Birdwatchers astounded by invasion of woodpeckers

Trees may be few and far between in Orkney, but that has not stopped an influx of woodpeckers to the county.

Woodpecker sightings in Orkney are usually limited to one or two during the autumn migration season but this year birdwatchers are astounded at the sighting of literally hundreds over the past two weeks.

Diver treated at Stromness chamber

A diver was landed at Houton on Thursday suffering from suspected decompression sickness.

A coastguard spokesman said they were alerted around 11.45am on Thursday that a diver on board the dive vessel Jean Elaine was showing signs of the bends.

He added that the man was was transferred to the Stromness hyperbaric chamber for treatment.

Cash boost for Stromness Sailing Club

The Stromness Sailing Club has received a cash boost thanks to the latest round of grants from Awards for All, the lottery small grants scheme.

The £5,000 award - the maximum available under the scheme - will allow the group to construct a boat storage area and erect a security fence, providing secure storage facilities for the group’s equipment.

Trading Standards warn about diet sales campaign

People in Orkney are being warned not to fall for a bizarre advertising campaign circulating in the county.

Several local women have received unidentifiable letters containing what appears to be an advert torn from a newspaper for a slimming aid, Berry Trim Plus. A hand written note on the advert says, “Try it, it works!”, making it appear as though the letter has been sent by a friend.

Orkney’s Trading Standards Office in Kirkwall confirmed that they were aware of the letter, adding: “The only thing you are guaranteed to lose is some money.”

Community councils in the West Mainland are to be consulted on plans to create a special development group for the area. A key task of the proposed group would be to draw up a community development plan for the West Mainland.

The idea came from a meeting held in Dounby recently as part of an ongoing drive to try and identify the issues of most importance to local communities.

Forming part of the Community Learning Strategy for Orkney, the overall aim of the initiative is to work with communities to help them achieve their specific goals.

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Sporting Awards Dinner date put back after Picky mix-up

The second annual Sporting Awards Dinner has been rescheduled after a misunderstanding between the organisers and the Pickaquoy Centre.

The dinner was originally meant to take place on November 9, but has now been put back to November 23, after a mix up between organiser Mr Norman Shearer and the Pickaquoy Centre.

The event was booked for the second Friday in November but Pickaquoy staff misunderstood, booking it for November 2 – the date when the nominations were originally due to close.

The nominations for the dinner will now close on Friday, November 9, and will be published in The Orcadian on November 15.

Call to cut fuel tax made at Highlands and Islands Convention

The contentious issue of high fuel prices was raised at the Highlands and Islands Convention in Kirkwall on Wednesday with a straightforward call to the Government to cut fuel tax.

Coupled with oil giant Esso's withdrawal of agency cards – which provided cheaper petrol to local businesses – Minister of State for Scotland George Foulkes was urged to act to rectify the worsening situation.

With the cheapest petrol in Orkney still ten pence a litre more than prices south, Orkney Islands Council's convener, Councillor Hugh Halcro-Johnston questioned why the Government couldn't implement the same price throughout the country.

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County Youth Choir part of £240,000 plans

Ambitious plans to set up a County Youth Choir in Orkney were announced this week, after Orkney Islands Council’s education department received a grant of over £240,000 from The New Opportunities Fund.

The choir is one of eight projects being planned by the OIC education department following the awarding of the grant.

Other projects in the pipeline include the creation of a music album recorded by Kirkwall Grammar School pupils, traditional music tuition in the remote islands via video conferencing, and the possible formation of a West Mainland junior drama group.

Travel safety fears cause Moena choir to cancel Orkney trip

The planned trip to Orkney by a choir from Moena, Italy, was cancelled this week because of concerns about travel safety.

The party of fifty were due to arrive in the county on Thursday, but cancelled the trip in light of current global events.

Neil Price of Orkney's Mayfield Singers explained: ""When the bombing raid started on Sunday night in Afghanistan they became increasingly concerned."

"They had been due to fly to Gatwick on Wednesday morning where they would have had a four-hour wait. They felt they would have been sitting ducks."

Previous story: Orkney visit by Moena Choir

Kirkwall venue for Highlands and Islands Convention

The Highlands and Islands Convention took place in Kirkwall on Wednesday, opened by Deputy First Minister and Orkney MSP, Mr Jim Wallace.

Among the topics discussed were the revised land reform bill, the future of agriculture in the Highlands and Islands and local transport issues.

Minister for Transport and Planning Sarah Boyack, Minister for the Environment and Rural Development Ross Finnie attended along with Minister of State for Scotland George Foulkes.

MSP calls for rethink on Esso's new Agency policy

Orkney MSP, Mr Jim Wallace, has written the Director General of Fair Trading asking him to look into Esso's decision to withdraw access to Esso Agency cards from many local businesses.

For many businesses in Orkney the high cost of fuel in the county has been alleviated by using the Agency cards, allowing them to buy fuel at an average UK price.

In his letter Mr Wallace, who has also taken up the matter with Esso, says: "There has been no proper explanation given for a decision which appears to discriminate against locally based small businesses. Whilst the decision will barely be noticed on the company's balance sheet, it will seriously impact on the profitability of many of my constituents' businesses."

Faulty pressure valve to blame for Kirkwall flight emergency

The cause of the emergency on the Edinburgh-Kirkwall flight last Friday morning has now been put down to a faulty pressure valve and not a fire, as was originally thought.

Operators Loganair said on Tuesday that investigations had revealed no evidence of a fire and the cause had been tracked down to faulty pressure valve which had eventually blown, releasing a build up of hot air, vaporised condensation and engine fumes into the cabin.

