The Auditor General announced in September that Audit Scotland were to look into the awarding of the franchise to NorthLink five years ago.

In 2004, The Orcadian revealed that £13.4 million in extra subsidy had been used in an 18-month period.

This additional funding, handed over by the Scottish Executive to keep the lifeline service going, was also to come under scrutiny.

Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen has seen the prototype of a tidal turbine device due to be tested in Orkney next year.

The 'Rotech Tidal Turbine', being developed by Rotech Engineering Ltd and Lunar Energy Ltd, is due to be commissioned at the European Marine Energy Centre in Stromness, early in 2006.

The unit is likely to be the first tidal unit deployed at the centre's new tidal facilities.

NHS Orkney's chief executive is now confident of making savings of £430,000 to balance the books ­ only ten days after pledging that it couldn't be done.

Steve Conway have been given the backing of the Scottish Executive health department to implement measures, which will include a freeze on filling vacancies.

He was in Edinburgh on Thursday, to present new proposals for a balanced budget. "Nobody who has got a job will lose one. Posts, which become vacant, will be lost rather than jobs. I am confident that we will reach a break-even position this year."

Kirkwall police have appealed for a Fife man, thought to be in Orkney, to get in touch with them on 872241.

Concerns over the health of John Shields, 56, described as 5ft 9in, stocky build, grey hair, and last seen wearing a navy blue jacket, black cardigan, black jeans and boots, have been expressed by his wife.

PC Neil Burgess confirmed that the man, missing from the Fife area, had contacted his wife last on Thursday, from a kiosk in Stromness, to say he was alright. "We would still like to speak to the gentleman, personally, to make sure he is okay."

Transport Minister Tavish Scott announced that £35 million is to be shared among the seven regional transport partnerships in each of the next two years.

The RTPs are responsible for bringing together key stakeholders in transport planning to produce and deliver strategies that will make a real difference to users.

The OIC is one of five councils in Scotland who need to improve the monitoring of funding of organisations that provide services on their behalf

According to a new Audit Scotland report, councils need better information about these organisations.

In 2003/04, for example, the OIC provided funding of £9,496 million to 260 external organisations. Most of this (£6,973 million) went on six organisations to provide roads and transport services. Orkney Ferries Ltd received £4,400 million and 75 organisations received £1,274 million to provide social work and welfare services.

An Audit Scotland spokesman said: "No council is meeting all the best practice guidelines. However Orkney Islands council shows low performance in this area overall."

Scotland's drinking water quality regulator has told Orkney MSP, Jim Wallace, that the Boardhouse Loch water supplied to households this summer was not "wholesome".

As a result, Mr Wallace has told Scottish Water that consumers should not have to pay water charges for the period when their water was affected by an algal bloom in the loch.  

Sentence has been deferred on a man charged with sending "grossly offensive or indecent obscene" text messages at Kirkwall Sheriff Court.

Appearing from custody, Jamie Robertson, 29, of no fixed abode, plead guilty to sending the messages, which included death threats, to his ex-partner in November.

He also pleaded not guilty to burning property, defacing walls and destroying various household items at a house in Toab.

On-the-spot fines could be issued to anyone causing "noise nuisance" in 2006.

The OIC is introducing a new hotline number for the public to call if they feel someone is creating excessive noise.  Anyone found guilty will have to stop within five minutes or face a fixed penalty of £100. The offender can be prosecuted and fined up to £1,000 if the fixed penalty is not paid within 28 days.

Funded by the Scottish Executive, the scheme will run on a trial basis in February and March 2006.

A man, who lured a Japanese tourist back to his Finstown home before sexually assaulting her, was jailed for three months at Kirkwall Sheriff Court yesterday.

Bruce Alexander McCoulough, 43, met the woman in Kirkwall on October 28, where he offered her and a companion accommodation for the night. While at his house, McCoulough assaulted the woman on several occasions.

Sheriff Colin Scott Mackenzie said: "Your unfortunate victim must have been terrified. She was a stranger in a strange land and you tried to take advantage of her."

McCoulough also pleaded guilty to drink driving on October 21, for which he was disqualified for 15 months.

A dead whale was craned off Scapa beach on Thursday morning.

The 5.9 metre-long juvenile Minke whale was originally spotted on Sunday, caught up in creels off Flotta's Stanger Head.

