All Entries in the "Featured" Category
From virtual contests to drive thru trunk or treat, communities push for ‘normal’ Halloween
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Countless holidays and traditions are being re-configured in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and Halloween has not been spared. While traditional trick-or-treating practices have come into question due to social distancing requirements, many community groups have modified their annual events so that the holiday can still be […]
Beattie named Vermont Emergency Management Director of Year
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Londonderry’s own Kevin Beattie has been recognized as Vermont’s Emergency Management Director of the Year for 2020, a year in which emergency management is anything but “business-as-usual.” “Kevin Beattie has all the characteristics that make an exemplary EMD,” said Mark Bosma, public information officer for the state Department […]
TRSU board OKs funds for LES kitchen
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The board of directors of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union approved the expenditure of approximately $17,000 from the coffers of the After School program to fund the re-installation of a kitchen in the Ludlow Elementary School, which Principal Karen Trimboli asserted was a matter of hot lunch […]
Derry Transfer Station food-scrap intake doubles
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Recycling Coordinator Esther Fishman told the Londonderry Select Board at its Monday, Oct. 5 meeting that the amount of food scraps being brought to the Transfer Station has increased by nearly 10,000 pounds per month since a state composting mandate went into effect this summer. Food scraps totaled […]
A community greenhouse grows in Chester
By Cynthia Prairie ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A group in Chester is working to establish a community greenhouse that will allow residents to extend the season to grow plants, vegetables and flowers almost all year long. Their vision is of a community greenhouse and gardens that include educational opportunities while addressing climate change, food insecurity […]
Chester board OKs Act 250 appeal, orders dog in attack muzzled
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In two special meetings last week, the Chester Select Board discussed the Act 250 District Commission’s rejection of the town’s application to extract gravel on the site it bought for a new water tank and took evidence in a hearing about a dog named Edgar that neighbors […]
As autumn descends, eateries cautious, optimistic
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont’s fall foliage season typically rakes in revenue totaling $280 million throughout the month of October, according to the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, and leaf peepers have already begun to descend on the Green Mountains as they burst into a blaze of color. While the foliage […]
Casting your ballot: A guide to voting procedures
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Voting in this pandemic year will not be like any vote we have ever cast and Secretary of State Jim Condos is suggesting that everyone have a voting plan. One suggestion is to vote by Saturday, Oct. 24 — “to reduce contact at polling places and to […]
Statewide disc golf tournament draws players to Chester
By Cynthia Prairie ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Stone Village Shootout disc golf tournament this past weekend at the Pinnacle in Chester attracted 50 players from Vermont and New Hampshire and marked the four-year-old course’s inaugural run in the disc golf tournament world. The Chester course was the No. 9 stop in the 2020, 11-course […]
K-12 Covid numbers remain low as child-care hubs continue to expand
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC With continuing low Vermont Covid-19 numbers — and with just one new positive case in K-12 schools this week — Vermont schools have been approved to go from a Step II to Step III in health guidance as of Saturday, Sept. 26. Meanwhile, the statewide child-care hub initiative continues to grow, […]
Weston board grills Brattleboro Dev. Corp. on lack of internet push, local jobs programs
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Economic development — particularly in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic — dominated discussion at the Sept. 22 meeting of the Weston Select Board, which found some friction between its own development priorities and those established by the Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. BDCC Director of Programs Jen […]
How VTel’s phone/internet outage happened
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Multiple equipment failures brought to a standstill VTel phone and internet service to Chester, Andover, Grafton and Windham — first on Thursday, then on Friday and into Saturday of last week, prompting questions about access to public safety agencies and how to make that more robust. According […]
Hance tells board Public Safety building is on schedule
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC While it may appear to a passerby on Pleasant Street, that construction of Chester’s Public Safety Building has stalled, according to Town Manager Julie Hance, the standstill is a sign that the project is not only on schedule but also saving money. At its Sept. 16 meeting, […]
Derry Main St. paving wraps for season as town begins to focus on future Master Plan
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Londonderry’s Main Street paving project will continue into November, Town Administrator Shane O’Keefe announced at Monday’s Londonderry Select Board meeting, and the project is on-schedule to be completed this fall with the exception of a wear coat — the final driving surface for the newly paved road that […]
Year after blaze, Timber Works rises from ashes
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A year ago this week, a fire in a dumpster outside Vermont Timber Works in North Springfield spread to the building destroying it in a massive blaze fueled by exploding propane and gas tanks inside the building. Just shy of a year later, the company is back, […]
Act 250 denies Chester town gravel pit application
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a decision released on Friday, Sept. 18, the District 2 Environmental Commission denied the Town of Chester’s application to open a municipal gravel pit on a 139-acre property the town purchased as a site for a back-up tank for its water system. The site is off […]
Scott allows bar seating with restrictions; lodgings can now book at 100 percent
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Gov. Phil Scott has “turned the spigot” for the hospitality sector this week, allowing for lodging to increase to 100 percent capacity and for restaurants and bars to offer bar seating with some restrictions. Lodging may now book 100 percent of rooms, however travelers should either be from Vermont or if […]
Scott extends state of emergency to Oct. 15 CDC says Vermont's contract tracing method 'best in nation'
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Gov. Phil Scott has extended the state of emergency through Oct. 15, allowing the governor to issue executive orders as the state continues with ongoing efforts to manage the coronavirus pandemic. News from the Vermont Department of Health remains overwhelmingly positive for Vermont as the state continues to lead the […]
Initiative looks to expand fiber-optic internet access in Derry, Weston In time of Covid-19, high speed service vital to education, public health, business
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home orders, Vermonters in some towns are feeling the lack of high-speed internet more than ever. While some area towns like Chester and Andover have had fiber optic for several years because Vtel received a federal grant to wire […]
Weston board OKs backhoe purchase, nears approval of broad-band initiative
By Cherise Madigan ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Select Board authorized the purchase of new equipment and moved closer to joining an initiative to expand high-speed internet access in the region at its Tuesday, Sept. 8 meeting, held via Zoom. See Thursday, Sept. 10 story: Initiative looks to expand fiber optic internet access in […]
