36 years ago this month

A group of Nye County residents, mostly from Pahrump Valley, have formed what amounts to a citizen's watchdog organization. Called C.A.C.T.U.S. (Citizens Action Committee for Tax Utilization and Services), the organization lists use of taxes, management of county roads, utility and tax rates and other items as items of interest.

The regular election year invitation of drinks-on-me by Joe Heilegers to all politicians and voters drew a packed house at the Cotton Pickin' Saloon.

Unlike most similar bashes, Heilegers let the booze flow on and on, so that even those who normally would scrupulously avoid such a political gathering find it worthwhile to attend, and at the same time politicians who have nothing more in common than mutual loathing have time to loosen up and at least stand next to each other.

30 years ago this week

The Frenchman Flat area of the Nevada Test Site has been recommended as the site of a five-year, $50 million study of the hazards of liquefied natural gas.

The study, if it is undertaken, will be made by the Department of Energy and will get under way in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 1978.

"It is estimated that liquefied natural gas could supply as much as 15 percent of America's natural gas needs by 1985, yet very little is known about the hazards connected with its use," U.S. Sen. Howard W. Cannon said.

Pahrump is in dire need of another ambulance.

A unit has been requested for quite sometime and a formal letter has been sent to the county commissioners. The statement said No. 2 unit being condemned for use on the state highway needs to be corrected.

The No. 2 unit, which is in use as a backup unit, is mechanically sound. However, it does not meet Department of Transportation specifications for an ambulance due to the lack of certain built-in equipment, but all necessary portable equipment is carried.

20 years ago this week

A legal challenge asking that Judge William Beko be excused from handling matters relating to the recently ordered Nye County grand jury was filed by the attorney for Sheriff Harold "Stick" Davis.

Attorney Peter Flangas also filed a motion to disqualify Elko Justice of the Peace Jack Ames from hearing the charges of fraud filed against the sheriff by District Attorney Phil Dunleavy.

The motion challenging Ames was based on what Flangas called a bias toward himself. Flangas said the justice of the peace once maligned him in a newspaper story following a case in Elko County.

Nye County Superintendent Robert Ragar told the school board of trustees that he does not intend to "write off" the money -- up to $800,000 that the county may lose because of controversial AB 872, passed by the 1987 legislature.

The bill authorized the state to collect the net proceeds on mines in 1985 and 1986 in advance. The state appears ready to keep the advance income rather than dispense it to the various counties.

SJR 22 has proposed to amend the state constitution to establish a tax on net proceeds at rates separate from the tax on property.

If the resolution passes, the state will realize additional revenues from the mining industry.

Sheri's Ranch brothel was granted a continuance in its effort to have the court lift the county ban on its right to operate. Sheri's in Pahrump Valley and Fran's Star Ranch in Beatty were closed after the Nye County licensing board said they had failed to comply with license application requirements in the new brothel ordinance.

Sheri's opened in the south end of Pahrump Valley without applying for a license four years ago. They have been able to remain open mostly due to legal challenges to the county brothel ordinances.

10 years ago this week

Bones found by hunters in Ash Meadows are human remains, according to forensics experts with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Sheriff Wade Lieseke said the bones were from a small adult or a child age 8-10 years old. At this point the age of the bones has not been determined, but the possibilities range anywhere from a fairly recent homicide to an old grave that has been disturbed.

Because the bones were discovered in the federal wildlife refuge, it's possible the FBI could take jurisdiction.

Four illegal aliens are in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service following an incident on Highway 373 in Amargosa Valley that nearly resulted in a collision with a school bus.

The driver, who had been living in Amargosa Valley, has already pled guilty to drunk and reckless driving, no license, no insurance and no vehicle registration. The other three occupants in the car at the time were also turned over to the INS.

Five months after they made their first recorded appearance in Nevada, the Africanized honey bee has found its way to Pahrump.

The Nevada Division of Agriculture reported that the swarm of honey bees killed in northwest Pahrump by a local pest control company was Africanized. Tests on the insects showed with 99.6 percent certainty that they were the so called "killer bees," rather than less aggressive and far more common European honey bees.