Five Things to Know Today, Oct. 24

Welcome to Monday and a new week, the last one of October. Here are some things to know today.

The weather: The day will start off only partly sunny and then get brighter, with a high of about 74 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The low tonight will be about 48 degrees. Looks like we'll be rain-free until about the end of the week.

Gas prices are edging downward. In Georgia, the average price of a gallon of regular is $3.408, more than one cent lower than Friday. Nationally, the average is $3.456. Prices reported to www.georgiagasprices.com for Lilburn in the past 24 hours ranged from $3.32 (at Citgo, 331 Rockbridge Road at Lawrenceville Hwy) to $3.39 (at Shell, 775 Beaver Ruin Road at Burns Road).

Buddy hours: Gwinnett library branches this week started "sharing" service hours as a way to stay open despite a 15 percent cut in county funding. Check the new hours to see which branches open early and which stay open late. The upshot is that the libraries are still there seven days a week, but with fewer hours at each branch.

United we stand. This was the day in 1945 when the United Nations was formally born with the ratification of its charter. The U.N. was created in large part due to the efforts of the United States under President Franklin D. Roosevelt as place for nations to talk rather than descend into another world war, like the two that had just bloodied the first half of the 20th century. How well do you think it's worked?

Lights! This week is Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and we in Lilburn live near a major Hindu temple that is a rarity for the U.S. and one of the largest in the world. Why not check out the family festivities Oct. 25-30 as a visitor to the temple, or mandir, on Rockbridge Road at Lawrenceville Highyway?