Leah Seator, left, Ross Reid and Lorraine Shearer.

Staff at The Orcadian were celebrating this week as the work of three of the paper’s four reporters was recognised in the Highlands and Islands Media Awards.

Leah Seator led the way, picking up the Young Journalist of the Year award. Ross Reid was highly commended in the Sportswriter of the Year section and Lorraine Shearer added to her string of awards with a highly commended in the Reporter of the Year category.

A mother-of-three, who drove while more than three times over the alcohol limit, was fined £500 and banned for 18 months at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Friday afternoon.

Tracey Caroline Jamieson, 36, of Inn Cottage, St Mary’s, Holm, was stopped by police officers at 1.25am on Friday morning on Kirklands Road, Kirkwall, where a reading of 111 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath was recorded.

Jamieson was also charged with possessing cannabis resin. Her not guilty plea was accepted by the court.

A two-day writing event will be held in Kirkwall, on February 11 and 12, thanks to a collaboration between Shetland Arts Trust, Orkney Arts Forum and Orkney Islands Council.

The first-ever Northern Isles Writing Weekend will give people in Orkney a chance to participate in workshops in prose and poetry writing, as well as an opportunity to enjoy an evening’s reading by visiting and local writers.

Visiting writers will include poet, Jen Hadfield, who will hold a workshop on the Saturday, and Alison Miller, whose acclaimed first novel, Demo was published last November.

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Hilda Seator who makes traditional Orkney farmhouse Grimbister cheese, is in the running for the NFU Scotland innovation award.

She sells the cheese through retailers, mail order and direct to the public, and this year plans to update her website and expand sales in the USA.

She is one of four finalists shortlisted for the award, which aims to recognise farmers who have improved, changed or diversified their business through innovation. The winner, who will receive £1,000 and a plaque for the farm gate, will be announced at the NFUS annual meeting on March 2.

Police were called from the Orkney Mainland to Papa Westray, on Wednesday, following allegations of an assault on the island.

Once officers arrived, a woman was led off Papay, after allegedly assaulting another of the island’s residents.

A police spokesman said a report into the incident has been sent to the procurator fiscal.

A Stromness woman, who drove while more than three times over the alcohol limit, was fined £550 and banned for 18 months, at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Appearing from custody, Jacqueline Edith Sinclair, 33, of 35 Guardhouse Park, admitted driving on the Stromness-Kirkwall road on Wednesday night, with a reading of 107 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

Honorary sheriff, John Flett, reduced the fine from £750 as a result of the early plea, but said: “I cannot close my eyes to the very high reading and therefore you will be disqualified for a period of 18 months.”

Councillors are being asked to support proposals for an increase in council tax bills of just under 3.5 per cent.

A special meeting of the OIC policy and resources committee will be held on Monday to consider the council’s budget for 2006/7. Members are being recommended to set a Band D rate of £1,007, up from the current £973.

In addition, councillors are expected to ask chief executive Alistair Buchan to draw up a report on how the authority can ‘vigorously’ put the case for more cash from the Executive.

Orkney MSP, Jim Wallace, has reacted to the statement by the Transport Minister, Tavish Scott, that the preferred bidder for the Northern Isles ferry contract will not now be announced until February and to the Minister's reassurances on livestock shipping arrangements for 2006.

Jim Wallace said, "I am obviously disappointed that the announcement has been delayed as this will extend the period of uncertainty for staff, but given the millions of pounds of public money involved, and the recommendations of the Audit Scotland inquiry, it is absolutely essential that there is a thorough examination of the bids.

Mary Scanlon, MSP, has questioned the Scottish Executive's chief Planning officers on the effect of Udal Law, on the proposed 12-mile limit for marine development, contained within the new Planning Bill (Scotland).

She sought clarification on how the provisions contained within it will impact on current udal law, and asked if landowners in Orkney and Shetland who are affected by udal law had been consulted.

The Planning Officers confirmed that although the Bill's proposals have been consulted on in the islands, they could not be certain of the subsequent effects on the udal rights of people in Orkney and Shetland.

