Here and Now
The last-minute dash

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In Seattle, postal workers will be outside the main downtown post office at Third Avenue and Union Street, and at the Bitterlake Station at 929 N. 145th St. and the Terminal Station at 2420 Fourth Ave. S., for curbside drop-offs until midnight.

Elsewhere, mail will be picked up from collection boxes in front of the following post offices at midnight:

• North King County: Bothell, 10500 Beardslee Blvd.; Mill Creek Station, 15833 Mill Creek Blvd.; Edmonds, 201 Main St.; Lynnwood, 6817 208th St. S.W.

• South King County: Federal Way Station, 32829 Pacific Highway S.; Twin Lakes, 1815 S.W. Campus Drive; Auburn Main Office, 11 Third St. N.W.; Kent, 10612 S.E. 240th St. and downtown Kent at 216 W. Gowe St.; downtown Renton, 314 Williams Ave. S.; Renton's main office at 17200 116th Ave. S.E.; Renton Highlands, 4301 N.E. Fourth St., and Riverton Station, 15250 32nd Ave S.

• Eastside: downtown Bellevue, 1171 Bellevue Way N.E.; Kirkland, 721 Fourth Ave.; Mercer Island, 3040 78th Ave. S.E.

Tax tips

• Tax returns need sufficient postage. The IRS will not pay postage due, and the Postal Service says mail with insufficient postage will be returned to the sender. First-class postage is 37 cents for the first ounce and 23 cents for each additional ounce. For returns with supplementary forms and schedules, the envelope is likely to weigh more than one ounce.

• If possible, returns should be mailed with the pre-addressed label or envelope provided by the IRS, and return addresses should be legible.

• Not all mail-collection boxes will have late pickup. So it's best to check the last pickup time posted on the box.

Read all about it
 
A treasure trove of used books, compact discs, records and videos, along with vintage sheet music, art prints and posters, will be sold at reduced prices at the Friends of the Seattle Public Library's spring book sale this weekend. The sale usually draws thousands.

Sale hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Sand Point/Magnuson Park, Building 30, 7400 Sand Point Way N.E. There will be a preview for Friends members from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. tomorrow. Proceeds benefit the library.

Getting around

• Metro Transit's "Pony Express" shuttle service between downtown Seattle and Emerald Downs Racetrack in Auburn starts this weekend and will run through mid-September. Each Saturday and Sunday during the racing season, and also on Memorial Day and Labor Day, the Pony Express will depart from Second Avenue and Lenora Street in downtown Seattle at 11:47 a.m. The shuttle also makes a half-dozen other stops along Second — Stewart, Pike, Seneca, Marion, James and Jackson streets — before heading to the racetrack. The shuttle should arrive there by 12:30 p.m.

The return trip to Seattle will leave the racetrack 10 minutes after the last race, about 6:15 p.m., with stops along Fourth Avenue at Union and Stewart streets and along Second Avenue at Lenora, Stewart, Pike, Seneca, Marion, James and Jackson streets.

The Pony Express fare is $2 each way, cash-only, unless the rider has a Metro Visitors Pass. Shuttles will be marked with an "Emerald Downs" sign on the dashboard.

No weekday special service is scheduled, but Metro's Route 150 serves the Auburn park-and-ride lot from downtown Seattle, then race fans can transfer to a free Emerald Downs shuttle bus from the lot to the track.

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.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company