Work on water supplies in an area of Stromness will see a section of the town centre closed to traffic tomorrow and Wednesday.

The closure will be in the vicinity of 96 – 100 Victoria Street and is to allow the connection of water supplies to be finalised for properties currently being renovated.

Shetland have regained the Stuart Cup on home soil this afternoon.

A strong showing on the second day of competition, with convincing wins in both the hockey and swimming, saw Shetland haul back Orkney’s overnight lead to win by 197 points to 185.

The home team secure the victory with a 1st place in the second last race of the day – the Boys 200 metre medley relay.

Shetland now lead the overall Stuart Cup standings by 34 wins to 32.

Orkney Islands Council has advised that due to recent staffing changes, development management planners will only be available to provide advice to customers attending the council offices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

General inquiries about planning proposals can still be submitted by email to planning@orkney.gov.uk.

According to the OIC: “This will allow the existing staff to focus on the essential duty of determining planning applications as efficiently as possible.”

The action in this year’s Junior Inter-county is nearly over and Shetland have claimed the 2013 Stuart Cup with a win in the second last race of the day.

Shetland dominated the second half of the swimming competition winning nearly all of the races in the second half of this year’s revised swimming programme.

With one race to go, Shetland lead by an unasailable 191 points to 182.5.

Auður arrives in Kirkwall. (The Orcadian)

After leaving Norway last Monday morning, a team of rowers have crossed the North Sea and arrived in Kirkwall.

The Auður is crewed by four Icelanders whose goal is to row unsupported from Norway to Iceland, via Scotland and the Faroe Islands, in 2013.

Next year they then plan to continue on to Greenland and Canada.

The rowers on dry land at the Kirkwall Marina. (The Orcadian)

Orkney lost 4-0 to Shetland in this morning’s junior inter-county hockey match in Shetland.

The result sees Orkney’s overall lead drop to six points, with the score standing at 147-141 going into the final event of the tournament — swimming — this afternoon.

Scotland’s three islands councils — Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles — have laid out their vision for a stronger future following the Independence Referendum of 2014.

The three authorities say they are working closely together to identify shared opportunities and challenges and today launched their Our Islands — Our Future campaign.

The councils have published a joint mission statement setting out their intention to engage with political leaders and decision makers on either side of the independence debate.

Whatever the outcome of the referendum, the councils wish to see the special position and needs of the UK’s three largest island groups fully taken into account in the new constitutional arrangements for Scotland.

At a press conference delivered simultaneously from Kirkwall, Lerwick and Stornoway by video link this morning, the leaders of the three councils said they would be seeking additional powers and resources to give them a greater ability to shape the destinies of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

These could include:

• Control of the sea bed around the islands, allowing revenues currently paid to the Crown Estate to be channelled into local needs.

• New grid connections to the Scottish mainland to allow world class wave, tidal and wind energy resources to generate maximum benefits for the islands.

• New fiscal arrangements to allow the islands to benefit more directly from the harvesting of local resources, including renewable energy and fisheries.

• Clear recognition of the status of the three island groups in a new Scottish Constitutional Settlement and within the European Governance Framework.