Loose bears continue to rattle human cages

Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies were told that a woman heard three high-powered rifle shots near Crossway Avenue. A short time later the woman said she saw a bear running from a nearby school and believed that may have explained the noise. Not sure if that meant someone was shooting at the bear or whether the bear had taken up arms to defend itself.

A woman reported that someone stole a rifle from her vehicle while she and her boyfriend were out boating on Bull Lake.

Whitefish Police also took calls about bears in areas more commonly frequented by people. A man on East Lakeshore Drive asked law enforcement to respond because he thought he might have to shoot a problem bear before Fish and Game officers arrived on the scene with a trap. And near Parkway Drive, an officer warned people that there was a bear reported to have been milling about and chewing on something nearby.

A man reported that he was able to get his girlfriend away from her former meth-using friends, but that the friends had threatened to kill him and the woman.

A homeowner on Denver Street complained that bar patrons were blocking their drive.

A person was charged with possession of dangerous drugs and released from jail to the custody of mom after someone reported seeing the suspect rolling marijuana cigarettes on East First Street.

A woman on Skyles Place wanted an officer to respond because she smelled lighter fluid, but no smoke in her neighborhood. The responding officer said it smelled like someone was using charcoal for a barbecue.

Columbia Falls Police took a report of a man who had not returned from cutting firewood in the McGinnis Creek area. The man returned home the next morning and said that he had gotten stuck behind a closed gate.

A man was told not to return to a car maintenance business after he allegedly got in the face of his mother and threatened to hit her. A person told dispatchers that the man was speaking in a foreign language, but might be deaf. The person who made the 911 report was afraid to return, until the man left.

A man in his mid-50s was cited for stealing a bottle of wine from a store on Ninth Street West.

Officers found a man with a bloody nose who did not want to make a statement after someone called for help from a Nucleus Avenue location. Someone reported that six people were in a fight, throwing beer bottles and that the incident was getting “really bad,” before hanging up. Other than the bloodied man, officers found that people involved with the fight had fled the scene.