TODAY'S 5: Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day, 2012, a holiday with a local connection and plenty of things to do with a loved one around Plainview Tuesday.

Each day the "5 Things" column offers five essentials about your day in Plainview. We want to engage our audience in the topics, events, and hot-button issues that are important to them. Help us do that by adding your voice. Add it to the calendar or send us a . Post a comment on the news and the issues that matter most to you.

On Tuesday:

1. We've run about in advance of We'd love to hear from our readers now: Why not send a Valentine's Day message to a loved one through Patch. Attach them to the comment thread on this story.

2. To help you get in the mood, we've also attached some serious love songs. There's Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti singing "O Soave Fanciulla" from Puccini's "La Bohème." a stunning "balcony scene" from a college production of Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story," and Andrea Bocelli performing the Neopolitan love ballad: "Torna a Surriento." If the latter won't get you in the mood, nothing will.

3. A disturbing story broke late last night. A New York City police officernearby on the Long Island Expressway. Early this morning there were few details. We'll update the story when more information becomes available.

4. hosted a reception for its exhibit: ," at the Monday, but the exhibit of of Israel, taken by its members remains on display at the library all month. This is a must-see show, and it's free.

5. Have you It's free and can make a huge difference in how you get the word out to the public. See our .