WATER WINGS

Virgil Elings – local philanthropist and protector of
recreational space – made a big splash in the Dos Pueblos swimming
pool saga this week by anteing up $1 million for the project. For
the past five years, parents and students have been fundraising and
lobbying the district for a new pool facility and, with cost
estimates approaching $5.5 million, the project’s fruition has been
anything but certain in recent weeks. However, Elings’s latest gift
– he donated $500,000 in June 2004 – sets the pool up for a likely
slam-dunk approval by the school board next week.