Connecticut
Connecticut’s Chuckles the groundhog predicts six more weeks of winter
MANCHESTER, CT (WFSB) – Connecticut celebrated Groundhog Day on Monday as Chuckles the groundhog made her annual weather prediction at the Lutz Children’s Museum.
Dozens of people were at the museum as early as 6 a.m., excited to see Chuckles make her prediction.
Chuckles saw her shadow, which means 6 more weeks of winter, according to Manchester Mayor Moran.
Traditionally, if Chuckles sees his/her shadow, that means six more weeks of winter. If they don’t, Connecticut would be in for an early spring.
The museum said it has been putting on the event since 1968.
This year’s Chuckles, “Chuckles the 11th,” wasn’t the only one in the building.
“Last year, the other Chuckles made an appearance, our male,” said MacKenzie Watkins, animal curator at the Lutz Museum. “Then this year, our female Chuckles [had] the spotlight.”
Spots for the event filled up ahead of time. The museum put up its own livestream of the prediction on its Facebook page here.
Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog from Punxsutawney, PA, also made his prediction around 7:25 a.m. He too forecasted 6 more weeks of winter.
Not to be outdone, Scramble the Duck in Eastford, which boasts 100 percent accuracy, also predicted more winter.
Copyright 2026 WFSB. All rights reserved.
LYME — A body was recovered from the Connecticut River on Saturday, according to officials from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
At about 1 p.m., a vessel on the river reported seeing a body in the area of the Chester-Lyme Ferry, DEEP said.
The Environmental Conservation Police, along with the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Unit and Lyme and Cheshire fire departments, responded to the area and recovered the body, DEEP said. The body has been sent to the state chief medical examiner, DEEP said.
Bill Flood, a media relations manager for DEEP, said the body was identified as a male and appeared to have been in the water for an extended period of time.
The medical examiner will determine the manner of death and EnCon is investigating, Flood said, noting there is no believed threat to the public.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Even as a born-and-raised New Yorker, I have a relatively open mind when it comes to pizza. When I’m out on the road, I’ll eat at any pizzeria as long as I can see the oven from the counter and buy pizza by the slice. However, the idea of any place outside the Big Apple proclaiming itself “the Pizza Capital of the United States” is just sacrilege. Connecticut doubled down on its ludicrous claim last weekend by approving the rollout of a special “Pizza State” license plate. This is the worst affront to the craft since Chicagoans started shilling their crust-bowl casserole as pizza.
Connecticut Foodshare
Let’s actually take a look at this license plate. One peek, we all know the rules. “The Pizza State” plate features a similar blue-to-white gradient as on the standard Connecticut license plate. The aforementioned self-proclaimed moniker replaces the state’s official nickname, “The Constitution State,” beneath the plate number. To the right of the number is an image of a pizza slice ripped straight from Microsoft’s ClipArt library. It’s a flat image that looks nothing like what’s served in New Haven. Connecticut drivers will be able to pick up a “Pizza State” plate for $65.
This is a pizza war for good
The only undisputedly good aspect of the “Pizza State” license plate is that its introduction will help feed Connecticut’s hungry. According to CT Insider, the $28.6 billion budget bill approved by the Connecticut General Assembly last weekend, which authorized the plate, also directly appropriated funding to Connecticut Foodshare. The sitewide food bank will also receive $50 from each $65 license plate fee, as it continues to provide millions of free meals to food-insecure people.
Back to the pizza debate at the heart of the matter. Governor Ned Lamont declared Connecticut the country’s pizza capital back in 2024 as part of a marketing campaign to promote the state. That declaration could have grounds for war in a different century, but individual states apparently don’t fight wars against each other anymore. Connecticut had better go back to being a UConn Husky-obsessed suburb before New York makes Greenwich the next Toledo.
-
California6 minutes agoAfter exile, California tribes could help run their ancestral redwoods again
-
Connecticut18 minutes ago
Alicia (Plikaitis) Helen Junghans Obituary
-
Delaware24 minutes agoMiddletown runs away with record, team title at New Castle County meet
-
Florida30 minutes agoPalm Bay, Florida parents of premature twins held NICU wedding
-
Georgia36 minutes ago‘We’re champs’: How Georgia baseball soaked up first SEC title in 18 years
-
Hawaii42 minutes agoHilo tsunami clock memorial to be moved? – Hawaii Tribune-Herald
-
Idaho48 minutes agoIdaho Stop ordinance seen as progress for cyclists, supporters say | Jefferson City News-Tribune
-
Illinois54 minutes ago20-year-old motorcyclist killed in crash in Oswego, Illinois, police say
