By Kristina Saliba, Staff Writer

This March I grew extremely tired of opening my yellow Warren Tower curtains only to see more snow falling down on Comm Ave. Every day before those snowfalls, I would be foolishly led on by the melting snow on the sidewalks, mistakenly led to believe that maybe…just maybe…this time it would be gone for good.

But no.

I blamed everyone from Mother Nature to my roommate and random passersby. But I never thought to take it as far as the Ohio prosecutor who “light-heartedly” filed a criminal indictment against the man truly responsible for it all: Punxsutawney Phil, Pennsylvania’s groundhog.

Coming from someone who was overjoyed to hear that the groundhog’s forecast called for an early spring, this indictment of an animal seemed weirdly appropriate to me. However, The Huffington Post has recently reported that though Phil was the one indicted, Bill Deely, the groundhog’s handler and President of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle, was going to take the blame.

The Huffington Post reports Deely heroically claiming, “I’m the guy that did it; I’ll be the fall guy. It’s not Phil’s fault.”

I personally don’t believe that I would do the same, especially because this is apparently the second year in a row that Phil’s forecast has been “misinterpreted.” Maybe Phil should be a little bit clearer. Maybe Phil should be a little bit more considerate towards those who have been opening up their curtains every morning with anxiety.

Recently, however, The Associated Press has released an updated article reporting that the Ohio prosecutor, who had filed this “tongue-in-cheek” indictment, dropped the charges this Tuesday, March 26. If Phil was worried before, which I’m sure he was, he has no criminal record to worry about now.

Normally, I would be bothered that Phil was let off so easy, but these past few mornings I’ve been opening up those white Warren curtains to find blue skies and an actual sun. I think I will let myself start hoping this time, but if it snows, I’m happy I know who I can definitely blame now.