Portland Press Herald from Portland, Maine • A8

But viewers say Green is unique among TV broadcasters because of his curiosity about Maine and its people, and the civility and respect he shows his subjects. For much of his career, Green has been known for two signature pieces, Green segments on the evening news and his Sat- urday half-hour news magazine show, think he never became too Portland. Even though worked here a long time, he always does stories that represent all parts of Maine, and important to those of us who are refugees from Aroostook said Mi- chael Bourque, now the CEO of MEMIC in Portland, but who grew up in Ashland watching Green. always a gentle- man and always seems perfect- ly comfortable and respectful with whoever talking to, no matter what crazy thing Some of his empathy for peo- ple doing things might come from the fact that Green has done plenty himself, on camera. In the 1970s, he was heavily influenced by the par- ticipatory journalism of George Plimpton (who wrote after trying his hand at pro football) and spent much of his career trying things to give his viewers an idea of what the experience might be like.

He parachuted out of an airplane and landed tangled in some brush, he landed flat on his back after falling off a horse, and he crashed a stock car, at Speedway 95 in Hermon. This fall, he participated in the BikeMaine ride through the midcoast, and noticed a lot of apples fallen from trees along the roadside. He wondered, you make a pie from all these found So, later, he went out and gathered fallen apples and made a pie, on TV. FROM BASEBALL DREAMS TO TV Bill Green graduated from Bangor High School nearly 50 years ago with no real thought to the future, other than his dream of being the left-fielder for the Boston Red Sox. But even that plan had problems, since Green played third base in high school, on a Bangor team that won the 1971 state championship.

He had never considered a career in TV or journalism. But then one day he saw an ad in the newspaper for a min- imum-wage job operating a camera at WLBZ, Channel 2, in Bangor. He started in March of 1972. He says it mostly consist- ed of zooming in and zooming out. He took the job and worked days while taking classes at the University of Maine at night, until he earned his degree in 1976.

He said he learned how creatively a story could be told on television by working with Eddie Driscoll, a Bangor TV pi- oneer with the spirit of a vaude- villian. He also worked with longtime Bangor outdoor writer and TV host Bud Leavitt, whose success lay in his authenticity. never tried to be some- thing he I never liked broadcasters with affectations, and neither did Green said. By 1975, he was on the air at WLBZ, doing sports reports and often manning the camera himself. In 1981, he moved to sister station WCSH in Portland, now known as News Center Maine.

There, he anchored the week- end sports reports and did sports feature stories during the week. He co-hosted a call-in show called When Goldberg was a student at Deering High School in the mid-1980s, he and his soccer teammates used to get togeth- er to watch Green and co-host Bruce Glasier. Goldberg said, until he saw that show, he had no idea that someone from Maine like him or like Green could grow up to be a sports re- porter on TV. Goldberg became a sports anchor on WCSH less than a decade later. Having grown up in Maine watching Green, Goldberg and Gagne both said they were a little in awe when they started working with him.

But both also said that Green went out of his way to help them get their bear- ings at the station. He shared an office with Gagne, who start- ed in 2014, and often looked over her writing for her and made suggestions. The two became friends, and when Gagne got married this year, she asked Green to offici- ate. He went through the pro- cess of becoming a Maine Nota- ry Public so he could make the union legal. was rough at times, try- ing to break into sports report- ing as a woman, but Bill never doubted me and really became my No.

1 said Gagne, who grew up in Biddeford. with him has meant so much to me, not just because of his abili- ty, but because genuinely a nice PLANS FOR HIS RETIREMENT Green is currently working on the final segments for Green and to be shown at various times in November. One, which has not been shot yet, will feature Green kayak- ing near Lincoln with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

He has often in- terviewed Maine politicians in unusual settings, and he had heard that Collins likes to go kayaking when she needs to get away from it all. also planning a segment on the Brice-Cowell Musket, presented to the winner of the annual football game between the University of New Hamp- shire and the University of Maine. But it be a football story, he says, be more of an antique gun story. News Center Maine is plan- ning a special one-hour episode of its news magazine on Nov. 22 to focus on career, and will include video clips, interviews and guests.

It will be filmed live at the Port- land Museum of Art, and people can join the audience through the Facebook page. plans for retirement include doing a little part-time work for News Center Maine and traveling with his wife, Pam. The couple were set up on a blind date by uncle, Bangor TV weatherman Joe Dombek. They married in 1986 and have two grown children, Sam and Emily. The couple, who live in Cumberland, would like to visit Western Canada and Hawaii, and planning an Alaskan fishing trip with his brother.

