The minimum wage for agricultural workers is set to rise by 4.4 per cent.

The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board proposes to do away with age-related minimum rates in setting the pay levels for next year. It proposes the minimums from January 2007 be £5.35 per hour for workers in the first 26 weeks of employment, rising to £5.70 after that.

An extra 86p per hour will be due those with appropriate qualifications, and the dog allowance will be £4.33 per week for each of up to four dogs.

The board will call for representations on these rates before making them final.

A creel boat, which ran ashore at the north end of Hoy in August, caught fire on Friday afternoon.

The Challenger caught fire while owner, Magnus Norquay, was using an angle grinder on board.

Speaking on Friday, a spokesman for Shetland Coastguard said: “The owner was on her today, and was using an angle grinder to cut the engine out, and accidentally set the boat on fire.

“The boat is still ablaze and there is nobody on board. There was no pollutant, and we have an auxiliary team there to wait until she burns out. No one was injured.”

Battle of the Bands 2006 champions, Blindspot (right), launched their first CD with a live performance in Grooves on Saturday.

The band played a 30-minute acoustic set in the music shop.

A dog caused a stir on Friday afternoon after getting caught up in a buoy in Deerness.

Shetland Coastguard said: “There were reports of a dog in difficulty off the new pier at Deerness. It was caught in a buoy, and there was a man there threatening to take his clothes off and jump in to rescue it.”

“We don’t normally say that is a good thing to do,” he added.

With the Fire Brigade, SSPCA and coastguard team on site, the animal eventually came ashore itself.

A 12-year old boy was taken to hospital on Friday morning, after a road accident on Kirkwall’s Annfield Crescent.

The boy was involved in a collision with a car around 8.45am. He was taken to Kirkwall's Balfour Hospital suffering minor injuries.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a road accident outside Kirkwall on Friday morning.

According to police, a black Volkswagen Golf left the road near the Scapa Distillery about 9am. No-one was injured.

Witnesses are asked to contact Kirkwall police station on 872241.

A North Ronaldsay man has received a silver award in the first Wanderlust Paul Morrison Guide Awards.

Martin Gray, pictured right, regularly leaves Orkney to work as a naturalist on expedition cruises to the Polar Regions.  He was praised for communicating his passion for wildlife to folk, even those who had previously had little interest.

Two gold awards were made, to guides from Nepal and Zambia. The  awards were made at a special event at the Royal Geographical Society  in London on Wednesday.

Archive story: Martin follows in the footsteps of
heroes to the end of the world

The sale of Kirkwall’s Queen’s Hotel was due to be completed on Friday.

The permanent transfer of the hotel licence to new owner, Mrs Karen Crichton, of Stromness, was granted at Thursdaay's area licensing board meeting. Mrs Crichton is married to NorthLink’s commercial director, Gareth Crichton.

The new owners take over from Bobby McLennan, who bought the hotel in April 2005.

The OIC has appointed a new Head of Transportation.

Naomi Coleman, pictured right, will take up the new post later this month. She is currently a principal consultant in Edinburgh but has also worked as a consultant with HITRANS to draw up a regional transportation strategy - so is familiar with transport issues in Orkney and the Highlands and Islands. 

The trial of a man accused of assaulting another was thrown out of court on Thursday, and the complainer told he was “wasting everybody's time”.

Alistair Aitkin, 52, of Glaitness Park, Kirkwall, was charged with assaulting Trevor Corrigall.

However, questioning Mr Corrigall, Procurator fiscal, Sue Foard, was unable to get a conclusive report of his actions leading to up to the alleged assault.

The 9am opening at the Ferry Inn, Stromness, is to remain in place for folk who enjoy an early morning tipple.

However, the move sparked concern from one member of the Orkney Area Licensing Board on Thursday, Janice Annal.

She said: “My difficulty comes down to the fact that there are increasing health problems that people have with alcohol and by extending hours the more we give availability to that.”

But while Mrs Annal was concerned at the early opening, she said she would not stand in the way of the application.

After two years, the Commodore in Holm looks set to reopen later this month.

Diane Grieve was granted all the relevant licences at Thursday’s meeting of the Orkney Area Licensing Board.

Board member Andrew Drever said: “I, along with many of the folk in the area, am looking forward to it being retained as a public house and restaurant.”

A group of Chilean foresters were in Orkney this week to find out more about planting woodlands in challenging landscapes.

They visited Hot on Thursday to look at the effects of areas affected by significant exposure to high winds, sea air, or sites with nutrient poor soil.

Bungling officials at the Scottish Executive believe there are still 48 long-stay beds for Orkney's elderly at the Eastbank Hospital in Kirkwall - a facility that closed six years ago.

While the Executive is under the impression there are 91 places for geriatric long stay patients available in Orkney, there are, in fact, only ten.

Orkney MSP Jim Wallace, has called for an urgent investigation by Scotland's health minister over the implications of "such a false picture" being painted of care provision in the county.

