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Black River High closing 'heartbreaking'

Black River High closing ‘heartbreaking’

By Evan Chadwick ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC With the permanent closure of Black River Middle and High School firmly on the minds of many Ludlow-area residents since the district merger creating the Two Rivers Supervisory Union passed by a 288-231 vote in 2018, people had long been preparing for the closing of the school in […]

Hance seeks savings in Chester budget

Hance seeks savings in Chester budget

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a review of  Chester’s financial picture, Town Manager Julie Hance told the Select Board that the town is holding off spending as much as possible so that it would not have to draw on its tax anticipation note or TAN. The note is like a line […]

Beattie: Food shortages, large gatherings of concern in Derry

Beattie: Food shortages, large gatherings of concern in Derry

By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Londonderry Emergency Management Director Kevin Beattie updated the Select Board via Zoom on Monday, May 4 about Covid-19 conditions in the state and the local response, opening a meeting that lasted more than 2½ hours. Beattie said his biggest concern is that people are getting short of money […]

Telegraph receives Facebook News Relief Fund grant

Telegraph receives Facebook News Relief Fund grant

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Thursday morning the Facebook Journalism Project announced The Chester Telegraph is among the 144 recipients of its Covid-19 Local News Relief Fund grants. The grant program, according to the FJP website, was established “to provide support for US local news organizations serving a critical role for […]

Scott: Mask compliance through education, not mandate

Scott: Mask compliance through education, not mandate Visitors still must self-isolate for 14 days

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC While Gov. Phil Scott often says that his administration’s Covid-19 related decisions are “data driven and based on the best science,” when it comes to compliance with its public health directives (including the use of masks and the self-quarantining of people coming from out of state) it […]

Weston Board to seek bridge loan; to seek electric speed signs for Route 100

Weston Board to seek bridge loan; to seek electric speed signs for Route 100

By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Town Clerk/Treasurer Kim Seymour told the Weston Select Board at its Tuesday, April 28 meeting on Zoom that the town needs to borrow $632,500 through a Tax Anticipation Note, with $119,000 coming from a town special fund. The loan would be a “bridge loan” to cover town expenses, […]

Sam Lloyd Jr. dies at 56: Weston native, GM grad and actor/musician remembered for uplifting spirit

Sam Lloyd Jr. dies at 56: Weston native, GM grad and actor/musician remembered for uplifting spirit

© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Sam Lloyd Jr., an actor and musician who moved easily between comedy and drama, stage and screen and Hollywood and his hometown of Weston, Vermont, died on Thursday, April 30 at a respiratory care facility in Los Angeles with his wife Vanessa by his side and his sister Laurel Facetiming […]

Say Ahh? Patients, docs see place for telemedicine

Say Ahh? Patients, docs see place for telemedicine

By Christian Avard ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Since the coronavirus outbreak, doctors and patients are adapting to new ways of meeting, diagnosing and treating illnesses that don’t pose the potential health risks to their patients and themselves of in-person visits. Telemedicine for many is becoming the go-to method for conducting patient visits during the pandemic. […]

State relying on 'education' for worker compliance to 'restart' directives

State relying on ‘education’ for worker compliance to ‘restart’ directives

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Noting that social distancing and the wearing of face masks are “here to stay,” Vermont’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Mark Levine, said that people could expect them to be “part of the Vermont scene even as we reopen Vermont.” At the state’s regular Covid-19 press conference on Monday, […]

News Analysis: Bottom falls out of state education fund, massive tax increases loom

News Analysis: Bottom falls out of state education fund, massive tax increases loom

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC School district boards across the state will have some urgent thinking to do as the depth of the education funding crisis they face begins to be expressed in dollars of shortfall and cents in tax increases in the near future. At its meeting on April 16, members […]

