The Scripps National Spelling Bee kicked off today at the National Harbor, and Virginia local Lori Anne Madison has become the youngest competitor in the contest's 87-year history. more ›

Good morning Washington. Were you at last night's mayoral debate up on Foxhall Road? If so, did you get the sense that Mayor Adrian Fenty is getting a wee bit more aggressive? Martin and I will have more to say on that later today but there were two key phrases that came out of the mayor's mouth that suggest he may be getting ready to pounce: "Vincent Gray's 'early-90s days'" and "shenanigans about the streetcars." Many people are sick and tired of the squabbling over the streetcar issue, but take a look-y here. Perfect fodder for Fenty, no? This is all getting interesting, for sure! Check out Martin's fantastic live-tweeting from the chilly Field School gym last night. Speaking of tweeting, the National Spelling Bee finals are today and even D.C's first responders are getting in on the act. Isn't this just precious? "Spelling Bee Contestants in DC -Finals are TODAY - How do you spell help in DC - DC F&EMS - we R fast, we R well-trained & we R NICE" That's the type of efficient spelling strategy that should please these protesters! What else is making news? (Yes, we know about the stuck train in the Rosslyn-Foggy Bottom tunnel. That's what you get for living on the Orange and Blue Lines.) more ›

Among the thrilling matches of human prowess coming soon to our city: the Scripps National Spelling Bee and the US Air Guitar Championships. The Spelling Bee got started today, with the Round One Test, in which all 293 spellers spell 50 words on computers. The onstage action stats tomorrow. The Air Guitar Championship arrives on the 29th, at the 9:30 Club. Too bad the dates don't overlap. Wouldn't it be great if the competitors spent one day switching competitions? Shirtless, stoned, wannabe rockers mangling guerdon or appoggiatura and nerdy little kids rocking out all nervous? more ›

Which stories did DCist readers think merited the most attention this year? more ›

It's hard to believe that a musical could get you hooked on phonics. But spelling suddenly becomes irresistible in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," the touring production of the Broadway hit, now playing at the National Theater. The pleasing, goofy show takes an amalgam of precocious, oddball kids and makes you root for them all. There are archetypes for sure -- the obsessive Asian kid, the nasal, self-important geek -- but each one... more ›

Dysfunctional relationship musicals...the Odyssey revisited...a one-nun show...one can't say the D.C. theater scene is relying only on Halloween for their October programming inspiration (though we do, at least, have some Poe still playing). Here's an overview of what's opening this month. Not only a new show, but a new theater! Bethesda Theatre hopes that I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, a relationship musical which has been compared to Seinfeld in its sensibilities, will become... more ›

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti... more ›

Via Best Week Ever, CNN's Kyra Phillips Kiran Chetry learns that interviewing kids is the toughest job in news the hard way. It doesn't help that her interviewee, Evan O'Dorney, the winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee held here in D.C. last week, seems to be a particularly tough nut to crack. If watching a truly uncomfortable situation makes you cringe more than smile, you might want to skip this one. more ›

Evan O'Dorney, a 13-year-old from Danville, Calif., became the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion last night. His winning word was "serrefine" -- a noun describing small forceps used for approximating the edges of a wound -- which he successfully spelled after a long, tense final showdown with Nate Gartke of Spruce Grove, Alberta. Gartke had hoped to become the first Canadian to win the bee. more ›

Today a select group of the world's wordiest tweens take the stage at the annual lexicon smackdown known as the National Spelling Bee. Almost 300 students will spend the next two days at the Grand Hyatt on H St. competing in written and oral tests of their spelling skills, culminating in Thursday's final round, to be aired nationwide on ABC. The Examiner has a profile of one of the circuit's best-known competitors, facing his final shot at the brass ring this year. Like Samir Patel, many of the bee's most serious contenders are home schooled, including my all-time favorite word wizard, Rebecca Sealfon, shown above in a moment of pure spellation winning the 1997 bee. more ›

As our Gothamist friends picked up back in 2005, 28-year-old comedienne Jennifer Dziura is a pretty funny gal. After reading her bio, I quickly realized that I wanted to be her. The Dartmouth philosophy grad is a human smorgasbord, with past stints as a contraceptive tester, naked model for miscellaneous art schools, trapeze assistant, dot-com entrepreneur, and occasional comedy writer for McSweeney's and the Idiot's Guide to Jokes. Every Monday she emcees Williamsburg’s “Spelling Bee"... more ›

No, he didn’t make An Inconvenient Truth, but climate change policy wonks will probably turn out to throw Joseph Romm a bone as he signs Hell and High Water: Global Warming—the Solution and the Politics—and What We Should Do. At Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW., at 7 p.m. more ›

Good morning, D.C. Seeing as we're in the midst of the annual summer spike in crime, you might be feeling a little vulnerable right now. Well, good news! It turns out that we can at least stop worrying quite so much about terrorist attacks — according to DHS, anyway. In order to justify the recent cuts to anti-terror funding for the District, the agency has begun explaining that we simply aren't that likely to be a target. Doesn't that make you feel better? Sniper Receives Six Life Terms: John Allen Muhammed received six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in Manassas Maryland yesterday, the Post reports. Muhammed had previously received a capital sentence in Virginia, where he is now imprisoned on death row. The sniper's prosecution may not yet be over: he could still face trial in Louisiana and Alabama. Post Cuts Its Rolls: Fishbowl reports on the latest news from 15th Street. Apparently the Washington Post is trying to trim its fat in the face of declining circulation. Despite our occasional complaining about the venerable paper, we're sorry to see the cornerstone of D.C. media paring itself down (we wish we could say we aren't part of the problem, but we stopped subscribing when our paper started getting stolen every morning). All told, seventy reporters, photographers and administrators have accepted early retirement offers — head over to Fishbowl for the set of names. You might be surprised to see who is (or isn't) on the list. Stadium Gets Commission's OK: WJLA brings word that the National Capital Planning Commission has approved the first phase of the Nationals' new stadium. Some board members expressed reservations related to the building's potential for blocking views of the Capitol, but the final vote was unanimous. This Day In DCist: One year ago today we focused on organizations that do good and took a second stab at guessing who would jump into the mayoral race. Briefly Noted: Alleged weekend carjackers arrested... BGE rate hike still being argued over... "Ursprache" is winning word at Scripps Spelling Bee... More delays at Wilson Bridge... Water restrictions coming for Howard & Anne Arundel counties... Times thinks yesterday's traffic jam was one of the worst of all time, presumably because it happened near their offices... Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user Burnt Pixel more ›

It seems like spelling bees are popular nowadays – recently we talked about the D.C. Bee spelling bee for adults, and before that there was the documentary "Spellbound" and the Starbucks tie-in movie "Akeelah and the Bee." But today the World Series of spelling bees kicked off, and right in our backyard. The first round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee started earlier today in D.C., with the second round set for this afternoon and... more ›

Yesterday's immigration rally was big news in the city, no matter what side of the issue you are on. I, unfortunately, left my camera at home, but not so for Flickr user maxedaperture. This photo was taken on a Canon EOS 20D. The EXIF data can be found here. There are plenty of other pictures from the rally in the DCist tag pool, as well as photos from last night's Ghostface Killah concert (how was it? I wanted to go but couldn't make it) and the latest round of the D.C. Spelling Bee. more ›