36 years ago this month

It takes more than casual desire to win the $750 first-place money at the Beatty Lions World Championship Wild Burro Race.

A wrangler, as the human part of the team is called, has to saddle an unbroken burro, then coax him over a rough 20-mile desert course on Saturday and repeat the trip on Sunday. To win, the wrangler and burro have to complete the distance in close to three hours each day, not easy with or without a burro.

The world record in Beatty was set in 1968 by Brooks Smith, who covered the 40 miles in a total time of 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 52 seconds.

The $90 million financing plan for the 2,000-room MGM Grand Hotel being built opposite the Dunes Hotel has been approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission -- included is a plan to raise $50 million from a public offering of collateral trust bonds due in 1992.

The hotel, scheduled for opening in late 1973 will employ over 3000 people.

30 years ago this week

Prospects for a mining and milling project that could employ 250 to 300 people in the next one to three years appear favorable.

Anaconda Mining Co. made that report to the Nye County Commission as part of its effort to keep the county informed on its major undertaking about 23 miles north of Tonopah. Anaconda has been core drilling in the area for two years and has been evaluating the results.

The main ore in the hoped-for project is molybdenum, with copper also a factor.

The four miles of federally funded road-building in Pahrump Valley is completed. The local county road crew will now be involved in road maintenance work and is expected to resume work on the road joining Pahrump and Amargosa Valley early next year.

The four miles of new paved road in the Valley includes two miles on Pahrump Valley Blvd., between Gamebird and Thousandaire; one mile on Wilson between Blagg and Linda; a half mile on Buol and a half mile on Bolling, both leading north from Highway 52.

20 years ago this week

Zeroing in on the exact whereabouts of Sheriff Stick Davis for a two-year period appears to be the aim of the latest move by DA Phil Dunleavy.

Radio and telephone logs for all transmissions at all county substations were ordered collected by a search warrant signed by Judge William Beko, according to Undersheriff Mark Zane.

The logs total 14,250 pages written on both sides of legal size sheets and are requested for the period of July 1985 to September 1987. Zane said he assumed the information was part of the effort by the DA to prove that Davis illegally collected travel pay totaling about $3,500.

Another in a series of experiments designed to test the effectiveness of water sprays in suppressing vapor clouds created from accidental acid spills was conducted at the Nevada Test Site, and the tests went without a problem.

The U.S. Department of Energy supervised the experiment, during which 200 gallons of hydrofluoric acid mixed with hydrocarbons were released into a specially constructed wind tunnel at the Liquefied Gaseous Spill Test Facility, located at Frenchman Flat.

The department allowed members of the media to witness the test. The effectiveness of protective clothing similar to that worn by firefighters was also tested.

10 years ago this week

Fifth District Court Judge John Davis could play a role in deciding how elections are conducted in Nevada when he holds a hearing on a civil complaint filed by Ray "Mallow" Mielzynski and Paul Miller.

Mielzynski, an also-ran in the race for sheriff, and Miller have filed a civil complaint against incumbent Wade Lieseke, who won the primary by a wide margin, and Doug Richards, who also advanced by finishing second with just less than half of the votes Lieseke received.

The relief sought includes having Davis set aside the results of the primary election and ordering a new election, and finding the method of holding elections in Nevada in violation of the "Republican Form."

The "Republican Form" is apparently violated when votes are counted mechanically, because it offers "the appearance of impropriety or of any opportunity for appearance of impropriety," in the view of Mielzynski and Miller.

The ground over the vault buried near the old cotton gin between Smith's Food and Drug and Terrible's Town was dug up by investigators, who were looking for more clues regarding the alleged attempted theft of an estimated $1 million to $14 million from the estate of the late Ted Binion.

The search for additional evidence was not very fruitful, according to Sheriff Wade Lieseke. The sheriff's office obtained permission from the Binion family prior to the excavation, but all that was recovered was one silver dollar.

Rick Tabish, Dave Mattsen and Mike Milot were arrested in the early morning hours of Sept. 19 after digging down to the vault and emptying the contents of the 64-square-foot structure into a pickup and belly dump.