Dounby primary school pupils in rehearsal for Notes in a Time of War.

Sea journeys and war, reconciliation and the power of the arts in healing and renewal, are the themes running through the programme of events for the 29th St Magnus Festival, which started on Friday.

It continued on Saturday with performances in Stromness, Birsay, Sandwick, concluding with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in St Magnus Cathedral at 9pm.

The Duke of York, HRH Prince Andrew, is due to visit Orkney next month, it has been confirmed.

The Royal last touched down in the county in August, 1990, when he played a round of golf at the Kirkwall club.

A spokesman from Orkney Islands Council said the itinerary and date had yet to be finalised.

A Westray man fell six metres to his death, a fatal accident inquiry heard at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Thursday.

The inquiry heard that Thomas Fergus of Clifton Farm, Rapness died on August 12, last year after falling from a home made platform attached to a forklift truck, while working with his son, Dennis.

Despite the best efforts of the father and son to make a safe platform to work from, Sheriff Graeme Napier determined the cause of the accident could be put down the “separation of the platform on which Thomas Fergus was working from the forks on the hydraulic arm, which had been used to raise the platform and a steel I-beam.”

Owner of Fusion nightclub in Kirkwall, Mark Ridgway, has confirmed that the PA system in the Firelounge, which was out of action, has been repaired and is now back in working order, and will be available for forthcoming events.

Mark also said that the two DJs from Snow Patrol, booked to play as part of the St Magnus Festival Fringe will not now be appearing.

Beds are standing empty at an old folk's home in Orkney, as Orkney Islands Council's social work department struggles to cope with its budget and staffing difficulties.

Orkney's director of social work, Harry Garland, said: "We are already having to hold beds at St Peter's House in Stromness and will have to do the same at St Rognvald House in Kirkwall."

He said it was not just an attempt to stay within budget, but because he was not given any additional money to increase the staffing levels necessary to look after increasingly frail and dependent old folk.

A Kirkwall taxi company has hit out at plans to close Harbour Street - which is home to the taxi rank - for Saturday’s visiting liner, the Golden Princess.

While a spokesman for Orkney Islands Council said it was for safety reasons, Calum Swanson of CD Taxis, has vowed that they will turn up for business as usual, despite the closure.

“There has been no consultation with us at all which is the biggest annoyance. We need the liner trade as well as the bus companies -if we get nothing we could lose up to £1,000.”

Barbara Moodie, a guild member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, has been presented with a silver badge honorary award in recognition of her dedication to the charity last week.

She has supported the RNLI for more than 25 years, in Westray from 1979 to 1990 and with Kirkwall guild since then. In 2004, Orkney Mainland Guild raised £46,928 for the RNLI.

The awards ceremony was held at the charity’s annual Scottish AGM at Perth City Hall and the Salutation Hotel.

Orkney Islands Council has received a damning report from the Food Standards Agency.

Following an audit of the council’s food law enforcement service in February, the agency has drawn up a 21-point action plan to force an improvement in procedures.

A spokesman from Orkney Islands Council said there was no suggestion of any failures in the quality of the service provided by staff to the food industry and consumers. However, he admitted that due to the number of premises in remote locations and on the outer isles, some inspections have not been carried out at the set frequency.

Police inquiries are continuing after a three-vehicle road accident in Stenness on Tuesday evening.

A Rover 216 was in collision with a Cherokee jeep at 5.15pm, and then rebounded striking a Jaguar, according to Kirkwall police Sergeant Eddie Graham. “As a result the jeep left the road and ended up going down an embankment and into the grounds of the Standing Stones Hotel,” he added.

Of the five occupants of the vehicles, one was detained in Kirkwall’s Balfour Hospital, and two sustained minor injuries.

Two thirds of patients in Orkney are having to wait more than two months for breast cancer treatment.

Commenting on the recently published waiting times for cancer treatment, Keith Farrer, lead cancer and palliative care nurse at NHS Orkney, said: “It is unacceptable that only 30 per cent of our patients with a suspected breast cancer received initial treatment, after referral, within the target time of two months.

“It should be noted, however, that the particular reporting period in question (covering the last quarter of 2004) was poor for a number of reasons, not least the level of sickness amongst the cancer team at NHS Grampian.”

Residents served by NHS Orkney received £497 less funding per person than residents on the Western Isles, according to figures for 2004-2005.

