Highland Amateur Cup draw results

The Macleod IFA Highland Amateur Cup draw was made in Dingwall on Saturday.

Eight Orkney football teams have entered the competition and the draw went as follows:

First Round: Rovers v South Ronaldsay; Thorfinn v St Andrews.
Second Round: Hotspurs v Rovers/South Ronaldsay; Stromness v Thorfinn or St Andrews; Accies v Dounby.

Businesses warned about selling escaped salmon

Businesses in Orkney have been warned not buy or sell any of the salmon which escaped from a fish farm last weekend unless they know how and when the fish were caught.

Orkney Islands Council’s environmental health department have issued guidance against offering for sale any salmon which might have been picked up dead off the shore which could pose a food poisoning risk.

Councillors asked to approve use of Stromness CCTV

Islands councillors are being asked to approve the use of a close circuit camera at the Stromness civic amenity site in the Garson Industrial Estate.

The camera has already been installed but can't be used to prosecute for illegal dumping until it is authorised and listed on an official register which allows individuals to be filmed for security purposes.

The issue will be considered at a special meeting of OIC's contract services committee next Friday.

So-called hospital superbugs are not a problem for Balfour Hospital patients, according to director of public health, Dr John Curnow.

He was responding to a report by the Scottish Centre on Infection and Environmental Health, which compared diagnoses of MRSA bacteria in each of Scotland’s 18 acute hospital trusts.

Orkney had the fourth lowest incidence of MRSA based on figures from January to December, 2001.

Yoga on agenda for MS Society

The growing interest in complementary therapies has been acknowledged by the Multiple Sclerosis Society in Orkney, who have produced a booklet explaining the pros and cons of various treatments.

The first to be included in their March newsletter is the Orkney Therapy Centre and yoga.

Inspectors to investigate Rendall salmon escape

Inspectors from the Fisheries Research Service are due in Orkney next week to investigate last weekend's Puldrite Bay salmon farm escape.

The team will visit the site and speak to the fish farm employees about likely causes of the mass escape.

A spokesman confirmed that the operators, Orkney Sea Farms, had voluntarily notified the Scottish Executive about the escape.

Second comet arrives in night sky

Weather permitting, skywatchers in Orkney can now view a second, recently-discovered, comet in the night sky.

First spotted on March 18, Utsunomiya is fainter than comet Ikeya-Zhang, but is increasing in brightness and should be visible through binoculars.

Click here for full comet update
from Rousay astronomer John Vetterlein

MP urges Chancellor to address islands' fuel prices in Budget

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, is urging the Chancellor to use the forthcoming Budget to address the problem of high fuel prices in the islands.

Mr Carmichael said: "For vast chunks of our community there is and probably never can be meaningful public transport provision. We continue to rely, therefore, on the private car and for that we are penalised."

He is asking the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, to look at three points - the VAT paid in rural areas, variable duty rates and the feasibility of a discounted Vehicle Excise Duty licence.

Figures looking positive for tourist season

Tourism figures for Orkney this year are looking good, with the first three months of this year more than double the same period last year.

Orkney Tourist Board director of marketing, Sheila Faichney, added that booking for May and June were also very positive.

Full emergency at Kirkwall Airport

All emergency services were called to Kirkwall Airport on Wednesday, after an aircraft flying from Edinburgh to Sumburgh declared a full emergency.

The Loganair Saab 340, carrying 27 passengers, reported an engine failure and was set to land at Kirkwall Airport around 11.40am. However, it was diverted to Wick because of strong cross winds.

The aircraft landed safely at Wick Airport at 12 noon.

East Kirk ‘too small for One Stop Shop’

Orkney Islands Council might have to add an two-storey extension to the East Kirk to provide enough space for the proposed new One Stop Shop.

The finance and general purposes committee heard yesterday that the church is not big enough for all the tenants wanting office space in the new centre.

Members agreed that the scheme should go forward to the next stage of planning, where various options and costings would be looked.

£80,000 to council from Contender sale

Orkney Islands Council look set to receive around £80,000 from the sale of the former Kirkwall-Invergordon ferry Contender .

Members of the finance and general purposes committee heard on Wednesday that their former partners, Streamline, had sold the vessel for around £198,000 to a company in Dubai.

It was also explained that much of the OIC’s £100,000 loan to the operating company, Orkney Ro-Ro Services Ltd, was likely to be recovered but that the entire equity in the business (£50,000) would be lost.

