Metro Connection

The bloody battle between North and South is a key part of our region's history. The city of Alexandria was occupied by federal troops during the war between the states, and it's remembering that time with "Life in Civil War Alexandria," a kick-off for its commemoration of this year's Civil War Sesquicentennial. Rebecca Sheir visits Old Town to learn more about the geographic, political and social role Alexandria played in the Civil War.

[Music: "Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Louis...

Thousands of realtors are competing to survive in the cutthroat Washington housing market. And the old ways of catching people's attention -- e.g. putting ads in the newspaper and serving cookies at your open house -- no longer cut it. Kavitha Cardoza speaks with a few realtors to see what they're doing to cut through the clutter.

[Music: "Sell Sell Sell" by The Barenaked Ladies from Maroon]

Eleven-year-old Donovan Jordan will represent D.C. in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in a few weeks. The competition is held in or near the city every year, but no one from the District has ever won. That's no deterrent to Donovan, who doesn't like to lose -- anything. Emily Friedman watches Donovan get ready for a battle royale and chats with his parents about how he prepares for this incredibly challenging event.

[Music: "Words" (Karaoke Version) (In the Style of the Bee Gees) by...

A rare, endangered orchid inhabits the hollows of Virginia, surviving only in collaboration with a particular type of fungus and a particular type of tree. Scientists want to save the orchid, known as the small-whorled pogonia, but first they have to find it. Sabri Ben-Achour tags along on a rescue mission.

[Music: "Flower" by Amos Lee from Mission Bell]

In this week's D.C. Gigs, a D.C. taxi driver tells tales from her 36 years of driving around the nation's capital.