A Stromness man convicted of raping two women was sentenced to eight years in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday.

Robert Stanger, 37, will also be kept under strict supervision for a further three years after his release.

The Judge, Lord Menzies, said Stanger, who was found guilty by majority at the High Court in Inverness last month, had shown "little remorse or empathy for his victims."

He was tried for raping a woman at the Ness Battery, Stromness, on July 16 last year, and another at the Bay of Skaill, Sandwick on January 14 this year.

Bryce Wilson

After a hiatus of almost two decades, a Stromness artist is back in full swing, with an exhibition of his work which opened in Kirkwall on Saturday.

Bryce Wilson, who is well known for his work with Orkney museums, has been working feverishly for the past two years, to get drawings and paintings together for the show.

Dubbed People and Places, it features 37 pieces of figurative and landscape paintings and drawings in pencil, pastels and at least one oil painting.

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Convener, Councillor Stephen Hagan said they had presented a robust case that the service with the helicopter did not meet expectations, but that it was clear the interpretation of performance differed greatly between both parties.

"We have agreed that Orkney Islands Council and Scottish Ambulance Service officials will now meet to seek clarification on a case by case basis as to what exactly has been happening. They will then reassess the detail provided on the performance sheets.

"I was encouraged that the minister recognised the need to clarify exactly how the helicopter was performing. He made it clear that any reduction to the service provided by the Islander would be unacceptable. To this end we were in agreement."

Police have named the man whose body was recovered from the sea at Yesnaby, Sandwick, on Wednesday night.

He has been named as Alan Cargill Moodie, 61, of Quoybanks Crescent, Kirkwall.

Mr Moodie was reported missing by his family, prompting a search by police, coastguard and the Stromness lifeboat. His body was recovered around 7.30pm on Wednesday.

A report is to be submitted to the procurator fiscal, although there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances.

A 21-year-old man narrowly escaped a jail sentence at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

A six-month restriction of liberty order was imposed on Joseph Shaun Thomas Michael Mahady, of St Catherine's Place, Kirkwall, confining him to his home between 7pm and 6am.

Mahady, who pleaded guilty to smashing a pub window and assaulting a police officer, must also pay £300 compensation and was placed on probation for 18 months.

Sheriff Graeme Napier told Mahady: "I was going to send you into custody for four months but your agent has managed to persuade me otherwise. I really don¹t want to see you back in front of me again in the future."

The proposed boundaries for the seven new regional transport partnerships (RTPs) were confirmed today by transport minister Tavish Scott.

Mr Scott said: "Having reflected on all views put to me by local authorities and others from across Scotland, I believe the RTP boundaries announced today give the most balanced strategic transport groupings to meet the needs of each individual area."

A new RTP has been created specifically for Shetland, of which it is the sole member.

The Westray Development Trust was announced as a winner at Wednesday night's fourth Scottish Waste Management Industry Awards ceremony in Glasgow.

The Westray Development Trust won the Community Waste Initiative Award for its success in creating bio-diesel fuel from waste cooking oil.

The memorial stone

Stromness writer George Mackay Brown was honoured on Thursday night with a stone marking his legacy unveiled in Edinburgh.

The memorial is situated in the capital city's Writers' Museum, which has a number of engraved stones celebrating various Scottish writers.

As well as contributions from Stromness Community Council and the Orkney Heritage Society, the project has been funded largely by public donation.

The stone is engraved with the line: In the fire of images, gladly I put my hand from Brown's poem, Hamnavoe.

Dr Jim Wilson

The Orcades team ­ leading the Orkney health study ­ were in Westray on Thursday night, as part of an informal health information evening jointly hosted with NHS Orkney.

A brief description of preliminary results was presented by Dr Jim Wilson and Dr Sarah Wild at the Kalisgarth Care Home.

With the help of up to 2,000 folk in Orkney, it is hoped will find new treatments for Scotland¹s three major killer diseases ­ heart disease, strokes and diabetes.

