The official D.C. bird is the wood thrush. The official D.C. flower is the American Beauty Rose. And now, D.C. will have an official cocktail: the Rickey, joining Louisiana (the Sazerac) as the only other state place to have an official cocktail. more ›

The D.C. Council has gone ahead and approved $206 million in public financing for a Marriott Marquis hotel adjacent to the Washington Convention Center, the Washington Business Journal reports. The key approval makes way for construction on the long-stalled development to finally begin, after the financing fell apart amid the current economic crisis. Construction could begin as early as next fall, says the BizJo. “We went from a 100 percent publicly financed hotel to a deal that requires the developer to fund the majority of the costs," said At-large Council member Kwame Brown in a statement. "While it’s not the ideal result, in these tough economic times we can now look forward to revitalizing the Shaw neighborhood and putting District residents to work.” Brown, Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), and CFO Natwar Gandhi were all involved in negotiating the arrangement with the Convention Center. more ›