5 Things You Need To Know Today: July 30 [POLL]

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. General Chemical Corp. will begin clean up of its hazardous waste transfer facility in anticipation of its closure. Monday through Saturday, between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Residents in vicinity of Leeland Street are advised to close their windows andstay away from the playground at This clean up is expected to last through mid-August.

2. Today is National Cheesecake Day and the Cheesecake Factory in Natick is offering half price on all cheesecakes. And tomorrow, .via its Facebook page, The Cheesecake Factory is offering a coupon for half priced off any cheesecake, including its new debut today: Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake on July 31. Two days in a row of cheesecake, and you may need to make some time for exercise.

3. are invited to a free at at 6 p.m.

4. Looking for a new way to get fit? Consider taking a at tonight. $10 fee.

5. In Day 2 at the 2012 London Olympic games, Kim Rhode, 33, earned a gold medal in women’s skeet, setting an Olympic record and tying the world record by hitting 99 of 100 targets. She also became the first woman to win three gold medals in Olympic shooting - she first competed in the Olympics in Atlanta as a teenager in 1996.

In the pool, USA earned several medals, including a gold in the 100M butterfly. Swimmer Dana Vollmer, who had heart surgery in 2003 and still has a condition that sometimes causes her heart to stop at random, broke a world record and won the gold, even while losing her swim cap. The men took silver in the 4X100 relay.

And in gymnastics, the US women's team did well in the preliminaries in the team competition, and its gymnasts places second, third and fourth in the all-around qualifying round, but due to Gymnastic rules only the two 2 gymnasts from an given county can compete in the all-around. Thus, Needham's Aly Raisman and Gabyy Douglas will compete for the all around title but world champion Jordyn Wieber will have to sit out, while 20 gymnasts with a worst score than her will compete.

Today, July 30, the men's team gymnastics final will air live at 11 a.m. on TV, but NBC will do a recap in its prime time spot. Viewers can watch swimming live, including Ryan, Lochte (200M final), Missy Franklin (100 backstroke final) and Michael Phelps (heats) after 2 p.m.