Next year, kids will have a bit more daylight for Halloween

WASHINGTON — Most trick-or-treaters who go door to door in the Puget Sound area will be in the dark this Halloween, but next year's extension of daylight-saving time promises to shed a bit more light on candy-gathering activities.

Officially, clocks will be turned back to standard time at 2 a.m. this Sunday, though most folks will change their clocks tonight. The change closes out daylight-saving time and brings an earlier nightfall just before Halloween on Tuesday.

This is the last time the change will come in October.

Thanks to a law passed last year, daylight-saving time will start earlier and end later, beginning in 2007. It will last from the second Sunday in March (next year, March 11) to the first Sunday in November (Nov. 4 next year).

That means that instead of the sun setting just before 5 p.m. on Halloween here, as it does this year, the first wave of trick-or-treaters will get some daylight next year. Sunset is scheduled for 5:54 p.m. next Oct. 31.

Congress tucked the provision into last year's energy bill, tacking four more weeks onto daylight-saving time in a bid to save energy.

The theory is that an extra hour of sun in the afternoon will keep stores and workplaces warmer in the winter and reduce the need for electric lighting.

But supporters say there are other benefits.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who pushed to extend daylight-saving time, said the change "translates into less electricity consumed, less crime, fewer traffic fatalities and more opportunities for outdoor recreation."

Opponents to the change include the Air Transport Association, which has warned it could throw U.S. airline schedules out of sync for international routes.

That could keep passengers connecting to international flights waiting in the airport an extra hour, the group says.

A preliminary study by the Energy Department predicted no significant drop in electricity use from the change.

While there would be more sunlight at the end of the day that would not require as many lights in homes and businesses, people would start their day in darkness and turn on lights, the agency said.

Some states and territories don't observe daylight-saving time. Those are Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.