Shetland's footballers dominated the pitch on Saturday afternoon, winning the annual senior inter-county Milne Cup 4-0.

The score at half-time was 0-0 but into the second half Shetland beganto fire home the goals. Shetlander Stuart Hay scored a hat-trick.

Orkney won the senior inter-county hockey, beating Shetland 1-0 - their third Lady Hamilton Cup victory in a row.

The scorer was Kirsty Balfour.

Orkney won the cup in 2004, after a 1-0 home win, which was followed by a 4-0 victory in Shetland last year.

Scapa Flow could become the venue for the next generation of ship-to-ship transfers.

The OIC has been in discussion with three major international companies to bring the transfer of liquid natural gas (LNG) to the county.

Representatives from Excelerate Energy, Skaugen PetroTrans and Exmar, were in Orkney on Thursday where they met with the council and visited the Flow.

Jonathan Cook, Vice President of Excelerate Energy, said: “The protected nature of the harbour makes Scapa Flow the ideal location for an operation of this type.

The Orkney Village made its first appearance at the CLA Game Fair at Broadlands, in Hampshire on Friday.

The show attracted more than 140,000 visitors. Last year’s crowds were estimated to have spent almost £40 million at the Game Fair.

John Clarke, who heads Orkney The Brand, said the Orkney Village is trying a new layout designed to suit shows which could not offer the space required for the full village.

The exhibitors include The Orkney Food Company, Orkney Meat, the Island Smokery, Highland Park, Orkney Hand Crafted Furniture and VisitOrkney.

The OIC is to introduce its new council house letting policy in October.

The new policy means houses will be allocated to those who are in most need of accommodation rather than date order.

The new letting policy is based on housing need rather than date order. In the past, it was primarily a ‘first come, first served’ policy but now applications will be graded to platinum, gold, silver and bronze, depending on a range of housing needs.

Click here for full details.

The number of blocked beds in the Balfour hospital has tripled over the last year because of a lack of available places in Orkney's care homes.

At the NHS Orkney’s board meeting on Thursday, it was highlighted that the number of patients waiting to leave hospital has risen from two to seven.

Chief executive Steve Conway explained that insufficient funding with the OIC's social services department has led to a situation where patients who would have been treated in Orkney are being flown to Aberdeen.

The Stromness lifeboat was called out on Wednesday to ferry firefighters across to a suspected fire on the Inner Holm in Stromness - the second time this month.

Following the report of a fire in the tidal island's generator shed, the lifeboat launched at 9.13pm carrying firefighters to the scene.

However, a Fire Brigade spokesman confirmed that the call-out was a false alarm.

NHS Orkney is to help fund a new facility to treat heart disease in the north of Scotland.

The NHS Orkney board meeting agreed to put £46,000 into funding a cardiac catheterisation unit at Raigmore hospital, in Inverness, as part of a total funding package of £5.7 million across the north of Scotland.

A catalogue of problems has emerged at St Rognvald House in Kirkwall, with high levels of staff sickness blamed on council underfunding and managerial shortcomings, a senior union official said yesterday, Wednesday.

Tommy Campbell, from T&G Scotland, arrived in the county for talks with OIC social work officials and union members employed at the 44-bed care facility.

Mr Campbell said: "I am shocked, having met with the 20 or so union members employed at St Rognvald's, hearing their stories of the pressures that they have had to endure for a quite long time, which has caused considerable illness and led to a high level of absenteeism."

The number of arrests in Orkney has risen by 50 per cent on last year - but police insist the county isn't in the grip of a crime wave.

Domestic violence accounts for much of the rise in the number of people detained, with more women than ever seeking help from Women's Aid Orkney in 2005.

An increase in the number of drink drivers also helped push the total number of arrests up to 230 between January and July this year, compared to 152 over the same period last year.

A number of phone lines throughout Orkney were knocked out during forked lightning storms on Wednesday.

A spokesman for BT¹s Openreach said local engineers are working to trace each individual fault in worst hit areas, Stromness, Stenness, Hoy and Longhope, and where necessary, visit customers to make repairs one by one.

"The nature of lightning is that lines are affected randomly, rather than in clusters, and it may also cause multiple faults on an individual line, so clearing the damage is painstaking work."

Apologising for any inconvenience, the spokesman added that line diverts would be offered when possible.

The second largest cruise liner to visit Orkney this season, was delayed by 24 hours this week.

The Arielle was due to arrive alongside Hatston pier on Tuesday, but due to delays elsewhere, did not appear until Wednesday.

The ship, which can carry 1,144 passengers, travelled from Bremerhaven, and is en route to Reykjavik

Three men have been charged with assault and breach of the peace following an incident in a house in Deerness in the early hours of Monday morning.

No other details were available but a report is being submitted to the procurator fiscal.

