Around Town Around Town (July 23, 2003)

BEAUTY QUEEN . . . Sixteen-year-old Samantha Bautista, daughter of Palo Alto Union Bank of California employee Luisa Bautista, was crowned Miss Youth Philippines USA at the annual Fiesta Filipina in San Francisco in June. This was Samantha's first beauty pageant. The incoming junior at Sequoia High School in Redwood City was chosen from 41 regional finalists who competed in talent, swimsuit and other categories. Samantha was also named Miss Congeniality. Her mother has worked at Union Bank since 2000. The Fiesta Filipina celebrates the anniversary of Philippine Independence Day and is the largest Filipino festival in the states.

LOCAL FLOOD CONTROL VS. IRAQ WAR? . . . Top Palo Alto officials are scratching their heads over a mysterious disappearance of $100,000 earmarked for the first phase of an Army Corps of Engineers study of San Francisquito Creek's flooding potential. The funds were "zeroed out" of President Bush's budget by the time it reached the House Appropriations Committee this month, and no one has been able to figure out why. "We have been told it was unknown," Mayor Dena Mossar confirmed, declining to speculate. Theories so far include that it was retaliation to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo for her outspoken criticism of Bush's policies on the Iraq War, and another is that it was because Palo Alto was among cities that passed a resolution opposing the war. "It certainly feels like politics, doesn't it?" Mossar noted. The funds are in the U.S. Senate version of the President's budget, and Sen. Diane Feinstein and Eshoo's offices are reportedly working together to assure the half-missing $100,000 gets into the final budget as approved by both houses of Congress. The funds are critically important for the study of the creek watershed, and as such are a prerequisite to future funding of actual flood-control projects on the flood-prone creek, which has caused millions of dollars in damages to Palo Alto homes over the years.

MIDTOWN MURAL . . . Muralist Kim Domino finished a new mural beside Holiday Dry Cleaners in Midtown on Friday. "It's a village scene of the Midtown shopping center," Domino said. The painting depicts Midtown stores, owners, shoppers and pedestrians in their normal routines. In fact, shoppers that passed Domino last week may find themselves in the new mural. "One guy came by with sunglasses and said, 'Where am I?' and I painted him in," she said. An elderly lady in a wheelchair and young kids going to karate practice also made it into the mural - painted in a primitive style. The mural reflects the fabric of the village-life that unfolded around Domino as she worked. "I tried to put people who have meaning into the mural to make it authentic."

EQUESTRIAN QUIZ . . . Laura Krieger, 14, won first place in the Junior Division of the Western Championship competition of the U.S. Pony Clubs, held earlier this month in Sacramento. The freshman at Paly took first in the quiz competition - a tech of her knowledge of veterinary medicine, nutrition, equestrian sports, horsemanship and horse management. She and her two out-of-state teammates were each awarded a blue ribbon, a medal and an etched glass prize. Krieger is a member of the Pacific Ridge Pony Club, headquartered at Westwind Barn in Los Altos Hills. The local rider also competed in dressage, eventing, mounted games, show jumping and tetrathlon - riding, running, swimming and marksmanship.