Voter Registration, Regional Tourism, Halloween Happenings, and Truly Horrifying Headlines

1. Weather.com is predicting a mostly sunny day with a high temperature of 67 degrees. There's just a 20 percent chance of rain, dropping to a 10 percent chance this evening when temperatures drop to 41 degrees overnight. Enjoy the warm weather today. We won't see temperatures like this again for a while. 

2. Today is the deadline to register to vote by mail. All voter registration forms must be postmarked October 22. You can still register to vote after today, but you'll have to do it in person at City Hall. The final day to register is October 29. 

3. What more can be done to promote culture and tourism in our region? That's a question the Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition hopes to answer. Tomorrow, this fledgling organization will hold the final of five informational sessions during which it will provide a progress report and gather community input as to how the coalition might best align the region's many attractions.

The final session will be held at 8 a.m. at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts's Stillman Gallery, 84 Lyme Street, in Old Lyme. The goal is to enhance tourism, revitalize the community and spur economic development.  

The coalition, which is based in New London, aims to be a unified voice, to support and promote the entire cultural and creative sector and, like a rising tide lifting all boats, benefit all of our organizations and the regional economy. 

There's just one other meeting in New London tonight: The Housing Authority meets tonight at 5:15 p.m. in the George Washington Carver Community Room.

4. More Halloween fun: For the littlest ones, the Public Library of New London is offering "not too scary" stories featuring monsters, ghosts and things that go bump in the night today from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. No registration required.

On Friday, kids from Kindergarten to Grade 5 can win prizes for best costumes at a Halloween celebration at the New London City Pier from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. But Halloween isn't just for kids.

On Saturday, adults who like to get all dressed up can go to the Hygienic Art Park in New London for a Halloween Party with music from New London's own Pocket Vinyl and New Haven's Elison Jackson, both of which are celebrating the release of new CDs. The fun starts at 8 p.m. and admission is just $5 if you're in costume. 

5. Horrifying Headlines: The news might just be the scariest thing to happen this week as another school shooting dominates the national media. The shooting, by a middle school student, killed a teacher and wounded two students at Sparks Middle School in Nevada on Monday. Even more horrifying is the fact that there have been more than 15 mass shootings since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut 10 months ago. More details are coming out about that tragedy now.