Rutland Daily Herald from Rutland, Vermont • A1

'm RUTLAND INNER 2001 PULITZER HERALD P. SUNNY HIGH 41 LOW 24 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 RUTLANDHERALD.COM $1.00 Health reform bill gets first approval bill 8-2 with one absence after spending weeks struggling with some of the thorniest health care issues facing the Legislature this year. The vote broke along party lines with Republican Reps. Patti Komline and Jim Eckhardt casting "no" votes and six Democrats, an independent and a Progressive teaming up to pass the bill out of committee. The bill creates a health benefits exchange that is expected to feature a website consumers can use to easily navigate a menu of state and federally approved insurance options.

The exchange is mandated by the federal Affordable Care Act, but some of the controversial provisions are being added by lawmakers and the See Bill, Page A2 Opponents of the legislation and the broader health care reform effort the Shumlin administration is pursuing have long decried the uncertainty it creates. Even some lawmakers who voted for the bill Thursday were uneasy about passing legislation they don't fully grasp. "I'm going to vote for it, but I can honesdy say there's a lot of it I don't understand," said Rep. Paul Poirier, I-Barre. "I understand it in concept but don't know how all the pieces are going to work." Poirier said he was willing to approve the bill because he trusts the people in charge of health care reform, and he pointed out the Legislature will be in session next year.

"If it doesn't live up to expectations, I'm sure someone will slow this process down," Poirier said. By THATCHER MOATS VERMONT PRESS BUREAU MONTPELIER A controversial proposal to overhaul the health insurance industry made its first big step through the Legislature on Thursday when the House Health Care Committee voted out a bill that would, beginning in 2014, establish a so-called health benefits exchange. The committee approved the DOUBLE THE FUN Hospital divides residents Print shop plan on table for armory By PETER HIRSCHFELD VERMONT PRESS BUREAU MORRISVILLE The most contentious debate over the future of Vermont's mental health system is happening not in Montpelier but in a town on the edge of the Northeast Kingdom. As lawmakers ponder a long-term replacement for the 54-bed state psychiatric facility rendered uninhabitable by Tropical Storm Irene, residents of Morrisville are being asked to host a stopgap facility. Many in this working-class hub of Lamoille County say it's their civic duty to welcome the eight- to 16-bed psychiatric hospital proposed for the area.

The facility, officials in the Shumlin administration say, will alleviate the shortage of inpatient mental health beds while a permanent building is constructed in central Vermont. "I had a person who literally spent two days in the emergency room because we couldn't find a place for them," said Commissioner of Mental Health Patrick Flood. "That is truly disturbing to me and it should be disturbing to all of us. That's not something Vermonters should be proud of." But would-be neighbors of the proposed facility say it would disrupt the serenity of their quiet residential area. "We're not heartless.

We all care. We all understand the need," said nearby resident Marge Alexander. "But you need to consider what this is going to do to our neighborhood." Wednesday night, inside the same low-slung facility where administration officials want to put the temporary hospital, nearly 200 residents See Residents, Page A1 0 By GORDON DRITSCHIL0 STAFF WRITER A proposal before the city would convert the West Street Armory into a print shop. Daniel Keith of Keith's II Sports in Pittsford has placed the winning bid on the building, though a state official said his purchase of the building is conditional on him getting a zoning variance under consideration by Rutland's Development Review Board for the shop. The state put the building on the market after the National Guard moved to the new reserve facility off Post Road.

John Patry, Vermont's military operations supervisor, said Keith's was the highest of four bids, though he would not discuss the bid price as the sale has yet to close. "Given the possibility this one may fail, we may seek to negotiate with one of the others," he said. Keith said Thursday he was looking for a new facility to house his growing operation when he learned the armory was on the market. Keith's II does contract screen printing and embroidery for New England high schools and colleges as well as team dealers nationally. "I was really surprised how good a shape it was in," said Keith, acknowledging, with a chuckle, the reports from state officials of $1 million worth of deferred maintenance at the building.

"The state took good care of it there's a new water heater, the roof has some shingles loose but it's a nice rubber roof underneath. The offices are brand new, it's all wired. For what we need, it's perfect." See Shop, Page A2 1 ALBERT J. MARRO STAFF PHOTO First-time skiers Anya Smith, left, and Ashlie Whittemore head to the slopes at the Pico Ski resort in Killington to participate in the Stafford Tech Winter Carnival on Thursday. Remains could be missing girls Maitland Wilbur By BRENT CURTIS STAFF WRITER State police investigating the discovery of a skull in Danby said Thursday that the age and gender of the remains fit the description of two long-missing teenage girls.

Forensic examiners have pieced together that the human skull belonged to a young white woman but won't know more until dental records or DNA samples reveal the woman's identity. But while little is known about the remains or how the skull arrived on an embankment along Danby Hill Road where they were found Sunday, state police said Thursday it's possible the remains could belong to Brianna Maitland, missing since 2004, or Heide Wilbur, who disappeared in 1991. someone never reported missing or from out of state. If the remains do indeed belong to either Maitland or Wilbur, the skull's discovery would mean the first break in years for investigators handling those disappearances. On Tuesday, the day before police announced the discovery of the skull, state police Capt.

Glenn Hall said he picked up the phone and called Maidand's family to let them know what had been found. For five years, Hall was the lead investigator in search of Maidand who police believe was a victim of foul play after she failed to come home from the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery at 1 1 :20 p.m. on March 19, 2004. The next day, her 1985 Oldsmobile was found See Remains, Page A10 In a statement released Thursday, state police said Maitland and Wilbur, both 17 when they were reported missing, "could potentially meet the age range criteria of the Caucasian female in this case." Having said that, police said they are also asking local police departments if they have missing person cases that match the remains and police said its also possible that the skull which had sustained trauma that suggested the woman may have been the victim of a criminal killing could have come from WTO STARINSKAS STAFF PHOTO Vermont State Police use search dogs to search for remains in Danby on Wednesday where a skull was found along a dirt road. INDEX: Business A5 I Calendar B3 I Classified B7 I Comics, Advice B2 I Crossword, Horoscope B1 0 I Editorial A4 I Obituaries A10 I Sports A7 I Television B3 I Weather A11 www, rutlandherald.com Volume 152 Number 41 2 Sections 24 Pages Don't miss all of the additional stories and photos we are providing in our electronic edition of the Rutland Herald.

Today, that includes: Winter carnival photos, e-page E1 Statewide calendar e-page E2. Autos, e-page E3..