St Andrews send home their fifth goal.

St Andrews are the 2006 The Orcadian Parish Cup champions, after beating Westray in the final at Pickaquoy on Saturday evening.

In front of a massive crowd - the biggest in recent Parish Cup history - St Andrews took the lead early in the game after a goal by James Baillie. Westray equalised through Johnny Drever, but then the St Andrews goals kept coming.

At the final whistle, the score was St Andrews 6, Westray 1.

The cattle champion at today's County Show

Orkney's 2006 show season drew to a close on Saturday with the 120th annual County Show.

The cattle champion at the show was the same Charolais yearling heifer, owned by Colin Davidson, Skaill, Sandwick, that took the honours at Thursday's Dounby show.

Reserve was a home-bred heifer, Corrigall Vega, a Limousin, owned by Liam Muir.

This year’s Riding of the Marches took place on Sunday.

Dating back centuries, the event fell dormant for many years until it was revived in 1986 as part of the celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary of the granting of Kirkwall’s Royal Charter by King James III in 1486.

John Wishart from Orphir carried the old Kirkwall Standard and led the procession around some of the old Burgh lands. He was flanked by Helen Foulis from Kirkwall, who was last year’s standard-bearer, and Maureen Tait from Sandwick, who will perform the duty next year.

A report is to be submitted to the procurator fiscal following a three-vehicle road accident on Friday.

While two vehicles stopped, a third failed to, causing a concertina effect about 5pm, near Rope Walk in Kirkwall, according to acting Sergeant Bob Christie.

The damage caused to the vehicles was not thought to be serious, and injuries were minor, he added.

*During the early hours of Saturday a driver was apprehended for alleged drink driving at Starilee in South Ronaldsay. A report is to be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

Food producers should trade on their location to build successful branding and marketing, food Minister Ross Finnie said on Friday.

Mr Finnie was speaking as he saw first hand the Orkney Herring Company's new processing plant, which has allowed the company to increase its exports.

Mr Finnie said: "Scotland enjoys an excellent worldwide reputation for the quality of its food and drink.

"In Orkney, food producers are looking at the demands of modern consumers and using the Orkney brand as a key part of their marketing. Orkney Herring is just one excellent example of a food business focussed on that demand for high quality produce."

The weekend saw the start of National Whale and Dolphin Watch.

People in Orkney are being asked to send in their sightings of whales, dolphins and porpoises to the Sea Watch Foundation, a marine conservation and research organisation.

Anyone can take part if they are near the coast between August 12-20.

The information will be used by the charity’s scientists to aid their research into numbers of marine mammals and how they are affected by factors such as rising sea temperatures and pollution.

Orkney Islands Council is to carry out a review of its complaint service.

A Best Value review looks closely at how a service is working and tries to find ways of improving that service for the people who use it.

The OIC is inviting anyone who made a complaint to the council between April 1, 2005, and March 31, 2006, to complete a consultation questionnaire.

For anyone wanting to take part in the consultation, questionnaires will be available from August 17.

They can be downloaded from the Council's website at www.orkney.gov.uk

Passengers flying out of Kirkwall Airport are being asked to place permitted items of hand-baggage in clear plastic bags before arriving at the airport.

The advice is in an effort to speed up check-in times at the terminal.

Because of the heightened security, passengers are only allowed to carry: Pocket-sized wallets/ purses, plus contents; Passports/ travel tickets; Prescription medicines, not in liquid form unless verified as authentic Essential medical items; Glasses & sunglasses, no cases; Contact lens holders, no solution; Baby food & milk for those with infants - bottle contents must be tasted by accompanying passenger; Essential sanitary items for infants; Female sanitary items, unboxed; Tissues, unboxed, or handkerchiefs; Keys, but no electric key fobs.

Environment and Rural Development Minister Ross Finnie was in Orkney at the weekend.

On Friday he visited Orkney Herring, which received over £450,000 from the Scottish Executive for its new Stromness processing plant.

The cattle champion at Thursday's Dounby Show was a Charolais yearling heifer owned by Colin Davidson, Skaill, Sandwick.

Reserve went to a cross-bred calf shown by Stewart Wood, Garson, Sandwick.

