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Bangor launches HIV case management program amid Maine’s largest outbreak

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Bangor launches HIV case management program amid Maine’s largest outbreak


Jennifer Gunderman, director of Bangor Public Health and Community Services, on July 18. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

Bangor Public Health launched an intensive case management program this month to serve those impacted by the city’s HIV outbreak, which has led to 29 identified cases.

The program is funded by about $550,000 of Bangor’s opioid settlement funds. It will provide case management services like mental health care and rides to appointments for residents impacted by the outbreak, which has been ongoing since October 2023 and saw cases rise through this summer, said Jennifer Gunderman, director of Bangor Public Health and Community Services.

“We’re still dealing with an outbreak,” Gunderman said. “Yet I think what we’re trying to do is build longer-term systems so that we don’t all get burned out.”

Over the last two years, Bangor has become the site of Maine’s largest outbreak, with most cases identified among people who have used injection drugs or experienced homelessness in the 12 months before their diagnosis, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Before late 2023, Penobscot County had averaged just two new HIV infections annually.

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The intensive case management program will provide wraparound services like mental health care, housing assistance and substance use disorder treatment to people impacted by the outbreak. Gunderman said it will employ two case managers and a vehicle to transport people to and from appointments.

This is the first time the city’s public health department is running its own case management services, Gunderman said.

Gunderman said Bangor’s population needs a combination of programs and case management services, including ones that are close to home, so residents don’t fall through the cracks.

“We have been engaging with this population for a very long time, even before this outbreak happened,” Gunderman said. “So when the intensive case management (program) happened, it was just like saying to a person that we’ve known for a while: ‘Hey, we now have this other service that we can offer you.’”

The Regional Medical Center at Lubec previously handled case management services for Bangor, but the hospital terminated its Northern Maine HIV Program this summer, ending case management for about 140 people in five northern counties, according to Gunderman and MaineGeneral Health officials.

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Bangor residents who had been on HIV case management for decades lost services in the middle of an outbreak, Gunderman said.

On Oct. 7, MaineGeneral Health’s Horizon program announced it would expand its HIV and AIDS support services to more counties, including Penobscot, to fill the gap.

The Lubec hospital and Horizon program are both longtime recipients of funding through the federal Ryan White Part C Early Intervention Services Program, which allocates HIV prevention and care dollars to states and communities.

After Lubec terminated its program, federal funding was awarded to MaineGeneral’s program to take on the additional counties, said Jennifer Riggs, MaineGeneral’s CEO of community care.

Riggs said the Horizon program integrates outpatient medical services with support services like mental health care to serve people who are low-income, uninsured or underserved.

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“Ensuring that these services and the funding for them remain available to individuals is essential to limit the negative effects (of HIV and AIDS) in Maine’s local community members,” Riggs said.

Horizon will expand its coverage area to 14 counties, up from nine, and has already started transitioning some case management services over while building relationships with existing health organizations in those places, Riggs said.

Riggs said the program will work with Bangor’s health leaders on “prevention and testing, treatment coordination and other support services.”

Bangor Public Health has worked with a slew of community groups and organizations on expanding preventative HIV services, including distributing condoms and clean needles, making self tests available and helping people get on PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, a preventative medication taken by people at high risk for HIV infection.

Gunderman said the outbreak is likely larger than the 29 cases that have been identified and reported. She said it was made more intense because of conditions like people experiencing homelessness, living in outdoor congregate settings and struggling with substance use issues and mental health.

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She said the outbreak should be a “wake up call” for the rest of Maine.

“Bangor is not the only community that struggles with that,” Gunderman said. “So I think that statewide, there should be an increased awareness and increased testing.”



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Maine

Police warn of scam targeting sex offenders in Maine

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Police warn of scam targeting sex offenders in Maine


A letter is being sent that asks registered sex offenders to email personal information

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Maine State Police

scam letter targeting sex offenders in maine

SOURCE: Maine State Police

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State Police warn of scam targeting sex offenders in Maine

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A letter is being sent that asks registered sex offenders to email personal information

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Updated: 11:10 AM EDT Apr 8, 2026

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Maine State Police is warning of a scam that is targeting sex offenders in the state.The issue was brought to those who run the Sex Offender Registry that the scam is targeting registered people on probation in Maine. A letter is being mailed to people, claiming to be from the ‘Maine Probation Tonduary.’ The letter claims there has been a data migration error in the Records Management System and the registrant needs to email personal identifying information (PII) to an email address listed on the letter. Police say neither the Maine Sex Offender Registry nor the Maine Department of Corrections would ever send such a letter asking a person to send sensitive information in this format. If you have received such a letter, you should not email your information to the address on the letter. Instead, report it to the Maine Sex Offender Registry at 207-624-7270 or local law enforcement.

Maine State Police is warning of a scam that is targeting sex offenders in the state.

The issue was brought to those who run the Sex Offender Registry that the scam is targeting registered people on probation in Maine.

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A letter is being mailed to people, claiming to be from the ‘Maine Probation Tonduary.’ The letter claims there has been a data migration error in the Records Management System and the registrant needs to email personal identifying information (PII) to an email address listed on the letter.

scam letter targeting sex offenders in maine

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Police say neither the Maine Sex Offender Registry nor the Maine Department of Corrections would ever send such a letter asking a person to send sensitive information in this format. If you have received such a letter, you should not email your information to the address on the letter. Instead, report it to the Maine Sex Offender Registry at 207-624-7270 or local law enforcement.

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Maine

2026 Primary Election

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2026 Primary Election


Voting is the cornerstone of democracy, and in 2026 Mainers will have a lot of important decisions to make when casting their ballots — from the very top of the ticket to the bottom. On June 9, Mainers will participate in the state’s semi-open party primaries, choosing Democratic and Republican nominees for governor, as well […]



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Maine

Regular gas tops $4, premium over $5 in Maine amid severe Trump Iran threats

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Regular gas tops , premium over  in Maine amid severe Trump Iran threats


Brady Chapman fills up one of four trucks he uses for his business Wednesday at Irving Gas Station in Bethel. Regular gas was $4.09 at the station. (Rose Lincoln/Staff Writer)

Maine’s average price for regular gasoline rose to its highest point since August 2022, as the conflict in Iran continues to drive up global oil costs.

A gallon of regular gas averaged $4.03 here Tuesday, ticking up more than 6 cents overnight, according to data aggregated by motor club AAA. That price has risen 38.5% — about $1.12 — since Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel struck Iran, triggering a conflict that has since spilled into the broader Middle East.

Maine’s average price crossed the $4 threshold a week after the national average did so. The national average was up to $4.14 Tuesday, AAA data shows.

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Premium gas was up to $5.07 per gallon in Maine, topping $5 for the first time in nearly four years. Diesel, meanwhile, averaged about $5.90 per gallon Tuesday.

Collectively, those figures mark the state’s highest average gas prices since the summer of 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine drove gas prices to record highs. A gallon of regular gas peaked at $5.09 that June, the highest ever recorded by AAA.

This week, Maine’s prices were the 21st highest among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to AAA. California, Hawaii, Washington, Nevada and Oregon all saw average prices above $5 per gallon Tuesday.

This is a developing story.

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