The Saab 340 was back in service on Monday following a full investigation by engineers. It had only been introduced into the Loganair fleet in August, after a major overhaul.

Archive story:Edinburgh airport emergency after
suspected fire on Kirkwall flight

Cash won't change lottery winner's life

Orkney’s first big lottery winner has spoken about the cash scoop saying it won’t change his life.

Ronald Bremner (51), of Earl Sigurd Street in Kirkwall has put the £136,000 cheque in the bank – and says it won’t be touched until he needs it. Mr Bremner and his wife Lily picked up their cheque in Glasgow at the end of August, but have not gone out and bought a new house or car and have no plans for an exotic holiday.

The money is in the bank and that is where it will be staying until they need it, he said.

Orcadian pilgrims bound for Iona

Forty-five people from three churches in Orkney leave this week on the beginning of a week-long pilgrimage to the historic island of Iona.

The group is made up of members of Westray, Stromness and St Magnus Cathedral congregations, and will be under the leadership of Revs Ron Ferguson (a former leader of the Iona community), Fiona Lillie, and Iain MacDonald.

The Pentalina B ferry steamed back to Orkney on Sunday with only one of her two engines running.

The ro-ro ferry, operated by Pentland Ferries between St Margaret's Hope and Gills Bay in Caithness, had developed an engine problem due to a cylinder head gasket failing.

The decision was taken to switch off the engine to enable overnight repairs to be carried out.

The ferry, which arrived in Orkney around 40 minutes late last night, was said to be back in full working order on Monday.

Oil tanker in Pentland Firth near miss

The coastguard have confirmed there was a near miss between two foreign vessels in the Pentland Firth at the end of September.

A coastguard spokesman said on Monday that they received a call from the Dutch cargo ship Emma Plein, travelling west in the Pentland Firth, concerned about the position of the Norwegian oil tanker, Magnitude. The spokesman said he could not, however, confirm whether the vessels were only metres apart.

The ships were around one mile north east of Swilkie Point when the near miss occurred.

The man taken to Balfour Hospital on Saturday following a one-vehicle road accident in Stenness.

Graham Harrold was transferred to Balfour Hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning after his car left the road near the Stenness community school. It is understood that Mr Harrold was thrown some distance from his vehicle in the crash.

A police spokesman confirmed on Saturday that the police, ambulance and fire brigade attended the scene of the accident. He added that it is expected that a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.

Orkney visit by Moena choir

A choir from Moena, the Italian home of the late Domenico Chiochetti - the creator of Orkney's Italian Chapel, is visiting the county later this week.

The 32 member choir, Canticum Novum, which includes Mr Chiochetti's youngest daughter Angela, will be accompanied by ten instrumentalists as well as other Chiochetti family members.

The group arrive on Thursday morning and, after a welcoming reception from Orkney Islands Council, will head to the Italian Chapel. As well as visiting other local sites, further ways of linking Orkney and Moena will be discussed by two visiting councillors and the OIC.

The choir will perform in St Magnus Cathedral on Friday night.

A scheduled flight from Edinburgh to Kirkwall was forced to turn back on Friday after what was thought to have been a fire on board the aeroplane.

It is understood that the flight got into difficulties shortly after taking off at 11.30am. The plane returned to Edinburgh Airport, where a full scale emergency had been declared, and landed safely.

Among the 22 passengers on board BA flight 8895 were Orkney Islands Council's chief executive Mr Alistair Buchan, convener Councillor Hugh Halcro-Johnston and Orkney MSP and Scottish Deputy First Minister Mr Jim Wallace.

Girls' plans to clean up Peedie Sea praised by community council

Kirkwall Community Council will meet with two local girls who have offered to clean up the area surrounding Kirkwall's Peedie Sea.

The community council praised the girls, Kirkwall Grammar School pupils Karen Merriman and Jane Cuddihy, for their interest and enthusiasm in wanting to improve the look of the area.

The girls wrote the community council saying that they were willing to clean up the area and with the help of friends could raise funds to pay for the other improvements they have in mind.

Coastguard install state-of-the-art technology for Orkney and Shetland

The installation of new state-of-the-art computer technology this week will allow the Coastguard to pinpoint search areas for vessels missing in waters around Orkney or Shetland.

Search and Rescue Information System (SARIS) 2 went into operation at the Lerwick station this week and is said to be more “user-friendly” for staff. Once information about wave heights, local weather conditions and characteristics of the vessel are fed into the computer, it comes up with a rectangular search area, so that the available resources can be deployed and targeted in the most effective way to speed up any rescue effort.

Victory over Aberdeen Wanderers for Orkney squad

Orkney Rugby Club's First XV were celebrating at the weekend after beating visiting side Aberdeen Wanderers 65-7 at Pickaquoy.

Five tries were scored in the first half of the Division Five North fixture with the Orkney squad going on to add to the total in the second half.

Kirkwall firemen in New York fund raiser

Firefighters from the Kirkwall Fire Station were out in force on Saturday, washing cars to raise funds for the New York Firefighters Appeal.

Armed with soap and sponge, the firemen were offering their services in the car park at Safeways in Kirkwall.

A man was arrested by Kirkwall police on Thursday night following an alleged incident involving a weapon near the Kirkwall Town Hall.

Kirkwall police Inspector Paul Eddington said there was believed to have been an incident between two individuals, which led to the arrest of one man.

“At 9.30pm on Thursday there was an incident in St Magnus Lane,” he said, “the matter was brought to our attention by the staff at the Cavern youth club.”

Inspector Eddington said that no one was injured and a report is being submitted to the procurator fiscal.