A Finstown man, who assaulted his wife after she told police he had driven while over the limit, was fined £870 and banned for five years, at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Roderick Gilbert Burns, 48, of North Walds, appeared from custody, where he pleaded guilty to the offences, which took place on Wednesday night. This is the third time Burns has been convicted of drink-driving, on this occasion he was just under three times the limit.

Sheriff Robert Brodie said that although the assault was at the lesser end of the scale, he had to impose a tougher penalty for repeated drink-driving.

A paramedic may have to be flown to Orkney this weekend, to cover for sick leave.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman explained that they are doing whatever they can to ensure that more than one paramedic will be on duty over the weekend.

He said: “The normal cover is two crew to one vehicle. What we are planning to do is try and cover them with somebody on overtime locally, or, if that’s not possible, we will be bringing someone in from South.”

Kirkwall Airport is among the Scottish airports on a high-security alert after an alleged plot to blow up UK commercial flights was foiled.

Kirkwall Airport manager, David Blackman, said extra security measures will mean longer check-ins so advised passengers to turn up early and be prepared for delays.

Restrictions on a Kirkwall GP have been lifted, allowing him to practise normally.

No details have been released by the General Medical Council of any allegations against Dr John Milligan, but NHS Orkney say he has been "exonerated" by the medical watchdog.

The OIC has received a £300,000 financial boost from the Scottish Executive to help fund an upgrade to fire protection systems aboard three Orkney Ferries vessels.

Under the Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection; Large Ships) Regulations 1998, passenger ships built before a certain date have to be fitted with sprinkler systems in passenger spaces and, in some cases, machinery spaces.

The upgrades to the Varagen, Earl Sigurd and Earl Thorfinn were carried out at the start of 2006.

Wednesday's poor weather affected the crowds at the 'Hope Show, with numbers down on previous years.

The champion of the yard at the 'Hope show was a bought-in 17-month-old heifer owned by Andrew Laird, Mossbank, Burray.

The sheep champion was a Suffolk sheep owned by Glen Thomson, The Howe, South Ronaldsay.

Stronsay is to host a major conference on hydrogen technology and its application in island and rural areas.

The conference will take place at the end of this year's Orkney International Science Festival.

The conference – called H2Orkney – is being organised by the renewable sub-group of the Stronsay Development Trust.

The Kirkwall lifeboat was launched on Wednesday morning after a yacht ran into difficulties in heavy seas off Shapinsay.

The chartered vessel Valhalla, with four people on board, was moored in Calf Sound, en route from Stromness, when smoke was seen coming from an engine control panel.

Orkney Ferries mv Thorfinn stood by while the lifeboat made her way to the scene and put a line on board the Valhalla.

The yacht was towed back to Kirkwall, arriving about 1.45pm.

According to Northern Isles MP, Alistair Carmichael, 600 parents with care in Orkney and Shetland are unlikely to have their cases transferred to the new CSA scheme as uncertainty over the CSA’s replacement reigns.

The figure amounts to 75 per cent of all Child Support Agency cases in the Northern Isles,

The Orkney branch of the Scottish Socialist Party has become the first in Scotland to propose the re-election of Tommy Sheridan MSP as national party leader.

At a well-attended meeting in the Stromness Community Centre on Tuesday night, members agreed the proposal without opposition, which will go forward to the party's special conference in Glasgow in early October.

Orkney branch member, John Aberdein commented: “Tommy Sheridan is a man of immense political integrity with a record of fighting for the interests of working people, and of campaigning for peace in Iraq and the removal of nuclear weapons from our country.”

Both the champion and reserve honours at Tuesday's Shapinsay Show went to T. & J. Leslie of Quoymorhouse, Shapinsay.

Champion was a Limousin-cross yearling steer, out of Belgian Blue-cross, while reserve was a January-born Limousin-cross calf.

A project to create the UK's first grid connected tidal turbine takes a significant step forward later this week with the arrival in Orkney of a specialised offshore construction vessel.

The jack-up barge, Octopus, is being towed to Orkney from France, where it will be used to install the seabed-mounted structure to support the turbine in fast-flowing tidal currents at the Fall of Warness, off Eday.

Developed over the past decade by Dublin-based OpenHydro, the turbine will generate electricity for the National Grid while undergoing a comprehensive test programme at EMEC's new Eday-based marine laboratory.

