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Chester board talks forest management, finishes annual appointments

By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday’s Chester Select Board meeting was partly made up of the re-organizational housekeeping that follows each year’s March Town Meeting but also looked toward the future and the work that  the town needs to do. Windsor County Forester Hannah Dallas came before the board to discuss the […]

Brisk turnout for Chester housing development open house

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC On a sunny, almost spring afternoon on Tuesday, more than 100 people gathered inside Chester’s Town Hall to attend an open house to gather the public’s opinion on ideas for developing a piece of land owned by the town for accessible and affordable housing. The presentation was […]

Cavendish board weighing road paving options; discusses police coverage

By Lorien Strange ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Cavendish’s March Select Board meeting was also Sandra Russo’s first back on the board, having previously served from 2019 to the spring of 2023. Due to an agenda posting issue, the meeting was held on a Thursday instead of the typical second Monday of the month. After quickly […]

Isolated older Vermonters can struggle alone

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Seven Days as part of “This Old State,” the paper’s yearlong series on aging in Vermont. Rachel is a Seven Days staff writer and corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. By Rachel Hellman © 2025 Seven Days As Jim’s eyesight […]

Chester board talks quarrying, STRs, future rail connections and federal funds

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC With Tuesday’s elections behind it, the Chester Select Board last Wednesday got down to its annual re-organization with a bit of a surprise. When nominations for officers were opened, long-time board chair Arne Jonynas  nominated vice chair Lee Gustafson to the chairman seat. The vote of the […]

Fewer short-term rentals in Chester could indicate a softening market

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC At last week’s Chester Select Board meeting, Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow and Assistant ZA Hugh Quinn updated the board on the town’s short-term rental program, which seems to have cooled down along with the entire STR market in general. The town requires property owners who rent for […]

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  • GMUSD Board agenda for March 20

    GMUSD Board agenda for March 20

    The Green Mountain Unified School District Board will hold its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday March 20, 2025 at the Green Mountain High School Library, 716 VT-Route 103 S, and via Zoom. To join the meeting go to https://trsu.zoom.us/j/86893724427 Below is the board’s agenda: I. CALL TO ORDER: A. Roll call II. APPROVAL […]

  • Ludlow Rotary seeks 2025 scholarship applicants

    Ludlow Rotary seeks 2025 scholarship applicants

    The Ludlow Rotary Club is again offering scholarships to eligible high school seniors to help pay for higher education, including college and advanced trade programs. Residents of Ludlow, Cavendish, Plymouth and Mount Holly are invited to apply. Recipients are selected based on scholastic achievement, financial need, realistic goals, extracurricular activities and community service. Applications may […]

  • Schools invited to apply for SCRAPI funds to improve recycling efforts

    Schools invited to apply for SCRAPI funds to improve recycling efforts

    Vermont Solid Waste Program and Long Creek Resources LLC announce a new initiative aimed at improving waste management practices in Vermont’s K-12 schools. The School Compost and Recycling Action Plan Institute will launch with two immersive, day-long workshops on Monday, June 30 and Monday, July 28 at Vermont State University Randolph Campus. School teams will […]

  • Collapsed Chester Police carport gone; contractor expected to foot bill for vehicle damage

    Collapsed Chester Police carport gone; contractor expected to foot bill for vehicle damage

    By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In mid-February, the carport erected next to Chester’s Public Safety Building collapsed after a snowstorm trapping a police cruiser and an officer’s private car underneath. This past Sunday, a crew disassembled it and the cars underneath it were removed. The delay had to do with the unusual […]

  • Henry Homeyer: Pruning, planting and planning

    Henry Homeyer: Pruning, planting and planning

    By Henry Homeyer ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Whether March came in like the proverbial lion or lamb for you, March is the time when you need to pay more attention to your houseplants. Instead of watering every Sunday, you probably need to water most things twice a week – except for cacti and a few […]

  • Neighborhood Connections to host Vietnam War veterans' ceremony March 25

    Neighborhood Connections to host Vietnam War veterans’ ceremony March 25

    Established in 2008, the U.S. Vietnam War 50th Commemoration Pinning Ceremony is an opportunity to honor veterans of the Vietnam War for their heroic service, and it pays tribute to their selfless contributions. The last ceremonies in the nation will be held in 2025. Neighborhood Connections will be sponsoring one for families in the Mountain […]

