5 Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday, Sept. 6

Here are five pieces of information designed to get Thursday up and running and to help make you the smartest runner in the Rat Race.

1. Your 3-Day Local Weather Forecast: According to the NWS, Election Day will be partly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon.

• Thursday Night A slight chance of showers after 1am. Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Friday A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 83. Southwest wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Friday Night A slight chance of showers. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 66. South wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Saturday A chance of showers, mainly after 10am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 81. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
• Saturday Night Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

2. It's Happening Today: Well, for the State Primary, anyway. We will have the results as soon as they have been tabulated.

3. By The Numbers: 98. According to the , over the last year, they have responded to 98 fires of various types.

4. By The Numbers, Part 2: 20,709. As of the April, 2012 Town Election, Tewksbury had 20,709 registered voters. Care to venture a prediction on how many will vote in today's primary?

5. Reader Comment of the Day: "This state has many law abiding citizens who are terminally ill. They are mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, friends and everything in between. These are citizens of our Commonwealth who can not afford life saving medications and life saving transplants because some jack*ss in an insurance office has deemed it "unnecessary" or because a treatment is "unproven". They will send these patients in to fight the lion, yet hold back the sword that would be there only weapon against their disease. They do this everyday. They do it to children, teenagers, adults and the elderly. There is no one yelling about how "unfair" it is. I know how unfair it is. I don't see the state coming to my rescue, nor to others in my position. No, they are not.... they are too busy wasting my tax dollars to perform surgery on some piece of scum that is NOT even medically necessary! Great. Do we really want to have the state deem what is considered "Cruel and unusual punishment"... I can guarantee you that I have a better definition of it." Reader Jennifer Nagle, commenting on the story,