Orkney's First XV rugby team were in Invergordon on Sunday where they beat Ross Sutherland 39-17 in the latest Division Five North fixture.

Citing the recent near miss involving a passenger flight from Orkney and a military aircraft, prospective Liberal Democrat candidate for Orkney and Shetland, Alistair Carmichael has called on the Government to give up its bid for privatisation of Air Traffic Control.

Describing the proposals as "deeply worrying", Mr Carmichael added: “The proposals, even for partial privatisation, are dangerous. They must inevitably lead to the creation of a service where profit can take precedence over safety. They have been referred to as the creation of a railtrack of the skies and that is not far from the truth.”

He added: “We have had reports recently of an air miss involving the Orkney flight from Aberdeen. That should serve to remind us of the importance of safety in the skies. These proposals, if implemented, would be bad news for the Northern Isles.”

Building on the success of past storytelling events, the Orkney Library have announced the launch of regular storytimes for children. These will be held at the library in Laing Street and will be hosted by volunteers, monthly on Saturday mornings at 11.30am. All sessions will be free of charge and children and their carers will be very welcome.

The first session will take place on Saturday, December 2.

Scottish Transport Minister Ms Sarah Boyack is considering delaying the transfer of the Northern Isles ferry contract, due in summer 2002, to avoid the peak holiday season.

Responding to a letter from Shetland MSP Mr Tavish Scott, she said: “I can confirm that we are considering this issue both with the preferred bidder (Northlink) and the existing operator, P&O Scottish Ferries. There are different ways this could be handled, but we are discussing with both parties about the best approach for a handover, assuming a new contract is agreed with the preferred bidder. I take your point that there is a case for avoiding the peak summer holiday season.”

In her letter, the Minister also made reference to the need to maker arrangements to ensure that the harbours served by the ferry service are ready to take the new vessels, and the need to include in the contract the provision of a freight service.

Orcadian trampolinist Jamie Crisp is to retire from major competition, having achieved his ambition of winning the Scottish National Championships for the third time in a row.

Jamie, who now stays in Edinburgh, told The Orcadian this week that he was delighted with his third win at the event held in Perth last weekend. His decision to retire from competitive trampolining was, he said, because almost ten years of competition at national and international level had “taken its toll”.

Jamie has competed at two World Championships in Australia and South Africa, and three European Championships and will continue with his training, spending more time coaching.

Piia-Noora Kauppi, a Member of the European Parliament from Finland, discussed her country’s experience of the Single European Parliament with Kirkwall Grammar School pupils this week.

Thursday's "Challenge of Enterprise in the Single European Market" conference consists of quizzes, planning exercises plus a presentation from 25-year-old MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi.

Hector Macaulay, educational advisor with the Industrial Society, one of the events’ organisers, said: "We hold conferences in Kirkwall annually, but we have never had such an influential and inspiring special guest. I am sure that her presence will leave a positive and long-lasting impression on all of the pupils attending the conference."

Police in Orkney were involved in a search for a missing woman on Thursday, after concerns were raised over her safety.

Inspector Paul Eddington said that the search for the 24-year-old woman - a visitor from Chester in England - began after the police were contacted by the landlady of a local bed & breakfast who was concerned for the woman’s safety.

At one stage it was feared that the woman, who suffers from mental illness, may have come to harm but following an extensive search she was found uninjured in Stromness and taken to the Balfour Hospital for treatment.

It was announced on Thursday that Orkney Islands Council have appointed a new principal legal office.

David Thompson is currently a solicitor with the OIC's legal services division and now assumes the post created following the recent restructuring within the chief executive's department.

Chief Executive Alistair Buchan said: "The Council was impressed by the quality of all the candidates interviewed for this important post. We are sure that David's appointment will enable the further development of the legal service provided to the Council, its departments and the public."

A native of Airdrie, Mr Thompson joined the OIC in March 1997.

Two of the main players in Orkney’s salmon farming industry and another salmon company in Shetland have been sold to the Norwegian fish feed company Ewos.

The Norwegian company has acquired the Aquascot Group which operates several cage sites in Orkney, including fish farms in the Longhope area, Hoxa in South Ronaldsay, Woodwick in Evie, and off Carness and the Bay of Meil in St Ola.

Rousay-based Mainland Salmon are also being bought over. They own a hatchery and offshore site in Rousay, other cages in Lyness, and have a controlling shareholding in the Orkney Salmon Company, which leases the council-owned processing factory at Hatston.

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The completion of Kirkwall’s new £1.9 million sewage treatment plant is up in the air this week after the company employed by the North of Scotland Water Authority (NoSWA) to construct it, Christiani & Nielsen, went into administration.

Corporate recovery specialists KPMG were brought in to oversee the administration of the Midlands-based civil engineering company last Friday.

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The Food Standards Agency have lifted the ban on fishing for scallops in two separate areas off Orkney.

The areas concerned are to the east of Deerness and Holm and north to Auskerry; and the fishing area to the south of South Ronaldsay across to the east coast of Caithness, down to Wick.

The latest move follows the lifting of the fishing ban on Scapa Flow earlier this week.

