Willick o' Pickletillum dies

One of Orkney’s oldest residents, William Scott of Pickletillum in Deerness, has died at at the age of 101.

Mr Scott, who was more commonly known as Willick o’ Pickletillum, worked on the building of the original Deerness Parish Hall in 1923 and he cut the first turf for the new community centre, at the start of last year, just months short of his 100th birthday.

He died suddenly on Thursday afternoon at the Balfour Hospital.

Another emergency landing for Loganair plane

The same aircraft which was involved in an emergency landing at Wick on November 22, had an abortive takeoff at Kirkwall Airport on Friday morning.

The Loganair Saab 340, with 12 passengers and three crew on board, was minutes away from Kirkwall at around 11.30am when a “popping noise” was heard coming from one of the engines and the pilot shut it down.

The aircraft landed safely but passengers had to wait overnight for a flight to Shetland.

The organisers of the St Magnus Festival are to introduce a new innovation to the programme next year - the inaugural Orkney Conducting Course.

The ten day course - from June 15-25, 2003 will be directed by Martyn Brabbins.

The Festival have received a funding package of £67,542 from the Scottish Arts Council towards the first three years of the course.

Full story

Contract for airport taxi service awarded

A new bus service connecting Kirkwall Airport with the town centre will start in January for a trial period of one year.

The service, due to start on Friday, January 3, will be operated by George's Taxi Services, who already operate a taxi service to and from the airport.

Orkney Islands Council's senior transport officer, Miss Alison Muir, said: "I am pleased to be able to confirm that George's Taxi Services successfully bid for the contract.

A male motor cyclist was taken to Kirkwall's Balfour Hospital for observation on Wednesday night after a collision with a Peugeot car on the Old Finstown Road.

Both vehicles were badly damaged, according to Kirkwall police, who said a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

Two Kirkwall shops belonging to Scarth Orkney Ltd - Cumming and Spence, in Albert Street and Scarthcentre in Great Western Road - have been put on the market.

Managing director of Scarth Orkney Ltd, Mr Tom Laird, said: "There comes a time when you realise you can't go on forever."

Cumming and Spence, which was founded more than 170 years ago, is thought to be the oldest grocery establishment in Orkney.

Orkney Islands Council’s interim director of finance is to stay in post until March, 2004.

Mr Albert Tait, a former acting chief executive of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, has been interim director since June, taking over from Mr David Robertson, who left for a job with Highland Council.

The permanent post is expected to be re-advertised towards the end of 2003.

A full-scale emergency was declared on Wednesday when fire broke out in a cable of an oxyacetylene gas cylinder which was being used by contractors working on the new marina.

Two Stromness appliances attended the incident on the North Pier and extinguished the fire, and to prevent any further flare-up continued to douse the cable for more than two hours

A 200-metre exclusion zone was cordoned off around the gas bottle which meant that everyone in the terminal building and tourist information centre had to vacate their offices and the linkspan was out of operation.

Flotta terminal operators Talisman will have to wait until next year to see if their bid to pipe oil from a major new North Sea field has been successful.

It is understood that Flotta is one of two pipeline options being considered for the Buzzard Field, which is estimated to hold some 400 million barrels of oil.

However, OIC convener, Councillor Hugh Halcro-Johnston, told Tuesday’s full council meeting that the he had heard that the operators were moving towards offshore loading.

Champion Texel comes to Orkney

Orkney sheep breeders have bought the champion pedigree Texel at Aberdeen and Northern Mart’s Christmas Classic show and sale.

Jim and Michael Leitch of Feolquoy, Evie paid 1,200 guineas for a gimmer shown by Albert and George Howie of West Knock, Stuartfield.

Former Shapinsay farmer, David Work, Udny, took the supreme beef championship at the same event with a Limousin cross steer, shown in partnership with Scott Watson, Carnoustie. The animal was sold to the show judge for £2,800.

The Northern Lighthouse Board confirmed on Tuesday that they are to close their Stromness depot in 15 months time.

The board’s chief executive, James Taylor, and director of operations, Guy Platten, broke the news to staff in Stromness on Tuesday morning.

The NLB management team then briefed community leaders and assured those present that they would work with the OIC, the local enterprise company and other agencies to minimise the impact of their withdrawal, and to arrange for the transfer of the pier and shore-based facility in Stromness to an appropriate successor.

The appointment of a sports development officer for Orkney – the last authority in Scotland to create such a job – will not, after all, be restricted to one year.

Councillors on Tuesday backed a plea from the Orkney Islands Council's vice convener, Councillor Jim Sinclair, to remove the restriction on the appointment of a sports development officer for one year, overturning a decision from their policy and resources committee.

Community plan sets out vision for the future

Orkney Islands Council's convener, Councillor Hugh Halcro-Johnston has recommended Orkney's community plan, 'Orkney 2020', as "a really good read to everybody."

The document, setting out a vision for Orkney over the next two decades and approved by full council on Tuesday, was led by three principal partners – the OIC, NHS Orkney and Orkney Enterprise.

Councillor Halcro-Johnston said that rather than a document telling people what to do it was essentially a plan for the community, adding: "It is us listening and hopfully incorporating for the future, the aspirations of everyone who lives here."

One of the main freight hauliers to and from Orkney - Jim Brackenridge Transport (JBT) - are to raise their prices by 20 per cent on December 22.

The company blame the increase on NorthLink's revised charges since they took over ferry operations to the Northern Isles on October 1.

JBT managing director, Murray Prentice, said that to date the haulage company had absorbed the extra costs, but they now felt they had no option except to pass them on to customers.

Surveying at Skara Brae and Maeshowe

Maeshowe (Pic: S. Towrie)

Survey work on Skara Brae and Maeshowe is under way, with experts hoping to create a detailed record of the stonework and carvings at both monuments.

The Historic Scotland survey uses photography and laser scanning to pick up every detail of every stone and provide highly detailed information on the individual carvings.

The surveyors will return in 18 months to see whether there has been any deterioration to the stonework or carvings.

Festival of Lights draws to a close

The lighting of Kirkwall's Christmas tree and lights on Saturday night marked the end of the county's Norwegian Lights 2002 festival.

Sunday saw a morning service and the lighting of the Grimstad tree inside St Magnus Cathedral, with a Christmas concert in the evening.

NHS Orkney thanks outnumber complaints

The complaints – of which two have been resolved and two are still ongoing – include allegations of unsympathetic treatment at surgical outpatients, appointment waiting times and communication around school medicals.

Cash grant promotes recycling in Orkney

The money is part of £6 million to be distributed across Scotland by the Scottish Executive for waste recycling and composting projects.

Four properties targeted in child porn raids

Undercover police investigating Internet child pornography are believed to have swooped on four Orkney properties.

Part of Operation Ore - the national end of the FBI's Operation Avalanche - the raids have targeted 100,000 suspected paedophiles across the world.

A Northern Constabulary spokesman said: "Addresses throughout Scotland have been searched and items of potential evidence have been seized. Further inquiries are ongoing therefore details of searches and any subsequent arrests will not be divulged at this time."