Let's get ready to rummmbbllllee! In this corner, wearing the arrogance borne of running the state's largest municipal entitythe Clark County Commission! And in this corner, wearing a sense of entitlement gleaned from governing the nation's third-fastest growing citythe Henderson City Council! The prize: control of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Interstate 15, abutting land out to Primm. To the owner will go hundreds of millions in tax revenues as gamers start sopping up parcels for the Strip's southward expansion. So far, there's been no jabbing and weavingonly feints and ducks. Henderson brass say they want 3,625 acres of nearby federal land annexed to keep up growth; commissioners doubt Hooterville brass can govern such a large expanse and say they're only in it for the money. As for the amount of green at stake, consider this: The six-mile stretch of the Strip from Sahara Avenue to Russell Road generated $11.6 billion last year. It's 32 miles from South Coast, the Strip's southernmost megaresort, to Primmenough space for six current-sized Strips. Like I said, Let's get ready to rummmbbllllee!

Just when what we need most is someone to push the state in a progressive direction, the next governor of Nevada will be a middle-of-the-road white man named Jim. He'll be placidly enthusiastic about a growing economy, get along moderately well with the Legislature and have some forgettable surname like Gibbons or Gibson or Giblets or Guinn, not unlike the middle-of-the-road white man who held the office before him, Ken something.

The candidates: U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons (R), state Sen. Bob Beers (R), Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt (R), Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson (D), State Sen. Dina Titus (D). Barring another candidate, like, say, the mayor of Las Vegas, to shake the race up, it'll fall out like this:

The state is sadly not ready to elect a fireball like Titus, will eventually tire of Beers' smart(ass) independence, simply won't elect Lorraine Hunt, will eventually sort out the difference between the names "Gibbons" and "Gibson" and, pushed by the Red counties, pick Republican Gibbonswho had the lead in early war-chest totals by nearly a million bucks over Gibson. (Even Chancellor Jim Rogers reversed his position last week and pitched some cash to Gibbons, which provides some handy foreshadowing, because he secretly runs the entire state and will one day be governor himself.)

Never mind that down here in Clark County, we'd rather go Blue. That's four years down the road.

Motivational speaker. You know, since he's not running for governor.

Sure, once he leaves City Hall he could easily take up the law again, and might very well do so. Would he ever lose a case in Vegas? But he's clearly addicted to the stagehe's an attention sponge. And the occasional grandstanding at a big-time trial probably won't be enough anymore. Anyway, it's not headlines he craves, it's connectionhe really is a people person. So, to pocket huge sums for plying his shtick to folks who are paying to listen ... well, paid speaker seems a natural use of his enormous charm and volubility. So here's our fearless prediction: He'll practice law part-time to keep his Rolodex alive, but his heart will truly beat for those times he mounts the stage to address the annual convention of regional Speedee Mart managers. And he will kill.

Easy: uncertainty. Education observers suggest keeping your eyes peeled for the following: "With the next bond measure going to voters in 2008, expect to hear dire predictions from district officials of more schools going on year-round calendars because of a shortage of classroom seats. ... The district plans to open as many as six new career and technical high schools [the next in the northwest, I believe, in 2007], but may struggle to find enough qualified teachers. ... All eyes will be on superintendent Walt Rulffes next summer as his 18-month term draws to a close. The success or failure of the 'empowerment schools' will be a key element in the school board's evaluation of his performance and whether or not to extend his contract. ... Science, science, science will be the topic of the day as the district gears up not only for the new statewide standards but the new proficiency test as well."

Our guess: improvement or the lack of it. One thing's fairly certain: university system Chancellor Jim Rogers will continue to shape the system how he sees fit. Beyond that, here's what one observer expects: "The big things in the pipeline for higher education [are] hiring the two new presidents for UNLV and UNR [University of Nevada, Reno] and finalizing the budget request for the 2007 session. A lot will depend on who's hired there and how they work with Rogers. There's also the pursuit to develop the medical school. All three Southern [Nevada] institutions are working on possible private-public partnerships to develop their campuses with classes, retail, restaurants, even housing, all right together. All of that is some years down the road. Another ongoing issue is how to improve the quality of student there at UNLV and UNR and how to improve research."

