Last year's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, stating the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have no jurisdiction to enforce the Endangered Species Act in unincorporated areas, has spurred runaway growth in Pahrump.

The newest member of the highest court in the land, Nye County's own Robert Lane, is credited with inspiring his peers to put people's needs before mice, insects and a few species who are on life support anyway.

In an impassioned address, Lane told his fellow justices, "Get real, guys. Homeowners can't turn over a shovel's worth of dirt in their own yards without paying for an environmental impact study. Where I come from, we believe in survival of the fittest. Let the coyotes eat the pupfish and let's move on."

Interviewed on his one-year anniversary as a Supreme Court justice, Lane told the PVT, "I hope to take my place in the annals of history along with other great Supremes like Diana Ross."

Coincidentally, District Court Judge John P. Davis was also offered an appointment to the Supreme Court. When respectfully declining the offer, Davis said, "What? No person in his right mind would leave Tonopah to live in Washington, D.C."