Bagging the bruck - a volunteer at Skaill, Sandwick

The weekend saw hundreds of people take to the beaches for the annual Bag the Bruck clean-up.

Organised by Environmental Concern Orkney (ECO), the event was needed more than ever this year, after the huge storm in January, which has washed up massive amounts of debris on Orkney's beaches.

Susan Ferguson, ECO's secretary, said: "In addition to the usual bruck brought up on each tide, windblown rubbish has ended up in fields, ditches, against buildings and dykes, and plastic baler wrap, plastic feed bags and shopping bags are strewn across barbed wire fences all over Orkney."

Click here for a list of clean-up locations

Historic Scotland's properties in Orkney attracted hundreds of visitors over the weekend as part of their annual free weekend

The public could visit the Bishop's and Earl's Palaces in Kirkwall, Maeshowe, the Borhc of Gurness, Skara Brae and the Hackness Martello Tower, Hoy, for free.

St Magnus Kirk, Birsay

Saturday, April 16, was St Magnus Day.

To mark the occassion, there was a short celebration in recognitiion of his life and place in Orkney in the Cathedral at midday.

This was followed by the annual Service of Praise in the St Magnus Kirk, Birsay, on Saturday evening.

This year's service included a performance of St Magnus Orkney. The play, which follows the fateful events that led to the death of St Magnus, will be performed by a large cast of P4 pupils from Dounby School.

Westray's new care centre, Kalisgarth, was open to the public on Saturday, and Sunday.

In 1136, St Magnus' nephew, Rognvald, sailed into Pierowall during his invasion to seize the Orkney earldom. Rognvald's name was originally Kali Kolsson, hence the centre's name - Kalisgarth, Kali's Enclosure.

The centre, aims to cater for the elderly as well as offering services to younger people with disabilities on Westray.

After a two years of delays, the launch of the sea snail prototype tidal device has been put back again.

The 20 metre-long tidal devicee was to be launched in Burra Sound, between Hoy and Graemsay, today, but the project team from Robert Gordon University have to wait for licences from the Crown Estate and Fisheries Research Services, before they can go ahead.

The snail was originally due to be placed in Eynhallow Sound in 2003, but suffered a series of aborted launches due to technical problems and the weather.

Project director, Alan Owen, hopes that a revised date of May 2 or 3 will see the device finally put in place.

Almost £70,000 worth of grants were approved by Orkney Enterprise last month.

Among the £69,870 worth of approvals was £16,000 to Orkney the Brand for Orkney's presence at the Bath & West Show this year, and £5,00 to the Holm Football club to help establish a sports area.

But £65,000, the lion's share of the total, went to Orkney Enterprise itself, for projects such as Initiative at the Edge and Modern Apprenticeship marketing.

Allegations of a "cut and dry" planning system, where decisions are made prior to public meetings, have been strongly refuted by the committee chairman.

Councillor Jim Sinclair said it was absolute nonsense that discussions took place about applications outwith the meeting room. He also rubbished concerns raised about a "courtroom-style" of proceedings, where applicants were made to feel intimidated.

Councillor Sinclair was taking exception to public comments suggesting that he "lorded over fellow committee members", using his position to influence their decisions.

Less than a fortnight after work began, the new temporary access road connection the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness to the pierhead is ready for use.

The road will allow construction traffic access to the Pier Arts centre to allow extension work to the art gallery.

The work is being carried out by local contractors, Casey Construction.

Click here for more pictures.

The entire third year of Sanday School is off to Malawi next month after winning a national competition.

First Minister Jack McConnell announced on Friday that Thomas Newton, Michelle Dearness, Kirsten Masson, Arlene Walls and Cassie Enticknap took first place in the Scottish Schools Africa Challenge.

The pupils, along with two teachers and officials will visit Malawi to forge links with a Malawi school. While in Malawi, the group will visit schools, a national park, the presidential palace, a tea plantation and liaise with a delegation led by Mr McConnell. The Malawi students will visit Scotland later in the year.

The applicants, Kevan and Maureen Harvey, argued that they required a new build because of expanding business on the farm, and the need to employ another worker, who could be housed in their current home.

Officials had recommended refusal on the grounds that the farm already has two houses and that the site is within the "Zone of Visual Influence" for the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site.

The report shows that, at the time of the survey, median earnings in Orkney were £258.30 - £65 below the Scottish median of £323.50.

The organisation has also highlighted the lack of detailed, official information available on earnings in the Orkney.

SLPU Director John Wilson commented "Despite the lack of detailed information, this report shows that many workers in the Orkney Islands are receiving lower rates of pay than those in other areas."

The Highland Park distillery in Kirkwall looks set to unveil its first-ever 30-year-old single malt - but for the time being it will only be available in the United States.