Highlands and Islands MSP Mary Scanlon has asked the Scottish Executive to explain its current spending policy on health, which saw the county’s health board lose out. She said: “I have submitted a parliamentary question to ask the Scottish Executive to state the reasons why NHS Orkney should receive such a significantly lower level of funding.”

NHS Orkney received £1,579 per head of population, in comparison to £2,076 per capita in the Western Isles.

Six pupils from Sanday Community School presented their Plantation project to students and teachers from schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland, at the annual Barclays New Futures, in Edinburgh, on Tuesday.

The Plantation project is a community focused environmental project in the grounds of Sanday Community School.

Headteacher, Daniel Connor, co-ordinator of the project, said: “The students are very excited to be able to go to Edinburgh and present their project to other schools and demonstrate what the Plantation project is achieving in both learning and as an environmental and wildlife centre for the whole community.”

There has been no change at the helm of Stromness Community Council.

Linda Lennie was re-elected as chairwoman, while Graham Bevan and John Brown, were reappointed to serve as vice-chairmen, at Tuesday night's meeting.

Orkney’s newest golf course officially opened on Saturday, with over 100 players taking advantage of the new facility.

The new nine-hole South Ronaldsay Golf Course, which took just under seven-years to complete, attracted adults and juniors alike.

Jim Seatter, club captain, said: “It went fantastically well, I think there was 79 adults playing and there was quite a lot of juniors. The weather held out and, thankfully, it stayed dry which made the day a lot better. It is nice to see all the hard work from over the years come together.”

Seven Orkney athletes travelled to Grangemouth at the weekend to take part in the Scottish Schools Athletics championships.

David Miller, of Kirkwall Grammar School, stole the show when he won gold in the under-17, 800 metres with a time two minutes one second. For the youngster, who will also be representing Orkney in the island games next month, this is the fourth time he has tasted medal success in the championships.

Coach Malcolm Colquhoun said: “All the athletes who took part have gained valuable national experience and it has been a positive championship for them.”

A woman was uninjured after an object was thrown at her while crossing at the Castle Street and Broad Street junction shortly before midnight on Friday.

According to Sergeant Jim Pryde it is understood that a youth may have launched the small implement.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police on 872241.

Scottish Health Minister Andy Kerr is to personally scrutinise NHS Orkney’s performance, it was announced today.

Health board chiefs and boards will be publicly reviewed by Mr Kerr, who is to visit each of the 15 area based health boards to challenge chairmen, chief executive’s and directors about how well the organisations have delivered over the last year.

“The NHS belongs to all of us. So it is right that those who manage the service on our behalf are held to account in public,” he said.

Mr Kerr is to visit NHS Orkney on August 3.

Parents are happy with schools in Orkney, particularly in primary and junior highs – but older pupils don’t feel they are listened to, according to a recent survey.

A second ethos questionnaire was sent out to parents, children and staff in March with the results described as “still encouraging”.

Orkney’s director of education, Leslie Manson, told the education committee: “Parents appear very happy with their children’s schools. There is a challenge across all sectors for school boards to make a greater impact, and parents of secondary pupils are concerned with issues like pupil behaviour, bullying, communications with the school, and homework.”

The Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) have secured long term funding, through a £1.26 million grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

The grant will fund the group's Viking Heaths Project, which is planned for heathland management across Orkney’s farmland and nature reserves.

The project, which will span five years, will be launched on June 16, at Mousland Farm, Stromness.

Visitors from cruise ships boost Orkney’s economy by £930,000 per year, according to an Orkney Enterprise survey.

The survey, which questioned 206 people from 24 different cruises between May and October, 2004, showed that the majority of cruise visitors were retired and 85 per cent of respondents were on their first trip to Orkney - over half of those asked said they would visit again.

Michael Reid, OE development manager, said: “The results of this survey will provide useful information for the development of future tourism strategies for Orkney.”

Orkney’s MP has called for fair penalties for UK fishermen.

Alistair Carmichael, questioned the Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw on new figures revealing large variations in the level or penalties imposed on fishermen who break EU regulations, in the House of Commons on Thursday.

A report by the European Commission, published last week, showed that across the European Union, the average fine applied to fishermen who broke the rules is£3,130. However, in the UK average penalties are £52,000.

Mr Bradshaw agreed that it is unfair and the new EU Fisheries Commissioner, Joe Borg, is looking at changing the system to create a more level playing field.