Crashes near Newport kill one, injure another

Separate crashes north and south of Newport Sunday morning left one man dead and a woman injured. Washington State Patrol troopers responded first to a report of a collision at 1:40 a.m. 17 miles north of Newport near the intersection of Leclerc Road and Snowberry. The rollover crash killed 55-year-old Arthur Y. Falk Jr. of Usk, who was driving southbound on Leclerc Road when he left the roadway. Yalk was partially ejected when his 2006 Ford pickup rolled once and ended up on its wheels. Yalk apparently was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash, according to the press memo. In a later crash on Newport Highway, troopers responded at 7:27 am. to the report of a rollover injury accident 14 miles south of Newport. In that crash, 21-year-old Rebecca M. Aponte of Newport was driving a 1999 Chevrolet pickup when she left the roadway, overcorrected and rolled twice with the pickup landing on its wheels. She was transported by Lifeflight to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Aponte was wearing a seatbelt and drugs or alcohol were not a factor, according to the press memo.