NHS Orkney has announced an amnesty for the return of Health Board wheelchairs no longer in use.

Please return to the Balfour Hospital or contact 888149 to arrange collection.

Kirkwall fire brigade were called out to a vehicle fire in St Margaret’s Hope on Thursday.

Aided by members of the Saint Margaret’s Hope volunteer service, the Kirkwall firefighters extinguished a van at Quoyangry at 2.30pm.

The gardens of Tankerness House have had a facelift - just in time for summer.

The gardens, which had become neglected and vandalised, have now been given a completely new look.

The greenhouses and surrounding areas have been restored to their former while the Groattie House provides a new focal point for the area.

Have your say in plans for the community by logging on to a new website guestbook from the Orkney Community Planning Partnership (OCPP).

Community planning is about organisations and communities working together to improve people’s lives and it is hoped the guestbook will encourage Orkney residents to play a bigger part in the process.

There will be new topics each month - this month it's housing - with the comments received used in the compilation of the new Community Plan.

Log on to post your comments at www.orkneycommunityplanning.org.uk by clicking on ‘guestbook’.

The Pelamis wave energy converter is due back in Orkney in the next few weeks.

The “Sea Snake”, which is being tested at the European Marine Energy Centre in Stromness, was towed to Leith in Edinburgh for maintenance and an upgrade by owners Ocean Power Delivery in March this year.

Police are looking for information about diving gear stolen from the Burray pier last Saturday.

Two weight belts and breathing apparatus were taken after they had been laid out to dry.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 872241.

The Kirkwall lifeboat was launched on Wednesday night to assist a motor boat with engine problems between Shapinsay and Eday.

The 30-foot Shalder, with three people on board, had suffered engine failure between the Galt skerry and the Green Holms, north of Shapinsay.

A farm in the West Mainland has gone on the market, with an asking price of over £1 million.

Farming for the Future will be launched in the farmers' union's Highland region next month.

Following the success of the Orkney project, led by Orkney NFUS chairman Stewart Wood, the programme to help farmers focus on efficiency and the marketplace has been studied by several other groups who want to develop similar local initiatives.

NFUS Highland will launch Farming for the Future at the Black Isle Show on August 3. Colin Manson, regional board chairman, said the Orkney project proved that engaging directly and practically with members had a real impact when it came to helping them develop their businesses.

A 24-year-old man appeared in private at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Wednesday in connection with a serious assault on Sunday.

Billy James Dixon, Somerville Square, Kirkwall, made no plea of declaration.

Detail from the Westray Stone

Islands councillors have approved a funding application to help extend the Westray Heritage Centre to house a piece of Neolithic artwork.

Currently in the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall, the Westray Stone was found in a quarry at Pierowall in 1981. Part of a Maeshowe-style chambered cairn, it features an ornately carved spiral design.

Kirkwall lifeboat was called out on Tuesday to a yacht in trouble six miles to the east of Copinsay.

The 27-foot yacht Chalmeau, with one man on board, was making little or no headway in choppy seas, a gale force westerly wind and strong tides.

The lifeboat reached the vessel at 2.40pm and a tow line put on board. The yacht was then towed into Kirkwall, arriving at 6.30pm.

Motorists and pedestrians are asked to watch out for diversions on Junction Road and West Castle Street as demolition work at the former Jewsons site gets under way.

An OIC spokesman said that the footway on the north side of West Castle Street will close to pedestrians at certain times, as will the zebra crossing on Junction Road.

Diversions for road traffic will be set up as necessary and the demolition works are expected to last for six weeks.

The OIC looks set to abolish legal fees for council fishing loans, following complaints about the system “giving with one hand and taking away with another”.

Councillors at the OIC fisheries sub-committee on Tuesday decided against a replacement charging regime but instead felt that fishermen should not be liable for the legal fees, which should instead be taken from the OIC's Fisheries Fund.

A grandmother, who drove while disqualified, was fined £500 at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

Appearing from custody, Elizabeth Edgar Leask, 62, of Puldrite, Rendall, admitted driving on various Kirkwall streets while banned, on July 10.

She was banned for drink driving earlier this year.

Defence agent Mr David Fairnie said that Leask had to drive to Kirkwall to collect feed for her livestock. If she did not do this, Mr Fairnie added the livestock could have died.

Children from Belarus, whose lives continue to be affected by fall-out from the Chernobyl nuclear power station, are visiting Orkney this week.

Based in Birsay, the ten children will be enjoying an Orkney break that includes site visits and other activities.

The visit is co-ordinated by the Rev Jack Muir, from the Kirkwall Peedie Kirk, along with Rev Tom Heggie of the United Reform Church in Nairn.

A road accident in Quoyloo on Friday evening left a motorcyclist seriously injured and two vehicles damaged.

The Stromness Fire Brigade was called out to a suspected fire on the Inner Holm on Saturday evening.

The brigade was alerted after smoke was sighted and thought to be coming from the generator room of the sole property on the island, which is one of two in the bay.

The Longhope lifeboat was called out twice over the weekend.

The first was to an injured man on his yacht, Slipstream, which was moored off St Margaret’s Hope on Friday night. The man was transferred to hospital.

Then, on Sunday, it launched again when a creel boat, Sapphire, reported an engine failure off Torness, Hoy. A line was put on board and the stricken vessel towed to Brims.

The semi-final draw for The Orcadian Parish Cup is as follows:

• Sunday, July 16 - Westray v Rendall; Sanday v St Andrews. 
• Saturday, July 22 - Rendall v Westray; St Andrews v Sanday.

NorthLink Ferries is producing a new consumer guide for 2007, which, for the first time, will include commercial adverts.

The move comes as Calmac assumes responsibility for the Northern Isles ferry services, which will continue to be branded as NorthLink.

Police have named a motor cyclist killed on the Holm Road on Sunday evening.

He was Jason George, 32, from Kirkwall.

The incident occurred shortly before 8pm near the Cannigall junction. The road remained closed until Monday evening pending an investigation is carried out later today by officers from the police's Road Policing Section.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact Kirkwall police on 872241.

A site in North Ronaldsay has been named as one of the 21 participating in this year’s BBC Restoration programme.

The Dennis Head beacon in North Ronaldsay is Grade A listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Built in 1788/89, it is the oldest surviving purpose-built lighthouse in Scotland.  Abandoned in 1809, it is currently unsafe, and needs restoration, as do the keepers’ cottages beside it.

A total of 21 buildings around the UK will be up for the public vote with the possibility of securing crucial funding to ensure their future.

A "positive police line of inquiry" has been taken following a serious assault in Kirkwall on Sunday night.

Demolition work at the former Jewsons site in central Kirkwall began today, Monday.