Detailed financial and technical assessments of the Northern Isles ferry tenders are under way, according to Transport Minister Tavish Scott on Wednesday.

The Scottish Executive has received two bids, from V-Ships and Caledonian MacBrayne, with a preferred bidder hoped to be announced in February.

Detailed negotiations will conclude with the handover from NorthLink to the new operator in the spring or early summer.

Regarding the handover, the Minister stressed that it should not be rushed, adding: "Due to the previous experience, this contract process must be done properly - for the taxpayer, the visitor, but above all for the people of Orkney and Shetland who depend on these lifeline ferry services."

The OIC has pledged £300,000 over the next three years to help Orkney community groups set up renewable energy projects.

Groups are eligible for funding if they are non-profit making and have an open membership. The council can provide grants of up to 25 per cent of project costs - up to 75 per cent of the total cost could be secured depending on the level of Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company (HICEC) funding.

The initiative has already seen ground source heating installed at the Stronsay fish mart and a wind turbine, to provide heating, at the Holm Community Centre.

A woman, accused of striking a man with a knife, was released on bail from Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

Gail McDowall, 47, of St Colm's Quadrant, Longhope, denies assaulting the man at Naval Hall, Longhope, on January 2.

A special bail condition was imposed that McDowall does not go within 20 feet of the complainer's property.

A trial date has been set for April 6.

Workmen replacing street lights in Kirkwall's Dundas Crescent on Friday, severely damaged a main BT cable, cutting off around 100 customers. The cable carries 300 lines, a number of which were severed.

A new cable arrived on Tuesday morning and a 100-metre section in Dundas Crescent was replaced. Additional engineers from the mainland came to assist.

All customers should be reconnected by today.

Steward Wood, of Garson, Sandwick, has been re-elected chairman of the Orkney branch of the NFUS.

But the meeting, on Monday night, failed to find a vice-chairman for 2006.

Steven Metcalf, last year's vice-chairman, stood down, saying he had no wish to become chairman and had agreed to do the job for a year to allow someone else time to prepare for the role.

A number of names were put forward and members agreed discussions would continue and a vice-chairman would be appointed at the next branch meeting.

Mr Wood also chairs the Orkney and Shetland regional board for this year.

The money will go towards encouraging people to explore the centre's exhibitions and collections as part of the Hoy Interactive project.

Working with the North Walls Primary School, the project will identify objects the children find interesting and producing interactive cards for visitors on these items.

To ensure the museum is not looked at in isolation, but seen it in the wider context, the pupils will also draw on the local community to research the area, eventually producing an exhibition and guide on the present landscape of Lyness.

Almost £31,000 of grants were approved by Orkney Enterprise in December 2005.

Among the £30,745 approved was £10,650 to Sutherland's Garage, Stenness, for upgrading their petrol pumps and £5,408 to Stromness-based business, Tait & Style, for a business learning account. Also in the West Mainland, bodhran makers, Belgarth Bodhrans, received £3,200 to purchase equipment.

Between them, Orkney the Brand and Orkney Quality Food and Drink Ltd received £9,237 for promotions - £5,337 of which is to allow a delegation to attend the Food Expo 2006.

Police are appealing for witnesses to an alleged assault in Kirkwall at the weekend.

A man claims to have been assaulted by two females at 10.30pm on Saturday, on Kirkwall's Bridge Street.

A report of a man overboard on Saturday led to the launch of the Kirkwall lifeboat - but it turned out to have been a sailor attempting to retrieve his drifting dinghy.

A member of the public reported a small dinghy with a man overboard after seeing someone swimming after a drifting vessel.

The Kirkwall RNLI volunteer crew were asked to attend the incident, off Rerwick Head, Tankerness, so the lifeboat was launched at 11:15am.

Arriving at the scene at 11.20am, the crew found that the dinghy owner had swam back to shore. Lifeboat crewman Mickie Foulis boarded the abandoned dinghy and sailed it to shore.

Over the next two years, researchers in the department of anthropology will be looking at the historical experiences of Scots who worked in the fur trade in the Canadian north-west and are appealing to the descendants of fur traders for information about their ancestors’ lives and adventures.

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