Canyon celebrations rowdy as usual

Flathead County sheriff's deputies made six arrests during another year of unruly celebrations on the Fourth of July Saturday night in Hungry Horse.

Two men and a 17-year-old boy were charged with felony criminal endangerment shortly after 1:30 a.m. near a local tavern where crowds gathered to shoot fireworks across U.S. 2 and other streets in Hungry Horse. The boy was arrested for allegedly shooting fireworks into the crowd; the two men allegedly were throwing fireworks under vehicles and at patrol cars.

About the same time, three women in the area were arrested for disorderly conduct after they got into a fight. One woman's husband had called deputies a half hour earlier to report a woman had just beaten up his wife. When deputies arrived, they arrested and jailed two of the women, but cited and released the third.

It was the third fight of the night reported there. The first took place just before 10 p.m., but no citations were issued. Another started around 11 p.m. near the Hungry Horse fire hall. Deputies gave chase on foot but the two men got away.

Throughout the 24 hours from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, concern over fireworks and spot fires or smoke - some possibly caused by dry lightning storms that moved through the area Sunday afternoon - accounted for 24 calls across the county, some within city limits.

Dogs also were focus of considerable concern, some for being shut inside hot vehicles and some for being lost, running loose and injured.

A string of mailboxes was bashed with a baseball bat or something similar overnight at Blanchard Lake Road and Old Morris Trail, and on Karrow Avenue near Whitefish.

A man standing in the roadway and preaching through a megaphone was reported at the West Glacier entrance to Glacier National Park.

Deputies are investigating an assault reported on Braig Lane near Columbia Falls.

Deputies received 246 calls for service between 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Columbia Falls police officers helped secure a package containing six cans of butane and a few cans of propane found in a box behind the police department. An officer found the box in the alley between the fire hall and police station. Police stored it safely and notified the fire department.

A 49-year-old man was arrested on U.S. 2 near Marantette Park and charged with driving under the influence Saturday evening.

Fireworks complaints accounted for nine calls between 3:30 p.m. and midnight.

Officers received 36 calls for service between 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Kalispell police got their first fireworks call on the Fourth of July at 2 p.m. when they went to Lawrence Park, followed by 21 more fireworks and fire calls elsewhere in the city through the afternoon and into the night. One call on West Nicklaus was for a small grass fire that spread into nearby trees along the river; it was extinguished.

One call for fireworks in Hillcrest Estate on Whitefish State Road ended in the arrest of a 24-year-old man charged with negligent endangerment, two city warrants on traffic offenses, a Lake County warrant for failure to comply on DUI charges, a Highway Patrol warrant on a DUI, and a Flathead County sheriff's warrant for traffic offenses.

Security at a Kalispell hotel counseled people who had been fighting on the third floor, and everyone was back in their rooms by the time police arrived.

A man was arrested for partner or family member assault at 3 a.m. Sunday after his girlfriend called police to have him removed from the residence.

Officers arrested three girls for curfew violation after checking out loud and disorderly behavior shortly after 3 a.m. at Third and Main.

A partially clothed woman found passed out in a car parked at a grocery store opted to walk home after she was roused.

While a woman slept in her residence on Fourth Street West, a burglar came in through a window and stole $63 in cash, she said.

A man was arrested at an Empire Loop home for probation violation after a parole officer checked on reports that a sex offender was in the home where children were present.

A man and woman argued atop the East Idaho viaduct Sunday afternoon, where an observer feared they may jump.

Officers received 70 calls for service between 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Whitefish police arrested a 31-year-old man on a charge of partner or family member assault after an incident with his girlfriend in a home on Fourth Street West.

Two men, one age 34 and one 29, were arrested on open container charges at First and Central about 2 a.m.

Following a non-injury crash near a Wisconsin Avenue market, a 54-year-old man was charged with DUI, having no insurance, possession of dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.

At 11 p.m., a 27-year-old man was arrested on a hit-and-run charge from a two-vehicle crash on Wisconsin Avenue.

A 23-year-old man was arrested at a local motel for criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and possession of dangerous drugs.

Officers received 55 calls for service between 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Whitefish ambulance was called for a no-injury hit-and-run between a bicycle and vehicle on the viaduct at Edgewood and Wisconsin.

Kalispell firefighters put out a fire in a Ford Explorer's engine on Washington Street Saturday evening. A tow truck was called.