Area briefs

Kalispell man pleads

guilty to gun charge

KALISPELL — A 47-year-old Kalispell man who aimed a rifle at a store clerk following a dispute about paying for gas has pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment.

The Daily Inter Lake reports that Richard Boggess entered the plea Dec. 19 in Flathead District Court.

The clerk told police that Boggess came into the store and argued about paying for gas. The clerk said Boggess then went to his truck, pulled out a rifle, and aimed it at the clerk through the window.

Boggess put the rifle back in the vehicle and tried to go back into the store, but the clerk held the door shut.

Witnesses reported the same thing had happened.

Boggess faces up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 13.

New scam targets

veterans’ pensions

GREAT FALLS — A state official says a new scam is targeting veterans’ pensions and disability compensation.

Joe Foster of the Montana Veterans Affairs Department says the scammers seek veterans who want a sum of cash quickly instead of waiting for their monthly payments.

He tells The Great Falls Tribune that those veterans are talked into legally signing over their pay for a sum usually far less than what they would accrue over their lifetime.

Foster says he has taken a few calls about the scam, and they advertise as “do you want money now.”

He says disability compensation can’t be legally transferred, but the money changes hands so many times that it is hard to track.

County: Firefighters

homes not protected

MISSOULA — Lewis and Clark County commissioners have passed a resolution that says the location of homes will no longer dictate fire-suppression tactics or where fire lines are placed.

The Missoulian reports  the resolution means firefighters will not be obligated to protect a home from a wildfire.

Sonny Stiger is a retired U.S. Forest Service employee and FireSafe Montana board member who helped write the resolution. He says a lot of crews think they must protect homes and the resolution lets firefighters know they are not obligated to risk their lives to save homes.

County commissioners signed the resolution last month. It also directs local crews to receive training in basic wildfire behavior.

Stiger will teach the first class to volunteer crews in Wolf Creek, Craig and Dearborn.

I-90 crash kills

pair near De Borgia

BILLINGS — Authorities say two people died in a collision between two tractor-trailers and a pickup truck on Interstate 90 in Mineral County.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Spurr tells The Billings Gazette the crash happened Friday night near De Borgia.

Spurr says one tractor-trailer driven by a 24-year-old man from Illinois slid off the road. Moments later, the pickup driven by a 28-year-old man from Missoula slid off the road in the same place.

The two drivers were out of their vehicles when the second tractor-trailer driven by a 48-year-old Utah man slid off the roadway and struck them.

The Missoula man was pronounced dead at the scene and the Illinois man died at a Missoula hospital.