5 Things: Observe National Moment of Silence

1. Moment of silence. Gov. John Lynch has asked residents and workers around the state to take a collective moment of silence at 9:30 this morning in honor of the 20 children and seven adults who were killed last week in Newtown, Conn. Many websites will also take part in the moment of silence with a brief blackout of sites around the globe. Patch will be part of that blackout. We ask you to please take a moment at 9:30 and join us in remembering those who lost their lives and keeping the community dealing with unimaginable grief close in your heart.

2. #26Acts. Have you heard of this? It's a Random Acts of Kindnesss movement that has caught fire online that asks people to perform 26 acts of kindness in honor of each of the people killed inside the Sandy Hook School on Dec. 14. There's a slip you can print out with the names of the deceased to pass along when you do one of these acts and mark who you are doing the act in honor of (see attached picture). Learn more here about 26 Acts. And check out the 26 Acts Facebook page for a heartwarming look at what people are doing to participate.

3. Nominate a person of the year. We are looking to recognize a Merrimack resident as the person of the year in town. Do you know someone who is always looking out for others? Or someone who is doing amazing things in the schools, in the business community or otherwise? Send your nominations with an explanation of why you think that person deserves to be person of the year and we will select a winner by the end of 2012, and write a profile about that person in the first week of 2013. Send nominations to carolyn.dube@patch.com by Dec. 26.

4. Citizen's Academy. The Merrimack Police Department announced Thursday that its Citizen's Academy, which begins in January, is now full. Applications are still being accepted, however, in the event that anyone backs out of the program for whatever reason.

5. Weather watch. This will be our last 5 Things column until after Christmas, so here is the current forecast for the next five days.

• Today: Showers. Patchy fog before 4pm, then Patchy fog after 5pm. High near 47. Breezy, with a east wind 17 to 22 mph becoming south 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 43 mph.
• Tonight: Rain and snow showers likely before 4 a.m., then a chance of snow showers. Patchy fog before 7 p.m., then Patchy fog between 1 and and 2 a.m. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 31.
• Saturday: A chance of rain and snow showers before 1 p.m., then a chance of rain showers between 1 and 5 p.m., then a chance of rain and snow showers after 5 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 41.
• Saturday night: A chance of snow showers, mainly before 9 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Northwest wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.
• Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 33.
• Sunday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 18.
• Christmas Eve: Sunny, with a high near 30.
• Christmas Eve night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 16.
• Christmas Day: Partly sunny, with a high near 31.
• Christmas night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 18.