Five Things You Need to Know Today: July 9

1. Art reception. Newton Open Studios will hold a reception tonight at 6 p.m. for in the mayor's office at . The exhibit includes art from 12 local artists and features work inspired by water. 

2. Board of Aldermen meet. The Newton Board of Aldermen will meet tonight at 7:45 p.m. in the chamber at . Among other items, the board will vote on a special permit for a proposed home on Norwood Avenue. after some aldermen expressed concern about the home's size. For a full copy of tonight's Reports Docket, check out the .pdf to the right.

3. Planning & Development public hearing. The Planning & Development Board will hold a public hearing tonight for the draft Recreation and Open Space Plan Update. The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at the . A copy of the draft is available here. 

4. Last day for Readers' Choice nominations. Nominations for the Newton Patch Readers' Choice competition are due today! We're looking for Newton's best businesses across 25 categories including , , , ,  and , to name a few. 

5. Post 440 baseball. The Newton American Legion Post 440 baseball team will face Tyngsboro today at 6 p.m. The game will take place at Albemarle Field in Newton (250 Albemarle Road).