Photo by Sam Morris

Of course, by picking the New Frontier, we're getting ahead of ourselveswe haven't yet dynamited the Stardust, which will be blown into the heavens in March 2007, ceding the land for the new, $4 billion Echelon Place, and the Boardwalk is being systematically taken apart.

But with the north end of the Strip the hotbed of glitzy development, expect the Stardust's veteran, north-end neighbor to be the next property on the wrecker's checklist.

Following intense speculation, New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin has already announced a name for his planned palaceMontreux, as in the Swiss city that hosts the famous jazz festivalbut is still mum on money matters.

Ruffin, who told the Las Vegas Sun he's flying solo, sans financial partners, claims his new mega-baby will boast 2,750 rooms and cater to an upper-crust crowd, a la Paris Las Vegas.

Expect the boom-boom that brings down the New Frontier next year, with the Montreux set to jazz up Vegas in 2010.

The monorail wasn't so much a development as a disaster; the Regional Justice Center was a leaky tragi-comedy. Vertical condos are too obvious a stack of foreclosures waiting to happen to be our pick for upcoming disaster. So the next development disaster will involve McCarran International Airport. It's been a cherished little transportation gem for Las Vegas for quite some time, welcoming in and ushering out some 40 million visitors every year, and doing so with stylethe D Gates terminal is a beautiful bit of airport, as airports go, complete with cool sculptures and wide, well-lit hallways. But: The number of new hotel rooms is growing at a rate faster than McCarran can handle, even as construction of new gates continues.

In 2005 more than 44 million people came through McCarran, up from 36.3 million in 2003. The airport's capacity is projected to be about 50 million people per year. We're going to pass that number soon, and then some.

So even with the $2.4 billion in capital improvement projects planned at McCarran through 2011including the completion of the new Terminal 3there will be a stretch of time when the visitors can't be accommodated. What to do? Fly them into North Las Vegas? Encourage more bottleneck on I-15? Hurry up the construction of another airport south of Las Vegas in Ivanpah? Nobody sees any of these as quick nor broad enough solutions. So, starting shortlywe'll have not enough room at our airport to maximize our growth potential. That's a development disaster.

For sheer theatrical value, nothing tops G-Sting, the political bribery/corruption/extortion/sex scandal that's made the Review-Journal readable again (for now). But for sheer extracting-pound-of-flesh value, the Economic Opportunity Board's free-fall from grace has the potential to fill a cemetery. State and federal investigations. Allegations of fraud and mismanagement. Millions in missing and unaccounted-for funds. Five executive directors in four years. If and when the smoke clears, don't be surprised at the number of folkshigh profile and not, powerful and otherwisebearing responsibility for the sad devolution of the state's largest anti-poverty agency. Stay tuned.

Immigration is already a hot topic, all across the country and in all certainty right here, in Southern Nevada, where at least 100,000 Hispanic immigrants reside; and it's bound to, as soon as Washington makes up its mind on legislation, grow even hotter. Perhaps even as hot as air in the '60s turned when Martin Luther King and civil rights activists argued with unflagging resolve that blacks were worthy not just of first-class citizenship in this country, but also of the responsibility required in earning that citizenship.

And like gay marriage and the lurid Hard Rock billboards before, and gangster rap music now, the presence of undocumented Latin immigrants is an issue that suffers an iron impasse in Las Vegas. That is, it's a dichotomous matter with both sides fervent and inconvertible. The fundamental points of the dispute are well known, and it has already shown all the signs of social wildfire: it's ignited rallies and protests; it resurfaces on the letters section of local op-ed pages; it gets airplay over the television and radio, and lip service in restaurants and coffee shops and anywhere else people gather to complain; and not only is it a reoccurring subject of cyber chat, but even the youth are participating in it.

And in the near future there doesn't appear to be any conciliationjust bigger flames.

With a social ill like homelessnessin which we're talking about actual people and thus invaluable and irreplaceable liveseach and every man, woman and child taken off the streets and placed into a home stirs even the angels in heaven to rejoice.