Server problem takes The Orcadian offline

The Orcadian Online website went back online on Wednesday afternoon, after server problems outwith our control took the site offline for over 27 hours.

Technical difficulties early on Tuesday morning meant the site had to be shut down at 10am - also disabling our e-mail system.

The root of the problem, the domain name server that routes visitors to the computer containing the site files and mailboxes, was finally replaced after 1pm on Thursday.

North Ronaldsay lamb back on the menu in London restaurant

The unique flavoured meat of the seaweed-eating North Ronaldsay sheep has made its way onto one of the finest menus in the UK.

Supplied by Orkney Meat and described as "an Orcadian Treasure", the lamb is being offered again on the menu of the Langham Hilton Hotel in London’s Regent Street.

The hotel first brought the delicacy to London several years ago, although they are pushing the product again now, recently holding a a press conference for food writers about North Ronaldsay lamb.

Farmers and councillors "updated" on livestock "cassette" progress

Orkney Islands councillors and farming representatives were updated on the status of the double-decker livestock "cassettes" yesterday by NorthLink chief executive John Horton.

A meeting to hear progress on arrangements for this autumn’s livestock shipments was held at the council offices in Kirkwall.

Members of Orkney NFU heard on Monday night that a realistic contingency plan involving traditional livestock carrying vessels had been worked out, in case the cassette system is not ready in time for the start of the new ferry service on October 1.

Book of Condolence in cathedral

A book of condolence was opened in St Magnus Cathedral yesterday, for those wishing to express their sympathy following the death of the Queen Mother on Saturday.

Orkney’s Lord Lieutenant, Mr George Marwick, has sent a message to the Royal family on behalf of the people of Orkney.

Orkney MSP, Mr Jim Wallace, added: “The Queen Mother took a particular interest in St Magnus Cathedral, and her patronage of the Friends of St Magnus was valuable in helping maintain the fabric of the Cathedral.”

OIC issue health warning as fish farm clean-up continues

A typical scene at Kirkwall Pier at the weekend, as anglers try their luck with the escaped salmon. (Picture: Orkney Photographic)

A clean-up operation is under way at a Rendall salmon-farm to remove thousands of dead and injured fish following damage to sea cages on Friday night.

Orkney Sea Farms managing director, Willie Baxter, confirmed on Monday that 200,000 salmon were lost, between 10,000 and 20,000 of which had escaped.

Meanwhile, Orkney Islands Council environmental health officials have issued a warning against eating fish found dead or dying on shoreline because of the risk of infection and food poisoning.

Stirling students are play-off opponents

Orkney Rugby Club’s First XV will face Stirling University in a play-off for promotion to Division Four of the BT National League.

Orkney will travel to Stirling for the tie on Saturday, April 13, for the promotion decider, after the student side were crowned winners of Division Five (Midlands) following their 37-7 win over Strathmore.

Exhibition casts light on Orkney's forgotten son

An exhibition on the life of Orcadian film pioneer James Petrie Chalmers opened on Monday in the Orkney Museum, Kirkwall.

Relatively unknown in Orkney, Chalmers, who was from Tankerness, emigrated to the United States in the latter years of the 19th century and quickly became a wealthy businessman. He died at the age of 46.

Orkney Sunday flights begin

The first scheduled Sunday arrivals at Kirkwall Airport. (Picture: Orkney Photographic)

Sunday flights to and from Orkney began at the weekend, with scheduled flights to Aberdeen and Glasgow.

Loganair are using their 34-seater Saab 340 aircraft on the Sunday services between Kirkwall and Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow and Sumburgh.

Sunday flights to and from Edinburgh will begin on May 19 and operate for the summer only, finishing on September 15.

Fishers from Tingwall in Rendall to Kirkwall Bay, had a bonanza over the weekend after thousands of fish farm salmon escaped from cages off Rendall on Friday night.

Many fishers on Saturday and Sunday – the highest numbers being at Kirkwall Pier – used fishing rods and landing nets for their catches, but elsewhere round the coast the escapees were being picked out of rock pools as the tide went out.

The strong tide combined with the large tidal fall and rise, is being blamed for damaging the Orkney Sea Farms cages at Puldrite. The numbers of salmon released could be in the hundreds of thousands with an estimated value of over £1 million.

After a month of suspense, Stromness volunteer, Daisy Giles is set to go to Brazil on Friday, after hearing her visa has finally come through.

A delighted Daisy - who has been stuck in London without passport and visa for over four weeks - will now go to Northern Brazil to work with children as an International Volunteer with the American Field Service for six months.