The Ad Hoc Players production of A Galway Girl took the honours at this year's Orkney Drama Festival. Adjudicator Colin Dolley announced the final results on Friday night, at the end of five nights of performances.

Second place went to Stromness Drama Group (Hamnavoe) and their production of The Laramie Project, with third place going to the Birsay Drama Group (Brough) and Women on the verge of HRT.

The winners go forward to the divisional finals in Arbroath on March 24, 25 and 26.

The latest statistics means that between April and December 2004, 87.4 per cent of First Class mail was delivered next day.

Royal Mail's target for first class mail is 92.5 per cent, although Orkney is not included in this target "due to geographic remoteness".

The health board's Capital Allocations sum has increased by 18 per cent compared with the 2004/05 allocation. In addition NHS Orkney will receive a further £300,000 to be earmarked for Medical Equipment, representing an total increase on last year of 36 per cent. Allocations for 2006/07 and 2007/08 indicate an overall increase of 86 per cent over the three-year period.

This news is a major boost to NHS Orkney in pursuing its service redesign and modernisation programme as set out in the Local Health Plan.

Three Stromness pool players took part in a sponsored pool marathon, which began on Friday night, to help an Orkney team take part in an international competition later this year.

Players Erlend Grieve, and brothers Stewart and Keith Keldie took part in the marathon in the Ferry Inn, Stromness.

The World Pool Championships take place in England in April.

Local stations in Orkney launched a total of 40 times. Kirkwall saw their rescues increase from 7 in 2003 to 19 in 2004.

The Longhope lifeboat launched nine times in 2004, the Stromness lifeboat 12 times.

There were traffic disruption in Kirkwall on Friday, with one of Kirkwall's busiest roads closed after a water main fractured on Thursday night.

The section of Junction Road, from Castle Street through to West Tankerness Lane, was closed off after flooding was reported by the public.

Scottish Water confirmed that a repair has been made by Friday morning and that a temporary road surface was in place. However, according to police, there will be further traffic disruptions while the OIC roads department look at a permanent solution.

Thursday, the penultimate night of the 2005 Orkney Drama Festival, saw Stromness Drama Club (Greenvoe) take the honours with their production of Bouncers - 1990s remix.

Palace Players Youth (B) performed Obsessed, while the Birsay Drama Group (Marwick) wrapped up the evening with Fallen Heroes.

Ken Black, NHS Orkney's Consultant Public Health Medicine said, "This is only the third case confirmed case of Rubella in Scotland to date. Thankfully, Rubella is now rare in Western Europe, including Scotland, where vaccination programmes have been in place for many years.

In rubella infections there is a sore throat, conjunctivitis and mild fever for two to three days before the rash appears. The lymph nodes of the neck are often swollen. Recovery is usually rapid and complete, although persistent joint infection sometimes occurs, especially in adults.

The Longhope Pier

A new anti-corrosion system installed on a new section of the Longhope pier, could save up to £3million. That is the claim of the installers, iicorr, an Aberdeen-based company recently won contracts to carry out a corrosion protection service in Orkney.

Although relatively new, the Longhope pier was showing signs of corrosion, so a Cathodic Protection (CP) system was designed and installed. This protection, say iicorr, ensures the design life of the quay for 20 years, protecting it against Accelerated Low Water Corrosion (ALWC).

One of the exposed skulls on the foreshore

An emergency excavation in Rendall, brought about by severe coastal erosion and damage caused by last month's storms, is drawing to a close this week.

The visiting team from AOC Archaeology, who were in Sanday last week investigating Bronze Age structures exposed by the January storms, has been working at a shoreside site below the Hall of Rendall.

The team, led by archaeologist Ronan Toolis, has discovered the remains of 21 burials. The burials appear to be part of a cemetery relating to the remains of a nearby 12th century church, Tammaskirk.

Birsay Drama Group (Brough) took the honours at Wednesday night's Orkney Drama Festival.

