36 years ago this month

The Marshal "Rocky" Rhoads Construction Co. is building a home of box beam construction for O.R. Griffin in Thousandaire Estates in Pahrump Valley. Griffin will move to Pahrump as Rhoads' sales representative around late August. Rhoads is also in the process of setting up a box beam manufacturing company in Las Vegas.

The first construction phase of a scenic 13-mile road loop through Red Rock Canyon is under way. A contract for $314,273 has been awarded to a California firm, Brooks and Hewitt, to build seven miles of the road from the park's information center northwesterly past the Sandstone Quarry picnic area to Rocky Gap (Willow Springs) campgrounds. The company has 210 calendar days to complete the job.

30 years ago this week

Valley Bank will expand operation of its Pahrump Valley branch from three to five days beginning Monday, Aug. 15, according to branch manager Kim Waldehanna. The bank will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. A night depository is also available after hours.

The bank opened in its present office at the Calvada Inn in mid-December 1975 and because of "faster than anticipated" growth, expanded from twice weekly service to the present three days Aug. 16 last year.

The Pahrump Valley Volunteer Ambulance Service barbecue and auction Saturday grossed $4,144 and realized a net profit of $3,284. Around 500 people turned out for the barbecue and a record number stayed on for the action-packed auction. More than 60 donated articles were put on the block by auctioneers Wally Duckett and Tim Hafen.

Len LaFoon, head of the local ambulance service, said the income topped last year's profit of $2,800. The money will be used for supplies and new equipment.

20 years ago this week

School Superintendent Joaquin Johnson submitted his resignation Wednesday, effective at the end of his present contract next June. The school board accepted the resignation but asked that Johnson remain with the district as a consultant for six months after his contract expires.

While a search for a superintendent is expected to start soon, it's not likely that a replacement will be available to come to Nye County until after the coming school year is completed. That is the time when Johnson is scheduled to retire.

The Pahrump Town Board Tuesday night told residents worried over the housing of exotic animals to take their concerns to the courts for action. But as of yesterday, no legal steps had been taken.

The Justice Court is not authorized to issue any order preventing a southern California man from housing his animals in Pahrump, according to Tina Brisebill of the J.P. staff.

The board's decision followed a lengthy discussion about a reported 14 tigers, panthers, and cougars being kept in Pahrump by Alex Pasternak of Southern California.

Nevada Republican Sen. Chick Hecht took a potshot at the approval of Bullfrog County recently -- and also contended that the high-level nuclear dump will never be built.

"It's never going to happen" said Hecht, a member of the Senate Energy Committee. "It's strictly an exercise in futility. You might get 99 senators voting for it, but the scientific community of America will not allow it."

10 years ago this week

Residents of a neighborhood in northwest Pahrump are cleaning up their yards, meeting with insurance adjusters and trying to figure out just what hit them this week after a powerful storm tipped over one home and tore shingles and metal awnings off others Friday evening.

Although reports of damage were widespread, residents in the area of Basin and Murphy seemed hardest hit by the storm, which blew through the area between 5 and 6 p.m. There were unconfirmed reports of a small tornado touching down in the area, and damage is estimated in the thousands of dollars.

Jim Kirwan knows the difference between a hockey puck and a golf ball. Kirwan, who assumed the duties of general manager and lead professional for both the Calvada Championship and Executive golf courses Monday, said he "got into the profession a little late in life," obtaining his first Professional Golfers of America card in 1981. "I smartened up."

Prior to the move to golf, Kirwan played hockey and went on to manage rinks and owning semipro franchises.

All aspects of Death Valley are targeted in a two-hour documentary to air on the History Channel. Rocks have brought Bennie Troxel back here once again, and not just the one he's sitting on. Troxel first came to Death Valley as a young geologist in 1952, and, fascinated by what he found, he has been coming back regularly ever since.

As a disciple of famed geologist Levi Noble, who performed the first large-scale studies of the vast desert area in the early 1900s, Troxel has returned over the years to give tours, teach, and most importantly, attempt to finish what he started 45 years ago -- a detailed map of one of the most geologically diverse regions in the world.

It's that time of the year again for the Nye County School District, but it might be the last time that time of year comes at this time, at least for grades K-8 in Pahrump.

Confused? What makes this year's preparations different is the impending switch to a multitrack year-round schedule in Pahrump's grades K-8 -- a switch that is now less than two weeks away.

After this year, students and teachers will no longer enjoy the sort of long summer break they have been on since June. Instead, both students and teachers will go to school in 60-day intervals separated by 20-day breaks.