Archive story: Genetic study into killer diseases

A 35-year-old Kirkwall man was sentenced to three years in prison at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

John Ross Harrold, formerly of Lambaness, Kirkwall, appeared in court last month, where a jury found him guilty by majority of supplying cannabis resin.

The jury heard that Harrold had sold cannabis resin and arranged at least one deal with a street-value of at least £3,600.

Two school board meetings concerning a proposal to have one head teacher cover both the Stenness and Orphir schools took place this week.

The posts of head teacher at both schools are vacant, prompting the suggestion to have one head covering both schools - an arrangement already in place at the Burray and St Margaret's Hope schools.

However, the local branch of the teachers' union, EIS, have claimed the move would be a backward step for Orkney's education service.

The Stenness school board met on Wednesday night, with the Orphir school board convening on Thursday.

A £70 million project to introduce broadband technology into schools, libraries and offices in the Highlands and Islands has taken a step forward.

Contractors are now being sought to install broadband in all targeted locations by mid 2008. Orkney Islands Council is taking part in the Pathfinder project, which aims to award the contract by the middle of next year.

Although concentrated on council facilities, Pathfinder will result in further large scale upgrades to the telecommunications infrastructure across the Highlands and Islands, bringing wider knock-on benefits for businesses, individuals and other organisations.

A Kirkwall man is looking to build up an archive of Ba' pictures in the run up to this season's games.

Walter Haywood is looking for pictures to add to his photo archive at www.kirkwallba.co.uk.

Anyone wishing to contribute can email admin@walterhaywood.com.

Young visitors to Historic Scotland's sites in Orkney can get in free this month.

For October only, children will be allowed free access to Maeshowe and Skara Brae. They must, however, be accompanied by a paying adult.

The EC-135 helicopter proposed to provide air ambulance services to the Northern Isles

Jim Wallace MSP, Alistair Carmichael MP and OIC convener, Councillor Stephen Hagan, were in Edinburgh on Wednesday, to meet with Scotland's health minister over concerns about the current air ambulance trials.

The Scottish Ambulance Service propose that from April 1, 2006, air ambulance services in Orkney will no longer be provided by a locally-based Islander plane, but by an EC135 helicopter based in Inverness.

Among the issues raised were the helicopter's lack of range before requiring refuelling, bad weather performance and delays in collecting patients.

The OIC's environmental health unit is hosting the forum, which meets every 18 months at various island locations.

The forum, which runs from Wednesday until Friday, is an association of health professionals who dedicate their time to advancing knowledge of public health practice in island communities.

OIC Convener, Councillor Stephen Hagan, opened the event.

Council tax bills in Orkney have risen by 100 per cent since 1996 ­ but people in the county are still paying less than anywhere else in Scotland.

It means people in Orkney now pay £982 for a band 'D' property ­ in comparison to £480 nine years ago.

The hike is the second highest in Scotland, only behind the percentage rises seen in Shetland of 119 per cent since 1996.

According to the figures, released by the Bank of Scotland, the rises are much higher than the 49 per cent increase in the price of services over the same period.

Councillor Janice Annal	Councillor Sinclair Scott

Orkney Islands Council's vice-convener, Councillor Sinclair Scott, is replacing Councillor Janice Annal as the OIC representative on the board of NHS Orkney.

The decision came down to a single vote on Tuesday, which saw Councillor Scott pip Councillor Annal nine votes to eight.

Councillor Janice Annal has been on the board since October 2001.

Controversial plans to enforce closure of the Churchill Barriers in bad weather were passed back to the OIC's transportation committee today.

The expected heated debate - which had attracted a number of south isles residents - fell flat when councillors at Tuesday's full council meeting, simply agreed that the plans need further investigation.

Transportation committee chairman Councillor Bob Sclater agreed to take it back, adding that the matter would "hopefully" be further discussed in public.

The deadline for tendering bids for the Northern Isles lifeline service has been put back one month.

