5 Things You Need To Know Today: March 23

It is Friday, March 23, and here are 5 things you need to know:

1. The Salem McDonald’s on Traders Way in Highland Plaza recently celebrated its grand re-opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony, fun activities, and visit from Ronald McDonald. The remodeled McDonald’s of Salem restaurant is designed to reflect a more upscale and contemporary décor, including flat screen TVs and free Wi-Fi that create a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere for customers to dine and relax inside the restaurant.  At the event, Owner/Operator Larry Kimmelman presented a special donation to Salem Public Schools.

2. Even though the summer-like weather is gone today, there are plenty of spring-things to do this weekend in the city. is just one of the events going on this weekend. Make sure to tune in at 10 a.m. for our weekend picks.

3. The City of Salem calls all artists to submit proposals to paint one out of six downtown utility boxes as part of ArtBox 2012. Winning artists will have their work in front of one million people annually and will receive $500. In the hopes of promoting individual artists as well as the community’s burgeoning arts scene, ArtBox asks all interested to propose a piece of art that presents his or her visual interpretation of Salem’s cityscape, culture, community pride or art itself. There are just two weeks left to enter. Enter here.

4. This week we were alerted to a great event being organized this weekend. The David R. Nunez Scholarship for Community Service and Leadership Benefit Concert.

5. Yesterday we asked out loyal Facebook fans to fill in the blank when it came to the weather. Check out all the answers here. Our favorite was "super cali fragilistic expialidocious" written in by Joe Silva. The temps will not be as balmy as yesterday this weekend so expect more seasonable weather.

For more going on today, look at the events calendar.