Especially in a free country like America, where the attrition of homelessness is contingent upon individual compassion and not involuntary charity; and above all in Las Vegas, where there are more than 8,000 homeless people enduring some of the cruelest and most inhospitable streets in the United States. Which is why some people, like Linda Lera-Randle-El with the nonprofit organization Straight from the Streets, and the good folks at Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, not only give their day's work to decreasing homelessness in the Valley but also look for new and better ways to be more effective. They have tried outreach and crisis intervention and housing programs, and have had relative success; but, without a doubt, they want more.

"We're going to work with the Legislature to help with the chronically homeless, to help advocate and educate [and not to alienate], because we don't want to just [abate] someone's homelessness until the next day, we want to end it for good," says Lera Randle-El. And Kathleen Boutin, executive director of NPHY, says: "In the next 24 to 36 months we'll begin construction on a $13-million, full-blown adolescent service center on Swenson and Tropicana, where youths will be able to receive anything they need, and it will serve as our main hub."

Instead of concentrating on such aging, globally known Strip properties as the Stardust, the Riviera and the Tropicanasome, if not all of which, could come tumbling down (already a certainty for the stellar Stardust) in dusty clouds of frustration for preservationiststhe maturing city might be turning to its neighborhoods, now getting old enough to meet or exceed the 50-year requirement for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

Berkley Square, originally known as Westside Park, is a post-World War II subdivision that was marketed to African-Americans, described by a 1954 Review-Journal article as "the first minority group subdivision to be approved for construction in the state of Nevada."

With its tract houses designed by African-American architect Paul Revere Williamsknown for creating movie-star homes and LA public buildingsit was renamed for African-American Thomas L. Berkley of Oakland, California, a partial financier of the subdivision, as well as an attorney, developer and civil rights advocate.

Imagine: a city old enough to have historic neighborhoods.

You've come a long way, Vegas, baby.

There are stories coming out of Vegas every day that seem tailor-made for the movies, but the one most likely to hit the big screen next is the story of a group of MIT students who used card-counting techniques to win millions at blackjack in the 1990s. Bringing Down the House, the book about the group's massive wins and subsequent banishment from all casinos, has been picked up by Columbia Pictures and has Robert Luketic, best known for mainstream comedies like Legally Blonde and Monster-in-Law, attached to direct. Re-titled 21, the film has no script or cast as of yet, but given the book's popularity and the fact that Luketic just dropped another project to focus on it, it will probably head into production some time this year.

Looking a little further ahead, we've got two stories all over the local news right now that are ripe for the big-screen treatment. The ongoing G-Sting trial, with its revelations about bribery and sexual favors and Erin Kenny's vertigo, could make for a great deadpan satire on political corruption and the values that drive our city. And the Titus-Ryan murder trial is guaranteed to at least be a TV movie, since no sensationalistic homicide can escape the fate of an awkward title and a lead performance by someone from a second-rate CBS drama.

Like a strip dancer it must be suggestive, scented with innuendo and as bare as possible. And, in reality, the next big slogan must do little more than reflect the essence of Las Vegas, for this incomparable city by itselfwith all of its lights and shows and adrenaline and carnal and sleepless nightsis alluring enough.

Nevertheless, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority followed up their stellar ad campaign "What Happens Here, Stays Here," with a shibboleth that heads in a new direction: "Be Anyone." The best bet is, the new slogan won't be as effective or resonant as its predecessor, and not just because it suffers the doom of a hit album's follow-up, but because it forsook the simple formula that made its forerunner great. After soliciting suggestions from various figures who make Las Vegas Las Vegas, we found our best idea for a potential catchphrase from local writer Jack Sheehan, the author of the book Skin City and a man who in his work has excavated the culture of this town many times over. His idea, in parodic accordance with Vegas' hit slogan, goes like this:

"Lose your shirt, lose your pants: We won't tell."

