Five Things to Know Today, Jan. 26

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

The weather: More rain likely today, with a 60 percent chance after 1 p.m. It'll be warm, though, with a high of about 68 degrees. We may have a thunderstorm tonight, and the low will be around 53.

Gas prices: Whoa! Prices took a dip in Lilburn according to what was reported to www.georgiagasprices.com. The lowest price was $3.35 (at Citgo, 331 Rockbridge Road at Lawrenceville Hwy), and the highest was $3.46 (at Citgo, 4967 Lawrenceville Hwy at Holly Ridge Drive).

Get ready. Gwinnett County has a large and active nonprofit group providing services, jobs, training and recreation for our growing population of adults with developmental disabilities. Hi-Hope Service Center, in Lawrenceville, does important work, and to help support it, they have an annual fundraising gala. It’s coming up on March 17 at the 1818 Club in Duluth, with a Las Vegas theme  and a variety of table sponsorship and ticket options. Give them a hand, it’ll be fun.  

Shake. One of the world’s largest and yet still little known earthquakes rocked the Pacific Northwest of what’s now the U.S. and Canada on this day in 1700. There are no written records from the area at the time. Oral traditions of Native Americans, geological traces and tree rings confirm the massive magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake. The date and size are established thanks to Japanese records that documented the resulting tsunami, which raced across the Pacific and struck coastal villages. The tidal wave-birthing quake stems from a fault off the Northwest Coast that has a history of major quakes about every 500 years. Tick tick tick…  

Sweet. It’s not enough that today is National Peanut Brittle Day. No, there’s a whole year-round rotation of days for individual sweets maintained by, natch, the National Confectioners Association. There are days for gum drops (Feb. 15), fudge (June 16), and more variations on chocolate days than I can count. So print it out and observe it closely through the year. You’ll always have dessert to look forward to.