Five Things To Know Today

1.  Today is Thursday, March 17. Happy St. Patrick's Day!  The National Weather service forecasts sunny skies today with a high temperature near 52 degrees. There's a slight chance of rain after midnight, but temperatures will stay mild, with a low near 42 degrees.

2.  The Groton Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition will release the results of a 2010 survey of students in grades 7 through 12 during a town meeting from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. today in the Groton Public Library. The council will also discuss next steps to discourage and prevent smoking, drug abuse and underage drinking. To see the event listing, click here.

3.  The annual New London St. Patrick's Day Parade begins at 3 p.m. today. The route follows the Bank Street Connector north onto Bank Street, then west onto State Street and to Meridien Street. To see the event listing, click here.

4.  The Girl Scouts of Connecticut will hold a "Fill the Truck" event from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday at Auto Zone on Long Hill Road in Groton. Volunteers and Girl Scouts will be filling a truck with Girl Scout cookies for the program "Cookies for Heroes", a project that allows people to buy cookies and send them overseas to soldiers.

5.  The Groton Public Library is doing a survey to review its services and collections. If you haven't participated, the survey is open through April 15, and available on the library website here.