Print edition for September 1, 2006

TAKE FIVE: LIBERACE'S SHOES COME OUT OF THE CLOSET: The Liberace Museum reached into the late entertainer's closet this summer, dusted off 30 pairs of shoes and is displaying them in its first new exhibit in 10 years.

Ron Kantowski notices that the invitation-only Women's Challenge looked more like a beauty contest: But because a contract had been signed for a third season, Gilligan wound up kicking one of the logs to where it spelled S-O-L instead of S-O-S. Sol, the astronaut, thought it was neat, but it didn't help the Professor and Mary Ann get off the rock.

Letter: A-Tech has a gem of a principal in Diamond: What troubled me more was the anonymous tipster's insinuation that A-Tech's principal, Karen Diamond, is unapproachable, and the direct assertion that she is "not ... open to suggestion." I had the great good fortune of working for Ms. Diamond for over seven years, including two years when she was my supervising administrator and five years during which she was in charge of curriculum and instruction.

Jeff Haney on how the closing of the Stardust has caused its football handicapping contest to walk to the Silverton with the title 'Money Talks': At its best, whether the contestants were deconstructing a big matchup, debating a fine point of the professional gambling racket or even lobbing bombs at each other, it transcended sports prognosticating and became riveting theater.

Editorial: Reading between the numbers: Wages, in fact, have dropped. Census figures show that the median earnings of women working full time declined by 1.3 percent last year, while the median income for men working full time declined by almost 2 percent. The rise in the median household income - the first since 1999 - is attributed to more people in each household having jobs or people holding down more than one job.

ARTS NOTES: Photographer Antonio Gomez returns to his hometown in Jalisco, Mexico, each year, bringing his Leica Rangefinder to capture the community he knows so well.

Editorial: Statements versus reality: The past seven days have provided an example that reflects the whole course of the war.

Art house films 'homeless': If you're moving to Las Vegas, leave your beret behind, forget your odd-smelling skinny cigarettes and sell off your bookcase full of revisionist-Marxist auteur theory. There is no art house theater here.

Letter: Sacrifice of rural Nevada is wrong: However, I do agree wholeheartedly that 1) stealing someone else's water is not going to help this valley and 2) uncontrolled growth is not necessarily a good thing. I believe there can be a steady, albeit slow growth in this valley without sacrificing rural Nevada or any other water source. We have no right to steal water - or rape the state just to keep a few developers in business.

Editorial: Money flows into place: Members of the Clean Water Coalition, which represents Clark County, Las Vegas and Henderson, negotiated with business and residential developers to arrive at a fee that will raise money to pay for the mammoth water project. The fee will be assessed on new-house connections, starting at $400 right now and rising to $812 in July 2007.

Letter: Lamenting the decline of science education: Teachers throughout this district were encouraged to develop creative teaching programs and to motivate, inspire and challenge their students to excellence.

County wants to cut some of mama's apron strings: Clark County occupies an area bigger than New Jersey and boasts one of the most recognizable stretches of real estate - the Las Vegas Strip - in the world.

John Katsilometes describes an online diatribe by comic Alonzo Bodden, who says he's not welcome at the Palms: What follows, on that date and again in his musings of Aug. 20, is a lengthy, often funny and frequently profane diatribe against the Palms, from where Bodden says he has been banished.

Look out Jean, here comes Henderson: By Brian Wargo; The Bureau of Land Management has blessed Henderson's plans to annex coveted federal land bordering both sides of Las Vegas Boulevard South near St. Rose Parkway, paving the way to a potential financial windfall for it and positioning it as the southern gateway city into the Las Vegas Valley.

Fewer citizen complaints put cops on beats: By Abigail Goldman; In less than a month, half of Metro's Internal Affairs department will be jettisoned for new assignments and will not be replaced.