Green said that after more than 40 years of traveling the state, he feels time to slow down and do more with his wife. He also said that on a story last winter about ice climbing, he realized he was worried about slipping and hurting himself. That helped him decide time had Green said he considers him- self lucky to have been able to see so much of Maine in 47 years, and do so many things he might never have done. He was even glad, he said, to be able to do a story in the rain this past Sunday in New Gloucester about Nordic skiers training on in-line skates. was raining.

But it will be a good Green said. Ray Routhier 207-791-6454 Twitter: GREEN Continued from Page A1 A8 Portland Press Herald Wednesday, October 30, 2019 CONTINUED FROM A1 a family of three, are eligible for sub- sidized ACA insurance. Seventy-four percent of Maine residents eligible for ACA insurance will be able to select a plan with a $75 or lower monthly pre- mium, according to federal data. Maine voters approved Medicaid expansion in 2017, but former Repub- lican Gov. Paul LePage refused to implement it.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills implemented the expansion on her first day in office, and since then about 40,000 people have signed up for Medicaid, according to state data. Thousands more are expected to en- roll in Medicaid in the coming months, including those who are switched from ACA plans to Medicaid. FEWER PEOPLE WILL BE UNINSURED Mitchell Stein, a Maine-based inde- pendent health policy analyst, said that while he have a signup projection, he does expect fewer Main- ers to sign up for ACA insurance. expect ACA enrollment to go down, but for a good Stein said.

Maine had roughly 70,000 people sign up for ACA coverage last year, down from a peak of 84,059 in 2016. Although repeal efforts have so far failed, the Trump administration has taken numerous steps to weaken the ACA, including eliminating the indi- vidual mandate that required adults to sign up for insurance or pay a penalty, and slashing outreach and advertising budgets. Nationally, since President Trump took office, ACA enrollment has de- clined from 12.7 million to 11.4 mil- lion. Still, despite predictions it would collapse, ACA is alive and said Ann Woloson, executive director of Maine-based Consumers for Afford- able Health Care. Stein said Medicaid expansion means fewer people in Maine will be uninsured.

States that have refused to expand Medicaid have about double the un- insured rate of expansion states, ac- cording to the Kaiser Family Founda- tion. uninsured rate before it expanded Medicaid was about 8 to 10 percent, based on estimates by three separate groups, including the U.S. Census, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Gallup. Before Maine expanded Medicaid, those who were unable to obtain insur- ance through an employer and who earned between 100 and 138 percent of the federal poverty limit, between $20,780 to $28,676 for a family of three could purchase ACA marketplace in- surance. Those enrollees were permit- ted to keep their ACA plans in 2019, but will be migrated to Medicaid for 2020.

Exactly how many people will be switched from an ACA plan to Med- icaid is unclear, but a rough estimate from Kaiser Family Foundation state- by-state statistics shows that it proba- bly will be about 5,000 to 9,000 people in Maine. Stein pointed out that, especially for low-income residents, Medicaid is like- ly to be superior insurance. Medicaid has zero or nominal out-of- pocket costs for patients, while ACA in- surance can have co-pays, deductibles and monthly premiums. ACA premi- ums for low-income enrollees are low, usually about $10 to $20 per month. Some plans have zero premiums.

MAINE PUBLICIZING OPEN ENROLLMENT Rates for 2020 declined or increased slightly depending on the insurer, ac- cording to the Maine Bureau of Insur- ance, ranging from a decrease of 7 per- cent to a 0.9 percent increase. Maine has stabilized ACA rates through a reinsurance program. People who get subsidies to purchase insurance about 85 percent of enrollees are shielded from rate increases. Those with ACA insurance in Maine are more likely to be older and live in rural areas, with 51 percent between the ages of 45-64, and 56 percent living in rural parts of the state, according to the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Meanwhile, Maine is ramping up ef- forts to publicize ACA open enrollment, even as the Trump administration cuts outreach efforts.

Called the CoverME campaign, the effort includes the new www.CoverME.gov website, digital and television ads promoting Medicaid and the ACA, and beefed-up in-person assistance. A $750,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is helping to publicize the CoverME cam- paign. the first time in Maine, open en- rollment is an opportunity for Maine people and small businesses to un- derstand their options for affordable, high-quality coverage through both (Medicaid) and HealthCare.gov, with no coverage gaps. We look forward to launching the statewide CoverME campaign to help people in every cor- ner of Maine get the insurance they need to live healthy Jeanne Lambrew, health and human services commissioner, said in a state- ment. Also, Maine will be switching from a federally run marketplace to a state- run ACA marketplace in 2021, which will unlock an additional $2 million in federal funding for outreach efforts.

