Breast Cancer is high on the agenda in the county at present, with series of events to raise awareness and money to go towards battling the disease.

The Pickaquoy Centre begins tomorrow, Sunday, with a fun combat class to raise funds for the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity.

Then, next weekend, Stromness will host another “Pink Weekend” – a series of events and activities held in memory of local woman, Ingrid Rosie, who lost her fight against breast cancer in 2003.

Orkney Rugby Club's string of walkover victories in their Division Five national league group came to a crashing end on Saturday.

In away game against St Andrews, the home side delivered a sound 64-7 beating to Orkney.

It was St Andrews who handed Orkney the play-off defeat earlier this year, which saw ORFC relegated to Division Five.

A vehicle collision in St Andrews on Thursday saw a woman treated at the Balfour Hospital for minor injuries.

The incident occurred at the St Andrews school junction, around 5.30pm, and involved a Mazda 66, driven by a 44-year-old male, and a Honda Civic, driven by a 52-year-old woman.

One of the cars was badly damaged after being sent spinning off the road.

With the darker nights upon us, police are urging motorists to be vigilant, particularly in rural areas, and watch out for animals or people on the road.

The warning comes after a collision with a sheep outside Kirkwall on Thursday.

The animal was struck and killed by a car around 6.45pm on Thursday night. The driver escaped unhurt, although his vehicle was damaged.

Happy Valley, Stenness

The creator of Happy Valley - a wooded beauty spot in Stenness - has died.

Mr Edwin Harrold passed away on Wednesday night and was buried at the Stenness Kirk on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Harrold moved into the cottage at Bankburn in October, 1948, the area was treeless, but his travels around the country gave him the idea of establishing a wood.

Living without electricity, hot water and television for most of his life, he spent many hours tending to his creation.

The Scottish Executive has commissioned a major study to examine the environmental impact of harnessing energy from the marine environment.

The study area will focus on the west coast of Orkney and the Pentland Firth, as well as western Scotland and Shetland.

Phone services in the county returned to normal on Friday, after a fault on Thursday crippled the network in the north of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland.

Landlines and mobile phones were hit by disruptions and a British Telecom spokesman said that the 999 emergency service was unavailable.

A cable fault at Berriedale in Caithness led to the disruption, which affected customers from around 11am on Thursday until early evening.

The trial of a Kirkwall man and woman, accused of breaching the peace, has been adjourned until December 15.

Paul Anthony Howley, 19, and Samantha Jane Howley, 17, both of Lynn Crescent, Kirkwall, both plead not guilty to entering The Hair Studio, Kirkwall, refusing to leave and breaching the peace.

With prosecution evidence concluded, defence will start on December 15.

Orkney Islands Council is to receive almost £20,000 as part of a £1 million Scottish Executive grant to help councils develop school estate management plans.

Education minister, Peter Peacock, said that councils must look to the future to ensure today's school buildings meet tomorrow's needs.

"That's why councils produce school estate management plans to allow them to assess their current schools, consider their needs and develop a long-term plan," he said.

The shortlist for the 2005 Orkney Sports Awards has been announced.

An independent judging panel, representing a wide range of sports in Orkney, considered 92 nominations for the ten award categories.

Click here for full details of nominees

A man who drove away from Kirkwall Police Station, while almost twice the legal alcohol limit, was fined £500 and banned for a year at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Thursday.

David Mackinnon Duncan, 33, of South Flaws, South Ronaldsay, had consumed so much alcohol on Saturday, that at noon on Sunday he was still well over the legal limit.

At the time he had gone to the police station regarding another matter, where police detected a strong smell of alcohol. After seeing Duncan entering a vehicle and driving away, he was followed by police and charged.

Delegates from the OIC were among a party in London last week to discuss renewable energy.

Along with representatives from Shetland and the Western Isles, OIC director of development services, Mr Jeremy Baster, and Stromness councillor, Ian Johnstone, met with Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks MP.
 
The meeting was to discuss the importance of the renewable industry to the Scottish islands and the Government’s role in making the industry financially viable.

Scottish Water is to introduce a regular customer ‘surgery’ in Orkney to allow householders and businesses to raise any issues face-to-face with a representative.

The first will take place on Wednesday and Thursday next week at the Scottish Water offices in the Hatston Industrial Estate.

The "surgery" will be open from 9am until 5pm.

