All Entries in the "Featured" Category
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 […]
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 […]
