It wasn't deer in the headlights but deer in the paper office

Deer in the Newspaper

 


Tuesday’a issue of the Hastings Tribune reported on an unwelcome visitor that called in the Tribune publisher’s office Sunday evening. A wayward deer dashed through the Second Street and Burlington Avenue intersection and crashed through a double plate glass window into Darran Fowler’s office window making a mess of the office before officers put the animal down.

For members of The Express crew, the story reminded them of the night a deer broke through a window of the newspaper plant in Superior.

It was late evening and youngsters gathered at the Kurly Kone drive-in located in the 400 block of East Third Street saw a deer of similar age to the one in Hastings going west on Third Street. They gave chase and the frightened animal turned north on Commercial Street. The animal then veered off the street and leaped through a window into the printing company’s north warehouse building.

A law enforcement officer arrived on the scene and first thought the teenagers had broken out the window and were concocting a story in an attempt to excuse their misdeed. They were still being questioned when Bill Blauvelt arrived. It was a warm summer night and The Express publisher and his wife, Rita, had been working across the alley in the paper’s screen printing department. They heard people hollering and went outside to investigate.

The frightened deer was hiding in the back of the building and was not visible to the officer. However, skid marks and blood drips were visible on the warehouse floor. Bill went inside to investigate. The deer didn’t welcome company and began jumping to near the ceiling while looking for a way out of the building.

After conferring with the officers and discussing putting the animal down, it was decided to first provide a way of escape.

While Rita got her camera to photograph the deer and took up position behind a light pole, Bill unlocked and opened a walk-in door at the rear of the building. The deer smelled the fresh air and darted through the door.

The animal ran north up the alley and turned east on Fifth Street. In the darkness, the animal nearly ran over Ron Thompson who was standing on the sidewalk near the Fifth and Kansas street intersection. Thompson later said he felt a rush of air as the animal charged past but didn’t know what had happened until he later heard the story about the unwelcome visitor to downtown Superior.

The Express deer chose to dash through the warehouse building’s only piece of unbroken glass. While it left some spurts of blood inside the warehouse, it is thought the animal probably survived its visit to downtown Superior and chose to never return.

 

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