Year in Review: The highlight reel of Soo news in 2022

SAULT STE. MARIE — 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 Soo area saw investment into the Locks, a soaring Olympic spirit and a midterm election that heralded a sea change in Michigan.

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

Soo Locks continues construction

Progress on the new lock project got a big boost on Dec. 15, when the U.S. Senate gave final passage to a wide-ranging Pentagon spending bill that included a request from the Army Corps of Engineers for a much-larger funding authorization for the work.

The sweeping $858 billion bill includes an authorization for the Corps to spend as much as $3.2 billion on the new Soo Lock under construction in Sault Ste. Marie.

President Joe Biden signed the bill Dec. 23.

More:US Senate passes defense bill, authorizing more funds to build new Soo Lock

Planning for the construction of a new, modernized lock began in 1986, but costs have gone up considerably since then. The new lock is necessary because the only existing lock large enough to accommodate the largest cargo vessels is 53 years old. Studies have indicated that if it was damaged and closed for an extended length of time, it could severely hurt the economy.

Army Corps of Engineers officials said the project is still on schedule to be completed by 2030, depending on the availability of the necessary funding.

Pickford schools celebrate past, future

In March, the Pickford community celebrated the centennial anniversary of its historic school building.

More:Pickford community celebrates school’s 100th anniversary

The year marked 100 years since the first class graduated from Pickford Public Schools in 1922 following its new construction. This past year also brought the Pickford Legacy Project and the passage of the district's May 3 bond proposal.

The bond proposal asked voters to borrow the sum of $3,500,000 and issue its general obligation unlimited tax bonds for the purpose of erecting an addition to the school building, remodeling the school building and preparing, developing and improving the site.

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.

More:Proposal 3: Michigan voters embrace abortion rights amendment

Michigan voters also adopted Proposal 2, a wide-ranging constitutional amendment to establish early voting, preempt efforts to enact more stringent voter ID rules and expand access to absentee voting.

Perhaps the most bipartisan support came for Proposal 1, a ballot proposal that modifies term limits for state legislators and requires them, the governor and others holding top elected offices in the state to disclose information about their finances that could reveal potential conflicts of interest.

Olympic spirit

Sault Ste. Marie native Abby Roque shined on the international stage during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

A member of Team USA, Roque was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Roque, a 2016 Sault High graduate, was the first Native American woman to represent the U.S. in ice hockey.

More:Roque making Sault Ste. Marie return this weekend

During the Olympics, residents and businesses put up decorations in an effort to “Roque the Soo” and show their support for Roque as she played. Team USA ultimately earned the silver medal, falling 3-2 against Canada in the final.

Roque later returned home to host a hockey camp and was awarded the key to the city.

104 years later

On Sept. 26, the 104th anniversary of the death of U.S. sailor Alfonso J. Busho, the Coast Guard Sector of Sault Ste. Marie was presented a Purple Heart in his honor.

Busho was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously for his service and sacrifice aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa during World War I. On Sept. 26, 1918, the Tampa was sunk by a German submarine and all crew members on board died.

More:Sault sailor recognized with Purple Heart 104 years after his death

In an effort to recognize and commemorate the 131 people who lost their lives aboard the ship, the Coast Guard retroactively began to award Purple Heart medals to those who died on the ship. The Tampa Purple Heart project began in 1999, and through this project, the Coast Guard has presented more than 60 Purple Hearts to the descendants of the crew of the Tampa.

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The Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie received and will display Busho's Purple Heart on behalf of his family.

— Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.  

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Year in Review: The highlight reel of Soo news in 2022