A major Republican victory in Lynchburg politics, a damaging tornado in Bedford County, a brighter outlook for the old Central Virginia Training Center property and more: Here is a selection of some of the top local news events from 2022.
1: GOP sweep in Lynchburg City Council elections
Lynchburg City Council candidate Stephanie Reed hugs campaign consultant Jack Collins in celebration at a watch party at Ledo Pizza on Nov. 8. Reed was the top vote-getter in a three-way race for seven seats on council.
Paige Dingler, The News & Advance
Three Republican candidates claimed victories in the at-large Lynchburg City Council elections, ousting two incumbents and paving the way for a Republican majority on the governing body.
Stephanie Reed, Martin Misjuns and Larry Taylor were the top three vote-getters in the November election. The three were on the ballot alongside incumbents Treney Tweedy and Beau Wright plus newcomers Patrick Earl and Walter Virgil Jr.
This marked the first year the council election was held in November rather than May, following a law passed last year by the Virginia General Assembly that moved local general elections to November.
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Misjuns, Reed and Taylor were endorsed by the Lynchburg Republican City Committee. With Republicans Jeff Helgeson of Ward III and Chris Faraldi of Ward IV already on council, the GOP will have a…
Earlier this year, the Dalton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) installed two practice disc golf baskets outside its visitor information center that is in the old freight depot at 305 S. Depot St., just off Morris Street.
“We are trying to share with our visitors things made in Dalton and Georgia grown,” said Margaret Thigpen, director of tourism for Dalton and Whitfield County, who directs the CVB and the Dalton Convention Center.
Prodigy Disc, a Whitfield County-based manufacturer of disc golf equipment, donated one of the baskets and sold the CVB the other.
“They (the practice baskets) are getting a lot of use,” said Thigpen. “They are not only being used by our visitors, but by our locals, especially those living in the Belk building.”
“We took that idea and expanded it,” Thigpen said. “We thought it would be great to have something throughout downtown. We got with the DDDA (Downtown Dalton Development Authority), Prodigy, the Dalton Parks and Recreation Department and Whitfield County. Voila, we now have a par 2 disc golf course downtown.”
The course, which is open for play, has eight baskets in four locations: the Burr Performing Arts Park, Dalton Green, the county-owned greenspace across from the courthouse and the freight depot. Discs will be for sale at the freight depot.
“To our knowledge, this is the only permanent downtown disc golf course in the nation,” said DDDA Executive Director Candace Eaton.
“I think it’s a huge deal because it will bring a different market downtown,” Eaton said in a press release from the city. “As they walk the course they’ll see local businesses downtown or stop and eat lunch or dinner, or maybe grab a beer or shop.”
“From a tourism standpoint, it absolutely opens our downtown for visitors to have something more to do, to keep them there a little longer,” Thigpen said in the press release. “For all of our tournaments and events coming into our community, just to have something else for the visitors to do when they’re waiting for their next game or their next event, that’s a great addition.”
The Greater Dalton area has several full-sized disc golf courses.
The Whitfield County Parks and Recreation Department’s Westside Park Disc Golf Course was voted one of the top four courses in the United States in 2020 by the readers of Connect…
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