All Entries in the "Featured" Category
GM school board wrestles with better use of its three school buildings
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last week’s Green Mountain Unified School District’s Restructuring Committee meeting was like experiencing a time warp, with the discussion re-litigating portions of the Act 46 merger that created the district more than seven years ago. The original charge for the committee was to come up with ideas […]
Londonderry zoning proposal sparks community pushback, a board resignation
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The row during last week’s Londonderry Select Board special meeting over proposed zoning regulations, which caused one board member to resign, continued on Monday night as more than 100 residents crowded into the Town Office meeting room, then spilled into the hallway and outdoors. […]
What’s at stake in the June 4 GM school budget vote?
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Tuesday, June 4 – a little less than three weeks from now – residents of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester will have the opportunity to vote on the Green Mountain School District budget for the third time in as many months. The budget funds Cavendish Town […]
Potash neighbors tell select board of nuisance goats ARPA funds discussion and development loan approval
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday, several residents from the area of Andover and Potash Brook roads asked the Chester Select Board to establish a nuisance ordinance in response to a neighbor’s animals – including goats, horses, pigs and vicious dogs – that have made living in the area difficult for […]
GM school board approves warning for 3rd budget vote on June 4
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last night, the Green Mountain Unified School District Board voted unanimously to approve a warning that will put a $16.5 million budget in front of the voters in Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester on Tuesday, June 4. This will be the third vote on the school budget […]
GM school board readies third budget proposal hoping to avert major penalty
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last night was a make-or-break moment for the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District as members met in Proctorsville to craft a budget that could win the approval of voters before the end of the school year on June 30 and avoid the penalties that […]
Chester board OKs community health initiative, full-time Fire Chief post
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board at its April 17 meeting approved some major new initiatives in public safety, including a community health program that would expand the work of the town’s ambulance service beyond emergency response and a full-time fire chief. Ambulance Chief Mike Randzio told the board […]
GM and LMH budgets go down to defeat again
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Voters from four area towns went to the polls yesterday, Tuesday, April 23, and again defeated the 2024-25 budget for the Green Mountain Unified School District. This time the vote was 220 yes to 340 no with two blank ballots. The 120-vote margin was up from the […]
Nick Kekic, Chester glass artist, chosen for annual Smithsonian Craft Show D.C. show highlights finest North American crafts people
By Cynthia Prairie ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester glass blower Nick Kekic of Kekic Glass will make his first appearance with the Smithsonian’s 42nd annual Craft Show called ‘Creating Joy,’ to be held May 1 through 5 in Washington, D.C. He is one of 11 glass artists to exhibit among 120 in media such as […]
A scorecard for voters in the April 23 GM school budget re-vote
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Next Tuesday, April 23, voters in Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester will go to the polls to decide whether or not to approve a somewhat smaller budget for the Green Mountain Unified School District for the 2024-25 school year. The original budget was rejected in March by […]
Chester board gets water/wastewater update, approves coin drops
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Engineer Naomi Johnson of Dufresne Group updated the Chester Select Board last Wednesday on several town water and sewer projects that have been completed or are nearing completion. These include an “asset management plan” for the town’s wastewater system, an inventory of the water system to find […]
Julians admit violations, will cease hammering, other activities
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester’s Development Review Board was set to hear an appeal of the town’s notice of violation against Julian Materials/Allstone on Monday night when it was announced that those companies and the neighbors of its three quarries in Gassetts had agreed to a stipulation that brings a halt […]
Chester Board addresses preserving ancient roads Conservation Committee could aid with public accessibility
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the middle of a rather routine “housekeeping” meeting last Wednesday, the Chester Select Board took time to discuss the town’s 16.67 miles of Class 4 roads. Often called “ancient roads,” Class 4 roads are town-owned rights-of-way that are no longer maintained. Some are still recognizable as […]
Local short-term rental regulation one year later
By Shawn Cunningham ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC A a year ago, The Telegraph published an article about where area towns stood in dealing with short-term rentals such as AirBnb and VRBO. At Town Meeting earlier this month, Andover residents voted down making short-term rentals a conditional use while the Town of Londonderry began advertising for […]
Okemo’s women ski patrol takes over the mountain for International Women’s Day
By Cara Philbin ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC LUDLOW Friday, March 8, 2024 marks the second time in its history that Okemo Mountain organized an all-women ski patrol team to honor International Women’s Day. The first time was just last year, when the women realized they were enough to cover the mountain. It’s 7 a.m., and […]
Windsor Sen. McCormack won’t seek re-election He'll retire in January serving 31 years in state Senate
By Sarah Mearhoff ©2024 VT Digger After more than three decades representing Windsor County in the Vermont Senate, Dick McCormack plans to retire next January at the conclusion of his term. The veteran Democrat disclosed his decision to constituents on Town Meeting Day last week and explained his thinking to VTDigger in an interview Monday. […]
Chester hones STR ordinance changes as moratorium nears end
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a routine reorganization following Tuesday’s Town Meeting Day election, the Chester Select Board, with new member Tim Roper, got down to working on some proposed changes to its Short-Term Rental Ordinance. The board’s six month moratorium on new un-hosted rentals ends on April 1 and it […]
A Local Guide to the Solar Eclipse: Partial or total, prepare to be awed, if the clouds stay away
By Roderick Bates ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday, April 8, a band of midday darkness about 100 miles wide will move in a northeasterly path across North America from Mexico to Newfoundland as the moon crosses in front of the sun. In Vermont, the southern edge of that path will cross through Middlebury and […]
Voters nix GMUSD budget; Other area results Wunderle, Leahy win school board seats; Roper wins, Knapp re-elected to Chester Select Board
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last year was a rocky one for the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District and to cap it off, on Tuesday, voters shot down the proposed $17.4 million budget by a vote of 699 to 620 in a turnout substantially higher than one year ago […]
Andover voters reject ‘short-term rental’ article; set Monday meeting next year
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an otherwise routine Town Meeting in Andover on Monday night one thing stood out. On Tuesday, the town government asked its voters to weigh in by Australian ballot on whether it should add “short-term rental” to the list of conditional uses under its zoning bylaws. But […]