Bids must now be submitted by December 1, although the new contract start date is still set for April 1, 2006.

A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "This is not unusual, it happens from time to time. The tenderers have asked for the deadline to be extended as there are a lot of technical issues to be sorted out."

Stromness community council need to "do what¹s best for the town" when they decide the fate of the local campsite, it was insisted at Monday night' s meeting.

Community councillors heard from Kieran Henderson, OIC's recreation services manager, and local fishermen at the meeting.

It was argued that an alternate site should either be sought, or the current facility, at Point of Ness, should be expanded.

However, local fishermen argued that the site belonged to them, and that a request to remove creels and equipment for expansion was "unfair".

Members agreed to continue the debate at the next meeting.

Islands councillors agreed to a six percent raise for Orkney Ferries fares on Monday.

After a lively debate, members of the OIC's inter-isles transport sub-committee voted in favour of the increase for next year.

Councillor Jim Sinclair put forward a motion for a three per cent rise, because he thought the increased costs will be particularly detrimental to people who commute from the inner isles. He was backed by the convener, Councillor Stephen Hagan.

However, a vote saw three members go for six per cent and three for a rise in line with inflation. Chairman, Councillor Bob Sclater's casting vote went with OIC officials' six per cent recommendation.

A Kirkwall man, who admitted breaching bail conditions, was released from custody from Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Monday morning.

Last week, Robert David Sinclair, 44, of Skaill Road, pleaded guilty to assaulting a man on Lynn Crescent, Kirkwall. A bail condition was added that he could not enter the street.

On September 27, Sinclair spent the night at an address on Lynn Crescent.

Sheriff Graeme Napier said: "You have committed a serious offence by breaching the bail order, whether it was by invitation or not. You just have to say 'no'."

Sentence was deferred until October 20.

The euro/pound exchange rate for the first Single Farm Payment will be 1 euro to £0.68195.

NFU Scotland vice-president Bob Howat said: "Farmers can now calculate the sterling value of their Single Farm Payment. However, everyone needs to be aware that the estimates of payments sent out by the Scottish Executive are subject to percentage reductions for the national reserve, modulation and the beef national envelope. Farmers should also bear in mind that in that estimate, the example exchange rate used was 0.70p. Therefore payments will be lower than forecast."

Police and coastguard were called to Flotta after a man was reported missing at the weekend.

The 33-year-old was reported missing at 7.30am on Saturday morning, and later discovered in an empty house on the island.

The man has been charged in relation to a number of road traffic offences and a report is being submitted to the procurator fiscal.

The clouds parted just long enough for a view of Monday morning's partial eclipse of the sun.

The eclipse started at 8.57am on Monday morning, with the Moon passing in front of the sun, and reached maximum eclipse at 10.02am.

The picture of the eclipse to the right was taken in the West Mainland by The Orcadian's Alan Hodge.

Accountancy students at Orkney College have notched up a 100 per cent success rate during their final exams.

The 14 students, the first to take a Modern Apprenticeship in accounting at the college, achieved exam results well above the national average.

They scored a 93 per cent pass rate in one exam, compared to a national success rate of 66 per cent. Then they did even better - all passing the second exam, which has a national pass rate of 81 per cent.

Orkney Rugby Club are sitting at the top of their league after a victory over RAF Lossiemouth at the weekend.

Orkney's First XV travelled south on Saturday, where they beat Lossiemouth 17-38 in their latest national league fixture.

The win leaves Orkney at the top of the Division Five pool one league table with 20 points and one game in hand.

Illegal dumping and burning waste will be in the spotlight this week with a week-long clampdown on fly-tipping.

From Monday, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is targeting those who flaunt the law by illegally disposing of rubbish.

Following the success of a similar seven-day crackdown earlier this year, SEPA officers will once again be teaming up with police and local authorities.

The public can help by contacting the Dumb Dumpers Stop line 0845 2304090 and giving details of offenders. More information and an online reporting form are available on the campaign website