5 Things You Need To Know Today, Tuesday, March 19

Here are 5 pieces of information designed to get your Tuesday off to a Jim Dandy start and to help make you the smartest person in the drive-thru.

1. Your 3-Day Local Weather Forecast:

• According to the NWS, today is gonna stink out outloud!! No, that wasn't the phrase they used. They say we will have snow before 10am, then snow and sleet between 10am and noon, then rain and snow after noon. High near 35. East wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
• Tuesday Night Rain and snow likely before 10pm, then a chance of snow. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 25. North wind 6 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
• Wednesday Partly sunny, with a high near 39. West wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.
• Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. West wind 7 to 14 mph.
• Thursday A slight chance of snow showers after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Thursday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23.

2. It's All About The Marketing: If you frequent Friendly's Restaurants, you will find a bit of a change in coming weeks. the waitresses are not waitreses. The cooks and the ice cream scoopers have changed too. According to a new marketing gimmick, wait staff are now officially "Dream Makers." I swear, I'm not making this up. Cooks are referred to as "Captains" and the folks dishing out the ice cream are "Scoopologists." Well, i guess it's better than "Soda Jerks."

3. Reader Comment of the Day: "I am not an expert on fire safety but having lived in other communities I have seen it done differently and think that needs to be considered. I also didn't get the impression that the TM or BOS were suggesting that the station should be closed or only open with an ambulance. Why can't we keep North and South open with 3 men in each station with an ambulance & fire truck? Then you would have six at Center Station allowing for an engine & an ambulance there too? If one man calls out, you run with 5 at center?" Reader Brian Cain. Commenting on the story,

4. Congratulations!!: Congratulations to the Tewksbury 7th Grade Girls Basketball team for winning the River Valley championship! Click here for details on the accomplishment.

5. Oh, And Another Thing: If you don't generally read blogs in our Local Voices section (and come to think of it, why not?), you will want to read this one. A first-hand account of young mom from Tewksbury battling a terminal illness, fighting for every moment she can have with her family. Click here.