5 Things You Need To Know Today, Thursday, Jan. 31

Here are 5 pieces of information designed to get your Thursday off on the right foot and to help make you the smartest person stuck in rush-hour traffic on I-93.

1. Your 3-Day Local Weather Forecast:

• According to the NWS, today will feature showers, mainly before 11am. Patchy fog between 10am and 1pm. Temperature falling to around 44 by 4pm. Windy, with a west wind 20 to 29 mph, with gusts as high as 47 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
• Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. West wind around 17 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph.
• Friday Partly sunny, with a high near 35. West wind 15 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
• Friday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 17. West wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
• Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 31. Southwest wind 7 to 11 mph.
• Saturday Night A slight chance of snow after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

2. Reader Comment of the Day: "Yeah, A flat income tax isn't bad, but the myth that the rich pay a higher tax rate than the poor, is just that - a myth. The higher % for the rich is only for the portion of their earnings in excess of a certain amount. On the first $XXX dollars both the rich & poor pay the same. But having a flat tax, exempting the first $25K or so (and eliminating all deductions) would work too. Be warned though, it would put H&R Block and lots of CPA's out of work; to say nothing of a large number of IRS agents (not needed because tax returns would be so much easier to check). And I question that figure about 47% of Americans paying no income tax at all. Are children or teens part of that 47%? Are retirees part of that figure? If someone is living off their savings, then they already paid their taxes when they earned the money all those years ago. I'm currently living on a pension of $285 a month, so sure I'd go for your is $25K exempt and a flat tax on the rest. Even when I become eligible to get my SSI retirement checks, I'll still be under $25K." Reader Arthur DeLuca, commenting on the story, "Patrick's Budget: Can State Afford It Right Now?"

3. It's Happening Today: Looking to drop some weight but could use some peer support? Overeaters Anonymous meets tonight at the at 6 p.m.

4. Did You Know?: Did you know the Lip Piercing Leads to Gum Disease? Read the blog entry by Quynh Bui, DMD for the scary details before letting your teen get their lip pierced.

5. It's Happening Today, The Sequel: Looking to jump in and take part in the growing Zumba craze? Zumba with Danielle meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church, 79 Elm St. The cost is just $10 per class.