  • On eve of Trump tariffs, Chester voters affirm friendship with Canada

    On eve of Trump tariffs, Chester voters affirm friendship with Canada

    By Cynthia Prairie ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC At the end of Monday night’s Town Meeting in Chester — and the evening before the Trump administration’s 25 percent tariffs were to take effect against Canadian and Mexican imports —  Chester resident Shawn Cunningham* rose to offer a resolution. With mic in hand, he read aloud from […]

  • Chester government to host open house on development of water tank land for housing

    Chester government to host open house on development of water tank land for housing

    The Town of Chester is studying housing development potential at the 139-acre town-owned property south of Green Mountain Union High School to serve the local workforce and community members. Open House The Town will be hosting a public open house from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18  on the 2nd floor of […]

  • Cavendish voters pass all articles but six offices left vacant

    Cavendish voters pass all articles but six offices left vacant

    By Lorien Strange ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC With a turnout of 216, voters of the town of Cavendish adopted a $2.45 million budget for the year 2025-26, set the yearly salary for the Select Board at $700 for each member, with $200 extra for the chair and appropriated $2,500 for Okemo Valley Technical Rescue. Voters […]

  • Andover and Londonderry Town Meeting results

    Andover and Londonderry Town Meeting results

    By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two area towns, voted their Town Meeting articles from the floor on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Andover Andover voters approved a $1.24 million budget, elected two new select board members along with a slate of officers running unopposed and passed half a dozen other articles on […]

  • At Town Meeting, Chester voters OK $4.225M budget, discuss sewer, solar bond issues

    At Town Meeting, Chester voters OK $4.225M budget, discuss sewer, solar bond issues

    By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 100 people turned out for Chester’s Town Meeting on Monday night to vote from the floor on 18 published articles including the town’s $4.225 million budget. All passed on voice votes, although some got a bit more scrutiny from the assembly than others. For results […]

  • League of Women Voters speaker series on Supreme Court decisions concludes March 12

    League of Women Voters speaker series on Supreme Court decisions concludes March 12

    The League of Women Voters of Vermont, in partnership with Kellogg-Hubbard Library, presents the last in its 2024-2025 Lecture Series on Recent Supreme Court Decisions at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12. This season examined the potential impacts of five important decisions issued since 2022. William Clark of the Gifford Law Center and  Cabot Teachout, […]

  • College News

    College News

    Makenna Milbauer of Grafton graduated with a BA in Psychology from the  University of South Carolina Beaufort in Bluffton, S.C., in December 2024. The following local residents were named to the Dean’s List at Hamilton College, in Clinton, N.Y., for the fall 2024 semester. To be named to the Hamilton College Dean’s List, a student […]

  • GMUSD budget articles pass by varying margins

    GMUSD budget articles pass by varying margins

    By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC There were two ballots given to voters in Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester on Tuesday. The pair were proposed by the Green Mountain Unified School District but while they both passed, their vote totals were wildly different. The first was asked voters if a $357,395 surplus could […]

  • Monthly show-and-tell for grown-ups begins March 7 at Rockingham Library

    Monthly show-and-tell for grown-ups begins March 7 at Rockingham Library

    Do you remember how much fun show-and-tell was when you were in school? It’s not just for kids anymore. The Rockingham Free Public Library, 65 Westminster St. in Bellows Falls, is hosting a monthly show-and-tell event from 3 to 5 p.m. beginning on Friday, March 7. This activity is geared to those who are at […]

  • Collaborative welcomes Weston resident to its board of directors

    Collaborative welcomes Weston resident to its board of directors

    Allison Stori Hopkins has joined the Board of Directors of The Collaborative, a Londonderry-based non-profit serving area youth and families. A resident of Weston, Stori Hopkins is a planning manager for the Mount Ascutney Regional Commission. She oversees the land use planning program, economic development and resilience and sustainability initiatives, including emergency planning and health […]

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