With 2022 coming to a close, here are some of the top news stories from the previous year.  WZQZ ranked these stories based on interaction from the public via emails, social media and conversations from listeners and web readers.

January 2022 – Chattooga County Commissioner Blake Elsberry abandons his attempt to have Try-Con in Lyerly repay $47,000 to the county.  An investigation that the commissioner paid for with county funds proved their was nothing illegal about a sewer line extension to the manufacturing facility.  Despite several requests by WZQZ News, the cost incurred by hiring attorney Lester Tate to look into the matter for the county government, was never revealed.

February 2022 – The Chattooga County Sheriff’s Department receives a grant for $54,000 from the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to purchase a firearms training simulator.  Sheriff Mark Schrader says that the simulator is the only one of its kind north of the Atlanta metro area.

March 2022 – Two Chattooga County Board of Education Members announce that they will not seek reelection.  Republican Brad Hayes, who represented the Pennville area and Spencer Hogg who represented the Lyerly area.  Hayes had been elected to the board in 2018 and Hogg had been appointed to the position following the resignation of Dr. Julia Houston.

April 2022 – WKSY – SKY 21 Television is sold to a new owner.  The sale of the local TV station brings an era of local over the airwaves television to an end in Chattooga County.

May 2022 – Two Hays State Prison inmates were charged with the beating and stabbing of a correctional officer in January of 2022.  Both inmates were thirty-one-years old and were identified as Roman Christian Higdon of Pennsylvania and David Omar Tyler. Also, the Certificate of Need is approved for a free-standing emergency room in Chattooga County.

June 2022 – Chattooga County Commissioner Blake Elsberry selects Atrium Health Floyd as the new ambulance provider for Chattooga County, replacing Redmond EMS that had provided ambulance service free of charge to the county for over a decade.

July 2022 – Work begins cleaning Town Creek in Summerville following extensive flooding in downtown Summerville in 2021.  Summerville Councilman Joe Money spearheaded the effort to dredge the creek and clean obstructions.  Less than two months later, Summerville was plagued with another flood that caused extensive damage on Labor Day Weekend.

August 2022 – Concerned Citizens organize in Chattooga County to protest a land use ordinance that was hastily adopted by Chattooga County Commissioner Blake Elsberry.  The group holds several meetings that are well attended and aired live on WZQZ’s social media site.  The commissioner promises changes to the ordinance before the end of 2022.  The commissioner has yet to announce the changes to the controversial ordinance.

September 2022 – A flood of historic proportions hits downtown Summerville dropping over 12 inches of rain.  Georgia Governor Brian Kemp visits Summerville to see recovery efforts. Greg Wyatt announces the grand opening of a Corvette Museum in Summerville.  The one-of-a-kind museum in the former Chevrolet car dealership,  is filled with classic cars and memorabilia and promises to be a huge draw for tourism in Chattooga County.

October 2022 – Lookout Mountain District Attorney Chris Arnt announces that there will not be a retrial of Summerville resident Rennee Lanham who stood trial for murdering her husband in 2017.  Lanham was sentenced to a decade in prison for giving false statements.

November 2022 – Chattooga County voters elect three women to the Chattooga Board of Education, marking the first time the local board of education will have a majority of women serving.  Tiffany Lawrence, Lori Brady and Bonnie Fletcher will be sworn in to replace Brad Hayes, Lyn Hall and Spencer Hogg on the local school board.

December 2022 – The coldest Christmas on record in around a decade is celebrated by Chattooga County residents.  Single-digit and temperatures in the teens persisted for a few days. The cold snap brought a small dusting of snow the day after Christmas for some residents.  North Georgia EMA power customers experienced “rolling blackouts” due to power shortages from the cold weather.  TVA says it is the first time in its 90-year history that the rolling blackouts have been required and apologizes to customers with a promise to try to make sure the incident isn’t repeated.