"Six more weeks of winter were predicted today by Punxsutawney Phil as 40,000 people celebrated Groundhog Day at Gobbler's Knob.

Officials prepared for larger crowds than normal because Groundhog Day fell on a Saturday, and concerns about rowdy drinkers coupled with the Sept. 11 attacks led to stepped-up security at Phil's home. For the first time, organizers sold all 38,000 bus tickets to the event.

German supersititon holds that if an animal sees its shadow on Feb. 2 - the Christian holiday of Candlemas - then bad weather is in store. A shadow today would mean six more weeks of winter.

But Stam Zervanos, associate professor of biology at Penn State University's Berks-Lehigh Valley College in Reading, has another explanation for the groundhog's behavior this time of year. The animals awaken in January or February to mate, then return to their holes to resume their long winter's nap" (Punxsutawney, Pa. - AP, The Washington Post, February 3, 2002).

At the Charlottesville Democratic Committee's Political Pasta Supper last night, Democratic co-chair Lloyd Snook said,

"When Charlottesville Republican Committee Chairman Bob Hodous woke up this morning, he saw his shadow, which means another four years of Democratic domination in the City of Charlottesville."

Lloyd did not have any comments, however, about local Republican mating proclivities.