It's Hot; Get Used to It

1. It's summer, at least on the school calendar. It's Georgia. It's hot. It's going to stay hot. How hot? The high today will be about 92, the National Weather Service says, and the overnight low will be around 68. Wednesday, the temperature could top 95. It will be sunny both days, and there won't be much wind to offer relief. There's also a Code Orange air-quality alert.

2. While staying inside to escape the heat, be sure to catch up on some of the good stuff East Cobb Patch ran over the long weekend, including a video report from with World War II vets and New York City firefighters.

3. What can we learn about the metro area from the plight of the Atlanta Thrashers? East Cobb Patch columnist Rob Maynard has the answer. Look, if nothing else, you'll get to think cool thoughts while contemplating ice and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

4. Congratulations to our three East Cobb public high schools, , and , for earning high rankings in The Washington Post's National High School Challenge Index. The index has a simple beauty: You just divide the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and other college-level tests a school administered by the number of graduates that year. As the Post says, "The rating can reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college." Walton ranks 111th, Pope 388th and Wheeler 504th in the nation. Northeast Cobb's (459), (718) and (1,027) also were among 13 Cobb County schools on the list.

5. Even though school is out for the summer for students (teachers don't finish until Wednesday), the week just wouldn't be complete these days without the Cobb County Board of Education meeting. Never fear. The school board will meet at 6 p.m. today for the second mandatory salary hearing (no one spoke at the first one), then will hold a public forum on the proposed fiscal 2012 budget, starting around 6:30. The board will meet at the school system's Central Office on Glover Street in Marietta. This is your chance to sound off on the school system's spending priorities.