April 28, 2006
One last rant before I ride into the sunset
by DOUG McMURDO

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There was a time I thought I would spend the rest of my working life in Pahrump. To borrow a mobster's term, I made my bones in Nye County and I saw myself writing here until I was too old and frail to work any longer.

But for personal reasons the time has come for my family and I to move on and up, to escape summer's heat and to put down roots somewhere else next week.

To set the record straight in light of absurd comments recently published in another local publication, PVT parent company Stephens Media Group has never intervened in what goes into this newspaper's editorial content.

We are not on a leash, we are not censored, we have not been meddled with in any fashion whatsoever. The directive we received from Stephens Media, which also owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was to do good journalism.

We do that, most of the time anyway, and if there's any doubt regarding the independence of the Pahrump Valley Times and the Tonopah Times-Bonanza & Goldfield News, we suggest you compare our editorial pages with those that grace Nevada's largest newspaper.

They are as different as night and day, dogs and cats, apples and oranges.

Any questions from the fake journalists down the street?

Without doubt there are many people in Nye County who will uncork a bottle of cheap champagne tonight to celebrate my pending departure. I wish them well.

I'm vain enough to know many who will be saddened when I leave and to those dear readers I say, you will always be in my heart.

Pahrump will forever be part of me - you can't live in a place for more than a decade and not have it seep into your DNA.

But I'm not going to make this last column - out of more than 500 I've written during my time in Nye County - a mush of rambling, nostalgic nonsense. Instead, I will offer final opinions on a future I no longer share with you:

"The hospital is open! The hospital is open! The hospital is open! Sometimes we get something good done in spite of ourselves.

"An election is headed your way and voters have an opportunity to make a difference.

This might shock some of you, but I would strongly urge restraint at the polling place, at least when it comes to constitutional offices.

The county clerk, the sheriff, the district attorney, the treasurer, the justice of the peace and the assessor are all offices in which the incumbent deserves your confidence. Any offices not mentioned are by design.

"The FBI could wind up its investigation of Nye County by the end of summer. Expect two things to occur: First, a fraction of current elected officials and a few of those who work for them will be indicted before the weather turns cool in the fall.

Second, no matter how bad things look in Nye County, the issue will pale in comparison to the corruption and lurid, callous, sinfulness that has occurred in Clark County.

Thanks to former Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera, we golfers now know why slow play has become such a problem on Southern Nevada courses, and no, Dario, oral interludes between shots is not how we work on our short game.

"Growth is here, has been for a while and it isn't leaving. Rather than bury your head in the sand and complain about every new business and neighbor headed to your end of town, you might want to get involved in helping government and developers be smart and proactive.

"Demand your elected officials have the courage to vote for what's best for Pahrump and Nye County instead of bowing before the vocal and usually misguided minority.

"Understand that with rights come duties and that every citizen enjoys the same rights - and duties.

"Pahrump is the most paradoxical community in Nevada. Almost no other town is more screwed up and yet has more potential than does Pahrump. I've been all over Nevada the past 25 years. Recently I've taken many long trips around the state and I've noticed something very peculiar.

The cities that are growing as fast or faster than Pahrump are doing much better than Pahrump. Why? Because they are incorporated and they have more control over their destinies. This is not an endorsement but an observation. Do your own research and come to an informed, educated conclusion.

"Candice Trummell should be considered a hero, not a rat. Those of you who think she did something wrong when she helped the FBI sting a local businessman are complicit in that they condone bribery, graft, payola, greased palms - pick your poison.

What I find most bothersome is that the people who are critical of Candice are some of the same people who have been claiming for years that corruption is rampant in Nye County.

Make up your minds. Do you want to live in a decent town, or do you want to live in Deadwood circa 1876?

"Citizens must get rid of the Pahrump Town Board and its out of control management as fast as humanly possible if you are to have any hope for meaningful progress.

"Be nice to your children and encourage them to develop responsible habits.

"Love your spouse.

"Drive with reason and courtesy.

Good luck, Pahrump and Nye County. Thank you for welcoming the Pahrump Valley Times - and me - into your homes. Please continue to do so.

It's been a great ride and I'll leave you with these words shamelessly stolen from Kris Kristofferson:

Give my best to anyone who's left who ever done me any lovin' way but wrong. Tell 'em that the pride of just the other side of nowhere's goin' home.

Pahrump Valley Times
Pahrump,NV 89048
775-727-5102
Fax: 775-727-53