The bans were imposed in August this year because of high levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) but the agency say that recent samples show that level of toxins has dropped to a point where there is is no longer a risk to consumers.

Businesses in Orkney are being urged to treat requests for donations towards the purchase of game packs for local schools with caution.

A number of local firms have received letters from a Stockport based company called KidSafe asking for donations of between £100 and £400 to help buy copies of a "Get Home Safely" game pack for schools in the county.

Leslie Manson, OIC director of education and recreation services, said this week that there had been no consultation with local schools or the education department and urged businesses to treat the requests with caution.

Kirkwall, Stromness and Westray Small Boat Owners Associations have formed a new company, Orkney Marinas Ltd.

The new company will take on a negotiating role with Orkney Islands Council, Orkney Enterprise and other funding bodies and develop business and marketing plans for marine tourism in Orkney.

The founder members, now representing over 100 boat owners, hope that other associations will be formed and become members of the new company.

The lack of proper facilities in Orkney has suppressed growth in visiting yacht numbers with Shetland recording almost five times as many visiting yachts as Orkney.

More than £1.12 million of council money has already been committed to or spent on projects in Orkney to mark the new millennium, with £873,000 still available for schemes which are in the process of attracting matching funding.

The council’s project officer for the community development fund for the new millennium (CDFNM), Mrs Shona Flanagan, also reported to councillors this week that the 18 projects which had been completed so far, had attracted £151,000 into Orkney, from a total value of £379,000 for the various schemes.

Councillors agreed that if projects had not been promised matching funding by the provisional deadline of March 31 2001, they should be re-evaluated.

Councillors have agreed to give an additional £48,000 towards the cost of a new ice plant for Stromness.

Members at this morning’s meeting of the OIC finance and general purposes committee were told that costs for the new plant submitted in 1997 underestimated future price increases. The figure allocated in the capital programme is £152,000 but the revised budget cost is now £200,000.

The committee agreed to use anticipated slippage on the North Isles Civil works project to provide the additional funding.

Around two hundred farmers from all over Orkney attended a public meeting in Kirkwall last night to hear about the future pattern of subsidies to Less Favoured Areas (LFAs) of Scotland.

The meeting was addressed by the Scottish Executive’s Chief Agricultural Officer, Mr Andy Robertson, and their Assistant Secretary in charge of livestock policy, Mr David Dickson.

It was the first in a series of around a dozen meetings organised by the Scottish NFU to explain the principles behind the new LFA scheme and to allow members to directly question senior Rural Affairs Department staff about the implications of the change from a headage based system to an area based payment scheme.

Councillors have sided with the relocation of the plaque commemorating the Kirkwall Ba’ game from its present position at the rear of the Mercat Cross steps, to the kirkyard wall between St Magnus Cathedral and War Memorial.

Vice-convener, Councillor Jim Sinclair, told members of the finance and general purposes committee that there was a great deal of disquiet among members of the Ba’ Committee and the Kirkwall Community Council at the siting of the plaque.

Local businesses are being urged to look out for unusual phone calls or invoices asking for money.

Police say that at least two Kirkwall companies have been contacted by two different organisations seeking payments of up to £300 for inclusion in business directories.

Inspector Paul Eddington said that anyone contacted by a company calling themselves International Business Directories, UTB Digital Directories, or any other similar title should be very wary.

“These businesses are obviously doing the rounds in Orkney just now and people should be aware of them,” he said. “They are clearly suspicious and I would caution any business not to enter anything until they are sure they are dealing with a bona fide company.”

The Food Standards Agency have lifted the ban on fishing for queen scallops in Scapa Flow.

They say that the level of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) found in recent samples taken from the area show that there is no longer a risk to consumers.

The agency first imposed the scallop fishing ban in Scapa Flow on June 14. The ban on fishing for king scallops remains in place within the area.

A meeting took place in Inverness yesterday, between the construction company, Christiani and Nielson, and the North of Scotland Water Authority (NoSWA) to try to clarify the future of the firm which was rumoured to have gone into administration at the end of last week.

Christiani and Nielson are currently contracted to build three sewage treatment plants for NoSWA in Orkney, Shetland the Western Isles. The contract for Kirkwall’s new sewage treatment plant alone is worth £1.9 million.

Workers at all three sites were laid off on Friday, with no further word about future employment, or if the contracts would be finished.

Orkney Islands Council’s new department of development and protective services was officially launched on Monday.

The department brings together the council’s economic development and planning functions with services such as trading standards, environmental health, and building control.

The new department, headed by Mr Jeremy Baster – now as director of development and protective services – was created by the recent restructuring exercise within the chief executive’s department.

Orkney emerged 12-3 victors in a nailbiting Division Five North encounter with Caithness, played in muddy conditions at Kirkwall Grammar School on Saturday afternoon.

In a game where the visitors took an early lead through a penalty, Orkney left it late to snatch the points, with captain Alistair Watson going over the Caithness line with only quarter of an hour to go.

Stevie Linklater converted the try and then five minutes later a defensive mix-up allowed Malcolm Thomson to dive over on top of the ball behind the Caithness goal line to seal the Orkney win.