Las Vegas soccer is divided into two worlds: the ligas americanas and ligas mexicanas. Can they learn to speak the same language — and create another soccer star? We had crossed a border in the Las Vegas Valley, less than 10 miles from our house.

Nearly a year after domestic partnerships became legal in Nevada, the GLBT community is learning to wield its newfound cloutWhen Senate Bill 283 passed last year, it provoked little more than a shrug from many Nevadans. Now, a year into the life of the Domestic Partnership Act - with interest groups planning their strategies for the 2011 Legislature - its far-reaching effects on individuals and institutions are coming into focus.

Short of building a giant fence around the city, here's how you can help keep our best artists working -- and thriving -- in Las VegasI like to think I know a bit about art Not too much; I wouldn't last 30 seconds in the ring with a bruiser like Dave Hickey, the genius critic who famously blew town not long ago. But I can wander into a gallery and have enough sense of what I'm looking at to bore my family with explanations that may actually have some merit.

The ever-evolving roster of shops at the Caesars Palace emporium gets a new addition this fall with fast-fashion retailer H&M taking over the 60,000 square-foot space formerly occupied by FAO Schwartz. This flagship location will be the largest H&M in the United States.

Dennis Oppenheim on a Las Vegas aesthetic, the mystique of art-making and those giant paintbrushesDennis Oppenheim's Paintbrush Gateway is slated for completion this fall: two 45-foot tall steel paintbrushes have already been planted along the sidewalk on East Charleston Boulevard. One brush rises from in front of a dilapidated Siegel Suites franchise at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard, while a second brush sits four hundred feet west in front of the Brett Wesley Gallery and across from the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC).

This season, convert hot fall runway trends into a truly Vegas styleLadylike SilhouettesLuck may be a lady in this town, but the chignon-and-gloves aesthetic can be hard to pull off in a sea of hard-bodied models-slash-cocktail waitresses. The key to this fall's iteration of a ladylike silhouette is keeping it quirky with details, such as Prada's off-the-wall glasses or the full leather skirts that showed up at Louis Vuitton.

Gardeners will tell you that fall is our "second spring." It does feel like a new beginning after the searing summer heat that broke records in July.

The Vegas Valley Book Festival takes place Nov. 3-7 at various venues throughout Las Vegas.

In Las Vegas, parenting lessons sometimes come from unexpected placesLast week we met with friends for an evening at the park. Just an informal affair-grab whatever's in your fridge and let the kids run through the fountains.

Hope your schedule's open, because we have big plans for you.Classical concerts.