Three killed in two-vehicle accident

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.

June 16, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Three people died in a two-vehicle accident Monday at a rest stop just east of Erskine on U.S. Highway 2 West, according to a Minnesota State Patrol spokesman in Thief River Falls.

Dead at the scene were Theodore Tweet, 73, of Leonard; Phyllis Johnson, 65, of Clearbrook; and Aldon Grunewald, 51, of Wahpeton, N.D.

According to the spokesman, Tweet, who was driving a 1978 Ford LTD, was struck by Grunewald, who was driving a semi truck. Johnson was a passenger in Tweet's vehicle.

Grunewald's semi truck struck Tweet's car as he was pulling out from the rest stop and was attempting to cross the westbound lanes of Highway 2 about 2:30 p.m.

After being struck, the car turned over on the highway and slid into the ditch. It then caught on fire.

Other crashes in the area Monday included two in Cass County and one in Hubbard County:

• One person was injured in a two-vehicle crash about 3 p.m. Monday at the intersection of state Highway 64 and Cass County Road 2 near Leader, according to the State Patrol office in Brainerd. Jason Happel, 27, of Ames, Iowa, sustained an arm injury when the 1994 Dodge van he was driving collided with a 1994 Chevy two-door, driven by John Kiewel, 50, of Nisswa. Happel was treated and released from St. Joseph's hospital in Brainerd. Don Happel, 57, a passenger in Happel's car, was not injured. And Kiewel was not injured.

• Two people received minor injuries in a one-car rollover about 10:20 a.m. Monday seven miles north of Motley on Highway 64, according to the State Patrol. The 1996 Dodge pickup was driven by Marilyn Spears, 39, of Red Lake. Both Spears and passenger Alex Neadeau, 8, of Red Lake, were treated for minor injuries and then released from a hospital in Staples.

• One person received minor injuries when a bicycle was hit by a pickup two miles east of Laporte on state Highway 200. Mark Brejcha, 14, of Laporte, received bumps and bruises when the bike he was riding was struck by a 1989 Toyota pickup driven by Bryan Martin, 30, also of Laporte. Martin was uninjured.