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.
Aug. 1, 1997
By Devlyn Brooks
Staff Writer
A May 15 school bus accident on Highway 2 west of Bemidji, which injured nearly two dozen Bemidji and East Grand Forks students and their bus driver, was caused by a defective power-steering pump, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
The State Patrol released its findings Thursday, 2 1/2 months after the accident, clearing Bemidji School District bus driver Arvid Hill of any wrongdoing.
"Tests following the crash indicated Hill was in good physical condition and not impaired at the time of the incident," according to the State Patrol. Students on the bus at the time of the crash said the drive was alert and yelled "hold on tight" as the incident developed.
The faulty power-steering pump was discovered in an inspection of the bus, and it would have caused "erratic or heavy steering," according to the investigators. The results of the State Patrol's investigation have been forwarded to the Beltrami County Attorney's office for review.
"This is a vote of confidence for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. They've done a thorough investigation," Bemidji Superintendent Rollie Morud said Thursday. "This puts some finality to a very traumatic situation for the district's employees, students and families ... and that is welcome."
The crash, involving a 1986 International school bus owned and operated by the Bemidji School District, happened at 8 a.m. May 15 two miles west of Bemidji just a few short feet from the Highway 2 overpass.
The bus was traveling just under the posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour when it left the roadway, entering the south ditch east of Highway 2, but was pulled back on the road by Hill. It narrowly missed cement columns supporting the overpass located on the side of the road. The bus then left the road again, sliding sideways and rolling over, before coming to a rest on its left side.
Hill, 50, and a district bus driver for seven years, said at the time that the steering gave way and he could no longer control the bus. "All of a sudden, the bus just went," he said.
Immediately after the accident, the 22 passengers were transported by highway patrolmen and good Samaritans to North Country Regional Hospital.
Eighteen of them, including Hill, were treated and released the same day. However, three Bemidji students were hospitalized overnight, and a fourth student, a flood evacuee from East Grand Forks, was flown to a Fargo hospital with serious head injuries.
She was later that night upgraded to satisfactory condition and was released from the hospital several days later.
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