5 Things You Need To Know Today—Thursday, Jan. 26

Check the traffic out there and local gas prices before heading out the door!

Today is Thursday, Jan. 26—G'day mate! On this day 224 years ago, Captain Arthur Phillip guided a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia—and here are Melrose's five fast facts for the day:

1) And when the night is cloudy: Partly sunny today, with a high near 38. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm. Tonight, rain and snow likely before midnight, then rain and sleet between midnight and 1 a.m., then rain after 1 a.m. Low around 34. Southeast wind between 6 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. (Forecast from National Weather Service.)

2) You need electricity, eeeeelectricity: The Melrose Energy Commission meets tonight at 7 p.m. in the mayor's conference room on the second floor of City Hall. They'll be breaking at 7:30 p.m. to attend the aldermen's Appropriations Committee meeting downstairs and speaking in favor of the city spending $50,000 to fund investment grade audits of all city and school buildings, in phase one of an energy savings performance contract.

3) The pool is on the roof: Someone told me that when I was a freshman at the Prep. True story. Horace Mann School is hosting an open house tours at 6 and 7 tonight as part of the ongoing open houses in advance of .

4) Oh, I'm detecting nuttiness: Really wish I could find a clip of The State sketch with Papa Goulash (see menu below). Here are today's specials around Melrose:

• : Soup—Curried Lentil; Lunch—Pulled Pork with coleslaw; Dinner—Hungarian Goulash [Note: menu subject to change.]

• Do you own a Melrose eatery? E-mail your daily specials to danield@patch.com by 6 p.m. and we'll include them in next morning's .

5) Your diary must look odd—get up in the morning, death death death death death, lunch, death death death, afternoon tea: Here's today's lineup of weekly columns that run each Thursday on Melrose Patch:

• Poll of the Week: We'll run a poll every Thursday asking you to weigh in with a quick click on the topic du jour. We'll compile the answers into an article next week.

• : Find out if you have new neighbors. Our roundup of five home sales in Melrose this past week posts at noon—Realtors, add your own recent sales to our gallery!

• : Each week, we ask you for your top picks in a wide variety of categories. Check back at 3 p.m. for your answers.

As always, check our calendar for the full slate of events—and add your own!