All Entries in the "Featured" Category
In reversal, health department recommends wearing masks But save medical grade masks for those on the front lines
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Vermont’s Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine stepped out ahead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today saying that Vermonters should wear cloth masks in public even if they have no symptoms. But his remarks were not without caveats and qualifiers. “At this moment in time, […]
Weston Playhouse cancels summer season Intends to bring back three major productions in 2021
By Cynthia Prairie ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Playhouse has canceled for the foreseeable future its summer theater season as well as all special events and concerts planned for the playhouse in downtown Weston and the nearby Walker Farm. Susanna Gellert, the executive artistic director of the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, announced Thursday that […]
TRSU offers superintendent position to Fierman
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last night, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union board offered Green Mountain High School Principal Lauren Fierman a two-year contract to replace Meg Powden as superintendent beginning on July 1, 2020. Powden resigned from the post on Jan. 13 effective June 30, 2020, opting not to complete the […]
Hance named Chester town manager Financially distressed urged to call town over taxes, bills
Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the 15 years that Julie Hance has worked for Chester town government, she has been assistant town clerk, assistant town treasurer, zoning administrator, executive assistant and assistant town manager. On Wednesday, April 1, the Chester Select Board unanimously named her town manager and gave her a one-year […]
State’s Covid-19 modeling shows peak mid-April to early May
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a lengthy Zoom news conference Thursday afternoon, members of the Scott administration explained that modeling done to predict the course of the coronavirus in Vermont is showing that the isolation and distancing measures ordered by the governor are working and that the peak of the infections […]
More medical surge sites announced for Vermont 50-bed medical trailers for Brattleboro, Mt. Ascutney
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Scott administration today announced that two more medical surge sites will be established — one in Rutland and one in Essex Junction — as the state prepares for a large increase in the number of Covid-19 cases. In a press release today, Gov. Phil Scott said […]
Springfield Medical Systems manages under Covid-19 changes
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic has meant that health care systems have had to make changes to the way they work on a day-to-day basis while coping with shortages in gear and uncertain finances that can be difficult for rural providers and all the more […]
Testing reveals more cases; infections jump by 37
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The expanded testing regime announced by Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine seems to be turning up more new cases than were found when screening was limited to only the very sick. On Friday, Levine said that by having received a larger stockpile of test kits, the state […]
Signs of the Times: In Londonderry
Chester Telegraph reporter Bruce Frauman took a tour of Londonderry late last week to visit the shops and offices that are usually open to the public but under shut-down orders because of the Covid-19 virus are either open on a limited basis, with altered hours or closed completely. Here’s what he discovered. Click any photo […]
The women behind the masks Three businesswomen sew kindness into every face mask
By Cynthia Prairie ©2020 Telegraph Publishing Three businesswomen have turned their sewing expertise into an act of kindness by creating washable, reusable face masks for friends, family and medical personnel throughout the region to help slow Covid-19 infections in Vermont. They are part of a force of individuals who have stepped up to fill a […]
Gov. Scott: If you don’t need to come to Vt., don’t New restrictions on lodging, mandated quarantine for travelers
By Shawn Cunningham ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Phil Scott today ordered restrictions on travelers arriving in Vermont and ordered the lodging industry — including Airbnbs and others offering short-term rentals as well as campgrounds and RV parks — to close and stop taking reservations. […]
Weston board delays decision on special Town Meeting in its first remote session
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In its first video-conferencing meeting during the Covid-19 shutdown, the Weston Select Board on March 24 delayed action on a proposal by board chair Denis Benson to hold a special Town Meeting to postpone large town expenditures such as a $90,000 bridge replacement and $30,000 for a fire […]
Covid-19 testing kicks off at Landmark College Statewide testing increases by 56 percent from yesterday, 24 new cases, no new deaths
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Just before 8 a.m. Sunday morning, in a chilly drizzle, Lt. Col. Miles Trudell and his crew of National Guard soldiers were putting the finishing touches on a drive-through testing operation at Landmark College’s parking lot D. The tents for registering and testing patients and processing specimens […]
Guard sets up Covid-19 testing site in Putney Opens Sunday; health-care provider referral required
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont Department of Health announced this evening – Saturday, March 28, that the state’s National Guard is setting up a Covid-19 testing facility at a building on the Landmark College campus in Putney that will open on Sunday morning. (The state has since altered its plan and the testing […]
Levine touts ‘full-court press’ to ease testing rules Covid positives up by 26 from yesterday, 2 more patients die
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the nominal purpose of Gov. Phil Scott’s press conference this morning was to talk about his order to dismiss schools for the remainder of the year, that was overshadowed by the announcement of relaxed requirements for testing Vermonters for Covid-19, the increase in positive tests by […]
Gov. Scott: Schools won’t reopen this school year Distance learning will continue with AOE guidance
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Gov. Phil Scott today directed schools to remain closed through June, but continue distance learning. This extends the previous directive closing Pre-k-12 schools from March 18 to April 6. The decision, according to a press release, was made to slow the spread of coronavirus, which causes Covid-19, the disease that […]
Open meetings law to be relaxed during emergency Temporary measures allow meetings to have no physical place, must include public by phone
Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Today, Thursday March 26, Gov. Phil Scott signed legislation that will ease some of the requirements for access to the meetings of public boards and allow for more time to post the minutes of those meetings. A statement in the law says it is the intent of the […]
Covid-19 cases rise by nearly a third to 158 Health Dept. cautions against using drugs not approved for the illness
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The number of Covid-19 cases in Vermont rose by 35 today, Thursday, March 26, from 123 yesterday to 158 and the Department of Health announced that another patient has died raising that total to nine. To date, six of those patients who have died were residents of […]
Citing ‘exponential growth’ in Covid-19 cases, Gov. Scott tightens stay home order 28 new cases brings total to 123 as another patient dies
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Just eyeballing this, everyone can see this does not represent linear growth,” said Dr. Mark Levine, pointing to a bar graph that showed cumulative and new cases of Covid-19 from March 7 through March 24. Levine, Vermont’s commissioner of health, was speaking at a press conference Wednesday […]
Derry board briefed on pandemic readiness George Mora elected new Select Board chair
By Bruce Frauman ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC As he spoke about the town’s preparation for the Covid-19 crisis, Londonderry Emergency Management Director Kevin Beattie told the Select Board on Monday, March 16 that the primary issue nationally is to slow the spread of the virus so that the medical infrastructure can keep up with the […]