5 Things You Need To Know Today, Monday, Nov. 26

Here are five pieces of information designed to get your Monday off to a flying start and to help make you the smartest person getting big online bargains on Cyber-Monday.

1. Your 3-Day Local Weather Forecast: According to the NWS, today will be sunny, with a high near 45. West wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.

• Monday Night A slight chance of snow showers after 4am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 25. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Tuesday A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 36. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
• Tuesday Night A slight chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Calm wind becoming north around 6 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Wednesday A slight chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 38. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 24.

2. It's Happening Today: The Shawsheen Tech School Committee will be meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the John P. Miller Conference Room, Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, 100 Cook St., Billerica.

3. Reader Comment of the Day: "You're so right Mike. Crime is getting out of control. When a town of this size averages 10-15 arrests a week there's problems. Guys at work can't believe the police log in the crier every week. More arrests than cities larger than this place. p.d. and f.d are doing a great job. Can't say it's all Lowell people either." Reader Douce24, commenting on the story, "Three Residents Arrested For Assault; Car Breaks Investigated."

4. By The Numbers: $59.1 billion. If Americans are still worried about the economy, they were not showing it this past weekend. According to CNN Money, Americans spent $59.1 billion over the four-day Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Small Business Saturday Weekend. The estimated 247 million shoppers (up from 226 million last year) spent an average of $423 per person, up from $398 per person last year. The most remarkable trend was seen in how shoppers spend their money. Online shopping saw a 17 percent increase over the same weekend last year. And those numbers don't yet include "Cyber Monday."

5. It's Also Happening Today: The High School Winter Sports Season officially begins today. There are practices/tryouts for multiple sports at Tewksbury High this afternoon. Of course dozens of male athletes will have to hold off on the winter season. The members of the Redmen football team have some unfinished business. They will be practicing today in preparation of Tuesday's D-2 Eastern Mass. Semifinal vs. Reading High.

And Don't Forget: Avoid traffic snarls. Before you leave the house, check out the Tewksbury Patch Traffic Page, for up to the minute traffic reports, as well as information on local gas prices.