FAQ: Coronavirus disease 2019

FAQ: Coronavirus disease 2019

Reprinted with permission of Howard B. Owens of the Batavian in New York. What is Covid-19? Covid-19 is a disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Why is the disease called Covid-19? COVID is an acronym for “coronavirus disease.” The “19” is for the year of discovery, 2019. What is SARS-CoV-2? SARS is an acronym […]

Weston board OK's paving bid for Lawrence Hill, Chester Mountain roads

Weston board OK’s paving bid for Lawrence Hill, Chester Mountain roads

By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Select Board on Tuesday, April 14 approved a bid of $290,539 from Fuller Sand and Gravel of Danby pending review and approval of Road Foreman Almon Crandall. The bid is almost $50,000 under the next lowest bid, according to board member Jim Linville. The bid is […]

Derry Emergency Management chief outlines actions during Covid-19 crisis

Derry Emergency Management chief outlines actions during Covid-19 crisis

By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Londonderry Select Board met for two hours and 40 minutes on April 20 in a Zoom session mostly to hear about what work Emergency Management Director Kevin Beattie was doing to protect the community during the Covid-19 crisis. Beattie said a virtual Emergency Operations Center to respond […]

Infection curve continues to flatten; Covid-19 numbers are moving target

Infection curve continues to flatten; Covid-19 numbers are moving target

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC During Gov. Phil Scott’s Monday press conference in Montpelier, state Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine noted that the slope of the Covid-19 infection curve “has clearly changed toward more of a plateau.” Using three charts, Levine pointed to the how the number of new infections changed with […]

State asks Chester, other towns for economic development funds

State asks Chester, other towns for economic development funds

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC With a request from Vermont to dedicate a portion of the Chester Development Fund to a state-run loan program, the Chester Select Board on Wednesday night turned to Bob Flint of the Springfield Regional Development Corp. to help explain what’s happening. Flint said that the legislature has […]

Small biz urged to apply for SBA loan programs

Small biz urged to apply for SBA loan programs Congress, White House working to add funds to PPP, EIDL

By Evan Chadwick ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC With the Covid-19 health crisis continuing to cause large scale shutdowns of small businesses across Vermont, small town businesses have been compelled to collaborate more than ever before in an effort to seek emergency funding that has been rolled out as part of the federal CARES Act signed […]

Ripley named GM interim principal as Fierman prepares to take helm at TRSU

Ripley named GM interim principal as Fierman prepares to take helm at TRSU GM board calls for action to meet 'dire' shortfalls, SU floats administration raises

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Green Mountain Unified School District board on Thursday approved a proposal by incoming Superintendent Lauren Fierman to reorganize the administration of Green Mountain High School with Associate Principal Michael Ripley taking on the role of interim principal.  When the board came out of the executive session […]

Banks, credit unions alter policies, hours, services during pandemic

Banks, credit unions alter policies, hours, services during pandemic

By Christian Avard ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Local businesses and residents are feeling the economic pinch from the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses are laying off workers; most are closed temporarily and some are going out of business. The Vermont Department of Labor has been overwhelmed with new unemployment claims. Gov. Phil Scott is ordering all Vermonters […]

S. Vt. gets one out of 19 members on economic recovery panel

S. Vt. gets one out of 19 members on economic recovery panel Local lawmakers: Our communities should have bigger voice

By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing A 19-member “task force” to restart the state’s economy after the peak of the coronavirus pandemic has only one member who lives in southern Vermont and the group’s meetings will not be subject to Vermont’s Open Meetings Law, Gov. Phil Scott said at a press conference Wednesday. On […]

Gymnast Prescott honored with All-Star status

Gymnast Prescott honored with All-Star status Cornell senior of Chester leaps from gym to future in engineering

By Evan Chadwick ©2020 Telegraph Publishing Chester native and Cornell University senior Maci Prescott has been named a national Senior All-Star by U.S.  Gymnastics in her final year competing for the Cornell Big Red Women‘s gymnastic’s team. With the national meet canceled due to the Covid-19 shutdowns, “U.S. Gymnastics wanted to honor seniors that did […]