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FAIRBANKS -- The weekend forecast is for rain, but a little wet weather shouldn’t be a problem for the Golden Days parade.

And the forecast for this morning said something about patchy fog and “periods of rain,” which doesn’t sound bad.

The fire trucks and police are first, followed by Jack Coghill, who reigns on this event as parade marshal.

There are 103 entries, at last count, which should make this procession significantly longer than last year.

Old No. 16 is on the lineup in memory of George Clayton. As is usual during an election year, most of the people who are running for office will have a presence in the parade.

Intriguing entries on the signup sheet include “The Goddesses of Fairbanks” and “Mr. Ed & The Metro Bathing Beauties.”

It’s always a difficult job to judge the best floats, and it seems that just about everyone who watches along the parade route has different ideas on the matter, but Rick Solie and I will do our best to select the top entries this morning. If you disagree with the decision of the judges, I’ll have to agree with you and blame the other guy.

If you have an umbrella, this might be a good day to see if it works. Likewise for boots and other rainproof gear.

Then again, maybe the clouds will part and the only rolling thunder will be the Vernon L. Nash Antique Car Club.

Before the parade, the runners in the Alyeska Golden Mile will take off from the power plant at 10 a.m. The runners and walkers will head downtown and south on Noble Street to Airport Way.

There’s a lot going on downtown, ranging from the open house at the fire department from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Booyah Feed at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, the downtown street fair and the Rubber Duckie Race.

The ducks hit the water at 2:30 p.m.

On Sunday, the KUAC Red Green River Regatta will start at the Graehl Park boat launch at 11 a.m.

I have judicial responsibilities at that event as well, along with the likes of Jo Heckman, Karen Perdue, Wayne Clark, John Binkley, Dr. Phyllis Pendergrast and Chuck Lemke, who is listed as captain of the judges’ boat.

My one piece of serious advice for regatta participants is that you should not use any Styrofoam of the sort that breaks apart and pollutes the river.

Last year, we saw too many instances in which white Styrofoam balls were breaking off in small pieces and floating in the Chena.

The material I’m referring to resembles that used in white foam coffee cups.

There are many building materials for “vessels,” but this is an important one to avoid.

It’s not really a race, it’s more of a floating parade, and speed is not important. It ends at Pioneer Park, where Gov. Sarah Palin and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell are expected to be on hand Sunday for the Governor’s Annual Picnic from noon to 3 p.m. Some state commissioners are expected as well to help out on the serving line.

Stop by and say hello to the governor and her staff. I’m told there are 1,000 hot dogs and 2,000 hamburgers on the menu.

The picnic is paid for with private donations.

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HEATING UP: A landlord who keeps close track of heating oil prices says that heating oil prices have tripled in the past four years, not doubled as I said here Friday.

He notes that heating oil was $1.55 in the summer of 2004. According to borough statistics, prices climbed to $1.82 that September and the trend has been onward and upward ever since.

Fairbanks residents now pay about four times as much, on a per-BTU basis, for heating fuel as Anchorage residents pay for natural gas.

The disparity would be even greater, but in 2007 natural gas prices climbed by 29.4 percent in Anchorage.

The cost for heating fuel in Fairbanks is now higher than it was last fall in Kotzebue and Huslia.

The situation today on the relative utility costs in Fairbanks and is not all that different than what it was 30 years ago.

A 1978 analysis of what it would take to heat a “typical” house in Fairbanks and Anchorage, then estimated at 2,300 square feet, said the cost was nearly four times higher in Fairbanks.

The Anchorage resident faced an average heating cost of $24 a month, using natural gas, while in Fairbanks, the tab for heating with fuel oil averaged $94 a month.

The history of electric rates shows a similar story.

In 1980, a customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours paid $33 in Anchorage and $72 in Fairbanks.

Today, the cost for 1,000 kilowatt hours is $218 in Fairbanks and about $130 in Anchorage.

In 1980, as now, the key difference was the fuel supply, with Anchorage paying lower rates for natural gas.

One option that our local legislators should consider is pushing for state action to help pay off debt accrued by Golden Valley Electric Association. That would be one easy way to cut electric rates and put state funds toward a good cause and not trigger federal tax consequences.