A spokesman confirmed that the new whisky, costing $349.95 a bottle, is expected to ship to US consumers in June.

The new Young Scot Orkney logo

Orkney Young Scot has had a makeover, with the launch of their new local logo.

Designed by Daniel Scott, a second year pupil at Kirkwall Grammar School, and developed by Colin Keldie of K4 Graphics, the logo represents the Northern Lights over the Ring of Brodgar in Stenness.

Fiona Mathieson, Orkney Young Scot (Dialogue Youth) Co-ordinator said: "We asked the young people in the Youth Information Point if they would like to design a logo for us and within half an hour Daniel had come up with the design which we knew was 'the one'.

The Orkney Amateur Football Association are considering sending a letter of complaint to the Island Games football co-ordinator, following the release of this year's schedule.

Orkney has been handed one of the toughest football schedules at the games.

The fixture list, released last Thursday, shows that Orkney will have to travel extensively, and, worse, could play four games in as many days.

The kick-off times for all of Orkney's group matches is 2pm, which will leave the side with almost no time to train prior to matches.

If the seating in St Magnus Cathedral is not upgraded, Orkney Islands Council could be in breach of fire regulations.

A report to Wednesday's meeting of the cathedral sub-committee explained that the current seating could not be linked to comply with regulations.

The sub-committee has been discussing replacing the congregational seating for a number of years and several prototypes of replacement chairs have been obtained. The committee of the Friends of St Magnus will be consulted on a final design.

The cost, depending on which style was chosen, will be between £80,000 and £95,000.

More than 1,500 people have toured the upper floors of St Magnus Cathedral since tours began in 2002.

A report to Wednesday's meeting of the St Magnus Cathedral sub-committee of Orkney Islands Council said feedback had been 100 per cent positive, to date.

Just over 600 people toured the upper floors between April and December, 2002, when the tours first started, and this had since levelled off at the mid-400s.

It recommended that the price of the tours be increased to £5.50.

A Tamar class lifeboat launch

A new state-of-the-art lifeboat, the Tamar class, has been allocated to the RNLI Longhope lifeboat station, making its crew one of the first in Scotland to operate the all-weather lifeboat.

The new lifeboat, the most advanced ever produced by the RNLI, is expected to be in service by the spring of 2006.

Tony Trickett, lifeboat operations manager at Longhope, said: "It's great news for the station. The crew are all keen to get going, and are looking forward to training on board the new lifeboat before she officially comes on service."

The centre, which aims to cater for the elderly as well as offering services to younger people with disabilities on Westray, will be open from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, and 12.30pm to 4pm on Sunday.

Westray councillor, and OIC convener, Stephen Hagan, said: "A lot of hard work went into completing this project. This is a local facility which providing jobs for local folk and I hope that in the future there will be similar projects on some of the other isles."

The Hatston Pier from Wideford Hill

Orkney Islands Council have advised that there may be some disruption to passengers using the Hatston pier over the next two weeks as the final road surface is applied to the marshalling area and causeway.

Single line traffic will be operating while the surface hardens.

Final signing and marking will be also carried out during this period and the Harbours Department would like to hear from users on the effectiveness of the directions.

Orkney Harbours can be contacted at harbours@orkney.gov.uk

Click here for Orkney Harbours website

Representatives from the OIC have been in Denmark to view the physical model tests of the new Kirkwall pier extension.

Initial indications are that the model testing was extremely successful and a preferred design was selected. Additional testing will be required to verify the initial findings.

The extension will counter the adverse swell conditions which have affected the new Kirkwall marina to the east of the pier.

At the policy and resources committee meeting on Tuesday, it was agreed that £150,000 be transferred from the Scapa Flow oil port account to the harbours capital programme for 2005/06.

The build costs for the new pilot are estimated to be in the region of £1-1.1 million.

The report before councillors also recommended that the Scapa Pilot and Scapa Pathfinder be sold following the delivery of the new boat, raising up to £290,000.

Ayre Road flooding on January 12

The final cash claim to the Scottish Executive, following the severe storms in January, is still being finalised, islands councillors heard this week.

It is estimated that long-term costs to rebuild damaged areas and property could top £1 million.

, with properties being evacuated, while the high tide and hurricane force winds resulted in extensive damage to Orkney's coastline.

Convener, Councillor Stephen Hagan commented: "There is nothing like a storm of that severity to see if an emergency plan does work. We should say 'well done' to everybody."Extraordinary conditions on January 11 and 12 resulted in extensive flooding

Archive story: Flood misery follows night of storms

Proposals to reduce the scale of a proposed CCTV system for Kirkwall's town centre were frowned upon by islands councillors on Tuesday.

Due to a lack of funding, a revised system - with less cameras - was suggested by OIC officials, but councillors at today's meeting of the policy and resources committee stressed they wanted a system with the planned 15 cameras go ahead.

