All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Snow cripples area, thousands without power Falling trees, heavy snow hamper cleanup
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Area residents awoke on Tuesday morning to cracking tree limbs and the woosh of heavy snow cascading off those trees and roofs. They also awoke in the dark as hundreds of trees, weighed down by the wet snow, toppled onto wires and roads and snarled traffic. Schools […]
Deja vu in GMUSD budget process, public participation sought
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Anyone attending the Green Mountain Unified School District Finance Committee meeting on Nov. 15 might have been struck by a sense of deja vu, but in reality, we have been here before. Last year, after a series of meetings – mostly short, one-hour affairs just before full […]
Damaged ash removals in Derry tagged at $100,000
By Bruce Frauman ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Londonderry Tree Warden Kevin Beattie has estimated that the cost of removing ash trees along the town’s rights of way to be about $100,000 and recommended that the town set up a reserve fund to meet the challenge. At its Monday, Nov. 19, meeting, the Londonderry Select Board […]
Weston Board targets cluttered Longley Loop
By Bruce Frauman ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC After Road Foreman Almon Crandal left the Weston Select Board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 13, board chair Denis Benson said that Crandal told him that culverts were not replaced this year because the road crew was busy with lining roads with stones, as per state flood mitigation grants. […]
Commentary: The irony of the Phoenix
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Irony – As a literary device, irony is a contrast or incongruity between expectations for a situation and what is reality… It can also be a difference between what might be expected to happen and what actually occurs. — literarydevices.com If it weren’t for the loss of […]
Chester board: Public needs more info on Tomasso property study
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC A request for the Chester Select Board to accept a $20,000 grant from the Open Space Institute at its Nov. 7 meeting sparked a lengthy discussion around the question of the town owning the 1,800-acre Tomasso property in Smokeshire and the public’s perception of what is happening. […]
Electric service bid adds weeks to CAES opening Hopes for a Thanksgiving opening fades
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC When a bolt broke on a water main flange in late August, flooding the Chester-Andover Elementary School boiler room and ruining the the infrastructure necessary to open to students the following week, officials predicted that the school would be back in service in four to six weeks […]
Misty Valley Books shut after staff apparently quits Local purchase of store from Phoenix Books abruptly ends
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing On Tuesday, Nov. 6, Phoenix Books Misty Valley in Chester was open. On Wednesday, Nov. 7, it was not. Sometime on Thursday, Nov. 8, it will open again, at least through the weekend. But when it will reopen again permanently is not known by the owners, who still hope […]
Brisk turnout for cold, rainy midterm contests
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Tuesday’s General Election had three strikes against it: Most Vermont races – from U.S. Congress to the governor’s mansion and the State House – were pretty much foregone conclusions even before Tuesday and wouldn’t make a huge impact on the national scene; Mid-terms are usually ho-hum affairs that […]
Compromised electric to be replaced at CAES Planned conduit was never installed; more digging needed
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Green Mountain Unified School District board held a special meeting on Monday night to discuss a new wrinkle in repairing the problems caused by flooding at Chester-Andover Elementary and returning 243 pupils to their classrooms. While schools officials are still hoping to reopen […]
Derry board mulls administrative openings, police coverage
By Bruce Frauman ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The majority of the business done by the Londonderry Select Board on Monday, Nov. 5 was handled in executive session to discuss personnel issues and compensation concerning filling the positions that Robert Nied’s departure on Nov. 1 left open. For the past year, he has served as town […]
After four-year hiatus, Seesaw’s rides again
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC We usually say that it’s easier to tell you what hasn’t been retained than what has,” says Kim Prins as she begins to give a tour of the new Seesaw’s Lodge in Peru. As late as 2014, Johnny Seesaw’s Restaurant was a local institution with a storied […]
Derry bear was ready for his close-up
By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s not every day that a Vermonter gets to shoot a bear up-close without inflicting bodily harm on the bear, but that is exactly what Londonderry resident Julie Adams did on Sunday morning. Adams was fast asleep when, around 12:15 a.m., she was awakened to the barks of […]
GMUSD board talks CAES repairs, next year’s budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Bfore getting down to a long agenda at its Oct. 18 meeting, the Green Mountain Union School Board heard an update on the progress of repairing the damage done to Chester-Andover Elementary by two flooding incidents caused by plumbing system breaks. CAES Facilities Director Jim Spaulding told […]
Chester board OKs small-scale retail gas sales, several roads as snowmobile route connectors
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC With just a three-member quorum present, the Chester Select Board set aside work on its “visioning process,” which is part of its budgeting priorities efforts, for another meeting and stuck to the housekeeping items on the agenda for its Oct. 17, including adoption of a zoning change, […]
Derry board OKs engineering study on Williams Dam
By Bruce Frauman ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Londonderry Select Board on Monday voted to allow Emergency Management Director Kevin Beattie to pursue an Advanced Assistance Funding grant to pay for an engineering study of the Williams Dam, which sits beneath the bridge on Route 11 near 100. Beattie referred to a 2015 Department of […]
As Weston board wrestles with building upgrades, it votes down designated committee
By Bruce Frauman ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Board member Ann Fuji’i was unable to convince fellow board members during their Tuesday, Oct. 9 meeting that they should establish a committee to manage town buildings. Fuji’i argued that a standing committee that meets as needed could help oversee replacing the Town Office building’s oil burning […]
Saving Rowell’s Inn: Derry family tackles the task
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Anyone who regularly drove along Route 11 through Simonsville this summer could see the slow motion crumbling of Rowell’s Inn’s iconic three-story porch. But the appearance of a large roll-off dumpster in front of the landmark building is good news for those who have worried that the […]
Ryan Stocker charged with obstruction, violation of conditions 'Jail Phone Calls' result in charges against two others
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Monday, Windsor County prosecutors added two new charges to the list facing Ryan Stocker, 19 of Chester, as he was arraigned for obstruction of justice and violations of conditions of release. Two of Stocker’s friends, Justin Diak, 19 of Chester, and Joshua Woods, 20 of Proctorsville, […]
NY State accuses Cavendish man of ‘terroristic threats’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC A Cavendish man was arrested today on a fugitive from justice warrant issued by New York State and was arraigned in Windsor County Superior Court on felony charges of making “terroristic threats.” Michael Mills, 32, appeared before Judge Timothy Tomasi and waived an extradition hearing saying, “I’m […]