A report is being submitted to the procurator fiscal following a road accident in Harray on Wednesday night.

The crash was reported to Kirkwall police at 6.40pm, after a Peugeot 406 collided with a parked, unattended, Renault Megane, near Harray Stores.

No one was injured.

Work has begun on a new multi-purpose path linking Kirkwall with Scapa.

The Orkney Islands Council project, created with the support of landowner Dennis Bichan, looks set to benefit a wide number of users - from walkers to horse riders.

A consultation exercise has been launched to identify the "Best Practicable Environmental Option" for radioactive particles found near the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness.

These particles, which are fragments of irradiated nuclear fuel, can be traced to the waste management practices of the late 1950s. To date, 926 have been recovered from the seabed, and almost 300 from nearby beaches

The owners of Kirkwall bowling alley, Powerbowl, confirmed on Tuesday that they have terminated the manager's contract.

In a statement, Powerbowl's managing director, George Drever jnr, confirmed that Noel Jeffery, who took up the managerial post in February this year, no longer works at the company.

Mr Drever said: "We recently unearthed a number of issues that gave us serious cause for concern, leaving us with no option but to immediately end Mr Jeffery's employment with Powerbowl.

"For legal reasons I am unable to provide more detail, but suffice to say that investigations involving the police are ongoing."

NorthLink Ferries is to invest £20,000 between January and March next year, supporting youngsters, charities, events and festivals in Orkney and Shetland.

The company's sponsorship funding will take the form of free travel and discounted fares to a host of local clubs, organisations and sports stars, including Orkney's sportsman of the year, Andrew Hamilton.

A strategy to combat anti-social behaviour in Orkney has been launched.

The document emphasises that local agencies must work together to resolve antisocial behaviour and contains information about local resources and future plans.

Police Chief Inspector Mike Cowdry said: "Northern Constabulary welcomes the launch of the Orkney Antisocial Behaviour Strategy which will enable us and our partner agencies to employ strong and transparent measures to deal with a range of issues."

Copies of the strategy are available for download at the OIC website.

The report states that the school has a very welcoming and positive climate and the interaction between staff and pupils is excellent, as well as praising the relationships with parents and the wider community.

The inspectors recommended that the school and the OIC education department should improve mental calculation and problem solving in maths, develop a greater understanding of legislative issues relating to children and improve arrangements for monitoring and evaluating the quality of learning, teaching and attainment.

NHS Orkney confirmed on Monday that the new Kirkwall GP practice is scheduled to open on February 13, 2006.

Building work on the former dental surgery in Scapa Crescent is expected to be completed by the end of January. Dr Janne Bills, the second confirmed recruit of the new GP recruitment campaign, will be joining Dr Charlie Siderfin in the practice at the beginning of March.

In January, around 2, 800 patients currently registered with the Scapa Practice will be transferred to the new practice.

Full details in this week's The Orcadian

Stromness man, Fred Breck, 48, has taken over the helm from John Banks as the new coxswain of the Stromness RNLI lifeboat.

Originally from Birsay, Fred was 35 when he first volunteered as part of the Stromness RNLI lifeboat crew in 1992.

He said: "I am looking forward to taking on the coxswain's role, especially as Stromness station has an excellent crew. After all it is the crew who makes the boat not the individual. John Banks was an excellent coxswain I learnt a lot from him, and Michael Flett, a former coxswain, especially local knowledge of the area. I hope I'll do as good as job as them."

A 23-year-old Kirkwall man, who performed an indecent act on three separate occasions, was released on bail and placed on the sexual offenders register, at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Monday.

Jamie Alexander Mitchell Watson, of Rope Walk, pleaded guilty to the offences which took place on July 2, October 30 and December 11.

Sentencing was deferred until January 25 for the court to obtain background reports.

The lifeboat, coastguard, fire and ambulance service were involved in the operation after two crewmen on board the Shalimar were reported unconscious in the fish hold. Fumes from a water pump on the vessel had overcome the men.

The lifeboat launched at 10.40pm and reached the casualty 30 minutes later and passed oxygen bottles to the Shalimar crew to aid the unconscious men. The vessel was then escorted to Stromness where fire and ambulance crews transferred the men to hospital.