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Granite Staters can get tested for a range of sexually transmitted infections for free during the city of Nashua’s fourth annual Valentine’s Day testing event. The event is organized by the city’s division of public health and community services. Sascha Potzka, a public health nurse with the city of Nashua, said testing is important because people may not know if they’re living with an infection. “A lot of people are asymptomatic, especially with Chlamydia and Gonorrhea – about 50% of people don’t experience symptoms,” she said. The same is true for HIV – many people may not experience symptoms in the beginning, she said. (Hoplamazian, 2/13)

Governor Charlie Baker signed a $101 million supplemental budget over the weekend that includes additional funding for a state COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave program and increased access to vaccines and other pandemic supplies. Baker said in a letter to state lawmakers Saturday that the legislation he signed authorizes $76 million primarily intended to increase access to COVID-19 tests, vaccines, and masks. The legislation also includes a $25 million increase for the state’s COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave program drawn from federal funds. (Hilliard, 2/13)

A group of amateur radio operators in Caribou have banded together to start Aroostook County’s first municipal-based emergency service, hoping to modernize the region’s use of technology during disasters. In a rural county where internet, cellphone and other types of communication can be spotty in good weather, storms can easily knock out those modes of communication. The newly formed group of volunteer amateur radio operators calling itself Caribou Emergency Amateur Radio Service will bring to Aroostook the only digital smart technology for amateur radios, known as D-STAR, north of Portland. (Lizotte, 2/14)

Portland has followed Bangor in banning the sale of flavored tobacco products, a move advocates hope will spur the passage of a statewide ban. The Portland City Council voted unanimously to ban the sale of the products within the city on Monday, more than three months after Bangor became Maine’s first community to do so. Both bans go into effect on June 1. Anti-tobacco advocates in Portland and elsewhere say that sales bans are the only way to ensure that children don’t get access to e-cigarette products. Tobacco and vape manufacturers had long marketed their products to children, they argue, noting the many fruity flavors available for e-cigarettes and the numerous young people in Maine who have begun using e-cigarettes despite being below the age of 21. (Marino Jr., 2/13)

The health insurance provider for Clark County School District educators is working to resolve issues for 44 members who were in collections because of unpaid medical claims. Officials with THT Health provided updates Thursday to the Clark County School Board. Of the 44 members identified as being in collections, 13 of those cases have been resolved, THT Health CEO Tom Zumtobel said. That means a member’s health care provider was paid and the collection agency notice was retracted, he said, noting there also isn’t a blemish on their credit record. THT is in the process of reconciling collections issues for 31 remaining members. (Wooton-Greener, 2/11)

With old age comes the need for more care, but Montana is short hundreds of in-home and respite caregivers while simultaneously leading the West in the silver wave. About 20% of Montana’s population is over age 65, higher than any other western state, according to the Population Reference Bureau. And Montanans are more inclined to age at home with every passing year. Montana AARP surveys showed that about 85% of residents would prefer to age at home while nationally about 77% of those over 50 years old preferred to age at home, according to Mike Batista with Montana AARP. (Schabacker, 2/13)

David West, a retired juvenile court counselor for the state of North Carolina, grew up in the Boston-Thurmond neighborhood in Winston-Salem, a predominantly Black community that has seen many changes over the past century. Until the early 1990s, it was a vibrant neighborhood filled with Black Americans in a variety of tax brackets. There were fresh food markets at most every corner and everyone seemed to know everyone in the community, according to West, a 68-year-old neighborhood advocate who willingly offers a quick history lesson. Today, few residents there know their neighbors, according to West. (Jallow, 2/14)

An excavator’s claw no one in local history circles saw coming leveled a house that records say was once the home of Henrietta Lacks, the Roanoke-born woman described as the mother of modern medicine. In a freakish stroke of bad timing, a local historian discovered the home standing vacant on a Hurt Park street, but city officials weren’t told of its significance in time to call off the demolition. Code enforcement officials did not know Lacks had lived in the American Foursquare house on Norfolk Avenue, which had become unsafe, said Dan Webb, codes compliance administrator. Nor did the owner. An excavator tore down the dwelling at 1102 Norfolk Ave. SW, which was at least 95 years old, about four months before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, The Roanoke Times found. (Sturgeon, 2/14)

A new ad in the Missouri Republican Senate primary criticizes the collegiate swimmer at the center of a debate over policies for transgender athletes, marking the first time the lightning-rod issue has appeared in a Senate campaign spot. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), one of several contenders vying to replace retiring GOP Sen. Roy Blunt, is out with a new ad slamming Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer on the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s team. (Allison, 2/13)