The loons are back and nesting on lakes statewide and we need your help to monitor their population! Every year since 1983, hundreds of volunteers have gone out to lakes and ponds across Maine on the third Saturday in July. These volunteers submit data about the number of loons they observe from 7 to 7:30 am, which gives us an excellent “snapshot” of the loon population. The Annual Loon Count allows us to monitor how the number of adults and chicks has changed over the past 40 years and make sure we know how to best protect their population!

This year, the Loon Count will take place on Saturday, July 18. We encourage you to join a group of over 1,800 volunteers and help us count the number of loons in Maine! The Loon Count occurs on lakes and ponds all across the state and volunteers can survey by boat or shore (you don’t have to have a boat to take part!).

If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact us at conserve@maineaudubon.org and tell us if there’s a specific lake or area you’d like to survey. We are always aiming to expand our coverage across the state and particularly encourage volunteers in northern Maine to get involved!

The deadline to sign up for the Annual Loon Count is July 10, so please reach out as soon as possible.

If you can’t make it on July 18, or if one day just isn’t enough for you, you can monitor loons throughout the summer.Through our Loon Pair Monitoring project, you can submit observations of breeding loon pairs over several months to help us better understand nest and chick success across Maine. Find out more here >

If talking to people and doing outreach appeals to you, and you’d like to help spread the word about loon conservation, check out our Look Out for Loons outreach program.

THOMASTON, Maine (WGME) — The Maine DEA says they arrested two people on Wednesday in connection with drug trafficking out of Vinalhaven.

Mariah Grover, 22, and Jefferson Jazzir Arias, 27, were reportedly arrested following an investigation by the Maine DEA’s Mid-Coast Task Force and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office into suspected drug trafficking from the island of Vinalhaven to Rockland via ferry.

Both Grover, a resident of Texas and Maine, and Arias, a resident of Texas and California, were pulled over by authorities in Thomaston in a car that had been identified in that investigation, according to the Maine DEA.

The Maine DEA says a search of the car found 66 grams of suspected cocaine, a .45 caliber handgun, $9,500 in suspected drug money, and other “items indicative of drug trafficking.”

Mariah Grover (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)

Authorities say Arias had two extraditable warrants related to robbery in California and theft in Texas. Arias was reportedly charged with aggravated trafficking in Schedule W drugs, and Grover was charged with unlawful trafficking in Schedule W drugs.

Grover was reportedly taken to Knox County Jail on a $50,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on May 29th.

Arias was also taken to Knox County Jail on a $75,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on the same day, according to authorities.

Three more women have signed onto a federal lawsuit against the Maine Department of Corrections for allowing transgender prisoners to be housed in facilities that align with their gender identity.

First brought by Katie Mountain in April, the lawsuit now includes Jennifer Albert, Michaela Sargent and Danielle Foster, who say they live in fear at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham because of the department’s policy.

According to the lawsuit, the women have been sexually assaulted, threatened and repeatedly harassed by several transgender prisoners, including Andrea Balcer, who Mountain says caused “extreme physical and psychological distress.”

Balcer is serving a 40-year sentence for the murder of both parents in 2017.

Mountain, who was housed with Balcer when she began serving a 10-month sentence in January, alleges that while bunking together, Balcer subjected her to “graphic sexual stories, trapped her in a bathroom, pushed her against the wall, forcibly kissed her, and made repeated threats of rape and impregnation.”

Sargent describes waking up to Balcer stroking her hair and saying, “if you don’t wake up it’s because I smothered you with a pillow.” She also alleges that Balcer once grabbed her shirt and demanded, “show me your boobs.”

Attorney Cynthia Dill, who represents the plaintiffs, said in a press release that when the women reported the abuse or refused to affirm Balcer’s gender identity, they were met with retaliation by being placed in segregation, being denied hygiene supplies and medication and losing eligibility for early release.

In their lawsuit, the women argue that the policy mandates gender affirmation with “deliberate indifference to the safety, privacy and civil rights of women incarcerated in the State of Maine.” They say “gender identity” first made its way into Maine laws that govern corrections in 2021.

The plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction against the gender identity law and related state correctional policies along with damages.

Jill O’Brien, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Corrections, said in a statement that the department takes residents’ safety concerns very seriously.

“Anytime a resident makes a report of physical or sexual violence or harassment to staff, the Department investigates,” O’Brien said. “If the conduct that occurred rises to the level of a crime, it is referred to the District Attorney for prosecution. If it violates the Department’s disciplinary policy, the residents involved are disciplined.”

O’Brien added that information about specific residents is confidential and information about specific residents is confidential.

This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.