The Vermont-based ice cream company wants Washingtonians to help create a D.C.-centric treat by narrowing a field of 16 flavors through online voting and some less traditional means.

The naming contest for the National Zoo’s new octopus has at last come to a close, and the already popular cephalopod has been officially dubbed ‘Octavius.’ Zoo fans chose from a set of four possible names, including Olympus, Ceph, and Vancouver, but Octavius was ultimately the winner. Zoo officials announced the name via the Octopus Cam shortly after 2 p.m. on Wednesday. We dig the choice. Here’s how the Zoo described the rationale behind…

Photo by Mehgan Murphy, courtesy Smithsonian’s National Zoo You can tell the Smithsonian’s National Zoo has been looking for ways to gin up interest in its non-panda animals ever since Butterstick was shipped back to China. The zoo’s latest naming contest, for its brand new Giant Pacific Octopus, is just one such example. Still, octopi are inarguably cool, so let’s make sure he gets a decent name. Click here to access the online ballot,…

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority desperately needs to change its image. After years of disturbing lead findings, toxic chlorine pollutants, chronically broken fire hydrants, and the like, they’re hardly seen as the District’s most efficient agency. It won’t be an easy task to make people forget WASA’s inadequacies, but new General Manager George Hawkins has to start somewhere — so why not get the ball rolling with a new logo? In…

One of the silliest local internet traditions has come to an end. On Friday, D.C. media watchblog Fishbowl DC announced it was killing its annual “Hottest Media Types” contest. Which is all well and good, considering every version for the last several years was won by whichever nominee benefited from the best automatic voting bot. In its place, however, we’re getting the Fishbowl DC Summer Superlatives, which come in the form of these ten…

If you thought you spied Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek around town this week, you weren’t mistaken. The formerly moustachioed game show personality was back again this year to host the annual National Geographic Bee, which finished up today by crowning Eric Yang, 13, a seventh-grader at Griffin Middle School in The Colony, TX, with the first place title. The winning question was: Timis County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and…

The field of 65 is set. While last night’s selection show didn’t reveal any surprise omissions or inclusions for our area teams (sorry, Maryland), it sure gave us plenty to consider in advance of our bracketeering. Did last year’s 5-seed sweep end the 12-5 upset special? How far do you take local teams or alma mater? Will you trust veteran-led teams or take the young studs with NBA-level talent? Which would win in a fight,…

Thanks to the holiday, What’s That You Say?, our roundup of the best comments, is a day late. But keep your comments coming, and don’t forget to register if you haven’t. You may already be a winner of the not-really-prestigious weekly avatar and username contests! Comment of the Week: jen209 on D.C. being named only the 8th gayest city in the country: So maybe we ARE the gayest, it’s just that all of our gays…

Written by DCist Contributor Josh Kramer The Hatchet — George Washington University >>David Horowitz, organizer of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, spoke Thursday night at GWU. Horowitz criticized the university and for its reaction to the students who hung ironically critical posters on campus, but spent most of the talk explaining the history of the Ottoman empire and what he believes is the rise of “Islamo-fascism.” Horowitz also tried to claim that he is not a racist….

Many of you have already visited the “Solar Village” since it opened its gates last Friday on the National Mall. Last weekend the long lines literally wrapped around each house entered into the 2007 Solar Decathlon, with people eager to get a tour from the students, alumni and faculty from each university competitor. The ten competitions have been judged all week, from Architecture last week to Engineering today, with individual winners announced for each leg…