It’s tax time again. Investors need to start preparing their facts and figures in anticipation for filing season. Things to think about are organization, understanding where your investments fall in the tax code and how to attribute money as income or future capitalization.

The Local on Lonsdale will someday be a 20 storey condo tower housing 175 units, an onsite grocery store taking up 43,700 square feet and commercial space totaling 8,600 square feet. All of this on a piece of land that once was home to a single storey Extra Food Store in North Vancouver. And this is just the beginning.

The South Coast of British Columbia was hit by a combination of high winds and rains this past Tuesday morning. The storm was powerful enough to cause cancelling of two early morning ferry sailings between Tsawwassen on the mainland and Vancouver Island. Nearly 100,000 homes lost power and the West Coast Express and Sky Train were also delayed, largely due to fallen trees.

Seaspan Shipyards in North Vancouver has reason to celebrate. The British Columbia firm was just awarded an $8 billion ship-building contract from the federal government. On order are seven vessels, all of the non-combat variety, including an ice-breaker, navy support ships, a fisheries vessel and Coast Guard ship. There is also a possibility of an additional contract for 17 more ships to be built at Seaspan.

In Vancouver, as well as other parts of Canada, buying a home is an expensive proposition, and out of the reach of many. As an example, in Vancouver the cost of owning and maintaining an average bungalow takes an average of 92.5 percent of an average pre-tax income. No wonder two people in a family have to work.

Enrolment in North Vancouver schools has been declining for a while now. When the numbers were tallied this past September 21st, the district showed 15,157 students on the books. That is 157 less than last year.  John Lewis, the superintendent, expects that trend to continue for at least a few more years, but he is expecting the decrease to be less each year.

Retirement can be expensive, especially if you have health care issues and want to live independently in your own home. One couple who recently moved into a two bedroom condo in the Arbutus Village complex is spending a fortune for caregivers. One has Alzheimer’s and is fighting prostate cancer, another has dementia.

Oleg Tchoubarov built an addition to his property on Capilano Street in North Vancouver. Apparently it is on an old foundation from an extension built earlier, as testified by Doug Massie, a Vancouver architect and a former tenant. But it looks like the addition might just be coming down because it was built without permits.

A modest frame house at 502 Alexander Street is hardly visible from the street, but it has the distinction of being the second-oldest house in Vancouver.  That distinction will soon be lost, however, as the dwelling is slated for demolition.

During the first quarter of 2011 BC Ferries had a deficit of $5.5 million. Compare that to the same time period in 2010 when the company made $900,000 in profit. David Hahn, the CEO, is blaming the sagging economy for the twist of fate experienced by the company. He had previously predicted the firm would see a $20 million loss for the entire year, which in itself was not great news.