Their performance of Women on the Verge of HRT beat The Gathering Storm from the Palace Players C and I Never Thought from the Palace Players Youth A.

Biz Ivol grew, processed and distributed medical cannabis in the form of chocolate, free, from her home in South Ronaldsay.

She died in September 2004.

In a letter to Health Minister, Andy Kerr, Mr Wallace sought clarification on five items, including how "trial missions" will be selected for the helicopter.

Mr Wallace said that he hoped that the minister's answers to the questions raised will address any doubts people may still have about the validity of the trial.

Police are warning the public to be wary of travelling salesmen, in particular those selling generators and tools.

A police spokseman said: "We are prone to travelling salesmen at this time of the year. People should be very wary of purchasing goods as they are not of the quality that you would expect."

Anyone with any concerns should contact the police on 872241 or the OIC's Trading Standards office (873535).

The return of wintry weather and icy roads has prompted police to remind motorist to drive with caution.

A number of road accidents over the past few days where vehicles have left the road as a result of conditions.

A spokesman said: "It serves as a timely reminder for drivers to examine their tyres to make sure they are fit for the purpose, particularly with the icy conditions."

There was success for Stromness Drama Club (Hamnavoe) in the second night of the Orkney one-act drama festival on Tuesday night.

Their performance of The Laramie Project, directed by Graham Garson, was announced as the night's winner.

Also performing were the Palace Players Juniors with James and the Giant Peach, and St Andrews Drama Club with Third Degree Burns.

A list of all banned substances is kept by the Environmental Health Team and will be posted in the customer services reception at School Place to reassure members of the public who have concerns about any products.

Environmental Health can fax a copy of the list to anyone who's interested - get in contact with them on 01856 873535 or at environmental.services@orkney.gov.uk

A guarantee has been given that there will be no job losses if plans to merge key public services into one giant organisation goes ahead.

Under the proposals Orkney Islands Council, NHS Orkney and Orkney Enterprise would merge some of their key services, such as IT and catering.

OIC convener, Councillor Stephen Hagan, gave the guarantee at a news briefing yesterday, which followed a seminar to bring the key players in each organisation and councillors together, to gauge reactions to the proposals.

The plans are being made in the wake of efficient government policies being introduced by the Scottish Executive.

Amateur dramatic groups from Kirkwall and Deerness took to the stage on Monday evening, the first night of the annual Orkney Drama Festival.

Winner on the night was the Ad Hoc Players' performance of "A Galway Girl".

Also on stage were the Deerness Drama Group's youth section with "Why did the Chicken Cross the Road" and the Palace Players 'A' with "Some Mother's Son".

Two people are due to appear in Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Wednesday charged with drink driving.

At 2.30am on Sunday, police were called to a road accident at Hatston Brae. The male driver allegedly failed the roadside breath test and has been liberated by police on an undertaking to appear at court.

A female driver was apprehended by police near the Quoyburray Inn, Tankerness, at 11.55pm on Friday and subsequently charged with drink driving. She is also due to appear in court.

A new national organisation to monitor NHS health boards is seeking to recruit more members in Orkney.

The Scottish Health Council is looking for members for its 15 local advisory councils across Scotland. But, they say, while the national response has been encouraging, they are still looking for Orkney recruits.

The deadline for applications is March 2. An application pack is available at www.scottishhealthcouncil.org.

A female driver is being reported to the procurator fiscal in Orkney for a number of alleged road traffic offences.

According to Kirkwall police, a vehicle struck a wall in Finstown in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"Police were very close to the scene," a spokesman said. "And the vehicle was traced."

Orkney MP Alistair Carmichael is calling on the Westminster Government to act to prevent debt levels spiralling out of control.

The Citizen's Advice Bureau in Kirkwall is currently assisting 48 people with debt problems - on average their debts are over £15,000.

Calling for an improvement to banking regulations, Mr Carmichael said: "Some banks are promoting credit in a way which is aggressive and unsustainable. It is a sad fact that this is a problem which hurts the most vulnerable in society the hardest."