Laboratory tests carried out on the stone removed from the beach at Dunnet in Caithness have shown its radioactivity is naturally occurring.

According to a Dounreay spokesman, the radioactivity from the piece of sandstone has been identified as radium and other "daughter products of uranium" found naturally in the environment.

A stonecutter was removed from a contractor's van, in Great Western Road, near Jewsons yard.

Detective Sergeant Bob MacKenzie, said: "We are advising people to keep their vehicles locked and to keep any valuables out of sight."

Anyone with information about the theft should phone Kirkwall Police on 872241.

A piece of sandstone emitting low-level radioactivity was detected during monitoring of the beach at Dunnet on Thursday. The stone was taken to Dounreay for laboratory analysis.

The latest find at Dunnet adds fears that contamination could have been swept by sea currents to Orkney. Hoy is 20 nautical miles from Dounreay.

New owner, Bobby McLennan, outside the Queen's Hotel, Kirkwall

The Queen's Hotel in Kirkwall is under new ownership, with local businessman Bobby McLennan taking over on april 1.

The hotel has been run for the past five years by the Scott family, who also own the Auld Motor Hoose pub in Kirkwall's Junction Road.

Orkney Tourist Board is no more, replaced by VisitOrkney - a branch of the national VisitScotland tourist organisation.

From April 1, the tourist board and its directors are no longer be guiding the growth of Orkney's tourism industry.

A Scottish Executive review of tourism resulted in the abolition of local tourist boards across Scotland.

Misty West Coast Bay, Hoy Bay by Stanley Cursiter.

A new world record for a painting by Orkney’s finest artist, Stanley Cursiter, could be set at Sotheby’s in Scotland, on April 18 when his picture, Misty West Coast, Hoy Bay, Orkney, painted in 1916, is tipped to fetch up to £40,000.

If the painting reaches that pre-sale estimate, it will smash the current record for a Cursiter picture, which is £37,450.

The painting coming up for sale is one of three pictures by Stanley Cursiter expected to fetch a total of £77,000 at the Sotheby’s sale at Hopetoun House, near Edinburgh.

Kirkwall lifeboat was called out on Wednesday night, by Shetland Coastguard, after they received a call about eight or nine flares being sighted between Wyre and Shapinsay.

The boat went to search the area between the Grand and The Green Holms, Linga, South Skerry and Eday at 10.15pm. However, nothing was found. Coxswain, Geoff Gardens, remarked that conditions were near perfect for the searching, slight sea and clear skies made for excellent visibility.

The lifeboat returned to Kirkwall at 11.25pm.

The Gruf Hill wind farm application will be re-submitted for planning permission, the developers have said.

The Scottish Ministers have refused Cliff Bichan and Hugh Halcro-Johnston permission to site the three 2MW turbines on the protection area of the hill because of the risk to hen harriers.

Richard Gauld, of Orkney Sustainable Energy, said the project would be re-submitted with the turbines sited outside the protected area, to meet the concerns of Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB.

Orkney Islands Council said it was disappointed with the inquiry decision and still supported renewable energy projects.

A new improved Kirkwall marina could soon on be on the cards if forthcoming tests are successful.

Representatives from Orkney Marinas and Orkney Islands Council harbours department will be travelling to Denmark next week where a physical model will be created by Danish consultants, DHI.

If it is successful work will start on extending the North Pier from the ice plant, to provide more protection to the facility, this summer.

The new air ambulance aircraft at Kirkwall airport last year

Orkney Islands Council are to seek the public's views on the new Scottish Air Ambulance service over the coming year.

OIC convener, Stephen Hagan, said: "This monitoring exercise will let us know if the new air ambulance contract will at least meet the current standards provided by Loganair and the Islander aircraft, and will inform us of the views of the people who will be directly affected by the new service."

Throughout the trial, OIC project officer, Jim Robertson, will report to the council on all aspects of the service. He can be contacted on 873535 or by e-mail on customerservice@orkney.gov.uk.

Structure 8 at the Barnhouse Settlement, Stenness.

A book covering the excavation of the Stone Age settlement at Barnhouse in Stenness, was launched in Kirkwall on Wednesday night.

Dwelling Among the Monuments, by Dr Colin Richards, was unveiled at an Orkney Heritage Society talk, in the Town Hall, by Dr Alison Sheridan of the National Museum of Scotland.

The book provides an account of the lives of the inhabitants of the village, a late Neolithic settlement complex by the shore of the Harray loch.

The Barnhouse excavation, between 1986 and 1993, was the largest investigation of a Neolithic settlement in northern Britain since Skara Brae in the 1920s.

Scottish Ministers have overturned a decision by the OIC to allow three wind turbines to be built on a hill in Orphir.

The controversial move by OIC councillors to grant planning permission for the wind farm on Gruf Hill, led to a two-day Scottish Executive inquiry in December 2004.

Ministers refused permission because the project would encroach on moorland protected by European legislation because of its importance as a habitat for hen harriers and short-eared owls.

At the time, the OIC was warned it could face a bill for costs following the "wholly unnecessary" inquiry.

Three young entrepreneurs from Kirkwall have made it through to the final stage of the ICT Youth Challenge.

Aislinn Malloy, Erika Leslie and Rhona Carse, otherwise known as Team Broadcast US, travelled to Alness, where they pitched their ideas for the information communication and technology (ICT) gadgets of the future.

The judges were impressed with the team's idea to develop an interactive youth media website.

Police are warning accommodation providers in Orkney to be on the alert for a scam currently in use across the Northern Constabulary area.

The scheme sees an individual making a large booking by phone or email and asking for a quote. The individual then sends a cheque for a sum considerably higher than the quote.

