5 Things You Need To Know Today: March 6

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. Today is the presidential primary in Massachusetts. Framingham's polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more info on the election and the three ballots, click on FYI, the is closed today except for ballot and election questions.

2. Do you know someone who is a champion for the taxpayers? Who fights to make sure there is no waste at Town Hall? Who keeps committees and boards on their toes, in regards to the state's open meeting law? Then nominate him or her for a national award. . Deadline to nominate someone is tomorrow, March 7.

3. Join the book club at the tonight at 7. Tonight's discussion, led by library trustee Bob Dodd, focuses on Empire Falls by Richard Russo. The author won a Pulitzer Prize for his engaging tale of blue-collar life in the small dead-end town of Empire Falls. Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, and he looks at his hometown and its cast of characters with bemused regret. Staying has cost Miles a college education and much more, and Empire Falls unfolds as an “epic of small and large frustrations.” 

4. The is holding an open house tonight for prospective students from 6-7:30 p.m. The school will hold a lottery for admission on March 15 at 6 p.m. The application deadline is March 14 at 3 p.m. In its 10th year, the regional middle schools serves students from Framingham, Natick, Ashland, Holliston, Sudbury, Southborough, Hopkinton and Marlborough, in grades 6, 7 and 8. Families from other nearby towns may enrolled, if space is available.

5. is holding band tryouts tonight at 9. Stop in and listen to the tunes and tell them what you think.