Five Things To Know Today

1.  Today is Monday, Feb. 14 - Happy Valentine's Day.  It'll be sunny and windy today. The National Weather Service predicts a high near 46 degrees and west wind between 18 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Tonight will be partly cloudy and blustery, with a low near 24 degrees.

2. The Board of Education's Committee of the Whole meets at 7 p.m. tonight, and is expected to vote on the budget for the coming fiscal year. The t asks for $2.1 million more than the current year, an increase driven partly by the withdrawal of federal funding, School officials may be forced to cut programs across multiple schools and consolidate buildings to pare spending.

3.  Groton Public Library's Books 2 Movies will feature the film Secretariat, starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today.  The movie about the 1973 Triple Crown winner is rated PG and runs for 123 minutes. It's free and open to the public. For more information, click here.

4.  The Groton Senior Center is starting a new registration policy to eliminate lines. Registration for Groton residents will be held this week, and residents can sign up on the day the class meets. Registration for non-residents will be the week from Feb. 22 to Feb. 25. Also, Mark Somers, a cardiologist at Eastern Connecticut Cardiology in Waterford, will speak about heart health at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the senior center.

5.  Is this the right time to build new schools in Groton? That's the question we'll discuss during mom's talk, our weekly feature at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The Groton Town Council voted 6-3 last week to send the $133 million bond referendum forward to Representative Town Meeting, but getting this to voters could mean a fight. Please give us your thoughts on this important question at 1 p.m. Wednesday. We'll also remind you in the daily 5.