The highlight reel of Petoskey news in 2022

CHEBOYGAN — Writing the Year in Review column for 2022 feels a bit loaded. It’s almost easier to say what didn’t happen than what did.

Last year was no exception, as the greater Cheboygan area saw a lightning-induced wildfire, ground broken on an new VA clinic and a midterm election that heralded a sea change in Michigan.

Here’s what we deemed the most impactful topics of 2022:

Under new management 

The ownership of the Great Lakes Tissue Co. changed hands in March, and the new owners promised a positive working environment along with increased efficiency and output of products. They also pledged to make new hires and help create more jobs in the community. 

More:Great Lakes Tissue invests in circular economy, Michigan recycling

The new owners had big plans for the building, including a $1 million roof repair and adding a second paper line, which is an investment of around $60 million and estimated to be up and running within the next five years.

They’ve also taken a stance on environmental issues. The owners have said they have a goal of making the plant 100 percent energy efficient, plan to install solar panels on the roof and commit to a circular economy model, with waste and byproduct recycled and reduced as much as possible. 

Michigan Midterm Elections 

The morning after the November midterm election, Democratic Michiganders awoke to discover they’d kept the governorship, secretary of state and attorney general offices — in addition to passing all three statewide proposals and flipping the state House and Senate for the first time since the ’80s.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, voters approved an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. Proposal 3 establishes a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” which includes — but is not limited to — the right to seek abortion. It also protects a right to contraception and infertility care.