Young musicians from Orkney and East Renfrewshire schools are to enjoy a mini-tour of Scotland together.

The musicians will play a concert in Orkney before travelling to Edinburgh and Glasgow as part of the International Association of Youth Orchestras Festival.

Prior to travelling south, the pupils attended a four-day course at Kirkwall Grammar School and presented an evening of orchestral music at the Pickaquoy Centre on Friday.

River City actor, Tony Kearney, will have a go at traditional drystane dyking at North Ronaldsay’s roadshow in Kirkwall next week.

He is supporting the restoration of the Dennis Head beacon as part of the BBC’s Restoration Village series.

The North Ronaldsay roadshow, designed to encourage as many people as possible to vote for the old beacon, will run from noon to 4pm on Saturday, August 19, in Tankerness House gardens.

The Restoration Village episode featuring the old beacon on North Ronaldsay will screen at 9pm on Friday, August 18, on BBC2.

A JCB was completely destroyed by fire in Kirkwall on Tuesday night.

The Fire Brigade were alerted to the fire in the Wellington Street housing development site, behind Queen Sonja Kloss, shortly after 7pm.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze within 15 minutes.

Less than a month after the handover to a new operator, the NorthLink ferry service from the Scottish mainland to the Northern Isles has experienced its busiest ever month.

In July, NorthLink Ferries carried more than 46,500 passengers to and from Orkney and Shetland, a figure unsurpassed in the 45 months since NorthLink first assumed control of the routes.

With exams results dropping through letterboxes throughout Orkney on Tuesday, officials at Careers Scotland, are urging those who need assistance in deciding their futures to contact their Kirkwall office.

If students are considering applying to UCAS through clearing, Careers Scotland can provide assistance in the application process.

If individuals are rethinking their next step altogether, the organisation can help find students suitable courses to study or provide information on various career ideas.

A Fraserburgh man, caught driving while almost four times over the legal limit, was fined £1,350 and banned for two years, at Kirkwall Sheriff Court, on Monday.

Appearing from custody, Andrew Kenneth Shuttleton, 26, admitted driving while over the limit, without the car owner’s consent and without insurance.

After being alerted by a member of the public, police apprehended Shuttleton. A breath specimen had a reading of 139 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, exceeding the 35 microgram limit.

As an incentive to get Orkney’s young people to contribute to a proposed youth strategy, an I-Pod Nano was up for grabs at Saturday’s County Show.

The Orkney Community Planning Partnership (OCPP) is writing a youth strategy for the county and want to find out what young people think about local services.

Two kayakers were rescued by Stromness Lifeboat on Saturday evening after they getting caught in strong tidal currents off Hoy.

The pair were heading from Stromness to Rackwick, but, after battling against the strong currents, they radioed the coastguard for help.

The Stromness lifeboat was launched at 7.45pm and towed the kayakers back to Stromness, reaching the town by 8.10pm.

The OIC is urging wedding blackening parties to stop using public toilets as a clean-up point.

The council has received a number of complaints about the mess left behind after blackenings and cleaners have to spend extra hours cleaning up the toilets.

A cow, owned by W. R. Baillie & Co, Biggings, Toab was named the overall yard champion at the East Mainland Show on Saturday.

The champion, a three-year-old pure breed charolais, was the overall charolais winner in 2004 and reserve in 2005.

Judge of the beef section, Andrew Anderson, from Elgin, said: "The standard was very high, but I was able to narrow the decision down at quite and early stage. I picked this one because she had excellent shape and paraded very well. The overall standard was very high, but for me this is the one that deservedly edged it."

A number of 1Orkney school pupils were able to log on to the internet on Monday to access their exam results a day early.

The pilot scheme run by the Scottish Qualifications Authority saw around 400 students in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles sign up to take part.

Organisers of the Dounby Show fancy dress parade says they will give it one last push this year, but if more people don’t participate, it will scrapped.

Last year, numbers had dropped significantly, and organisers say that things need to improve.

Almost £80,000 worth of grants were approved by Orkney Enterprise last month.

A surveyor in the OIC’s technical services department has become one of only 13 Scottish members of the National Register of Access Consultants (NRAC).