A new Orkney Carers strategy was unveiled at Orkney Islands Council on Friday.

The strategy aims to raise awareness of carers' needs and services and includes their ideas and comments alongside agency plans.

An OIC spokesman said the strategy will help make people more aware of the contribution carers make to supporting people at home.

Education Minister, Peter Peacock, was in Orkney on Friday to host a reception to recognise the efforts of local teaching and support staff.

The event follows similar receptions on the Scottish mainland and is part of the nationwide campaign to celebrate the work of schools throughout Scotland.

Mr Peacock said: "We must give every pupil the opportunity to achieve their full potential and it is vital that we ensure that every Scottish school is up to the task."

Councillors at Thursday’s OIC development meeting have recommended grants totalling £2,500 towards the publication of three books.

The Sanday Development Trust is to benefit from £1,100 for a booklet and CD for phase two of the Sanday oral history project; while a new limited edition of J. Storer Clouston’s, The Spy in Black, has attracted a grant of £700.

Councillors recommended a further £700 for the publication of a book entitled, The Orkneys and Shetland in Blaeu’s Atlas Novus of 1654.

Police swooped on a suspected drugs farm in Kirkwall this week, following a series of tip-offs.

A number of what are believed to be cannabis plants were seized after officers searched a house in St Olaf’s Wynd on Monday afternoon.

Police were told that there was possibly a commercial cannabis operation under way at the address and a search of the house at about 3pm uncovered several plants and associated paraphernalia, which were taken away for testing.

A survey of household CO2 emissions across Scotland has found that of the 32 council areas in Scotland, Orkney fares badly, producing five per cent more, per dwelling, than the Scottish average.

Carbon dioxide is the main gas responsible for damaging climate change. It is emitted when energy is used to heat, cool, power and light homes.

In the research, commissioned by Scottish Gas, it is claimed that the average house in Orkney produces 5798 kg of CO2 per year. The highest area is named as Shetland at 6778 kg, and the lowest is Glasgow at 4611 kg.

£204,658 worth of grants were approved by Orkney Enterprise for the month of May.

Orkney Enterprise itself has been awarded the biggest sum, which will be used, amongst other things, to fund development trusts until 2008.

Also benefiting is Bryan J Rendall, who will be given £47,260 to develop a turbine control systems project.

The Eday Community Association will also get a sum of £12,800 to upgrade a hostel.

Reports of an earth tremor in Orkney on Wednesday have been put down to the shock from a supersonic aircraft.

The Orcadian heard from people in the West Mainland and Rousay who believed there had been an earthquake, but the British Geological Survey network of sensors recorded what appeared to be "a sonic event", said a spokesman.

"The good atmospheric conditions would have amplified it, so the plane could have been some miles away."

Similar reports of earthquakes were common in Fife, around RAF Leuchars, and around the Irish Sea when supersonic fighters were being tested there, he said.

The lack of communication between managers and frontline NHS Orkney staff remains an area of concern, a survey has revealed.

Seventy per cent of the health board employees in Orkney - one of the highest in Scotland - took part in a national questionnaire.

NHS Orkney has now produced a "bottom up" action plan to ensure that issues raised with staff are addressed and improved at every level of the organisation.

A planned upgrade to Stromness Academy is back on track, after council officials confirmed £45,000 worth of savings in the school’s ongoing running costs.

Councillors previously gave their backing to the £1.3 million project, but said the OIC could not meet the extra £45,000 running costs involved.

But at Wednesday's OIC education committee meeting, councillors heard that the school has now adopted money-saving initiatives to cover this forecast increase.

The contract to construct Kirkwall’s new travel centre has been awarded to Caithness firm O’ Brien Construction.

The £1.87 million contract will see the travel centre erected on the site of the former Jewsons property off Kirkwall’s Junction Road.

A report is to be submitted to the procurator fiscal after a road crash at the Howe junction, near Stromness, on Tuesday.

Two vehicles, a Volvo and a Fiat, were extensively damaged when they collided at 5.25pm.

No-one was injured. Both motorists provided negative results when tested for driving while over the legal alcohol limit, Sergeant Angus MacLeod confirmed.

