39 years ago this week

The Shoshone Desert Art Show had about 75 artists from California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and other western states show up for a five-day event.

Painter Ulilla Ward planned to be there.

Out of Beatty, Bruce Avery won $196 for taking top saddle bronc rising honors at the Stardust Horseman's Park.

Assemblyman Tim Hafen said it was the sensible thing to do -- lock Nye, Esmeralda and Mineral counties into their own single assembly district. Hafen represented Nye and Esmeralda as well as Mina township.

That would have been a tough row to hoe for Hafen, since the distance from Pahrump to Hawthorne is farther than from Pahrump to Los Angeles.

David Brown, all of 31 and a native of Ohio, was named the first full-time school principal in Pahrump. He had been teaching here since 1966 and was the seventh-grade teacher.

30 years ago

The state Department of Transportation said it would improve the road over Mountain Springs Pass in order to make it less hazardous in the winter.

Ray Wulfenstein, then president of the chamber of commerce, had begun the effort to gain the improvements a year ago.

With President Carter expected to set a new nuclear management policy, two scientists from UNLV said it was likely that the Nevada Test Site would be named "one of the nation's first nuclear dumps."

"Certainly from a security argument, the Test Site would have a good chance of becoming a repository," said Russell Chance, assistant professor of physics.

An Israeli known as the "father of drip irrigation," said desert farmers here could benefit from water-saving agricultural practices used in Israel.

A bill to limit the services of physician's assistants was killed in Carson City. Good thing, too, since only physician's assistants were on duty in Beatty and Pahrump.

20 years ago

New owners of the Saddle West could be in place by May 9.

But the Gaming Control Board recommended the sale on condition that consultant Jack Sanders and bookkeeper Peggy Shaner not be allowed entrance to the business.

The second petition in eight months calling for the recall of District Attorney Phil Dunleavy was filed in Tonopah.

Dunleavy said Joe Richards was behind the whole thing. Richards said in an open letter that Dunleavy had failed to fully report a contribution he made to the DA, a charge Dunleavy categorically denied.

Floyd's Ace Hardware got to work on a massive expansion. -- 7,500 square feet that would make the hardware store one of the largest in Central Nevada.

A zoning ordinance was to be the topic for a special town board meeting with the Pahrump advisory planning board set to look it over shortly thereafter.

Superintendent Robert Ragar won a new two-year contract. He said he was delighted and eager to get going.

10 years ago

A Flight for Life helicopter heading back to Pahrump from Vegas after transporting a patient crashed near Indian Springs.

The pilot and two nurses were killed. One man who heard the chopper crash said it was "snowing so hard I could barely see."

Pilot James Bond Jr. expressed concerns about the weather before the flight.

Builders in Pahrump were ready to continue their struggle against any placement of a residential tax on new construction. The school board was planning to meet with county commissioners to gain their support for the $1,600 tax.

Bob Little said bluntly, of the school board, "They've wasted so much money, we should be taking some back."

Pahrump RPC Chairman Carol Lindberg agreed that more needed to be seen about how the funds were to be expended.

Marlene Nickelson said in a letter that she agreed with Denny Penticoff in objecting to billboards along Highway 160. "Down with those signs and let's beautify the entrance to Pahrump," she wrote.

The wind wasn't fooling. Over several days an unoccupied trailer was blown onto its roof, several power outages were reported, and one porch roof was ripped off its moorings.

Fire Chief Vern Long said he believed some homes were in a wind funnel.