Welcome to “5 Things,” your daily source for community events, happenings in town and other little tidbits of information. Here are five things you need to know on Wednesday, March 6.

1. Showers: Mother Nature will toss a lot at us on Wednesday, with the forecast calling for rain and snow showers along with temperatures getting up to 40 degrees. The wind will also blow up to 20 miles per hour out of the northeast.

2. Early Release: It is an early release day for the Danvers Public Schools on Wednesday. Lunch will be served at all schools. Danvers High School and Holten-Richmond Middle School will get out at 12:45 p.m. and the elementary schools will get out at 1:15 p.m.

3. Weather Preparation: We are in the middle of National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, which is appropriate as we hear from weather forecasters that a powerful ocean storm is headed our way with a few inches of snow, strong winds and expected higher than usual tides. The theme of the week is "Pledge to Prepare" and to make a commitment to getting ready for natural disasters beforehand.

4. Transportation: Danvers is part of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, a group that handles regional planning issues in the greater Boston area. The council holds its annual winter meeting on Wednesday at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston, where Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor will talk about Gov. Deval Patrick's plan to increase spending to make improvements and expansion to the state's transportation system.

5. Budget: The fiscal 2014 budget will be introduced to the Board of Selectmen on Wednesday night. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Town Hall and in addition to the introduction it will include a presentation and review of the library budget. Budget review will continue on Tuesday and Thursday nights for the next two weeks.

Want to get Danvers Patch in your inbox every morning? Sign up for our morning newsletter.

For more of today's happenings, head over to our events calendar.

To send us a photo or suggested item to be featured in the “5 Things” column, send it via e-mail to danvers@patch.com.