DAYLIGHT TIME STARTS SUNDAY; IT'S TIME TO CHECK SMOKE DETECTORS

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The nation returns to daylight-saving time early Sunday.

Officially, time "springs forward" at 2 a.m. CST, but most people will elect to move their clocks and watches ahead one hour before they go to bed Saturday night.

This is also the weekend to check and change batteries in smoke detectors, advises the International Association of Fire Chiefs and Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Gene Hindman.

Hindman said that Sunday is designated as "Fire Safety at Home Day - Change Your Clock, Change Your Smoke Detector Batteries."

Hindman said that 80 percent of the homes in America now have smoke detectors, but as many as half are not in working order because the batteries are old or missing. "A lack of the warning that smoke detectors can give is a major factor in fire deaths and injuries," he said.

Thanks to the Uniform Time Act of 1986, daylight-saving time begins four weeks earlier, on the first Sunday in April, and ends on the last Sunday in October. It used to begin on the last Sunday in April.

Not everyone in the United States will make the switch Sunday morning. Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa remain on standard time year-round. In Indiana, some counties will switch to "fast time" on Sunday, while others will remain on standard time.

The idea behind daylight-saving time is that people can enjoy an extra hour of daylight after they get off work.

The big benefit for most folks is more time to enjoy being outdoors, working on gardens or outdoor projects, playing sports, having barbecues, or just relaxing outside in the evening.

The idea of daylight-saving time has been attributed to many people, but Benjamin Franklin seems to get the most credit. However, "fast time" didn't really become well-known until World War I, when it was put into effect to save energy. It was used again in World War II for the same reason.

Following the end of the war in 1945, many larger cities and some states began switching to "fast time" each spring. Smaller cities, such as Cape Girardeau did not, and remained on standard time. The differences were finally resolved in 1966 when Congress adopted a national, uniform time system.