Autobohnrun,
Thanks. Good point. I think they're going to be found to be related as well. Here's a theory to follow-up - my car just came back from the body shop Friday (what a coincidence). They had to pull the left side rear tail light assembly to access the rear quarter panel. Tonight I pulled out the assembly to see what might have happened. Sure enough, I found a hollow black wire (conduit?! can't think of the right word) with two whitish wires inside. They were broken off from whatever they attached to and it had a black rubber 'nipple' plug for fitting it somewhere into the body. I don't think these are for the license plate lights, I can see those both going where they're supposed to go and they're not for the taillight itself, that one is there and they are working.
My battery is only showing in the neighborhood of 10 volts now and this battery was purchased just a month ago, so eliminate 'old battery' syndrome. Are you suggesting that if the battery has been significantly discharged that they may be the reason why my light hasn't extinguished quickly as it ordinarily should? My only problem with this is that I tested across an interior light with a voltmeter with the car running, expecting to see regulated voltage (i.e. higher than battery) and found it was the same as battery...revving the engine higher had no effect. Now what? Thanks for getting involved...may need to visit my wrench tomorrow morning.
Ryan