Whether they’re fighting global disease, remaking the cityscape or growing gardens in schools, these five Las Vegans are putting deep thoughts into high gear

1. FOOOOOD FIIIIIGHT! Sorry, couldn’t resist.

One thing we can predict for the 2015 Legislature: unpredictability. And maybe a tax plan? Maybe a deal to fund education? Maybe some bipartisanship? Don’t hold your breath

Two major pet-hoarding incidents made headlines in Southern Nevada last year, each involving around 100 animals and one at a home from which dozens of cats had already been removed since 2010. It leaves people wondering what causes this behavior and what to do about it.

Activists have spent years fighting to protect Nevada’s natural areas. But what about preserving assets you can’t see — like silence?

An indie bookstore downtown: They have built it, but will you come? The answer will say a lot about this city

Happy new year! Not to kick off this baby-fresh 2015 wringing hands over last year’s spilled milk or anything, but I’d have to be blind not to note the irony of putting together a Big Ideas feature package in the flaming wake of the defeat of the Education Initiative. Awk.

News item: After numerous controversies and allegations involving Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura, in 2013 the Clark County Commission voted to abolish the Las Vegas Constable’s office, effective January 2015..

Cockroach Theatre knows that nothing says Welcome to 2015, Baby New Year! like a production of Tracy Letts’ claustrophobically intense drama about secrets, paranoia, abuse, blood, death and shared madness. Baby New Year’s gonna need a new diaper! Through Feb.

1. Deep, wide-ranging resources: “The heart of the Architecture Studies Library is the collection,” says Operations Supervisor Steve Baskin.