Who cares, as long as it's written with the eloquent pizzazz of this blurb on South Florida by New York Times book critic Guy Martin about The Swamp by Michael Grunwald:

South Florida is a pirate's refuge, a seething dung heap of con artists and a beloved wellspring of sham. Thousands of Americans are enticed by cartoon characters to live in Orlando; Cuban migrs keep the decrepit forge of the cold war burning bright; the Pulitzer family name is remembered, in Palm Beach anyway, for some really odd bedroom yoga performed with a trumpet by a woman named Roxanne. Why a trumpet? you ask. The South Florida answer is, Why not? Even the gas stations along I-95 try to outdo one another with piles of citrus, seashells strip-mined from other waters and the length of their obligatory stuffed gators. Florida: She walks, she talks, she crawls on her belly like a reptile. Step right up!

VH1 clearly loves Vegas, which explains why they're shooting two of their upcoming reality shows here. The Surreal Life spin-off Fame Games, which features past participants from the show competing against one another, is set to air this summer, and Supergroup, bringing together a batch of hard-rock veterans to form a new band, premieres on May 18. What's most notable from the Vegas perspective is that neither of these shows specifically hinges on being set in Vegas as part of its core concept. Unlike almost all of our other local reality shows, which have been set in Vegas-centric institutions like casinos, nightclubs and wedding chapels, the two VH1 shows could just as easily have been filmed in LA.

So the next show after these two could really be anything, as producers looking to put some glamour into their reality programming might just choose Vegas for its inherent flash, even if their show's concept has nothing to do with gambling or showgirls or anything like that. The one show that will really bring attention to Vegas if it happens, though, is America's Got Talent, produced by Simon Cowell of American Idol and airing this summer on NBC. Talent, which features variety acts facing off in an Idol-style competition, was initially announced as a search for a new Vegas headliner. The status of the Vegas element is up in the air now, but if it comes through it could be the biggest Vegas-based reality show yet.

Themes are totally over; the new things are sophisticated condo-hotel-shopping-and-entertainment-centers, with nothing so crass as a focus on medieval times or Egypt or the circus. Technically speaking, the next hotel theme will be Hollywood, when the Aladdin transforms itself into Planet Hollywood some time this year. At one time, there was talk of an aquatic-themed hotel opening on the old Wet N' Wild site next to the Sahara, but that has since quieted. Otherwise, themes look to be on their way out.

Which means, sadly, that we'll definitely never get to see Bob Stupak's legendary Titanic-themed hotel, or any other gaudy, ill-advised conceptual monstrosities. We've already got a Paris, a Venice, a New York and now a Hollywood, but what would really be great? The Las Vegas-themed hotel. Someone call Bob Stupak.

Bette Midler. She's got a ready-made nickname: "Diva Las Vegas," taken from her 1997 MGM concert of the same title. Right here in town she's got a pal (Elton John), a fellow diva (Celine Dion) and the fella she started out with in the bathhouses of Gotham (Barry Manilow), all with long-term deals.

All she needs is the venuecertainly, some hotel would be game to spiff up its star quality with the type of top-tier talent that requires only a first name to brand itand Vegas could conceivably welcome the Boogie-Woogie Bugle Gal of Company B.

The mob rule of Vegas is an evergreen topic of endless fascination, and The Battle for Las Vegas: the Law vs. The Mob (Huntington Press, $14.95) Dennis N. Griffin's second nonfiction effort (his first was last year's Policing Las Vegas, covering the history of Las Vegas/Clark County law enforcement) is being hailed as a solid and sterling read about the Vegas reign of Chi-Town mob man Tony Spilotro, and his showdown with local law and the feds.

"Finally, a book about the mob in Las Vegas from the law enforcement perspective," says Dennis Arnoldy, retired FBI case agent for the Vegas Spilotro investigations, as quoted on authorsden.com. "Dennis Griffin has thoroughly researched and accurately written the story about how law enforcement fought and won the battle to rid Las Vegas of the influence and control of organized crime. It was a pleasure to live through those times again in the pages of this book."

A former Pinkerton's investigator and deputy sheriff in Madison County, New York, as well as now-retired director of the New York State Department of Health Wadsworth Center, Griffin, a part-time Las Vegan, also has six fiction titles to his credit, including The Morgue and Red Gold.

