Dakota and the Bee, Part Two

Dakota Jones remains alive in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington. A few minutes ago he spelled "upas."

Don't know that word? It means something that is a poisonous or harmful influence.

Before giving it a go onstage at the Grand Hyatt, Dakota asked for the word to be used in a sentence.

"Mrs. Campbell declared the television was a upas in her family's live and threatened to throw it out the window, at which point her family declared Mrs. Campbell a upas," official pronouncer Jacques Bailly said to audience laughter.

"U-P-A-S," came the answer.

Dakota, a lively 13-year-old in a short haircut, grinned broadly after he got the signal from the judges that he had conquered the word.

Having spelled two words successfully today, Jones awaits results this evening of how he did in a written test that the 273 contestants were given on Wednesday.

The top 50 or so will be invited back to the hotel ballroom tomorrow morning for the semifinals that will be aired live on ESPN at 7 a.m. PDT. Contest finals will be broadcast 8 p.m. tomorrow night on ABC-TV.