36 years ago this month

Most people know Jim Santini as a justice, one of two JP's who handle an enormous load of cases every day, every week.

There is another facet to James David Santini. His pursuit of an outside interest has developed into both a frustration and a passion. The frustration is his determination to get the Southern Nevada Museum developed into a strong, growing reality. The passion lies in research and collecting artifacts from Southern Nevada. Three times a month, with judicial robes abandoned, Jim is off to Pahrump Valley to hunt for relics from the long gone past.

"The times, they are a changing." Even in the cowboy west. It used to be a bunch of ranch hands would get together to show off their cowboy skills, a practice that became the organized rodeo.

"Today there are more rodeos than ever but fewer real cowboys," according to Lonny Wright. Wright, from Nampa, Idaho, has a national reputation as a roper and bull rider. He was runner-up to Tommy Duncan for all-around cowboy honors at the Nevada Cowboy Association rodeo finals last month at Stardust Park. Duncan works for Valley Electric in Las Vegas and he and his family have a ranch in Lovelock.

30 years ago this week

Residential electrical hook ups in the Pahrump valley increased from 777 in August 1976 to 937 in August 1977, for a 19.3 percent jump. Valley Electric Cooperative figures show that hookups have almost doubled from December 1972 to August 1977; in December 1972 there were 481 residential users.

The 12-month growth shows a greater increase in actual numbers of new installations as well as an increase in the percentage of growth than during any of the past five years.

No new job base has been created in the valley, indicating a continuing interest in the area as a retirement location or a place for a residence from which to commute to work in Las Vegas.

The Oct. 27 town board meeting was held at the Community Center with four board members and 20 townspeople in attendance. Herb Barris proposed buying six new bucking chutes, a calf-roping box and holding box for the local arena.

The arena is in bad shape and dangerous to riders and spectators. Barris felt something should be done before another rodeo is held under the present arena conditions. Barris stated $7,000 would be needed for the repairs.

20 years ago this week

Irwin Fink was easily re-elected to the Pahrump Town Board, and Barbara Raper won the second vacant seat in the local election on Tuesday. Fink received 521 votes to pace all candidates; Raper received 401 votes, edging out Claire Ramsey with 394 votes.

A total of 827 people, out of the 2,137 eligible to vote, cast their ballots -- a 38.6 percent turn out. Fink and Jacque Rudd were both up for re-election due to the staggered year system. Rudd did not run for re-election. There was drama in the tabulation at the Community Center, with a 7 vote difference between Raper and Ramsey. The votes were tallied twice before the last precinct totals were posted.

Round Mountain Gold Mining Co. has offered to put up the first $1 million on a $3 million school building program in Round Mountain. The money would be available to construct schools for next fall.

Don Simpson, general manager for the large gold operation, met with the school board Wednesday. He asked that the county pay back the money, without interest, if a school bond is passed for the $3 million. The board will give its reply after getting legal counsel.

Brothel owner Joe Richards recently presented a number of area organization with checks totaling $17,500, including the following: In Pahrump, Richards donated $2,000 to the Community Medical Center; $1,500 to the Senior Nutrition Council; $1,250 to the fire department; $1,000 each to Pahrump Valley High School and the Rotary Club; $500 each to the Nye County Employees fund and the Pahrump Children's Christmas Party Fund.

Other donations given to Nye County organizations included a $1,000 check to the Amargosa School and the Desert Seniors, $2,000 to the Amargosa fire department and $500 for the Amargosa ambulance fund. The Beatty fire department received $1,250 and the Tonopah Rotary club and Salvation Army received $1,000 each.

10 years ago this week

The Nye County School District took quite a pounding at the Pahrump Town Board meeting Tuesday night as board members expressed their disdain for a $1,600 impact fee currently under consideration by the Nye County Commission.

The impact fee would be levied on the construction of new homes, mobile homes and each new apartment unit built after its passage. Revenue generated by the tax would benefit the school district in the area in which it was collected.

Since the town board has no say in the final decision, all its members could do is discuss the issue. They made it clear during that discussion that they believe the fee would slow growth in the area and would only serve to give the Nye County School Board more money to "misspend."

The land division moratorium in Pahrump, approved by the county commissioners during a special meeting with the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission last week, could face its first revision Tuesday.

The county commissioners scheduled a meeting at the Tonopah courthouse to consider a resolution allowing subdivisions to be immune from the nine-month moratorium, which is scheduled to take effect Dec. 1. If the resolution is approved, that will limit the moratorium's impact to parcel maps and subsequent additional parceling of the same land.

Not much has changed in the year since state transportation officials discovered that $10 million in federal funds promised for the expansion of Highway 160 had inexplicably disappeared. The final 17 miles of the proposed four-lane divided highway remains unfinished. Pahrump residents who fought for the project remain angry.

U.S. Senator Harry Reid remains committed to getting the money back. Reid has a personal stake in seeing the money appropriated. The senator made an appearance in Pahrump last fall to announce that he had secured the promise for the $10 million from the Federal Highway Administration.