The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. The Mob was published locally April 1, and is set for national release July 1. (A book signing with Griffin was held April 19 at the Nevada State Museum in Lorenzi Park.)

When it comes to Vegas-related booksbeyond those that give amateur gamblers false hopes about beating the housenothing tops a good mob story.

Just as high-end vodka such as Grey Goose helped revive the martini and all of its variations (such as cosmopolitans, appletinis and lemon drops), look for super premium and high-end premium rum to do the same with mojitos, hurricanes and Cuba libres. Rums such as Moet Hennessey's 10 Cane, made in Trinidad from virgin sugar cane, pressed without molasses and double-distilled, are so smooth that they can be enjoyed straight just like scotch. Oronoco is triple-distilled from cane grown in Brazil's mountains and then blended with aged rum, resulting in a rum that's neither white nor dark but a vanilla-accented hybrid.

In January of this year, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States reported that while value-priced rums lost 10 percent of its market share, the higher quality rums gained more than double that amount. At the Wynn, master mixologist Francesco Lafranconi of Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada has already put pineapple and cucumber lavender mojitos on the menu. Leave it to Francesco to be ahead of the curve.

A tough one to be sure, trying to guess the future of the nation's entertainment capital. We'd have Cirque shows up to our gills if we had 'em, one magician for every 10 citizens, and enough Broadway shows coming and going to make New Yorkers green with envy. But we also have fine dining and a need for top wines because we're drinking the United States dry. What do then but combine them all?

Begun in Seattle and now also ensconced in San Francisco is Teatro ZinZanni. Imagine yourself seated in the middle of a Cirque performance, surrounded by cabaret and burlesque performers, while enjoying a gourmet five-course dinner. Perfectly suited for Las Vegas, it combines spectacle, overcomes the language barrier inherent with international audiences, and provides opportunities for super-sizing as only Sin City can do. While the San Francisco show occasionally has (yawn) Joan Baez perform, picture it with (gulp) Celine, (I'm just sayin') George Wallace and (might as well be local at this point) Kid Rock. Bobby Flay can take over the menu for a few months, followed by Michael Mina, the Keller brothers and Wolfie.

Stripper poles, cryogenics, holograms ... what's next in the Vegas club scene? With millions of dollars at stake, the competition has never been tougher for coming out with the Next Big Thing. I'm putting my neck out and telling you now, it's going to be (for lack of a better term) convergence.

By that I mean, club owners are going to start to realize they need something more than great DJs, kick-ass sound and light systems and stunning staff to get patrons lining up around the slots. An interactive bachelorette party theatrical show, such as the one upcoming Polly Esther's will have, is one example. Beauty Bar's martini and manicures is another. Clubs may incorporate temporary or permanent tattoo artists; fashion, makeup and hair stylists to redo you while you party; or setups for video-gaming with people meeting over PlayStations or Xboxes, leading to conversations like, "Hey, that hot blonde just kicked my ass in Tekken! I'm going to get her number!"

Sure, Paris will continue to dance on tables, either because she's celebrating that Stavros Niarchos can finally, legally drink with her or because she really needs to go to the restroom ... right ... now! But at this point, Paris, Nicky and even Tara Reid are more like Mr. Happiness to us than nutty, visiting celebs. They're simply part of our landscape.

Instead, look for a Nick Lachey-related incident. Now, we're not saying Nick is going to have one too many lap dances and then consider running for city council. But it's only a matter of time before CaCee Cobb, Jessica Simpson and Vanessa Minnillo run into each other at a club and start a catfight that'll make the mud wrestling at Gilley's look like a preschool tussle.

The movers and shakers are moving and shaking on Third Street these days, soon to be followed by the rest of us. From the Triple Georgedig the elegant old style bar decorto the raucous Hogs n Heifers, the buzz on Third is amplyifying. In the daytime, it's covered in politicos from the Downtown offices; at night, it's picking up for the see-and-be-seen locals crowd. While First Friday has the arts and crafts and wine-strolling scene covered, something's brewing on Third and is sure to become the next place to be.

