Better balloting?

King County would like to see more people vote by mail. That's why the county's elections office had people at some high-traffic polling places Tuesday, encouraging registered voters to consider voting by mail in the Nov. 7 general election.

At polling places Tuesday, voters could sign up to vote by mail in the Nov. 7 election for one time or switch to voting by mail regularly.

Radio ads and Internet banner ads encouraging voters to try voting by mail are starting this week.

County officials said more voters are turning to voting by mail. Voters may register to vote by mail by filling out a registration form at the King County Elections Web site and mailing it to the county elections office by Oct. 7 for the Nov. 7 general election.

Vote-by-mail ballots for the general election, printed in English and Chinese, will be mailed to nearly 600,000 King County voters starting Oct. 18. Voters signing up before the Nov. 7 election will be added to that total for the general election.

To vote in the Nov. 7 general election, new Washington voters are required to register in person at the King County Elections office or at any community-service center by Oct. 23. Those voters will receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the election.

Vote-by-mail voters who do not receive their ballot by Oct. 27 should call 206-296-8683 (VOTE).

Park planning

Seattle's oldest park, Denny Park, at Denny Way and Dexter Avenue North, is due for a face-lift. And the Parks Department is working on a plan.

An immediate goal is to create a children's play space and a gathering area for all ages. A public workshop will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Spruce Street School, 915 Virginia St., to get ideas. Preliminary schematic-design options will be available for preview.

Three public brown-bag "walkabouts" at Denny Park also are scheduled: Oct. 11 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct. 15 from noon to 1 p.m. and Oct. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Groups will meet at the park to talk about its future.

The Parks Department has hired The Berger Partnership, Seattle landscape architects, to develop schematic drawings.

Fall-free day

Gov. Christine Gregoire has declared Thursday statewide Fall Prevention Awareness Day, and a University of Washington health-sciences department will hold several health fairs to help seniors understand what makes seniors more likely to suffer a fall and what can be done to reduce the prospect.

Fairs will be held from noon to 5 p.m. in Harborview Medical Center's Patient and Family Resource Center, near the hospital gift shop, 325 Ninth Ave.; and in the third-floor lobby at the UW Medical Center, 1959 N.E. Pacific Place, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Fairs also will be held at the UW Medical Center's Roosevelt facility, 4225 Roosevelt Way N.E., from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, 1600 S. Columbian Way, from noon to 2 p.m.

Fairs also are planned Thursday at the Ballard Northwest Senior Activity Center, 5429 32nd Ave. N.W., from noon to 2 p.m.; the Wallingford Community Senior Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Suite 140, from noon to 2 p.m., and at ElderHealth Northwest, 6555 Ravenna Ave. N.E., from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m.

Here & Now is compiled by Seattle Times staff reporter Charles E. Brown and news assistant Suesan Whitney Henderson. To submit an item, e-mail herenow@seattletimes.com or call 206-464-2226.