Looking back at the year that was 2022

JANUARY

Childcare was a necessary component in keeping working parents employed.

A week after the biggest storm of 2021, areas remained to be dug out as plow drivers worked 12-hour shifts to try and clear streets at Lake Tahoe.

County commissioners rejected a settlement with Lake Tahoe residents suing over the new vacation home rental ordinance, sending negotiators back to work out a better deal.

Most Genoa residences shrugged off a call to be included in the same commission district at Gardnerville and Minden and said they preferred to remain in the Tahoe district.

Inspired by the life of actress and cultural icon Betty White, a group conducted a challenge to raise money for Douglas County Animal Services.

A three-member panel of the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a 2019 denial of a Centerville slaughterhouse.

An eruption of a volcano near Tonga was recorded on barometers in Western Nevada.

An effort to purchase an easement on 1,373 acres of Park Ranch Holdings land around the Historic Dangberg Home Ranch was dropped after the parties couldn’t agree on a price.

A tower at Minden-Tahoe Airport would require voter approval, as would any major modification.

More than 175 people attended the Ranch-Eagle tour as perfect weather greeted the sold-out event.

FEBRUARY

Douglas County received $9.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Valley Realtors were seeing homes jumping off the shelf as prices continued to set records.

Masks came off across Carson Valley as Gov. Steve Sisolak rescinded the mandate that was implemented in March 2020 when the coronavirus arrived.

Douglas County was well on its way to hitting a record $4 billion assessed valuation.

For the first time since 1978 both Douglas High School boys and girls basketball teams went to state in celebration of the Year of the Tiger. Both teams fell to Vegas powerhouses.

Work on a 360-foot breakwater designed to protect the Topaz Lake Boat Ramp was completed.

MARCH

Employees of the Bently Heritage Distillery and ranch were notified that the properties were going on the market. The distillery tasting room closed.

The families of Gardnerville Ranchos residents Connie Koontz and Sophia Renkin testified at the sentencing of serial killer Wilber Martinez-Guzman. The women were shot to death in January 2019. Martinez-Guzman is serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The 2022 Election got off to a fast start with Kingsbury resident Natalie Yanish filing against Commissioner Wes Rice, and Katherine Dickerson filing against School Board Trustee Heather Jackson.

Douglas County’s guaranteed tax status was eliminated by the Nevada Tax Commission after the county didn’t seek a waiver because of continued sales tax growth.

East Fork Fire Protection District recognized a 109 years of volunteer service as Sheridan Volunteer Chief Margaret Biggs, Ruhenstroth Chief John Babcock and Sheridan volunteer Nate Leising officially retired.

Douglas County officials pitched a 7-percent across the board raise for county employees in an effort to slow down the loss to surrounding jurisdictions.

Commission candidate Sharla Hales won her seat before filing was over as Minden resident Dan Casentini withdrew and endorsed her. Gardnerville resident Doug Robbins, who said he would seek the seat, announced he was leaving for Poland the day before filing began after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

APRIL

Carson Valley Medical Center began work on its multi-million expansion project.

The listing of the Copeland Center in Minden in the Nevada Register of Historic Places was supported in part by its century-old beams.

Irrigation opened on April 1 after the driest first quarter in the 41 years the Natural Resource Conservation Service has been using telemetry to measure the snowpack.

A conservation easement on the Van Sickle Ranch cleared two hurdles in time for Henry Van Sickle’s 200th birthday.

A judge found that Genoa’s manager interfered with firefighters on Oct. 22, 2021, and sentenced him to a suspended 60-day jail sentence and ordered him to pay a $1,140 fine.

County commissioners sorted through $51 million in requests for $9.25 million received under the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

The annual Business Showcase returned to Gardnerville after a two-year hiatus, featuring 60 businesses and organizations.

Douglas High School graduate and U.S. Air Force service member Fallon Montanucci was killed and her sister Avalon severely injured April 23 on Highway 395 by a drunken wrong-way driver.

The Friends of Hope Valley opposed a proposal to install digital traffic signs along Highway 88 in Alpine County.

MAY

Public comment opened for a proposal to establish a gravel pit near Painted Rock on Washoe Tribal allotment land.

