Phil’s fraud

Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, thereby claiming there would be an early spring. He was wrong.

The gray skies and cold temperatures of March have continued unseasonably into April, leading to endless complaints and sighs of exasperation among Toledoans. A month into spring, the mercury is only grudgingly rising.

Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-forecasting groundhog, has taken a lot of heat for messing up the prediction about how much winter was left in 2013. Contrary to the famous varmint’s assurances on Feb. 2, winter did not end early.

A prosecutor in Butler County, Ohio, was so incensed by Phil’s false prophecy that he filed a criminal indictment against the animal. The prosecutor relented after Phil’s handler agreed to take the blame, saying he misunderstood the animal’s message.

Punxsutawney Phil isn’t out of the woods. A police department in Montgomery, Md., issued a poster with Phil’s image under the banner: “Suspect Wanted for Fraud.” To play it safe, Phil had better not venture below the Mason-Dixon line until spring is here to stay.