Five Things You Should Know Today

1)     The annual chemical and electronic waste collection event at saw more than 1,000 cars during the first couple of hours. Way to be green, Dunedin!

2)     Only seven days until Valentine’s Day. Here’s a gift idea: Have D-Jay, the mascot, deliver flowers and two tickets to the April 7 home opener against the Clearwater Threshers. Place your order by Feb. 12 and use the code word "Jays." Call 727-734-5523.

3)     Cat lovers: February is Feline Spay Month. Lots of local organizations are running specials on spaying costs to help keep cat populations under control. If you’ve got a feline you’d like to get spayed, check the Humane Society of Pinellas, Pinellas County Veterinary Medical Association, Pet Pal Animal Shelter and SPCA Tampa Bay. For more information on participating veterinarians, call 727-586-3591.  

4)     The has two great events Tuesday. One to celebrate romance and one for Black History Month. Check them out:

• Best-selling romance author Kathy Carmichael talks about her books and her writing career at 7 p.m. A signing will follow.
• “Lesson Before Dying,” a 1999 film set during the 1940s and starring Don Cheadle and Cicely Tyson, will show at 2 p.m. in Community Room A. The movie is about a man who is wrongly accused for killing a white shopkeeper, but delves into the divisions within the black community.

5)     The Pinellas Sheriff’s School Crossing Guard Program was honored as the Florida School Crossing Guard Program of the Year for 2010 on Feb. 4, which was also designated as School Crossing Guard Appreciation Day by the governor. The School Crossing Guard Program began as a volunteer program in 1972 and now covers 188 schools countywide, including in Dunedin.