Seattle cab fares go down

Seattle's temporary taxicab fuel surcharge — the extra charge cab drivers can add to the fare — has dropped back to 50 cents per trip because gas prices have dropped at the pump.

The 50-cent surcharge is pegged to the AAA-reported price of unleaded regular gas, which has remained below the $2.90-per-gallon trigger for the previous surcharge for more than two weeks.

The city-imposed surcharge was lowered Thursday from $1 per trip, which had been imposed in early May. The surcharge is intended to offset the increased cost cab drivers pay for gas.

The city regularly monitors fuel prices. Cab drivers are required to post notices about current fuel surcharges on cab dashboards.

Let there be light

Thursday's Here & Now reported that lights at more than two dozen Seattle Parks Department outdoor tennis courts at five locations are off for the winter months as an energy-saving measure.

Actually, it's the other way around. Lights are out at all Parks Department outdoor tennis courts — except those in five locations.

The lights will still be on at:

Lower Woodland Park at Aurora Avenue North and North 59th Street; Miller Playfield at 400 19th Ave. E; Rainier Playfield at 3700 S. Alaska St.; Solstice Park, formerly known as the Lincoln Park Annex, at 7400 Fauntleroy Way S.W.; and Meadowbrook Playfield at 10533 35th Ave. N.E.

The lights will be turned back on at the other locations in March.

Today

The inaugural meeting of the newly created state Interagency Council on Health Disparities, established by the state Legislature, will give area residents a chance to air their views on efforts to create a plan for eliminating health disparities in this state. The meeting will be from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel, 515 Madison St. in downtown Seattle. The council will focus on the disproportionate rates of disease, disability and death among particular populations or groups compared to the general population. The council is charged with creating a state action plan for eliminating health disparities by 2012.

Salmon sightings

Volunteers with King County's Cedar River naturalist program are showing up at key fish-viewing locations along the Cedar River on weekends this month and next to help teach about the migration of sockeye salmon entering the river from the Pacific Ocean to spawn before they die.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, volunteers will be at the Renton Library, Riverview Park, Cavanaugh Pond and Landsburg Park. They'll also be there Oct. 28 and 29, and Nov. 4.

Those sites have limited parking, so car pooling is recommended. Information about the program and directions to the viewing sites is online at www.cedarriver.org/about/cedarriversalmonjourney.shtml, or call 206-245-0143.

Trick or treat

Dressing up for Halloween is a Capitol custom, too.

Gov. Christine Gregoire plans to dress up as the spider Charlotte from "Charlotte's Web." Her husband, Mike, will be Wilbur, the pig that Charlotte befriends in the story. And the Gregoire family dog, Trooper, will be costumed as Templeton the rat, according to Mandalyn Mackey, spokeswoman for the governor.

On Halloween, the governor will hand out chocolate bars at the governor's mansion, an Olympia tradition. Inside five of those bars will be hidden tickets that admit the finders to a preview of the mansion's holiday decorations Dec. 1.

The governor began that particular bonus last year when she dressed up as magical candy-maker Willy Wonka.

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.

Information in this article, originally published October 20, 2006, was later corrected. Here & Now reported that lights at more than two dozen Seattle Parks Department outdoor tennis courts at five locations are off for the winter months as an energy-saving measure. Actually, it's the other way around. Lights are out at all Parks Department outdoor tennis courts except those in five locations. The lights are still on at Lower Woodland Park at Aurora Avenue North and North 59th Street; Miller Playfield at 400 19th Ave. E; Rainier Playfield at 3700 S. Alaska St.; Solstice Park, which formerly was known as the Lincoln Park Annex, at 7400 Fauntleroy Way S.W., and Meadowbrook Playfield at 10533 35th Ave. N.E. The lights will be back on at the others when daylight-savings time returns in March.