5 Things You Should Know Today - July 21, 2011

You're probably as tired of dealing with this heat as we are of reporting about it — but today's warning from the National Weather Service calls for even higher temperatures than yesterday. We're sharing the bad news first, and then a few less painful things you should know today:

1. 100 degrees

That's where the mercury is expected to hit today, triggering another excessive heat warning from the National Weather Service. The NWS predicts the high humidity will send the heat index soaring to 105-110 degrees. Today will be another ozone action day, meaning active children and people with breathing problems should avoid exerting themselves outdoors, and we should all forgo activities such as gassing up the car and mowing the lawn.

2. Music, music, music

If you're looking for musical entertainment tonight, you've got choices: welcomes acoustic folk/pop artist Sigrid Christiansen in a free concert at 7 p.m., and the city of Farmington Hills' Stars in the Park offers a Farmington Community Band Big Band concert at 7 p.m. in the (moved indoors because of the heat).

3. Farmington Traffic Safety Board

Farmington residents, did you know there's a group of people who will listen to your concerns about the safety of streets and intersections in your neighborhood and elsewhere in the community? The Traffic Safety Board meets at 7 tonight in .

4. Hills Planning Commission

Planning commissioners will consider three new items on tonight's agenda: approval of a site plan for a gas station at 27831 Orchard Lake Rd. (Orchard Lake and 12 Mile Roads); a self-storage business site plan for 29199 Orchard Lake Rd. (south of 13 Mile Road); and a cluster site plan for 17 detached, single-family homes on the south side of 13 Mile Road, east of Halsted. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. at ; a full agenda is posted on the city's website.

5.

Ever wanted to see an owl up close? Wildlife Recovery Association staff member Joe Rogers will be at the at 4 p.m. today to talk about these creatures, which play a big part in the Harry Potter series of books by J.K. Rowling. This is part of the library's Potter-Palooza celebration, and it's free — but you need to register. Call 248-553-0300.