See previous post. This week brings us so much media news that I didn’t try to make it fit into a regular edition of “News You Should View.” The first installment of the News You Should View Extended Cinematic Universe featured bad content; this one features a small newspaper trumping the big boys.

The Addison County Independent is one of Vermont’s best local newspapers. Unfortunately, its content sits behind a rigorously-enforced paywall and I choose not to subscribe to every paywalled content farm in the state. But over the weekend I was driving through Addison County, and picked up a print copy of The Addy Indy at the redoubtable West Addison General Store (complete with well-aged and uneven wooden floors).

And there on the bottom of the front page was a significant story about Vermont politics that I have yet to see in any other outlet. It informs us that Gov. Phil Scott is treading into the gray area when it comes to naming a replacement for former state representative Mari Cordes of the Addison-4 district, who recently relocated to Nova Scotia.

I’m not linking the article because rigorous paywall, but since I paid two bucks for the physical paper (which is impressively thick, their sales department must be doing something right), I figure I can spill a few beans.

The normal process for filling a legislative vacancy is for a local committee of the party of the departed lawmaker to get together and provide three names for the governor, who customarily chooses one of them. It’s standard practice to replace a lawmaker with one who represents the same political party. In this case, the Addison District Representative Committee considered five people as potential Cordes successors — including former state rep David Sharpe. They forwarded three names to the governor, including Sharpe…

…And now the governor is balking at appointing any of the three. Instead, he has asked the ADRC to provide him with contact information for the two individuals who were not put forward. He hasn’t explicitly rejected the three names submitted, but his request is highly unusual and the ADRC is dismayed by it.

According to the account by veteran reporter John Flowers, a Scott spokesperson indicated that the governor’s office had “heard concerns about the nomination process from members of the community” without specifying where the concerns came from. The statement indicates that Scott will follow protocol and choose a Democrat to replace Cordes, but wishes to cast the net a bit wider.

The ADRC has said it will not provide the information. If the governor actually rejects their three choices, they say they would meet again to reconsider their nominees.

The whole thing strikes me, as it seems to have struck the ADRC, as more than a little fishy. What’s the big deal about, for instance, appointing Sharpe, who represented the district with distinction for 16 years including a stint as chair of the House Education Committee?

The story, to my mind, deserves wider attention. It was published by the Independent on July 31, so it’s been out there for a few days. VTDigger? Seven Days? Vermont Public? Anyone?

Hello? Is this thing on?

Perhaps this post will jog the collective minds of our larger media outlets and get them to pursue a political story of some consequence beyond the confines of Addison-4. One certainly hopes so.In the meantime, good on ya, Addy Indy.