Members recommended that a report come back to the next meeting, setting out all the costs involved.

Mr Cruickshank, 30, a joiner from Peterhead, is contesting the Orkney and Shetland seat in this year’s general election on May 5.

Mr Cruickshank, who is the party’s only candidate in Scotland, insists that the legalisation of cannabis would lead to “less pollution, safer medicine, less crime and more justice.”

Full list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates

Click the image for enlargement

The latest "road" in Stromness is taking shape, as can be seen in the picture to the right.

The picture shows the view from the Pier Arts Centre pier, looking north across the new temporary access road.

The road was constructed to allow access to begin work on the £4.2 Pier Arts Centre expansion project.

Mr John Aberdein

Launching his campaign in Stromness last night, John Aberdein, the Scottish Socialist Party parliamentary candidate, said that electing a socialist MP was the best way to get the Prime Minister to "sit up and take notice".

Mr Aberdein admitted that "a Blair victory with a reduced majority" was the likeliest outcome of the election, but said that the SSP would speak out on issues such as major public investment in renewable energy, removing troops from Iraq and pensions.

Urging the electorate in the Northern Isles to make a change, Mr Aberdein said that LibDems had "lost much of their identity" and were now "too close to Labour to be effective".

Full list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates

The Highland and Islands Fire Brigade (HIFB) and Orkney's Drug, Alcohol and Smoking Action Team (DASAT) are involved in the project.

Last year, in the Highlands and Islands area, the Fire Brigade attended ten house fires involving 11 fatalities. Most of these involved smoking or cooking, where alcohol may also have played a contributory part.

Harry Garland, chairman of DASAT said: "We are keen to promote this campaign which will encourage people to think more about the risks of fire when they have been drinking."

Click here for more information on DASAT

Mr Stevenson, who also runs Kirkwall shop, Grooves, said that although there were a number of reasons behind his decision, the time taken to run the club was proving to be greater than originally forecast.

"I will be sad to see the place go," he said. "We have put a lot of effort into the setting up and running of Fusion. Although the club has only been open for two years, it has been a big part of our lives for the last five years."

The survey seeks the views of almost a thousand young voters on a wide range of issues including taxation, transport and the war in Iraq.

Alistair Carmichael commented: "There is a growing myth that young people are not interested in politics. That has not been my experience over the last four years as MP for Orkney and Shetland."

Full list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates

The first was on Saturday evening on the Kirkwall to Stromness road, another on Bignold Park road on Sunday and a third at St Mary's, Holm, this morning.

Another driver received a fixed penalty for failing to wear a seatbelt on Junction Road, Kirkwall, on Sunday.

Sergeant Angus MacLeod said: "We will continue to carry out speed checks at various location in Orkney and would request that the public watch their speed."

Police inquries are ongoing following a road accident on the main Kirkwall to Stromness road on Sunday evening.

A Subaru Impreza left the road between Quanterness and Rennibister at 5.30pm, crashed through a fence and overturned several times before coming to rest on its roof in a ploughed field.

The 17-year-old male driver was treated for minor injuries at the Balfour Hospital.

Sergeant Angus MacLeod said they were particularly keen to talk to the driver of a red saloon-type car, which was on the road in front a green VW Polo which left the road.

Inquiries are continuing and anyone with information is asked to contact Kirkwall police on 872241.

Alistair Carmichael has been formally adopted by Orkney and Shetland Liberal Democrats to be their candidate in the general election on 5 May.

He was given the unanimous backing of local Liberal Democrats at a meeting in Kirkwall on Friday night.

Mr Carmichael's nomination was proposed by Orkney MSP Jim Wallace and seconded by Orkney Liberal Democrat chair Ally Bruce.

Commenting after his selection Mr Carmichael said: "It has been a huge honour to represent the people of Orkney and Shetland over the last four years. My priority has been to ensure that local issues are given necessary consideration by Ministers."

Full list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates

MR John Mowat

The SNP election campaign was launched in Kirkwall at the weekend.

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, John Mowat, outlined his party's policy to a gathering in Kirkwall community centre.

This included the replacement of council tax with a local income tax and using oil money to improve transport links, hospitals and schools.

Urging everyone to use their votes, Mr Mowat said: "When the SNP does well in an election, Scotland does well, as other parties and governments are forced to sit up and take notice."

Full list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates

Scapa beach has suffered badly this year, with wind and tidal borne rubbish becoming entangled in seaweed. This year the tangled mess covers 200 metres along the beach.

Because the quantity of rubbish would have taken volunteers days to clear by hand, Orkney Aggregates removed the bulk of it with a digger.

Anyone willing to help bag some bruck next weekend can contact Susan on 761230.