Douglas County’s first synagogue won an appeal after county commissioners overturned an April decision, conceding that the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion overrides the county’s parking requirements.

A beam carrying the signatures of scores of supporters was placed during a ceremony celebrating the progress of a Stateline events center, the largest construction project in Douglas County.

Texas librarian Tim DeGhelder accepted the position of Douglas County Library Director.

A U.S. Air Force honor guard escorted Airman 1st Class Fallon Montanucci to her final resting place.

County commissioners approved the purchase of 57 acres of land for a new judicial center in Minden.

With the arrival of paper ballots in the mailboxes of active Douglas County voters, the 2022 election season officially opened with in-person early voting starting for the primary election.

JUNE

Two of Douglas County’s top graduates blazed very different paths to their achievements. Sophia Garedakis graduated from both Douglas Nevada Online and Western Nevada College while Carissa Bilderback was the first Douglas High School student to gradate summa cum laude.

Three state highway workers were injured while surveying along Highway 395 near Topsy Lane by a hit and run driver.

Project Santa Elf John Carne was posthumously named Citizen of the Year by the Carson Valley Active 20-30 Club in the culmination of Carson Valley Days events.

Early results gave County Commissioner Wes Rice and Clerk-Treasurer Amy Burgans early leads in the Republican primary. They would both go on to win their races.

Workers sparked a wildfire that threatened the Genoa Cemetery and prompted the first call for evacuations of the season. One home was seriously damaged in the fire north of the cemetery.

Seven voters in Douglas County cast a nonpartisan ballot and then registered for a major party and then voted again. In all, 11 ballots were forwarded to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office.

JULY

Gardnerville Town Board members rejected a proposal for a blanket events ban at the town’s Mountain View Pond, saying they reviewed events as they came up.

An effort to rescue aspens from pines began in Hope Valley in an effort to reduce encroachment. Alpine County’s aspens attract visitors from across the region.

The first half of 2022 was the second driest in Minden, according to National Weather Service records that have been kept since 1906.

East Fork Justice of the Peace Cassandra Jones succumbed to the cancer she’d been battling for most of the previous two years.

A 79-year-old Genoa resident who was trying to tie his boat onto a mooring buoy at Lake Tahoe wasn’t wearing a life jacket.

A list with the names of 57 confidential informants taken from a state database and forwarded to a drug dealer resulted in admissions from an Indian Hills couple.

Puppy the dog was credited with saving the life on 81-year-old Gardnerville resident Dick James after he barked to gain attention of Chateau staff members that his master was in trouble from the heat.

Carson Valley Trails Association volunteers officially opened the southern extension of the Clear Creek Trail off Jacks Valley Road.

AUGUST

Thunderstorms during the first week of August dumped a record 2.57 inches of rain in Minden and sent 5-6 feet of mud into the back of a Foothill Home, in addition to washing out the main road into Markleeville.

A claim exceeding $85 million damage from the Tamarack Fire was filed with the U.S. Forest Service. Filing a claim is the first step before fire victims can file a lawsuit in the fire which raged into Alpine County over the summer of 2021.

Retiring East Fork Constable Paul Gilbert was named East Fork Justice of the Peace. Gilbert’s duties as constable were taken over by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

Work on a 1,020-unit subdivision is expected to begin next year, representatives told the Douglas County School Board.

Work on the Martin Slough Trail linking Minden and Gardnerville was finally competed after efforts that occupied most of the 21st Century.

Yerington resident David J. Qualls was named Genoa Town Manager.

Douglas County School Board trustees approved a policy ensuring that teachers don’t take a political position in answer to criticism from challengers.

Schools opened across Douglas County for the school year.

SEPTEMBER

An open house conducted on a sawmill being built on Washoe Tribe land in northern Douglas County drew protests from neighbors.

Record high temperatures during the Labor Day weekend resulted in moving the rivalry football game with the McQueen Lancers forward two hours.

Volunteers whipped up some of the famous confections that give Candy Dance its name in Genoa as Nevada’s oldest town prepared for one of Carson Valley’s biggest single events.

Minden and Gardnerville Elementary Vice Principal Amy Carter and Inclusive Education Specialist Stephanie Scheick were named Douglas County School district’s top employees.

