38 years ago this week

An un-named fireworks company was on its way to Pahrump, but spokesman out of state preferred not to identify it.

At the same time, however, several new developments were front and center, among them Calvada's Comstock Park mobile home site (140 spaces to begin with of 670 units overall), the High Chaparral Lodge and Restaurant and a new sand and gravel outfit to be put together by Everett Miller and Pete Brown, described as "long-time heavy construction workers from Sacramento."

In addition, Evans International Homes had plans for 11 new "homes and buildings" contracted for construction.

News from the test site was promising -- another shot was scheduled for later in the month, and employment was expected to zoom from 4,000-5,000 to 7,500 within the month.

Plans to enhance development of the Wheeler Pass road came out from the Las Vegas ranger district.

A rainy May put a damper on cotton planting in the valley. One gent, Pantaleon Carrillo, was out planting May 14, one of the latest dates in memory.

30 years ago

Rumors of a petition to recall Sheriff Joni Wines appeared to be false. Instead, there was a petition calling for the reinstatement of Sgt. Burt Grey, whose case would be heard in Tonopah.

Officials from Starcraft, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., were in town. The subsidiary of Piper Aircraft was interested in moving to Nevada, and Pahrump was said to be in the running as a site.

Starcraft wasn't going to produce planes but was in the business of manufacturing "recreational tent trailers" and might hire five-dozen people.

Forty-eight mercury vapor lights arrived for employment at the PVHS athletic field. They would suffice to light up the whole athletic field, including the football field and track area.

Ralph Falcone, a Pahrump mechanic, had luck in spades.

He was fighting a brush fire when he felt "a sharp pain" in one of his legs, and he thought it was a hot ember that had burned him. He tossed some water on it, even went to a second call later the same day.

Then, by mid-week, his leg was swollen and he was one sick puppy -- suffering from a rattlesnake bite.

Fire Chief Vern Andrews warned people about fooling around in the thick brush during a fire.

20 years ago

Its supporters may have miscounted, and maybe interest had simply faded, but a petition to recall District Attorney Phil Dulnleavy failed to achieve the required number of signatures.

At the same time, an FBI investigation into stolen vehicles bore fruit of a sort -- a pickup truck sans engine and serial numbers was dug up in a lot on Basin Road. Other parts were hauled up from a gravel pit in the South End.

The probe stemmed from the discovery, earlier in the spring, of more than $200,000 of allegedly stolen earthmoving equipment.

Nearly 32 miles of Highway 160 was to be widened by the end of season 1993 between Decatur Boulevard and a point about a dozen miles south of the Clark County line.

Yeah, don't expect any help from us....

That's how the headline read at first glance: "Class of '89 told to shape its own future."

A driver at the north end of town turned his truck onto its side, skidded for about 100 feet and then crawled out the window and got the hell out of there -- his truck carried more than 1,500 gallons of propane.

Nothing, thank goodness, went off.

10 years ago

On the way to the StageStop Casino, "1980s bubble-gum pop music sensation Tiffany." What more could we ever have wanted?

She was scheduled to show up at the first annual Jack Reeves Reunion. In the event, Henry Brean shot a selection of photos of her, both on and off stage, and she explained that her songs now were a touch edgier than they had been when she was queen of the shopping malls.

DOE was planning to restore the Central Nevada Test Area, one of the rare nuke sites not in the Nevada Test Site.

The site of Project Faultless, a multi-kiloton underground shot in 1968, northeast of Tomopah, the spot remains open to the public, although visitors are advised to be careful, and it's probably best not to kick up any dust.

Closer to home, Steve Bradhurst predicted from 600,000 to 1 million visitors would deluge Lathrop Wells if he could build his $40 million Desert Space Station ("a discovery center exploring Nevada's unique spaces") there.

Well, he didn't, and the visitors never showed.