Five Things To Know Today, Oct. 21

1.  Today is Friday, Oct. 21.  The National Weather Service predicts sunny skies and a high temperature of 60 degrees. The low will drop to 46 tonight, and it may rain after midnight.

2.  Ryley Alger-Hempstead, the Fitch High School student who sang the National Anthem at Mystic Schooners games this summer, has been recognized by a national program. The 2011-2012 Discus Award honored him for academic and other achievements, and he'll be eligible for a $2,000 scholarship. Alger-Hempstead sang in the Fitch High School Chamber Choir, the Fitch High School Men’s Choir, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Chorus and the Connecticut Lyric Opera Chorus.

3.  If you’re worried about paying your fuel bill this winter, ask about assistance now. Connecticut Light and Power and Yankee Gas are urging residents to apply for help early because less federal money is available and state programs are on a first come, first served basis. Programs include energy assistance, payment arrangements for past due bills and protection during winter from shut off due to nonpayment. For more information, call CL&P at 800-286-2828 or Yankee Gas at 800-438-2278.

4.  The chief of naval staff of the British Royal Navy visited Electric Boat on Oct. 17 and toured the USS Missouri, according to a Navy news release.  Adm. Mark Stanhope, chairman of the Royal Navy board, talked with Capt. Mike Bernacchi, the submarine commander, about building subs, modernizing them and training naval forces, the news release said.

5.  State Archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni will speak at 7 p.m., on Nov. 2 at Groton Public Library about a union solider whose identification tag was found on a confederate submarine. The tag of Ezra Chamberlin, a soldier from Killingly, Conn., was found inside the submarine H.L. Hunley after it was pulled from the Charleston Harbor in 2000.