36 years ago this month

The whole school can't be on the basketball team.

Coach Pat Inch started a small running program in September that has already produced remarkable results at the Pahrump Grade School. At the Turkey Day races in North Las Vegas, the Pahrump runners took home six of the nine available turkeys.

Add to that last month's annual Mini Marathon, a 13.2-mile run from Henderson to Las Vegas -- John Coleman, the two Briscoe kids and the five Ward youngsters brought home a case full of trophies.

The Wards especially have drawn a lot of attention because, well, there are so many of them and they stand out.

Gov. Mike O'Callaghan named six southern Nevadans to the Nevada Historic Preservation Review Committee. They are Don Blake, Scoop Garside, Priscilla Seymour, Adam Yacenda, Bill Hernstadt, and Milt Bozanic, publisher of Nevada West and Pahrump Valley Times.

The committee reviews and approves projects submitted for federal funding or for placement on the National Historic Register.

30 years ago this week

Col. Alton DeViney has spent the last week in and around Pahrump, investigating the crash of four aircraft which left five dead and six injured.

DeViney, from Wyoming, is heading up a six-man team assigned to investigate the crashes and prepare a report for Air Force officials. Since the search ended last week, many hours have been spent trying to determine what the cause of the crashes were that included two Air Force 02 Skymasters, one private Piper Cherokee and an Air Force helicopter.

"This kind of thing is very difficult. The first concern was the search for the people involved; now it comes down to determining what the problems were that led to this series of accidents," said DeViney.

Nye County commissioners approved a budget of $6,117,596 for the coming fiscal year, an increase of $718,457 from last year's $5,399,139.

Due to an increase in property valuation in the county, rising from $78,612,920 to $89,969,132, the added revenue was realized without a county tax increase.

Non-residents still pay the biggest part of Nye County Taxes. Some top taxpayers include Bank of California for the paper they hold involving land sales at Calvada Valley; Reynold Electric, a test site firm; Bell Telephone; EG&G, another test site firm; and Sierra Pacific.

20 years ago this week

The Nye County Commission hired Ed Phillips, the designer of the jail facility purchased from Eagle County, to move the facility to Pahrump and set it up for no more than $100,000.

The new contract with Phillips would provide for the disassembly and reassembly of the facility as well as transportation to Pahrump and refurbishing and repairing any damaged portions of the cells such as electronic locks.

The entire facility will cost the county an estimated $400,000.

The first of three shopping center projects in the Loop Road area planned by Bill Mankins is under construction.

The Commercial Shopping Center, which will include 4,400 square feet, is now going up on a half-acre of land on Loop Road and Commercial Center Drive -- kitty corner from the post office. The second unit of 7,500 square feet will be built on approximately an acre, just below the first unit on the same street. Completion is expected later in the year.

The Pahrump planning board approved a motion to ask the town board to have a new edition of the official town map printed "at the earliest possible convenience."

The request will be put on the agenda for the next board meeting. The immediate need is due to the growth of Pahrump and name changes of roads, which are not reflected in the last map printed.

10 years ago this week

According to the state Department of Transportation, construction of the final improvement phase to Highway 160 will begin some time in August after bids go out in May. Director Tom Stephens joined Sen. Harry Reid at a meeting in Pahrump with the Legislative Commission's committee to study the construction and maintenance of highways and road.

The final phase will transform Highway 160 from a two-lane highway to a divided four-lane highway.

A lawsuit filed by the Calvada Home Owners Protection Corp. is an effort to clean up and help prevent future abuse of codes, covenants and restrictions in Calvada subdivisions.

According to CHPA founder and President Ron Somers, the lawsuit is having the desired effect. Two of the four property owners named in the suit have apparently agreed to comply with CHPC's demands. The lawsuit appears to have prompted others to comply with Calvada CC&Rs as well.

In a sharply worded decision that is critical of both District Attorney Bob Beckett and Pahrump town attorney Len Smith, Fifth District Court Judge John Davis declined to issue a writ that would require reapportionment of Nye County Commission districts.

The order "does not find any action or inaction on the part of the Nye County Commissioners that is contrary to existing Law." As such, a "writ of (mandamus) is obviously an improper remedy."

Beckett lashed back at Davis and his order.

Davis ruled that the commissioners can reapportion, but doing so in not mandatory until after the next census. The commissioners, by a 3-2 vote, have declined to take steps toward reapportionment.

Beckett was particularly incensed by the conclusion of Davis' order, which was sharply critical of Beckett's support for reapportionment, which contrasted with the desires of a majority of the commissioners.

"I think (the three commissioners) have a moral responsibility to reapportion because the one man, one vote principle is being violated," Beckett said. "It would have taken a lot of courage on their part to do what was right, but to accuse me of being politically motivated is not true. I think they are politically motivated.

"They didn't even give the ordinance a chance to go to public hearing, something they routinely do on all ordinances. They just slammed the door, and that is what has angered the people of Pahrump."