Lighting the way

The Special Olympics torch is headed this way. A team of 13 runners, most of them members of law-enforcement agencies, started their cross-state, round-the-clock relay along the shoulders of highways and county roads at 6 a.m. Wednesday, from the Washington-Idaho state line east of Spokane.

Runners actually are passing a symbolic baton. But the 6-pound torch is with them. The team is easy to spot. They're accompanied by a marked police-escort car and a motor home sporting a Special Olympics banner.

Already, the torch has been through Spokane, and it was scheduled to reach Wenatchee early today. It is scheduled to pass through several Eastside communities, and by the time it reaches its destination, McChord Air Force Base south of Tacoma, it will have passed through the heart of two dozen communities — a 400-mile journey.

The torch is scheduled to arrive at McChord at 6 p.m. Friday, in time for opening ceremonies for the Special Olympics summer games, competitive events for people with disabilities.

Opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., with events throughout the weekend. This is the sixth year for the cross-state torch relay.

Familiar roar

If it seems you're hearing the sound of hydroplane engines on Lake Washington today, it's not your imagination. In preparation for the start of the American Boat Racing Association's racing season, the hydro U-1 Miss E-Lam Plus is running tests out of Stan Sayres Pits near Seward Park between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The hydro-racing season kicks off later this month in Evansville, Ind. The Seattle dates are Aug. 4-6, the final days of Seattle's annual Seafair.

Getting around

The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce says more than 1,500 participants and spectators are expected to descend on San Juan Island over this weekend — for marathon and half-marathon races on Sunday and for the daylong Health and Fitness Expo on Saturday at the San Juan County Fairgrounds in Friday Harbor.

This is the fourth year for the island races. "This is billed as a scenic marathon, and it lives up to that and then some," said Jeff Russell of Austin, Texas, who ran in last year's marathon.

For people living on or securing accommodations on nearby Orcas Island, San Juan Safaris, a marathon sponsor, will be running a free shuttle to Friday Harbor for participants and supporters. The shuttle will leave from the dock near the ferry terminal at 6:45 a.m. Sunday and will arrive in time for the races. Boarding will begin at 6:30 a.m. San Juan Transit will give free bus rides from the Friday Harbor dock to the race start line at the County Fairgrounds. But space is limited, so get started early. The race is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.

Hours for Saturday's Health and Fitness Expo, sponsored by the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce, are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also among weekend events is the Island Studio Tour of more than a dozen artists' studios on Saturday and Sunday, and an annual celebrity golf tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Traffic watch

Seattle: South Spokane Street will be closed to traffic between East Marginal Way South and First Avenue South on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Railroad tracks in the street crossing are being repaired. Traffic will be detoured onto South Hanford Street. But South Spokane Street should be reopened in time to handle traffic headed to the Mariners game Saturday evening at Safeco Field.

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.