Sep 2, 2008

Local briefs

Daily News Staff Report

Selby Lane kids attend space camp
Three Selby Lane School students are the latest group of young teens to attend the NASA sponsored Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., on a full scholarship from the law firm Phish and Richardson P.C.
Each year, the firm offers hotel, spending money, airfare and camp tuition to three students from the K-8 school in the Redwood City School District. Javier Tinajero Uribe and Matthew LaDouceur, both seventh-graders, and Marissa Sandoval, an eighth grader, returned from the camp about three weeks ago.
The six-day camp offers intense activities, such as climbing walls, SCUBA diving and repelling, as well as a variety of classes, including in astronomy, fire safety, space exploration, aviation and wilderness survival.
It's the fifth year Selby Lane School has received the Phish and Richardson scholarships.

Local resident elected to ROA national office
The Reserve Officers Association of the United States (ROA) elected Capt. David M. Epstein, U.S. Navy Reserve (Ret.) to be the Executive Committeeman for the Naval Services Committee.
Epstein was the commanding officer at the Office of Naval Intelligence 202 at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey before retiring. He was commissioned as an officer at the Naval Aviation Office Candidate School in 1966. A resident of Palo Alto, Epstein is married to Charlotte, and they have a daughter, Danya.
The Reserve Officers Association is the professional association for all uniformed services of the United States. Chartered by Congress and in existence since 1922, ROA advises and educates the Congress, the President and the American people on issues of national security, with unique expertise on Reserve issues.

Palo Alto youth second in Pokemon competition
Palo Altan Christopher Tsai placed second in the second division of the first Pokemon Video Game Showdown on Aug. 18 in Orlando, Fla. The competition had 32 of the most skilled Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl video game players in the U.S. battle Japan's top ranked finalists. In addition to being named a finalist, Christopher also won a custom Nintendo DS Game System and a six-day vacation package for four to New York City, Honolulu, or Tokyo.

Millbrae Post Office goes automated
The Millbrae Post Office unveiled its new Automated Postal Center last week. The self-service kiosk provides an alternative to waiting in line for a teller, officials said. Millbrae Mayor Gina Papan was the first person to use it, and sent a package out of state. Customers can weigh and mail letters and parcels, and purchase stamps at the kiosk, and use credit or debit cards for transactions.