Photo by Wesley Gatbonton

Whole Foods Market, having opened a second location in Green Valley, has officially put a pincers movement on the competition. Now you, too, can pay $1.79 for a doughnut, or choose from the best selection of imported cheeses in the city.

Okay, I'm being cheeky when I mention the doughnut, but truth be told, it is pretty great, and so are the rest of the bakery products, fresh produce, composed salads, rotisserie meats, a fresh seafood bar, the city's largest inventory of organic foods, and who knows what else. And yes, the price point is somewhat higher here than at, say, Smith's, but quite often it's worth it.

Guy Savoy, a three-star Michelin chef from Paris, is the biggest name of the year to set up shop in Vegas. His restaurant's opening in the new Augustus Tower at Caesars Palace, has been set for late May, and is eagerly awaited.

Like his Paris flagship, it, too, will be called Guy Savoy, and will feature some of Chef Guy's signature dishes, such as an artichoke soup with black truffles, a creation that some food writers have called the world's greatest soup. That green color you see on the faces of my colleagues is pure envy.

This one is easy. As American taste becomes more jaded, eclectic and sophisticated, a shift toward increased authenticity in ethnic foods, and artisanal products, such as cheese and milk from boutique producers, is slowly becoming evident.

I predict the trans-fat backlash is going to hit the fast-food chains hard, and that chains like O'Natural, a New Hampshire- based chain specializing in organic fast food, will grow rapidly, and hit Vegas in a year or two. Meanwhile, our authentic, small ethnic restaurants continue to increase, and get better with each passing year.

Home-brewing. Microbrews are so 1997. Imports? Get real. Everyone who's anyone will be brewing their own beer before you can say Hefewiezen. It can be accomplished almost entirely with a few household itemsboiling pot, plastic pail, bottles, hoseand a few simple ingredients: hops, yeast, water, sugar and malt extract. But you can be sure when it catches on, shops from Williams-Sonoma to Spencer's Gifts will stack their shelves with designer brewing kits and organic component packs. So don't be surprised when you find an invite to your first homebrew tasting party in your mailbox. Linda's pale ale, anyone?

"The growth of the poker industry ... has led some television executives to bet that darts, dominoes or blackjack will be next," The New York Times intoned grayly, just last week.

Darts? Really? Doesn't it seem too British-pedigreed for mass American consumption? (Although there's always potential entertainment in a pursuit that mixes beer and sharp objects.) Dominoes? Your grandma plays dominoes. (Future spectator: "We're just hoping to see 'em topple.")

Which leaves blackjack. So says Anthony Curtis, local gaming guru and all-around smart fella. (He publishes the Las Vegas Advisor and runs the Huntington Press.) And he's stacking a few chips on this idea: He and some partners have filmed 10 episodes of a show called Ultimate Blackjack Tour and are pitching it to networks. "There are something like 10 times more blackjack players than poker players," he says, citing visitor surveys and reports on table-game revenues. Amid signs that poker is losing some of its mad momentum, blackjack could be the next moderately competitive recreational pursuit to go big.

You haven't experienced the avant-garde music scene until you've heard homegrown trio Meat Over Moscow, comprised of Aaron Thompson and brothers Ian and Wyatt McKenzie. One-time regulars at Southern Nevada's freak-fest Magnetic Celadon gatherings, the group recently returned from a six-month performing hiatus to reclaim their experimental throne, armed with six as-yet-unreleased full-length recordings. Equally capable of venturing into ambient, psych-rock, free noise or dark industrial realms, Meat Over Moscow is just as likely to play glass bottles backed by tape loops as to blend saxophone, synthesizer and good ol' guitar. In other words, don't expect to see them on the cover of a major music 'zine. Unless maybe it's printed in Osaka.

