i have a couple of questions for my site

hello everybody.

i try to create a magazine with a bunch of writers.

what i did is made every writer a “category” and in each writer category i will present the post which they write.

so here are the problem i came in front:

1) i am using the template twenty ten and one of the categories is “personel columns”. in that category there are subcategories of writers with personal columns.
the thing is, now metter how i tried i cant do any subcatagories to display on the menu. in the guides its look simple when you just drag it and it becomes one and then you hover on it and it shows the subcategory, but i just couldnt do it …..

2. lets say every week(just an exmple) we want to make a new post for everybody.
i want to know if there is a plugin or a possibility to make that the last post i put in a category will show itself big and full while the other which are from before will be small as regular?(like the defualt i mean)

3.i know that wordpress works on templates. can i make the front page to be without all the things around? i mean without the sidemenus and everything? just like a regular site….

thanks for your help….. waiting for reply ??

ronen.