Joe Lawlor 207-791-6376 Twitter: ACA Continued from Page A1 Brianna Photographer Broadcast journalist Bill Green is surrounded by lights Tuesday at the News Center Maine TV station in Portland. He has been overwhelmed by the response from viewers since announcing his retirement. guess maybe just established a comfort level with he said. new federal legislation making it distinct from marijuana, its cannabis cousin, the hemp-fueled CBD market could hit $22 bil- lion by 2022, according to the Brightfield Group. Maine could adopt the federal program standards or submit its own program to the USDA for review.

The rule promises feder- al action on state and tribal program sub- missions within 60 days in hopes of making it possible for farmers to grow under feder- ally approved state programs in 2020. It is unclear whether state hemp program will meet new federal standards. State Agriculture Commissioner Amanda Beal said Monday that Maine was pleased the USDA had finally released its highly an- ticipated hemp guidance for states. like Maine and farmers across the country have been in limbo as we awaited this important guidance outlining how states would implement commercial hemp Beal said in a statement. will continue to work with stakeholders across Maine, including the congressional delegation and the USDA, in making sure that this guidance makes sense for Maine farmers and business MAINE FARMERS HAVE FACED UNCERTAINTY Over the last year, Maine and other states with hemp programs have struggled to remain compliant with developing federal rules on hemp and CBD in the wake of its declassification under the 2018 Farm Bill.

Maine hemp farmers have faced uncer- tainty when it comes to the allowable uses of CBD, which is most lucrative end market. After the 2018 Farm Bill was passed, interest in hemp farming grew, but then the U.S. Food and Drug Admin- istration issued a statement saying CBD be added to food. That led Maine health and agriculture inspectors to urge state CBD retailers to pull the items off shelves. State lawmakers passed emergency legislation to allow CBD derived from locally grown hemp back into foods sold in Maine, then had to tweak the fix when retailers said they needed out-of- state CBD, too.

The federal rule is a first step that allows agencies that administer federal farm pro- grams, like the Farm Service Agency, Nat- ural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency, to advise hemp farmers on eligibility for additional farm programs, like crop insurance and federal- ly backed farm loans. Some of hemp farmers have struggled to get access to the banking and insurance needed to grow their newest crop. This month, Ben and Taryn Marcus were dropped by their bank and insurer af- ter they harvested a hemp crop on their 180-acre Whitefield farm. The couple opened their fields to the pub- lic, much like they do with their strawber- ries, for first pick-your-own hemp operation. But their bank and insurance company closed their accounts, saying the state-licensed hemp operation was too risky without federal regulations behind it.

The couple is now banking with cPort Credit Union, a financial institution that openly accepts cannabis-related deposits, but they find a company willing to in- sure their farm for a reasonable price while growing hemp. One broker they talked to compared hemp to tobacco, saying it car- ried too many unknown risks. we think a step in the right direction, we think banks and insurers and thus farmers and the public are ultimately at the mercy of the Taryn Marcus said Monday. said, risks with hemp is not yet understood and that we should have a better idea in a couple High insurance premiums will force the Marcuses to sell their hemp wholesale rather than directly to consumers. INDUSTRY SHOULD HAVE The plight attracted the atten- tion of U.S.

Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jar- ed Golden of Maine. months, urged the USDA to es- tablish rules clarifying legal pathways for hemp Pingree said. the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, the industry should have flourished, but their success was hindered by a lack of federal regula- Pingree said she will work with USDA to make sure the final rule works for Maine hemp growers. Whole-farm revenue protection will be available for a 2020 hemp crop grown for fiber, flower or seeds.

The program allows coverage of all revenue for commodities produced on an eligible hemp farm up to a total insured revenue of $8.5 million. Eligible hemp growers will be able to buy coverage if they have a contract for the purchase of the insured hemp and meet all state, tribal and federal regulations. But testing or having too much THC in the cannabis to be considered hemp, will not constitute an insurable loss. Under the new rules, the crop will be sampled two weeks before harvest and tested at a federally approved lab to make sure the THC levels are below 0.3 percent, with some margin for error allowed in cul- tivation, which would qualify the crop as hemp rather than marijuana. If it tests hot, it must be destroyed.

That test would also factor in THCA, a cannabis compound often converted to THC during processing. This strict testing standard worries the Marcuses. Under the state program, the hemp seeds they bought from Oregon tested well below the 0.3 percent THC lim- it used to define hemp, but Maine factor THCA levels into its THC measure- ments. Their crop would have failed the new federal test. The couple will have to start over with new strains, unable to use the ones they spent the year perfecting.

Penelope Overton 207-791-6463 Twitter: HEMP Continued from Page A1 Brianna Photographer Hemp grower Ben Marcus carries a plant at his Whitefield farm. He and his wife, Taryn, have struggled with access to banking and insurance as their state-licensed hemp operation was considered too risky without federal regulations behind it..