Goods vehicles operators are being warned to observe the vehicle weight restrictions in place in St Catherine’s Place, Kirkwall.

The plea for an additional ferry to serve the South Isles was repeated on Tuesday.

Councillor Ann Sutherland told the OIC transportation committee something must be done to improve the service because it is the “lifeblood of the islands and it is being strangled.”

She highlighted that in 2005/06, 32,556 vehicles were carried on the three North Isles ro-ro ferries compared to 23,113 vehicles on the Hoy Head which serves the South Isles.

Orkney College tutor Anne Hill (left) with Bethany Smales

Eighteen-year-old Bethany Smales has been awarded the title of Orkney College’s UHI Student of the Year.

The award aims to encourage and reward exceptional achievement in the UHI student community.

According to a college spokesman, Bethany, currently undertaking the HNC Hospitality Operations course, received the award because of her exceptional personal achievement.

Heart disease claimed 55 lives in Orkney in 2004.

In a bid to reduce that figure, Orkney’s Health Promotion Service in Kirkwall held a “heart health” open day today, Wednesday, at the Victoria Street premises.

The event saw blood pressure checks offered, a free pedometer for the first ten people to come along, healthy recipes and tips on keeping a healthy heart.

NHS Orkney¹s cardiac nurse, Joy Groundwater, said: “Almost one in eight people have been diagnosed with a disease of the heart or circulatory system. The figure doesn't include the millions who live with blocked arteries without knowing it.”

Click here for British Heart Foundation website

Major changes are on the cards for traffic in Kirkwall – but councillors today decided against a public consultation on all the proposals

Instead, the opinions will be asked on the complete pedestrianisation of Bridge Street to Victoria Street, including Broad Street, and the introduction of a one-way system on Junction Road and Great Western Road.

Councillors at Tuesday ’s meeting of the OIC’s transportation committee also recommended an alteration to the vehicle access times for Bridge Street, Albert Street, Laing Street and Victoria Street to 7-10am and 4-7pm daily.

Northern Isles MP, Alistair Carmichael, has signed a pledge to ‘Help Save Carbon Emissions’ at the Northern and Western Isles Energy Efficiency Advice Centre in Kirkwall.

He is backing a campaign to use low energy light bulbs to combat carbon emissions.

Mr Carmichael said: “Climate change is the biggest threat our planet faces. We must all do our bit to help cut carbon emissions so that the environment is protected.

Police are seeking witnesses to an alleged assault in Kirkwall on Monday afternoon.

A Police spokeman said this morning that a female was allegedly assaulted by a male on the Clay Loan around 3.50pm.

Islands councillors have agreed to support plans to investigate and tackle serious corrosion affecting the Kirkwall pier.

Members at Tuesday's meeting of the OIC transportation committee heard that sheet piling at the pier is being affected by a bacteriological form of corrosion. There is also a strong possibility that the other piers in the county are affected.

Councillors approved plans to immediately investigate and repair the existing damage and introduce a form of cathodic protection to alleviate futher corrosion.

New figures have shown Orkney’s visitor attractions to enjoyed a successful start to the year, with dramatic increases in visitor numbers.

For April 2006, the latest Scottish Visitor Attraction Barometer figures show a 46 per cent increase in April’s visitor numbers compared to April of last year. The increase is the highest in Scotland.

After a number of drink-related incidents in Kirkwall at the weekend, police have once again raised concerns over under-age drinking in the county.

Two assaults on Saturday night were described as drink-related, while a 15-year-old boy was transferred to the Balfour Hospital after being found drunk and semi-conscious outside a Mart Dance in Kirkwall. Police also confirmed they confiscated a “significant” quantity of alcohol from youngsters attending the dance.

Renewable energy from Orkney could be exported to Norway and Ireland  via a network of undersea cables.

The Scottish Executive has funded a feasibility study on the project, which would see Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles linked by underwater power cables, with the power generated through wind and tide exported to Norway, Ireland and the UK mainland.

NHS Orkney has commissioned external consultants to try and identify further savings in the coming year.

The consultants will examine the health board’s operations and present their findings at the end of June.

NHS Orkney will then consult with staff, patients and the public about which recommendations to progress.