A thunderstorm washed about a foot of mud and debris over a Holbrook Highlands road after .74 inches of rain fell in an hour on the Tamarack Fire burn area just above the neighborhood.

A proposal for a campground along the East Fork of the Carson River and at the Fairgrounds were dropped after neighbors turned out in opposition.

Sheriff Dan Coverley urged motorists to slow down and put distractions away after four separate collisions snarled Douglas highways over the course of four hours on Sept. 14.

The two Genoa Lakes golf courses were placed on the market for $14 million.

A benefit raised $15,000 to aid Casey and Larry Braun whose home was flooded on Aug. 4 when an estimated 5-6 inches fell above Fay Canyon.

The Blue Angels arrived in Carson Valley in preparation for their October show at Minden-Tahoe Airport’s Aviation Roundup.

OCTOBER

Four paving workers were severely burned by hot asphalt after the catastrophic failure of a crack-sealing hot pot in the Gardnerville Ranchos.

Former President Donald Trump drew more than 10,000 supporters during his second trip to Minden-Tahoe Airport in two years.

Douglas County commissioners voted to end the 16-year agreement with East Fork Fire Protection District for emergency management services.

It was standing room only at a luncheon celebrating the 27th annual Best of Carson Valley.

An effort to repeal Douglas County’s vacation home rental ordinance died for lack of a second.

A record $70,000 was raised in the contentious race for Douglas County School Board.

Prosecutor Chelsea Mazza said Fallon Montanucci’s last act was to swerve right saving her little sister’s life.

Five Douglas County deputies involved in a drug sting at Stateline were taken to the hospital after they were exposed to fentanyl during an Oct. 20 bust. Five more and the Stateline jail had to be decontaminated.

A Carson Valley Middle School student initiated a fundraiser to remodel the 50-year-old kitchen.

New owners reopened the Pink House in Genoa in time for the Nevada Day weekend not long after it was sold. The structure predates Nevada’s statehood.

NOVEMBER

Genoans discussed preparations to do needed work on the town church.

Voters jogged to get in line to vote in person before a major storm descended on Western Nevada.

Veterans Day events included honoring veterans at Gardnerville Elementary School a celebration of the veterans memorial at the Douglas County Courthouse and the ringing of the bell at the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center.

School Board challengers Susan Jansen, Katherine Dickerson and David Burns won a contentious school board race.

Ski resorts moved opening day up a week after the first major snowstorm of the season left 11 inches of snow at Heavenly on Nov. 9 and 7.75 inches in Genoa.

Douglas County school Superintendent Keith Lewis received a $15,000 raise.

The Record-Courier announced it was shutting down its office in Gardnerville and was moving to Minden.

The 2021 Thanksgiving week overdose death of a mother of three resulted in prison sentences for both the woman who sold her the drugs and the man who supplied them.

County commissioners voted to issue a notice of breach of contract of a development agreement involving the construction of Muller Lane Parkway.

Public outcry has slowed the state’s plans for Highway 50 until at least February.

DECEMBER

Rain and snow did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm for Gardnerville’s annual fireworks show, though it might have reduced the crowd at Heritage Park some.

The third quarter of 2022 saw record median and average sales prices in East Fork Township with the median hitting $629,320.

Around 200 people crowded a town hall for Minden-Tahoe Airport in response to a rumor the airport was planning to extend the runway and implement commercial air service. It wasn’t, but there might be a request for a tower in the future.

Five Carson Valley elected officials said farewell after hitting term limits. School Board trustee Ross Chichester, Gardnerville Town Board members Ken Miller and Linda Slater and Minden Town Board member Roxanne Stangle participated in their last meetings during December.

Wet sticky snow knocked down power lines across Douglas County affecting almost 1,700 Douglas County homes and businesses and thousands more over the state line at Lake Tahoe and Alpine County.

A record $140,044 was raised by the Carson Valley Community Food Closet during the annual Share Your Christmas Drive-by Food Drive in Minden.

Volunteers placed wreaths on the graves of more than 600 veterans at three Carson Valley cemeteries as part of Wreaths Across America.

The rescue of a dog that fell into the Mitch Park Pond was a reminder that ice poses a hazard whether on water or land.