36 years ago this month

The charter banquet of the newly formed Pahrump Valley Lions Club will be held at the Calvada Inn. A Lions Club benefit sale will be conducted in conjunction with the event. Tomken's western store will contribute all sale profits made April 8 and 9, while the same will apply to Joe Hieleger's Cotton Pickin' Saloon and Ed Blevin's laundromat service.

Forty members have joined the local chapter of the international service organization.

Shamrock Estates presents a quality permanent housing development in beautiful Pahrump Valley. Homes are all electric and offer beauty, durability and value with your purchase of a two- or three-bedroom single residence or duplex on half an acre. Properties are offered at a price range of $21,950 up to $26,950.

30 years ago this week

Enthusiastic support was demonstrated for the formation of a public local development company in Pahrump Valley. Thirty-eight individuals signed up on the spot with several others joining the organization after the meeting.

The purpose of a local development company (LDC) is to help needed businesses get started. The LDC backs a prospective business with financial and other aid. A minimum of 25 members is needed to form such an organization.

Walter Plankinton gained front-page headlines in the Las Vegas Sun when he announced his plan to organize all 45 brothels in Nevada into the Nevada Brothel Association.

"Prostitution is big business and should be organized," said Plankinton.

He said he is the prospective president of the new organization, and several brothel owners have already been contacted about the idea.

Such an association would control the number of brothels, impose self-policing policies, control advertising and the type of women who would be allowed to work in the "houses," according to Plankinton.

The $3,000 granted to the Southern Nye County Search and Rescue organization by the Nye County Parks and Recreation Board will be used to upgrade and renovate the SAR shooting range located near the county gravel pit east of the community center.

The shooting range will be improved by building new shooting areas and a tower for the range master.

20 years ago this week

During the Nye County School Board meeting, an architect was hired to start working on proposed new school buildings that will be made possible if a bond issue passes this year.

Robert Ragar was given a one-year, $58,000 contract to serve as Nye County school superintendent starting in July. The board voted to retain the services of Fred Dolvan and Associates to address the architectural needs prior to the board election. The fee will be $50,000.

Among projects being considered are new high schools for Pahrump Valley, Beatty, and Tonopah.

The Nye County delinquent tax list published last week in the Times is shorter this year than last. County Treasurer Rena Bailey said there were 4,597 names on the list last year, compared to 4,364 this year.

Also, the amount of money past due is down from $761,245 last year to $309,655 this year, according to Bailey.

One reason for the reductions this year is that a large number of properties that were delinquent in Calvada developments for three years were auctioned off, with new ownership, the tax bill is brought current.

The prospective new owner of the Saddle West Casino has instructed his attorney to hold off on any statements until the transaction is finalized.

Attorney Jeff Clontz said that Southern California businessman J. Wayne Stewart prefers that no comments be made at this time.

Clontz said he felt it was safe to assume that the original reports of the proposed sale and the investigation into Stewart's background by the Gaming Control Board are still valid.

10 years ago this week

The largest public project in Pahrump history has begun to take shape.

A public hearing on the proposed 875-acre Nye County Fairgrounds complex in southern Pahrump turned into a virtual love fest, with representatives from every local group from the kennel club to the chamber of commerce showering praise on the plan.

According to Mike Cosgrove, town manager, without broad public support, there would be no way to secure 875 acres of federal land, let alone do anything with it.

"I really feel the community is behind this project," Cosgrove said.

The Nye County clerk's office has not yet decided what polling sites to use for this year's election, or even how many there should be in Pahrump, but one thing is certain: The days of all local votes being cast at the community center are gone for good.

"We cannot have the community center as the only polling place for another election year," said County Clerk Juanita "Arte" Robb, matter-of-factly. "That is impossible."

Rosemary Clarke Middle School is being considered as a single polling site or in conjunction with the community center.

A proposed five-cent increase in the county's gasoline tax sparked a sometimes heated debate about road maintenance and the balance of power in Nye County and Nevada.

Board Chairman Gary Hollis placed the item on the agenda, he said, to gauge public support for the tax hike and to find out if there is anyway to control where and how the money collected would be spent.

County Commissioner Cameron McRae reminded Hollis that the commissioners have the legal authority to increase the gas tax in the county by a nickel without putting it on the ballot.

McRae, however, added that he would prefer the matter be put before voters "as long as they know what the ramifications are."

The Pahrump Valley High School baseball team will take on the top two teams in the state from last year in a pair of Southern Nevada Class 3-A conference doubleheaders. The Trojans will square off against Virgin Valley in Mesquite this weekend and will host Boulder City in Pahrump next week.