36 years ago this month

District Attorney Bill Beko called for implementation of a Nye County zoning ordinance and a branch office in Pahrump Valley which would issue building permits, make road and building inspections and perform other duties now handled out of Tonopah.

Beko spoke at a meeting called by realtor Tim Hafen for discussion of Pahrump Valley land development.

Asphalting of Calvada Boulevard from the highway to the commercial wing of Preferred Equities' property is scheduled to begin later this month. Over three miles of road leading to and around the expansive structure will be paved along with extensive parking space.

30 years ago this week

Nye County is estimated to be the 10th fastest growing county in the country and neighboring Esmeralda County the sixth, according to recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Census figures show Nye with a population of 9,048 April 1, 1980, compared to 14,600 July 1, 1986 -- an increase of 61.1 percent.

The figures show neighboring Esmeralda County with 770 people April 1, 1980, compared to 1,300 July 1, 1986 -- an increase of 65.1 percent.

The Valley Electric Association board of directors Friday decided to add a fifth director, assuming a revised bylaw package is eventually approved by VEA customers.

The fifth director, if approved, would come from the Pahrump district of the sprawling VEA power distribution system, reflecting the increase in the number of VEA power consumers in the Pahrump and Sandy Valley communities.

20 years ago this week

Phone installations in Pahrump Valley for the first six months of 1977 have jumped from 556 main stations as of Jan. 1 to 632 through the end of July. That's an increase of 76 hook-ups. If the second half of the year continues at the same pace, it would represent an increase of 152 hook-ups for the year, or 27 percent.

The Spring Meadows Ranch, which now has over 2,000 acres of productive farmland and about 1,900 head of cattle, has been put up for sale by southern entrepreneur F.L. Cappaert. An auction to sell most of the equipment on the property, located in Amargosa Valley near Death Valley Junction, will be held starting at 10 a.m. Sept. 28. The property will be leased to George Swink, to be maintained until a buyer is found.

"Shake hands and come out fighting" was just about the mood of about 200 townspeople at the Aug. 25 town board meeting. The focus was a controversial proposal from Mel Pestano of the Paradise Waste System, asking for mandatory garbage pickup in Pahrump.

Pestano said it is difficult to provide his services and meet operational expenses because of the few customers he has and the cost of repairs and salaries.

10 years ago this week

Hollis Harris of Desert Utilities wants his customers to know that he's not trying to take advantage of them with his company's proposed water rate increase. The real estate developer said he's simply trying to recoup a portion of the money he has spent upgrading the water system in Allen Estates, and he's willing to listen to anything residents there have to say about the proposed increase.

"We're going in the hole every month on that project," Harris said. "You wouldn't believe how bad it was when we took it over. We're not trying to recover everything we've spent, but, we can't keep going in the hole."

Nye County Sheriff's Capt. Doug Richards has learned a thing or two about desert storms during the lifetime he's lived in southern Nevada. That knowledge may have saved his life Tuesday night when Richards and the NCSO Bronco he was driving were swept away in a tide of floodwaters after heavy rains collapsed the roadway under the vehicle at Annie and Harris Farm Road.

Richards was responding to an emergency assistance call from a resident whose home was flooding.

School was called off. A state of emergency was declared. All members of the Nye County Sheriff's Office were put on standby status. A Red Cross shelter was established at the senior center, with plans in place to expand to the community center if necessary.

Then, defying the best available weather forecasts, it stopped raining. When the two-day storm hit Pahrump at 6:45 Tuesday evening, the night sky blazed alive with a thunder and lightning show that valley newcomers likely weren't prepared for.

Then the rains came. And they kept coming. Actual precipitation was, depending on the area of town, between 2.5 to slightly more than five inches.

Pahrump was supposed to open its football season against Hurricane, Utah. Beatty was supposed to open against Laughlin.

But both got stood up, and now both Nye County schools will square off at at Beatty High in the season opener for both teams.

"I do believe it's gonna be a great game," first-year Beatty coach Jerry Adcox said. "There's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement amongst the kids. It's our first game just like theirs."