Mention W-2s and 1040s, and most people grit their teeth at the thought of tax preparation. Mention it to Wendy Garcia and she’ll tell you what it can mean – thousands of dollars back, painlessly.

The perennial traffic congestion on East Gun Hill Road will get far worse in the coming months, with the reconstruction of the bridge spanning the Williams Bridge Metro-North stop and the Bronx River Parkway.

Work resumed on the Croton filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park two weeks ago after an appellate court lifted a lower court’s temporary restraining order on the city. The lower court, presided over by Justice Marguerite Grays, has yet to issue its final decision.

Community Board 7’s chair and district manager made a surprise announcement last week that the organization’s 11 committees will be consolidated after a history of poor attendance and ineffectiveness. As part of the shift, committees will be required to conduct additional reporting to the district manager, and members who miss several meetings will be reprimanded.

Information is the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet, too few citizens know that they have the right to see much of the information that our government produces.

For now, local parents can rest assured that area Catholic schools will not suffer the same fate as dozens of Brooklyn and Queens institutions that will close this year. But many northwest Bronx schools, reflecting a citywide trend, are struggling to stay financially afloat and keep classrooms full.

“What do we want?” Teresa Anderson, of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), asked the spirited, standing-room only crowd of over 200 parents, students, educators and community activists.

The proposal to site the Fordham University radio tower on top of a Norwood building appeared to clear a major hurdle last week when it sailed through a city hearing to decide whether it will gain a required permit.

After the 200 or so soldiers of the 145th Maintenance Company of the Army National Guard departed the Kingsbridge Armory on Nov. 19, they were unexpectedly given two leaves from duty for Thanksgiving and Christmas before eventually departing for the Middle East.