The fraudster then asks the business to refund the difference, paying the money directly into a bank account. The original cheque is then either cancelled, or turns out to be fake..

Anyone encountering this scam is asked to contact Kirkwall police on 872241.

Marine energy projects in Orkney look set to benefit from the arrival of subsea engineering firm Ross Deeptech Initiatives Ltd (RDI).

Financial support from the Orkney Islands Council will help the Stonehaven company, who have been involved in local projects such as the Pelamis and Sea Snail, get started in Orkney.

They hope to employ up to 14 people, and will offer engineering support to the European Marine Energy Centre in Stromness.

The Lighthouse Pier buoy store, in Stromness, and buildings on Golden Wharf, Lyness, have been identified by the company, with approaches made to the OIC about leasing both.

The proposed site of the new Kirkwall travel centre on Junction Road

Orkney Islands Council have confirmed that an extra £500,000 will be invested in the proposed new travel centre, on Kirkwall's Junction Road, to develop office space.

Discussions have already taken place between the OIC and VisitOrkney, who are interested in relocating from their current office on Broad Street.

Discussions are continuing regarding the development of the remainder of the site, with a development brief expected to be presented to the June meeting of the OIC planning committee.

Mr Nugent, 52, who is a lecturer at Shetland College, claims to be the only candidate campaigning for Scotland to withdraw from the EU.

A member of the SNP for 30 years, Mr Nugent, said: “The Free Scotland Party says no to the EU constitution, the Euro and EU membership. We want a free Scotland, one that is free from the UK and the EU.”

NorthLink has confirmed the chartered livestock ship will again be either the Zebu Express or the Buffalo Express.

The sister ships each have the capacity to transport more than 150,000 lambs, sheep and cattle from Orkney to the Scottish mainland during the busy autumn sales season.

Gareth Crichton, NorthLink¹s commercial director, said details of the autumn sailing schedules would be published with booking arrangements in due course.

The charter vessel should start its eight-week charter term with NorthLink in September, with an option to extend the term if necessary.

Mobile phones - tackling truancy in new initiative

Orkney schools could be getting mobile phone text links to parents in a bid to crackdown on truants.

A truancy alert system - which texts or calls parents whose children don't turn up to school - is to be rolled out in 160 Scottish secondary schools facing the biggest truancy problems. Parents will then have to confirm whether they are aware of the absence.

Two Orkney schools will receive the technology package. The OIC will decide which of the area's six secondary schools will benefit.

Loganair passengers heading south to Inverness and Edinburgh were delayed by an hour this morning.

Their flight had been due to depart at 7.30am, but they were told that because of the late arrival of the aircraft last night, the pilot had not had the required break of 11.5 hours.

The aircraft finally took off at 8.30am.

Bill Farrar, Edrington's sales and marketing director, pictured with the company's award-winning whiskies

The 12-year-old single malt from Kirkwall's Highland Park distillery has picked up a "double gold" at the 2005 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Edrington, who owns the distillery, won ten medals in all, including golds for The Macallan Fine Oak 21-year-old and The Famous Grouse Malt 18-year-old.

The competition this year featured almost 600 spirits from 43 countries - a record entry and 30 per cent up on last year.

Orkney Islands Council is one of the bottom ten local authorities in Scotland to reduce climate-changing emissions, according to Green MSP, Dr Eleanor Scott.

Dr Scott said that the OIC has reduced emissions by only 8.6 per cent from 1997 to 2003 - a figure she says "must improve".

She said: "I think the central problem here is a lack of funding from the Executive - and I appreciate that councils have limited resources available to improve these figures. However, this does not let local authorities off the hook."

The cast of Stromness Drama Club's Bouncers

It was a successful weekend for Orkney drama, with wins for three local amateur dramatics clubs in Arbroath.

Stromness Drama Club took the honours at the Scottish Community Drama Association northern division final, with their production of Bouncers - 1990s remix. They now go on to the Scottish finals in Stirling at the end of April.

The Birsay Drama Group's Women on the verge of HRT was awarded the Bon Accord Trophy for communities of under 500, while Stromness Drama Group's performance of The Laramie Project received the Jayne Nicol Trophy for the youth team with the most points in the first round.

Police confiscated a suspicious substance on Saturday night, after a routine inspection inspection of a vehicle in the West Mainland.

The substance has been sent away for analysis.

Graffiti was spray-painted onto the building at some point on Friday night, Saturday morning. Anyone with information should phone Kirkwall police on 872241.

Orkney in action on Saturday afternoon

Orkney Rugby Club's First XV narrowly lost their final National League Division Four game of the season, against Edinburgh side Forrester RFC.

Orkney lost two tries in the first fifteen minutes, but rallied and scored a try before the interval to make the half-time score 7-14.

Orkney continued with very determined play in the second half and scored again with five minutes to go, but in the last minute of the match, Forrester scored, after a charge-down, to score between the post to, bring the final score to 14-21.

This leaves Orkney requiring league leaders, Falkirk, to defeat Aberdeenshire, in their final game, to put Orkney into the play-offs.

Volunteers are being sought again for the annual Bag the Bruck clean up campaign.

Run by Environmental Concern Orkney (ECO), the 2005 clean up weekend is scheduled for April 16 and 17. This year, the organisers aim to broaden the campaign to include sites such as loch-sides and road verges, as well as the usual beaches and foreshore.

Anyone willing to take part should contact ECO - details on their website.

Drivers have been warned to take care when approaching the new road layout at the foot of Hatston Brae in Kirkwall.

The £140,000 roundabout, which opened on Friday, links the Pickaquoy and Grainshore Road junctions with the Hatston road.

A Kirkwall police spokesman said: "Motorists should be very careful at the new layout. It will be unfamiliar to people and they should approach it with caution."