5 Things to Know Today: Friday, June 24

1) The Rand McNally/USA Today "Best of the Road" competition kicked off Thursday in New York. According to USA Today, the team scoping out the six small towns for the "Best for Food" category is from St. Petersburg! Meet the Fun Finders, Jim and Bonnie Parr. According to the article, the retired couple will visit Addison, W. Va; Gulfport; Lafayette, La; Burnsville, Minn; Costa Mesa, Calif., and Visalia, Calif., in search of the best small town in America to visit for food!

2) Speaking of food, have you heard about the new "Best of the Road" sampler plates that 15 restaurants have put together? Now you can try their signature bites for about $10 to $15 a plate!

3) Looking for something to do this weekend? Check out our weekly post Get Out: Weekend Events Preview. Also, check out our Events tab! Did we forget something? Add it in the Events section.

4) Did you miss the Gulfport City Council workshop yesterday? You can check out what you missed by watching the video on the city's Web site.

5) Here is your Friday forecast: We have a 50 percent chance of rain. Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Otherwise, it'll be partly sunny with a high near 91. Heat index values will be as high as 99 with a southeast wind of 6 to 10 mph becoming southwest. Tonight, we have a 30 percent chance of rain. Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m. Otherwise, it'll be mostly cloudy with a low around 80. Expect a north-northwest wind of 5 to 8 mph.