Photo by Steve Marcus

So you've heard Southern Nevada isn't a hotbed for talented athletes? Don't believe it. At this very moment the area can boast a potential all-pro NFL running back (St. Louis Ram Steven Jackson), a hurler for a likely World Series contender (St. Louis Cardinal Brad Thompson), a driver hoping to follow his brother's tracks into NASCAR's series championship circle (Kyle Busch), a Parade Girls Basketball All-America second-teamer (Centennial High's Italee Lucas) and a 14-year-old tennis phenom ranked among the nation's top 10 in her age group (Henderson's Asia Muhammad), among other promising youngsters. Las Vegas is also currently home to one of the most touted pitchers in the minor leagues (the 51s' Chad Billingsley), along with a top-20 collegiate tennis star (UNLV's Elena Gantcheva).

The local product poised to make the loudest splash, however, is golfer In-Bee Park, a Bishop Gorman senior. The Florida transplant captured her second straight Class 4A individual state crown in October, shooting a 5-under 65 to best her closest competitor by five strokes and lead the Gaels to their third consecutive team title. More impressively, Park finished fifth at the LPGA Takefuji Classic in 2005, just four strokes off the lead and ahead of such golf heavyweights as Karie Webb and Lake Las Vegas resident Natalie Gulbis. Park also made headlines in 2004 by knocking out Michelle Wieyes, that Michelle Wiein the match-play U.S. Women's Amateur Championship in 2004. The 17-year-old Las Vegan requested, and was denied, a special exemption that would have allowed her to join the LPGA Tour before her 18th birthday. She is currently participating in the developmental Futures Tour, and is expected to join the LPGA tour this summer. Look out Annika!

Lucky You, due out this summer, features Eric Bana as a professional poker player and Drew Barrymore as the singer he falls in love with while playing in the World Series of Poker. Directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys), Lucky You spent a month and a half shooting in Vegas in early 2005. By combining the male-skewing sport of poker with the female-skewing genre of romantic comedies starring Drew Barrymore, the film is aiming for a cross-gender marketing bonanza.

Lucky You will probably be a decent hit, but the most anticipated upcoming Vegas movie is one that won't open until the summer of 2007. It's Ocean's 13, the latest in the series of cool crime-caper movies from director Steven Soderbergh and his all-star cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. 2001's Ocean's 11, a remake of a 1960s Rat Pack film, was both set and shot in Vegas, while 2004's Ocean's 12 saw the titular thieves decamping to Europe. The latest installment will take place back in Sin City, but logistical concerns over filming in casinos have led to plans to shoot on soundstages in California. Rumors have swirled that the production will end up back in town, though, at the Wynn, and if anyone can lure movie stars back to town, it's Steve Wynn.

The housing market will not collapse. Signs are all there that it's going to happen: We had a gold rush of buying, people were buying over list, and then ... it slowed down, followed by talk of the bubble, and tales of previous eras in other communities in which fools were left holding overpriced mortgages.

But, fear not. We're going with Keith Schwer, director of UNLV's Center for Business and Economic Research: "The reason why housing is less likely to be a bubble in Las Vegas is the expectation for continued job creation. To be sure, job growth could slow for a host of reasons. Terrorism, bird flu and other events are known to have disruptive influences on travel and tourism."

Waitdidn't we say good news?

Schwer goes on: "Having said that, there is always a possibility of a new round of price increases that could push the market into a bubble situation that could be disruptive."

Keith, c'mon! Good news.

"Nonetheless, we are beginning to see a slowdown. Property is on the market longer. Sale prices are falling below the asking prices. In addition, a number of builders are making plans that are more moderate. I hope that this is a sign we will have a soft landing."

Oh, Schwer goes on in his explanation, but we're clinging to the "soft landing" part.

A soft landing! Whew.

However, as unexpected good news goes, that's hardly racy. So prediction No. 2 is the vastly more sexy assertion that the Las Vegas Weekly will replace Nostradamus as the go-to source for telling the future.

Just one? Ask a Downtowner what'll change the neighborhoodwe picked County Manager Thom Reillyand you'll get wrinkles galore: the proposed performing arts center; the new condos; the Frank Gehry-designed Alzheimer's center; the growing music and bar scene; planned municipal buildings. This is one case where a narrowcast prediction may be impossible.