5 Things You Need to Know Today: July 3

[Your Song of the Day]

1. Your weather report: Today will be sunny with a high of 85 degrees. Tonight will be partly cloudy with an overnight low of 64 degrees. 

2. Fun with Patch! Amherst Patch is sponsoring Face Painting by Krickey the Clown tonight at Souhegan High School from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Amherst Patch Editor Robert Michaelson will be there to take photos, meet with readers and give out plenty of free swag. Join the fun!

3. Patch Fact: It took a year to connect the first telephone line from New York to San Francisco. Approximately 14,000 miles of copper wire and 130,000 telephone poles were needed to link the country.

4. NH reducing energy use. The Nashua Telegraph reports that New Hampshire reduced its energy use and emissions of heat-trapping gases between 2005 and 2009. The report from the New Hampshire Energy and Climate Collaborative said that the rise in fuel prices and economic recession contributed to reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

5. Congrats! Anita T. Bacher, a member of the Class of 2014 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, was named to the dean's list for her outstanding academic achievement during the spring semester of the 2011-12 year. Bacher is the daughter of Edward and Claire Bacher of Amherst, N.H., and attended Souhegan High School. Students whose grade point averages were 3.68 or higher were named to the Dean's List.