Another teenager dies following crash on Hwy. 2

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Sept. 24, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

A second Bena teenager died as the result of a car accident Saturday on U.S. Highway 2 east of Cass Lake.

Leedon David Beaulieu, 17, of Bena died Saturday after being airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Gary Hanson Jr., 17, of Bena died Saturday also, just shortly after being airlifted from the scene, according to a State Patrol dispatcher in Brainerd.

Bryan Dale Archambault, 21, of Walker, another passenger in the car, was airlifted to St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth. A hospital spokeswoman said Thursday he had been discharged sometime this week.

A joint funeral is scheduled for Hanson and Beaulieu at 1 p.m. Friday at the Veterans Memorial Building on Bingo Palace Drive two miles west of Cass Lake.

Beaulieu, who attended the Cass Lake-Bena School District's Alternative Learning Center and Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig schools, is survived by his fiancée Anna Jenkins, of Inger; his grandmother; great-grandmother; two brothers; two sisters; and other relatives.

Hanson, who attended both Cass Lake-Bena and Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig schools, is survived by a daughter, Leslie Irene Hanson; his grandmother; two brothers; three sisters; a step-brother and stepsister; and other relatives.

Both worked at Northern Lights Casino.

Beaulieu was driving a 1985 Buick four-door car eastbound on Highway 2 near Cass County Road 10 about 6:40 a.m. Saturday when he crossed the center lane, went into a ditch and struck a tree.

The accident was reported via cellular phone by the Bemidji High School girls tennis team, which witnessed the crash.