Remember the fun we had with the pronunciation of Kootenai (Koot-NEE) County? Well, Art Anderson/Mullan asks whaddabout us over here in Shoshone County? How can anyone mispronounce Shoshone? "I think we can all agree it's Sho-shone," Art e-mails, "but I have heard people who should know better say it as Shoshonee." That's nothing, however, compared to the two Panhandle towns of Clarkia and Kooskia. Art points out the obvious: They both end in "KIA." What's not so obvious is that they're not pronounced alike. Kooskia is pronounced Koos-kee. Clarkia is as it seems, Clark-ee-a. Art hails from Allentown, Penn. – yes, the Allentown celebrated in song – which is near Schuylkill. The consensus among the locals for the pronunciation of that town's name is Sky-Kill. Sez Art: "I won't even attempt to spell some of the other choices!" IMHO, you can tell a local from a wannabe by asking him to pronounce the name of the Palouse town where the University of Idaho is located. Or to spell Prichard.

• Poet's Corner: "This novel idea/is rather intriguing:/to get out of a hole/you keep right on digging" – The Bard of Sherman Avenue ("The Latest Iraq Plan").

• Bumpersnicker (spotted in Boise by online commenter Cameraman): "Oklahoma is a musical, Boise State is a champion."

• OK, I know it's only a high school newspaper, but the CHS Viking Voice should settle on a spelling for the surname of Idaho Sen. John Goedde, R- Coeur d'Alene. The VV choices for a feature story in the January issue include "Getty" and "Goeddy

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