All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Photo gallery: Local elections called ‘smooth’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A visitor to the polls in 10 local towns today heard the same word over and over: smooth. One after another, town clerks and other election officials told The Telegraph that turnout was light to moderate but steady. There were no long lines or waits to vote […]
Derry Board plans for new town assessor Listers chair to retire in 2022; roads crew post still unfilled
By Cherise Madigan Telegraph Publishing LLC Employment considerations dominated the election-eve meeting of the Londonderry Select Board on Monday. Following an impassioned recommendation from the chair of Londonderry’s Board of Listers, the Select Board established the part-time position of town assessor pending its approval of a job description and related budget adjustments. Additionally, town officials […]
Cavendish begins count of mail-in votes
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC As announced earlier in October, on Friday, officials of the town of Cavendish counted the mail-in ballots received up to that point in preparation for this Tuesday’s election. Town Clerk Diane McNamara explained the procedure to Justices of the Peace Rolf Van Schaik and Doris Eddy, who […]
Weekly Covid-19 Update: New cases in every county as Vermont sees another jump
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The state of Vermont saw another steep weekly jump of 139 new Covid-19 cases, up from 101 new cases last week, for a total of 2,155 cases since the pandemic started last winter, and the first week since the pandemic began that every county in Vermont had new cases. The total […]
Weston resident donates 20kw generator for Little School, town office
By Cherise Madigan © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston resident Gary Bettman has donated a 20 kilowatt generator to The Little School, temporarily resolving the Select Board’s months long deliberations on the subject and prompted the board to approve a future survey of the surrounding town property at its Oct. 27 meeting. Last December, the […]
Chester town budget underspent so far this year
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC With 75 percent of the year past, the town of Chester had spent about 65 percent of its annual budget, having hit the brakes earlier this year when it looked as though the Covid-19 pandemic would result in delayed or delinquent property tax collection. At its Oct. […]
Clerks: Mail-in voting pace is brisk, few errors Voter registration rolls see a jump
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Area residents are embracing mail-in voting in substantial numbers and making very few mistakes, according to several town clerks. And, since Sept. 2 more than 200 people have registered to vote in nine towns. The Vermont Secretary of State used that date as the cutoff for mailing […]
Local money in the presidential race NYT analysis details donation amounts, donor numbers
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday, the New York Times published an analysis of campaign contributions by ZIP code. The reporters teased out the number of donations from April 1 through Oct. 14 and estimated their amounts by every ZIP code in the United States and looked at factors behind the numbers including education. The […]
PHOTO GALLERY: Excited kids flock to drive-through trunk or treat in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Cars filled with excited children lined the Green Mountain High School driveway well before the 6 p.m. start time for the Halloween celebration on Saturday. Dressed in orange, Chester-Andover Elementary teacher Frank Kelley welcomed families and directed traffic. Waiting for the kids to cruise by were ghouls, […]
The emerald ash borer: What we know, what’s being done, what we can do, what we can expect
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last October, a Londonderry landowner found a green beetle with a red abdomen lodged in his door. Inspection from a forester and entomologist confirmed that the insect was the invasive emerald ash borer that — though first found in Vermont in 2018 — was not expected in the region […]
Like rest of country, Vermont Covid numbers rise State issues early vaccination protocol, frontline hazard pay program
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Department of Health confirmed a jump of 28 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, for a steep incline of 101 new cases reported this week, a small portion of the 82,600 new infections reported nationwide on Friday alone. Despite that, Vermont still has the lowest seven-day per capita average of […]
Broadband plan outlined to bring fiber to Weston, Derry, 14 other towns in Deerfield Valley CUD
By Cherise Madigan © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Deerfield Valley Communications Union District — of which Londonderry and now Weston are members — presented its business plan earlier this month, following months of surveys and studies into the region’s connectivity and potential. Officially formed this April, the 16-member town CUD aims to provide equitable, […]
In Vermont, hope that universal mail-in balloting becomes norm Advocates see opportunity for this progressive voting rights state to do even more
By Matt DeRienzo Editor-in-Chief The Center for Public Integrity Vermont has gone farther than almost any other state this year in making sure that residents can vote safely during the Covid-19 pandemic, temporarily switching to a universal vote-by-mail system in which every registered voter is sent a ballot. And there are few other barriers to […]
Derry board revisits future of Williams Dam
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Londonderry Select Board revisited the Williams Dam at its Monday, Oct. 19 meeting, continuing a discussion that has played out for years without resolution. Now, new safety classifications expected from the Vermont Department of Dam Safety in the near future poses a question for the Town of […]
GMUSD board sets graduation date as state cuts required days District reaches agreements with teachers/staff
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A singularly unsettled school year got a measure of certainty earlier this month with the passage of legislation that decided a number of questions that had vexed administrators and school boards, including the number of education days required in a year that started late on orders from […]
Woman critical after hit-and-run in W. Wardsboro State Police seek information on Saturday night incident
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont State Police are asking for the public’s help in finding the driver of a car who hit and critically injured a West Wardsboro woman on Saturday night, then fled. According to a VSP press release, Deborah Ayers, 65, was found semi-conscious on the Stratton Arlington Road around 8 […]
Weston firefighters seek new building; board appoints rep for Communications Union District
By Cherise Madigan © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Volunteer Fire Department may be getting a new home following a preliminary presentation by Fire Chief Ryan Hart and Firefighter Jake Hart at the Oct. 13 meeting of the Weston Select Board. In their appeal, presented by Jake Hart, the fire company requested that, as […]
‘Little library’ for food installed at Smitty’s Market
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In another effort to eliminate food insecurity in area communities, Smitty’s Chester Market and Chester Helping Hands have teamed up to install a food pantry for those who are in need. On Wednesday morning, Stu Stocker and Smitty’s owner Garrison Smith could be found leveling a wooden […]
Vermont drops out of ‘green zone’ for Covid-19, White House says
By Liz Essley Whyte Center for Public Integrity Oct. 13, 2020 The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates betrayals of public trust. Sign up to receive our stories. More than half of states are in the “red zone” for new Covid-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases for […]
Prospects for Church St. sidewalk in Chester distant, dimmer Pinske questions loan fund, election update
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Many Chester residents who use Church Street as part of their walking route have long asked for a sidewalk to separate them from the traffic. But the possibility of that happening dimmed a bit on Wednesday night as Christina Haskins of Dufresne Group gave a presentation to […]
