after learning that the town’s insurer will no longer cover it. Town Manager Julie Hance told the board at its Wednesday, Dec. 16 meeting that the Vermont League […]
Derry board ponders delay in Town Meeting; addresses property taxes and budgeting
By Cherise Madigan 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Londonderry’s 2021 Town Meeting may move to Pingree Park — and from March to May — if the state grants towns the ability to delay meetings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And state legislators are working to make the one-time exception a reality, Town Clerk Kelly Pajala, who also […]
State to allow 2-household holiday gatherings
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Citing stabilized case counts of under 100 over the past several days — including 63 on Tuesday, Dec. 22 — that suggested an overall “vast improvement,” Gov. Phil Scott announced that several health guidelines will be loosened from Wednesday, Dec. 23 through Saturday, Jan. 2. These include expanding the state’s gathering […]
Christmas memory: Dickens, Della and baccala salad in Vermont
By Rafael Alvarez ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Charles Dickens arrived for his second reading tour of America just before Thanksgiving 1867. The crush of reporters and fans in New England — with some trying to tear a handful of fur from his coat — was not unlike the Beatles landing in New York in 1964. […]
Slight hike in call for heating fuel help, but local programs expect more
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The call for heating assistance has increased this year, but not as dramatically as expected given the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, those who distribute such aid say. As the end of 2020 approaches and programs funded by the federal CARES Act begin to expire, however, those […]
Vaccines arrive as infections, deaths climb
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC With Vermont reaching what he called a “grim milestone” of over 100 deaths and with new case counts again jumping another 1,000-mark threshold this week, Gov. Phil Scott announced on Tuesday that he is extending Vermont’s state of emergency through Jan. 15, 2021. The first Pfizer vaccines arrived in the state […]
Stopped superload draws early Monday
morning attention in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham Photos by Linda Diak © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A 147-footlong “superload” that spent an hour on Main Street just west of the Green in Chester Monday morning had residents and passersby scratching their heads. The 62,500-gallon stainless steel milk tank bound for Ehrmann Commonwealth Dairy in Brattleboro — from Winchester, Ontario, […]
Holiday Lights: Send us your photos!
© Telegraph Publishing LLC On a recent evening drive to view some of the decorations on The Telegraph’s Holiday Lights Map we took a few photos that we thought we’d share with readers who haven’t had a chance to get out there yet. This is just the tip of the iceberg and several neighborhoods have […]
Weekly Covid Update: 16 more Vermonters die as new cases hit 778 Dr. Levine: No surge from Thanksgiving yet seen
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Department of Health reported 16 more deaths this week, up from 10 last week, along with a new Covid-19 case count that skyrocketed by a record-breaking 778, up from 758 reported last week. Deaths in Vermont from Covid now stand at 93 deaths, with a total of 5,541 cases. […]
Holiday Lights are twinkling! Find them with the Telegraph Holiday Lights Map
To get into the holiday spirit, our map maker, artist Dan O’Donnell, shot this video of the Green Mountain Flyer gussied up for the holiday. Turn up the volume so you can hear Santa! © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 30 families and businesses answered the call to be placed on The Chester Telegraph […]
New owners for Erskine’s, iconic Chester store Bartonsville family keeps 'Erskine' name, products as it targets young clientele
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC This afternoon, R.B. Erskine Grain & Supplies officially became Erskine’s Grain and Garden as the feed store in Chester Depot was sold to new owners. The similar name is not the only thing that will be familiar to long-time customers. As Bartonsville residents Janessa Purney and Burleigh […]
Weston board focuses on Town Meeting plans, possible 9% education tax hike
By Cherise Madigan 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Town Meeting was the focus of the Weston Select Board’s Dec. 8 meeting, echoing similar discussions this week in Chester and Londonderry as 2021 looms large. Typically, the town hosts its annual meeting at the Weston Playhouse — a plan that Board Chair Denis Benson suggests continuing with […]
Chester board continues budget work, appoints Zoning Administrator Resident proposes civilian oversight of police
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Dec. 2 meeting, the Chester Select Board continued working on the budget, department by department, and even converted into its alter ego – The Chester Water Commission – to look at the numbers for 2021. As has happened in previous meetings, most of the budget […]
TRSU board OKs half-time buildings coordinator
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC During last Thursday’s meeting of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union, Green Mountain School Board chair Joe Fromberger revisited topics he has been adamant about in the past: who pays for what and who controls what. Fromberger twice expressed his opinion that each of the two districts with […]
Pandemic casts shadow on Derry board decisions Town Meeting plans discussed; board cautious on spending
By Cherise Forbes ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC At the Dec. 7 meeting of the Londonderry Select Board, Kelly Pajala, who is Town Clerk and a state representative for Windham-Bennington-Windsor, told the board that legislators are working to get a bill to Gov. Phil Scott by mid-January to expand options for how and when towns may […]
Local hemp producers, sellers eye budding ‘Vermont brand’ recreational cannabis market
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Although Vermont’s recreational cannabis market will not open until 2022, the budding CBD industry may be poised to pave the way for new and expanding businesses in the region. While questions remain as to the size of Vermont’s future cannabis industry and the scope of its economic impact, […]
