5 Things You Need to Know Today: Jan. 11

Our weekday morning column, 5 Things You Need to Know, provides you with information that can help you plan your day and give you some fodder for water cooler conversations.

1. On Saturday, Jan. 28 there will be a Texas Hold-em Poker Tournament at the Masonic Hall, on the corner of Newton and Main streets with a registration at 4 p.m. and a start time of 5 p.m. The pot will benefit the Citizens Scholarship foundation with 40 percent of the pool and the rest will go to the winners of the tournament. The cost is $100 per player. To Reserve a Seat in Advance, Contact Deb Giroux at 508-481-0056 or email dag1973@aol.com for details. 

2. February is Cancer Awareness Month, and every year the encourages artists and patrons alike to reach out with their hearts and their wallets, to help raise money for a worthy cause. Artists are asked to donate a small piece for “A Show of Hearts,” a silent auction which culminates just before Valentine’s Day. Everyone is invited to bid on these great Valentines, and 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of these works goes to Art beCAUSE, a grassroots foundation dedicated to eradicating the environmental causes of breast cancer. Drop-off for the Show of Hearts runs Jan. 28 to Feb. 2. Bidding begins on Feb. 3, and culminates in a high-spirited closing bid party on Feb. 9 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The snow date is Feb. 11, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. More detailed information on submitting work can be found at their store or online.

3. Calling all Stars! Karon Shea Model Management will be hosting talent auditions at the  Sunday, Jan. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. for local residents to see if they have what it takes to make it in Hollywood. International Model and Talent Association in conjunction with Karon Shea Model Management will have a scout from Los Angeles on hand to review all walks of talent. Talents include acting, singing, modeling, and dancing.

4. Burlington company Certeon has named Kevin Murphy, or Marlborough, as vice president of product management. Murphy comes to  Certeon from VCE where was responsible for Solutions Management, bringing with him more than 15 years of experience leading successful products into emerging markets, defining and delivering distributed systems for cloud service providers. Mr. Murphy joins Certeon from VCE, where he was responsible for developing partnerships and delivering solutions for the security and management of the Vblock Platforms. Previously he was the CTO of NEI where he was responsible for their software, cloud, and virtualization strategy as well as expanding their IP portfolio. Mr. Murphy also led the architecture, design, and implementation of GE Intelligent Platform's cloud and virtualization solution for the Proficy product line. He holds a BSEE degree from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Congratulations, Kevin!

5. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) Division recently issued a two-year contract extension for its enhanced vehicle emissions testing and safety inspection program, the Massachusetts Vehicle Check Program. The extension will begin Oct. 1, 2013. Parsons Commercial Technology Group Inc. will continue to manage the day-to-day operations of Massachusetts Vehicle Check for MassDEP and MassDOT/RMV, supporting a statewide network of more than 1,900 inspection stations and 300 registered emissions repair shops.  Parsons will also continue operating 12 conveniently located Motorist Assistance Centers (MACs) to provide advice to motorists, technical assistance to repair technicians, help with getting vehicles “ready” for testing after emissions repairs, vehicle evaluations for repair waivers and economic hardship extensions, and vehicle testing quality assurance.

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