From AP: OXON HILL, Md. -- The 85th National Spelling Bee is under way. Thirteen-year-old Kevin Lazenby of Opelika, Ala., stepped to the microphone Wednesday morning at a convention center outside Washington and correctly spelled "witticism."
The 278 participants won local and regional spelling bees to make the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Each gets the opportunity to spell two words during Wednesday's preliminary rounds. Their scores will be combined with scores from a 50-word computer test to determine the field of no more than 50 semifinalists. Read the latest on the contest here.