Businesses and community organisations in Orkney are being asked to help demonstrate that European Union funding has been properly invested.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise HIE) is compiling evidence to show how the EU's six-year Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme (HISTP) funding was used.

HIE is contacting local organisations asking that they provide copies, where needed, of receipts and invoices for goods and services which they then bought with HISTP funding.

A new chapter in the development of marine renewables began this week with the start of a project at the European Marine Energy Centre in Stromness to set up the UK’s first grid connected tidal turbine.

Dublin company OpenHydro will use EMEC’s facilities to test the device, which is designed to convert energy from tidal streams into electricity fed into the National Grid.

A 34-year-old man was arrested by police for alleged drink driving at 4.15pm on Monday in Deerness.

Meanwhile, at 11pm on Monday night a 57-year-old man was arrested in Kirkwall's Annfield Park for allegedly being drunk and incapable.

Reports on both incidents are to be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

Police are appealing for information after a car parked at Garden Street in Kirkwall was struck by another vehicle.

The damage to a gold-coloured Ford Mondeo was caused sometime between 2.30pm on Monday and 9.30am on Tuesday.

Witnesses are asked to call the police on 872241.

A new body has been set up in an effort to buy the former Stromness waterworks for the community

The Stromness Community Development Trust (SCDT) needs ten per cent of the registered voters in Stromness to sign their petition to register an interest to buy. This will prevent Scottish Water from selling the waterworks and catchment area before offering it to the community.

Trust chairman, Dr John Brown explained: “This project came about because many people in Stromness worried that sale of the Stromness Waterworks to a private developer would mean demolishing the dam and banning of access to popular walks in the area. If our project succeeds in buying the land the main goal of the SCDT will be to further develop the Waterworks to enhance access and improve the recreational amenity in Stromness”.

The Pier Arts Centre is taking part in a neighbourhood watch scheme with a difference.

People in neighbouring properties have been given the chance to take an early look inside the Stromness arts complex, where a multi-million pound redevelopment is nearing completion.

The building work is due to be completed later this year. The work of getting the new centre up and running will then get underway, with an official opening planned for the spring of 2007.

An investigation is under way after a passenger fell overboard on a NorthLink Scrabster to Orkney sailing of the Hamnavoe on Monday morning.

At 9.15am, the Coastguard was alerted that a woman in her 40s had gone overboard. The ferry's lifeboat was deployed and the woman was recovered from the sea within ten minutes.

Described as "breathing but not fully conscious", the woman was given oxygen on board the Hamnavoe. Upon arrival in Stromness, she was transferred by ambulance to Kirkwall's Balfour Hospital, where her condition was described as "fine and under observation."

A 31-year-old man who appeared in private at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Monday has been remanded in custody.

Ian Graham of Grimond Place, Finstown, appeared in connection with road traffic offences, driving while disqualified and being in possession of a knife in Kirkwall on July 23.

Arts & Business Scotland, an organisation dedicated to encouraging arts and business relationships has announced the shortlist its 20th Anniversary Awards.  

It includes both Talisman Energy (UK) and John Wood Group’s sponsorships of the St Magnus Festival. 

Barclay Price, Arts & Business Scotland director, commented: “I am delighted that Talisman has been short-listed for its sponsorship of St Magnus Festival as it shows great commitment to the cultural life of Orkney and Scotland.  We hope this recognition will encourage more companies to discover the business benefits of engaging with the arts.”

A major sea search was launched on Sunday morning after a signal was triggered from an emergency personal locater beacon (PLB) – a safety device usually found in offshore immersion suits.

The Kirkwall and Longhope lifeboats and the Orkney Harbours pilot boat Scapa Pioneer carried out an extensive search around Wyre, Egilsay, Scapa Pier and the water to the north and west of Kirkwall.

After three hours the lifeboats were stood down after finding nothing.

A Coastguard spokesman urged users to take care when working with PLBs as there is a real danger of setting them off accidentally.

St Andrews will face Westray in the final of this year's Parish Cup, sponsored by The Orcadian.

The East Mainland team cruised through to their first final in 43 years with a 9-0 aggregate win over Sanday, after defeating the North Isles side 6-0 on Saturday.

The second semi-final was a nail-biting affair, with Westray going through 3-2 after a 1-1 second leg draw against Rendall at Firth on, Sunday.

Westray's victory means back-to-back final appearances for the side. The final will be played at the Pickaquoy Centre on County Show evening, August 12.

Drivers are being warned not to park on Orkney’s piers unless they have a permit.

Illegal parking, particularly on the Kirkwall, Stromness and Hatston piers is causing problems for visiting ships and working vehicles.

Anyone caught parked illegally faces being towed away or a fine of up to £200.

Captain Nigel Mills, director of Orkney Harbours, said: “We are keen to keep the piers as open as possible but people cannot park indiscriminately along them as it causes problems.”