The successor to Norma Campbell, executive director of Voluntary Action Orkney (VAO), has been named.

Gaynor Jones, who currently works as DASAT co-ordinator at NHS Orkney Health Promotions, will take over from Mrs Campbell, who retires in December.

Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie McGrigor has expressed concern at new figures showing a marked increase in summary criminal cases dealt with by sheriffs across the Highlands and Islands over the last five years.

But although cases have increased by as much as 67 per cent in some areas, only Kirkwall has seen a reduction in both cases, and the time taken to process them, since 2000.

Orkney Islands Council's Trading Standards Department has again warned Orcadians to be on the look out for "phishing" e-mail scams.

The department has received a number of complaints from people who have received e-mails from what appears to be well-known companies, such as eBay, banks or building societies.

These requests are mainly attempts to commit identity theft and usually contain a link to a fake site, which looks genuine and where further personal details will be requested.

The blaze which severely damaged Kirkwall’s Albert Hotel last week was caused by a cracked vent in the chimney breast leading from the Bothy Bar.

Divisional Officer Alec Kidd, who led the investigation into the cause of the  fire - which broke out in the early hours of Tuesday, October 11 - said the flames then spread into the roof space above the bar.
Ten guests were safely evacuated from the hotel, and surrounding streets were closed off.

One of the staff members at the Sanday school has reaped the rewards of an awards scheme designed to promote best practice in information and computer technology (ICT).

Helen Newman, an "early years worker" at the school, is among the Scottish winners of this year's Becta ICT in Practice Awards, announced today. Ms Newman is the winner in the learning assistance category.

The winners will receive their awards at a ceremony in January.

Opinion appears to the split right down the middle as to whether the OIC should build more houses in Orkney to alleviate the county's housing shortage.

The results of our online poll, which closed on Tuesday at 3pm, saw 49.87 per cent of voters in favour of building more houses, with 50.13 per cent against the idea.

At least one Orkney farmer has been nominated for an excellence award.

NFUS Orkney group secretary, Kenny Slater, told Monday night's meeting of the union in Kirkwall, that one nomination had gone in and at least one more was expected.

The awards recognise those who have made a significant contribution to agriculture, wildlife protection or the wider rural community.

Nominations close on November 28 for the farmland biodiversity award, the young achiever award (for those under 35) and the innovation award.

Orkney will host the dinner at the next national AGM of the farmers' union.

Stewart Wood, NFUS Orkney branch chairman, told Monday night's meeting in Kirkwall the branch's bid for the 2006 dinner had been successful.

As well as making sure the meal displays a good range of Orkney food and drink, the branch is working with Orkney Enterprise, Orkney The Brand and Orkney Quality Food and Drink to put other Orkney products on display.

The relocation and restoration of Kirkwall’s Groatie Hoose has been shortlisted for the Built Environment award in the national Dynamic Place Awards.

This year’s shortlist of entries was published on Monday and sees the structure, which was recently dismantled and relocated to the gardens of Tankerness House, in the final 26.

Judges are currently visiting each of the remaining contenders to identify the winners in the three award categories; Built Environment, Community Development and Connections.

A 33-year-old male was arrested in Kirkwall for drink driving on Sunday morning at 11.15am.

Orkney’s troubled dental service has suffered a setback after a newly-recruited dentist has withdrawn at the eleventh hour.

After two years of recruitment, NHS Orkney’s salaried dental service is back at square one.

Moya Nelson, chief administrative dental officer said: “We are very disappointed.  It has taken a lot of hard work to get to this stage but unfortunately the dentist has withdrawn.”

NHS Orkney is now looking at recruiting from Poland.

The rivalry between Orkney and Shetland led to two men to be arrested in Kirkwall on Saturday night.

A police spokesman said that the two men were arrested for breach of the peace, after an incident "which originated in the rivalry between the Orkney and Shetland football match."

Police are looking for information relating to a series of vandalisms in Kirkwall on Friday night.

A number of youths were seen in the Holm Road area on Friday night around 11.30pm - at the same time a number of properties in the area were damaged.

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

In just over a week’s time, Orkney Islands Council is due to launch its new and improved website.

The new-look web site will be launched on Monday, October 24, and will contain easy to find information about the OIC – everything from the way to contact your local councillor to the opening times for civic amenity sites or school closures in bad weather.

The new site will also allow people to pay council bills and fines securely online.