Five Things to Know Today, Feb. 2

Welcome to Thursday and Groundhog Day. Here are some things to know today.

The weather: It'll be unseasonably warm today, with a high of almost 71 degrees -- that's a good 14 degrees above the average temp for February, but still below the high set in 1996 of 80 degrees, according to weather.com. It will be cloudy at first today, then maybe some sunshine, the National Weather Service says. The low tonight will be around 41.

Gas prices: A gallon of regular can still be had for $3.41 in Lilburn, according to prices reported to www.georgiagasprices.com (at Shell, 3020 Five Forks Trickum at Oak Road, and at Kroger, 3050 Five Forks Trickum Road near Oak Road). The highest price reported was $3.49 (at Shell, 612 Rockbridge Road at Lilburn-Stone Mountain Road).

Beau's shadow knows: Lilburn's celebrity groundhog General Beauregard Lee at the Yellow River Game Ranch will be giving his usual paws up or down on an early spring this year. Be there by 7 a.m. to see Beau in action. See Patch's exclusive interview with the general

The kindness of strangers. Atlanta wanted a public library but needed to drum up private funds to build one, at the end of the 19th century. The Northern steel baron turned philanthropist Andrew Carnegie came through when local efforts fell short. On this day in 1899, he offered $100,000 if the city would provide the site and agree to spend at least $5,000 a year maintaining the library. In the end, Atlanta had to go back to Carnegie twice for more money to complete the building. It opened in March, 1902.

Ho-Jo. The restaurant chain has long since faded in a landscape of new competitors, but before McDonald's and Starbucks spread to every interstate exit, there were the blue roofs of Howard Johnson's. The founder, Howard Deering Johnson, was born on Feb. 2, 1897, and went on to pioneer ideas that became central to today's fast food chains. Those innovations included centralized buying and central preparation of foods that could then be shipped to the individual restaurants for uniform quality and appearance. Johnson died in 1972. Memories of his trademark 28 flavors of ice cream live on.