Our daily column, 5 Things You Need to Know Today, will help you to get your day started and offer you some fodder for water cooler conversation.

1.  Starting today, Prospect Street will be temporarily closed to through traffic from Central Street to Hemlock Lane, for construction activities between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

To access Worcester Road, Follow Central Street to Edgell Road or Summer Street to Beacon Street.Traffic at the intersection of Prospect Street and Central Street and Traffic on Lillian Road will be managed using a one lane alternating traffic management plan.

Access will be provided to School Buses and emergency vehicles only.  Construction activities will take place daily between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

2. Framingham State University is inviting the public to hear former NBA basketball player John Amaechi tonight at 7 in Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center on campus. Amaechi is best known for being the first former professional basketball player to come out as gay, following his retirement. He did so in his New York Times best-selling book Man in the Middle. He will be speaking about the need for equality in athletics and in everyday life.

3. Framingham is a hot spot for the U.S. Senate race. Monday, former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen, now a U.S. Senator, was in Framingham campaigning for Elizabeth Warren. Click here, to hear what she had to say.

Today at 9:30 a.m., Sen. Scott Brown will be at Carrie Anne's meeting with Framingham and MetroWest residents.

4. Framingham High graduate and Framingham State University student Tiana Graham, who left Jamaica at the age of 8 was awarded the MetroWest Women's Alliance Camilla Hilbert Scholarship. Read about her struggles in America, and how she worked her way through college. She plans to graduate in 2013 loan-free.

5. Did anyone else catch the rainbow Monday?  I posted a photo to this column. We'd love to see your shots. Upload them here.