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.
Dec. 10, 1999
By Devlyn Brooks
Six people from the Red Lake Reservation were injured in a one-car rollover west of Busy Corner early Thursday morning, according to the State Patrol in Thief River.
Donald Clark, 40, of Red Lake, suffered the most serious injuries and was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth after first being taken to North Country Regional Hospital in Bemidji.
As of Thursday afternoon, a St. Mary's Hospital spokeswoman said Clark was listed in critical condition in the hospital's neuroscience's unit.
Clark was driver of the 1998 Chevrolet Malibu that was westbound on Beltrami County Road 1 about six miles west of Busy Corner when he lost control. The car first went off the road on the south side, but Clark overcorrected and sent the car off the north side of the road. It then rolled.
Five other passengers in the vehicle also suffered a range of injuries.
Dawn Ryan, 18, of Red Lake, and Dexter Stillday, 31, of Ponemah, were both treated and released at North Country Regional Hospital.
Delbert Kingbird, 33, and James Kingbird, 34, both of Redby, and Leatrice Waybenais, 18, of Red Lake, all suffered minor injures but were not treated at a hospital.
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