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Chester board member calls budget increase 'insidiously dangerous'

Chester board member calls budget increase ‘insidiously dangerous’

By Shawn Cunningham © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Calling the $43,500 increase over last year’s budget “insidiously dangerous,” Chester Select Board member Dan Cote read from a prepared statement at Tuesday night’s special meeting to work on finalizing the town’s spending plan. Referring to “our inability to manage a budget,” Cote called the 1 percent […]

Potash Brook home looks to be a total loss

Potash Brook home looks to be a total loss

By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Firefighters are saying that a fire late Friday afternoon destroyed a home at 3 Potash Brook Road in Chester. Eleven fire departments and the Chester Ambulance service responded to the blaze and one minor injury to a firefighter was reported. Chester Fire Chief Matt Wilson said on […]

Afternoon blaze engulfs Potash Brook home

Afternoon blaze engulfs Potash Brook home

By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC When Andover Road resident Debbie Richardson arrived home from work just after 4 p.m. on Friday, she noticed smoke at the house across the stream, but thought it might be an outdoor fire. As she got closer, Richardson realized her neighbor’s house was on fire and called […]

Chester board looks to stem tax increase

Chester board looks to stem tax increase Asks Town Manager Pisha for department cuts

By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Staring at a budget gap that amounts to an additional 4 cents on the tax rate, the Chester Select Board sent Town Manager David Pisha back to department heads with the message that cuts would be needed. With most of the town’s revenue in and most of […]

Vail reverses ski program rate hike for kids on Fed lunch list

Vail reverses ski program rate hike for kids on Fed lunch list Reduces lift pass benefit to Snow Sports volunteers

By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vail Resorts has rescinded its announced price increase for those local families on the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program whose children want to participate in school ski and snowboard programs at Okemo Mountain, according to those close to the situation. The Chester Telegraph reported the initial rate-hike […]

Ski programs at Cavendish Town, Chester-Andover mount fund-raisers

Ski programs at Cavendish Town, Chester-Andover mount fund-raisers Okemo hikes rates, ends reduced fee for qualifying families

By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing Winter sports program coordinators have scrambled to set up Go Fund Me campaigns to ensure that children at Cavendish Town and Chester-Andover elementary schools can participate, after Okemo Mountain Resort raised prices from $19 to $47 a child and eliminated lower fees for families qualifying for the Federal Free […]

Chester-Andover re-opening set for Jan. 3

Chester-Andover re-opening set for Jan. 3 4 to 6 week restoration stretched into 19

© 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Two Rivers Supervisory Union has announced that the Chester-Andover Elementary School building will reopen for students on Thursday, Jan. 3. Since early September, K-6 classes have been held at the Green Mountain High School due to a water main break  in late August that destroyed the school’s electrical and […]

Early plan for Chester EMS building unveiled

Early plan for Chester EMS building unveiled

By Cynthia Prairie ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC A preliminary plan would put Chester’s Police, Fire and Ambulance departments into a single new building on Pleasant Street and rehab the Town Garage on Depot Street solely for the Highway Department. The total cost for both projects is estimated at $4.6 million, with the new, single-story, 14,500-square-foot […]

Power outages enter fourth day as new storm approaches

Power outages enter fourth day as new storm approaches GMP warns further outages possible, be prepared

By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC For more than 2,500 Green Mountain Power customers in Southern-Central Vermont, this was another morning of waking up to find that electricity had not been restored overnight. And with final restoration slated for Saturday night, GMP is now warning of another storm that could cause outages at […]

Snow cripples area, thousands without power

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 […]

Benches installed, Chester pocket park nears completion

Benches installed, Chester pocket park nears completion

By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC In March, Chester voters approved an outlay of $25,000 to construct a “pocket park” at the end of School Street by the suspension bridge over the Middle Branch of the Williams River. The park was one of the first ideas that from the Village Center Master Planning […]

Chester board: Public needs more info on Tomasso property study

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

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 […]

N.H. man charged with luring a child in Chester

N.H. man charged with luring a child in Chester

© 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation has charged a New Hampshire man with luring a child while living in Chester. According to a press release, police were alerted to a possible luring complaint in March, 2018. On investigation, members of the BCI determined that Christopher Bell, 22 of […]

Chester Planning Commission zoning workshop

Chester Planning Commission zoning workshop

© 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Chester Planning Commission will hold a workshop from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 10, 2018. The session will be to look at ideas and proposed changes to the town’s Unified Development Bylaws with zoning consultant Brandy Sexton. Materials from the planning process can be found here. […]

Brisk turnout for cold, rainy midterm contests

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 […]

Firefighters' quick response saves building, delays Halloween

Firefighters’ quick response saves building, delays Halloween

By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC When a call came in for a fire in an outbuilding on Popple Dungeon Road around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon,  12 or so Chester firefighters were already at the station wearing their turnout gear. They were on the road in less than 30 seconds and the […]

Locals rally to support environmental lawsuit

Locals rally to support environmental lawsuit

By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 20 people showed up on the Chester Green on Sunday to register their support for the plaintiffs in Juliana vs. United States, (also known as colloquially as Youth v. Government), a lawsuit brought by 21 young people demanding a science-based national climate recovery plan to […]

Chester board OKs small-scale retail gas sales, several roads as snowmobile route connectors

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, […]

Ryan Stocker charged with obstruction, violation of conditions

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, […]