The latest property assessments have been released in B.C., and there are — once again — some significant jumps in real estate value. It’s not the New Year’s news that many prospective home buyers wanted to see. Pandemic-fuelled pressure has, by some estimates, pushed up prices around 20 per cent across the Lower Mainland. We’re expecting a deeper analysis from BC Assessment on Tuesday, when we’ll also get a sense of market trends and other information. But this preliminary data has some would-be first-time buyers suffering from sticker shock.
A tree came down in West Vancouver overnight Saturday, killing two people living in the Horseshoe Bay neighbourhood. Crews arrived to the home after a large tree fell on the roof, causing extensive damage. A man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s died at the scene. They were later identified as former West Vancouver Minor Hockey Association President Mike Sharp and his wife Caroline.
People in the underground parkade at Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal were in for a shock on Sunday, when part of the structure buckled late in the afternoon. According to West Vancouver Police, an apparent rockslide caused damage to parts of the parkade. Nobody was injured but at least one unoccupied vehicle was damaged.
Chances there will be an avalanche on Grouse Mountain are higher than usual, prompting the closure of snowshoeing trails in the area. It’s a four, the highest level before the highest, “Extreme”, according to Avalanche Canada. Locals can thank the heavy snowfall, high wind, and warming temperatures for the risky conditions. If you have plans to head to the backcountry, make sure you’re able to stay away from avalanche terrain and falling snow and ice.
BC is welcoming its first baby of 2022, a boy born at 12:04 a.m. January 1 at the Victoria General Hospital. The infant, weighing six pounds and six ounces, has not yet been named by parents Shawna White and Ishmael Grimwood.
The province provided an update to the COVID-19 situation in BC on Monday, January 3, sharing new preliminary COVID-19 case counts. There were 9,332 new cases of COVID-19 over a three-day period:
- December 31, 2021 – Jan. 1, 2022: 4,033 new cases
- January 1-2, 2022: 3,069 new cases
- January 2-3, 2022: 2,230 new cases
Here are the cases broken down by health region:
- Fraser Health: 4,859 new cases
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 1,797 new cases
- Interior Health: 1,185 new cases
- Northern Health: 374 new cases
- Island Health: 1,117 new cases
These latest infections bring the total recorded cases in the province to 264,181.
BC’s top health officials are scheduled to give an update on COVID-19 on Tuesday afternoon, the first live update of 2022. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry will speak alongside Health Minister Adrian Dix at 1:30 pm. The province is seeing a huge spike in COVID-19 cases as the Omicron variant becomes dominant, similar to what’s going on in the rest of the country. The last live update happened last week when it was announced that BC was reducing its requirement for self-isolation for people who are fully vaccinated and accelerating COVID-19 booster eligibility as well. The press conference will be streamed live here.
Storm Crow Alehouse in Vancouver has announced it will be shutting down this month. The W Broadway spot is known as a self-proclaimed “nerd bar” that offers games, whacky decor, and good vibes alongside food and drink. Owners made the announcement on Monday afternoon, citing the pandemic and SkyTrain construction as the main challenges leading to the decision to close.
BlackBerry says many of its mobile phones will stop reliably working on Tuesday after the company decommissions several of its services. The Waterloo, Ontario-based business says it is decommissioning services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions. BlackBerry first announced it would end services for many of its devices in 2020 as part of its transition away from producing phones and toward being a software company.
The Weeknd is kicking off 2022 with the sudden release of a new album. The Toronto native revealed today on social media that “Dawn F-M” is set to arrive on Friday. A trailer for the album teased clips of new music and named several other artists involved in the project, including Canadian comedian Jim Carrey, record producer Quincy Jones, musician Tyler, the Creator and rapper Lil Wayne.