5 Things to Know Today

1. A survey by the city of 142 downtown property owners found that 80 percent of them favor the creation of a Neighborhood Improvement District, which would fund programs like the and the city's Main Street Program through a monthly fee based on their assessed property value. The average fee would be $24. We've included a copy of the city newsletter outlining the proposal.

2.  Want to hear about "How the U.S. Looks from Afar"? That's the title of Tony Agotha's talk tonight at Lafayette College. He's the spokesman for the Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the European Union, and he's giving the college's Daniel Golden Lecture at 7:30 p.m. in Room 104 of Kirby Hall.

3. Coming up later today: freelancer Gail Scudder profiles Her Swagg, a new West Ward clothing shop.

4. We're on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about our stories there.

5. He may be retiring his public radio show, but you can still see Garrison Keillor   Actually, April's kind of a busy month for things on our calendar.