Five Things to Know Today, April 24

Welcome to Tuesday. Here are some things to know today.

The weather: Frosty this morning the National Weather Service says, or at least "patchy" frost. Just like we like it. The high today will be almost 67 degrees with mostly sunshine, though it may get a little windy again today. The low tonight: about 49.

Gas prices: A gallon of regular can be had in Lilburn for as low as $3.63 (at Shell, 5414 Five Forks Trickum Road at Rockbridge), according to www.georgiagasprices.com. The highest price reported to the website for ZIP code 30047 was $3.74 (at Citgo, 4967 Lawrenceville Hwy at Holly Ridge Drive).

Treasure: The nation’s central repository of knowledge, the Library of Congress, was founded on this day in 1800. Its creation was part of a bill signed by President John Adams moving the federal government from Philadelphia to the new capital in Washington D.C. The act included $5,000 for a first collection of 740 books and three maps. Over time, it evolved from a legal reference room for Congress into a central pool for the nation’s printed works, history, folk life and audio-visual achievements. And like all great libraries, it is open to the public: Anybody can get a reader ID to access materials in the reading room (though not to take anything out of the building).  

Vision: Distant worlds, “dark energy” and deep views of the universe are just a few of the things the Hubble Space Telescope has been able to see for us. The bus-sized telescope has been orbiting about 350 miles above Earth for more than 20 years (wow - has it really been that long? Seems like yesterday it went up), and it's been able to peer into far corners of space, answering pressing questions about the makeup of the cosmos and what all is out there. Hubble took off on this day in 1990 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. It’s expected to keep working until at least 2014, with a plan to replace it with the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018 or later.  

Parks: With spring well into its stride, how about finding a way to spend more time outside while helping the community? The Gwinnett County parks and recreation department is always looking for volunteers to help with the award-winning chain of parks and recreation sites across the county. All kinds of worthwhile tasks are waiting for people who join the Volunteers in Parks program.

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