Two 17-year-olds were told they were lucky not to be appearing on a murder charge in Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Amar Khadka of Inganess Road and Graham Martin Budge of Annfield Crescent, admitted assaulting Ross Foubister on Pickaquoy Road in January.

The extent of the injuries sustained left the victim in a coma.

Sheriff Graeme Napier said: “The victim of this unprovoked attack sustained injuries which were of a nature that you could have been standing in a different court today, facing a charge of murder and a life sentence.”

Khadka was placed on two years' probation, ordered to carry out 240 hours community service and pay £500 compensation. Budge must carry out 240 hours community service and pay £1,500 compensation.

The long running dispute between the Scrabster Harbour Trust and Mowlem Marine over the delay in the completion of the port's deep water pier has been settled.

The proceedings also involved NorthLink, which was unable to deploy its then new ferry, Hamnavoe, on the Pentland Firth route until the new pier was built.

Expressing relief at the conclusion, trust chairman William Calder, revealed that the final settlement figure of £2.65 million meant that a total of £12.1 million was paid for the works on the pier ­ just slightly over the original tender price.

Archive stories: Legal action threatened over Scrabster delay
Hamnavoe could lie idle for six months

A number of motorists are to be reported to the procurator fiscal following a police crackdown on road traffic offences over the past few days.

Kirkwall Sergeant Eddie Graham said: “Quite a number of drivers have been detected, for a multitude of road traffic offences, including vehicle defects, speeding, mobile phone use and seatbelt use.

A number of youths are to be reported to the children’s reporter after an incident in St Magnus Cathedral.

According to a police spokesman, the visitors’ book, which stands near the entrance of the 12th century cathedral, was vandalised.

The Sanday Development Trust has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant of £11,100 towards their Sanday Oral History Project.

The project will involve, among other things, the transcription of existing and some future recordings and the production of a sampler CD and booklet.

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy MP, is to visit Orkney at the end of the month.

The first ever Peedie Story Festival began on Wednesday.

The five-day event, beginning on October 4, is the first of its kind, and will include workshops, puppet shows, and storytelling for all ages.

Click here for full details

After setbacks last month, the operation to install a tidal turbine off Eday is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

The removal of the failed equipment from EMEC's tidal test in the Fall of Warness has been completed. With the structure now in a safe area west of Eday, it will be dismantled and carried away for recycling.

The way is now clear for Dublin-based Open-Hydro and EMEC to restart the installation of the turbine, with two jack-up barges working in tandem to install the piles to support the device.

Work will begin once repairs to the Octopus barge are complete and the second barge is ready for operation in Orkney.

Archive story: Setbacks for Eday turbine project

North Ronaldsay's post office was one of five in rural Scotland included in a Postwatch Scotland research document published today.

The report, it says, highlights the importance of post offices to rural communities - while sending mail and collecting benefits are the most important services, they also play a crucial, but intangible, role, acting as information and meeting points.

The research precedes an expected government consultation and decision on the long-term future financial assistance for rural post offices.

A Postwatch spokesman said: “These findings send a clear message to government that remote rural communities value and need their local post office, and that closures would cause vulnerable customers to suffer most, particularly the elderly and those on low incomes.”

The full report is available here

A Scottish Executive funding decision on a proposed new Kirkwall Grammar School is expected this week.

At Monday’s full council meeting, OIC finance director, Albert Tait, told members that he had received an email from the Executive suggesting the decision would be made public sometime this week.

Once the council know the cash allocation, they can begin planning the future of the school - whether a new build, or a refurbishment on site.

The timescale for installing storm gates to forcibly close the Churchill Barriers in extreme weather was called into question at Monday's full council meeting.

Councillor Andrew Drever called for an amendment whereby all communities involved, including Holm, are consulted on the options available.

He said: “There are real concerns by the folk living in South Ronaldsay, Burray, and Holm, that this moving on too fast and that the council is not consulting with the public."

Councillors agreed to further consultation with the relevant communities.

A Kirkwall man has been released on bail after being charged in connection with an incident in King Harald Kloss at the weekend.

Terence William Gunn, 46, c/o 42-44 Albert Street, appeared at Kirkwall Sheriff Court, on Monday, charged with conducting himself in a disorderly manner, throwing a shower screen across a room, shouting, swearing and preventing a woman leaving the room, placing her in a state of fear and alarm and committing a breach of the peace. He was also charged with assaulting the woman on September 30.

He was released on bail with the special conditions that he should not approach the complainer or enter King Harald Kloss, and will appear before the court again on October 18.

A man who is “appalled” by his actions after dragging his wife by the hair in Fusion nightclub had his sentence deferred at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Monday afternoon.

David McPherson, 29, of Willowburn Road, Kirkwall admitted repeatedly pushing his wife into a seat, seizing her by her hair and pulling her along the floor to her injury on October 1.

Sentence was deferred until October 23 for a social inquiry report and he was released on bail.

This year's exchange rate for the single farm payment will be lower than last year's.

The Scottish Executive's environment and rural affairs department announced on Monday that the exchange rate is 0.6777 pounds per euro. This is 0.62 per cent lower than the rate used last year.

The rate is calculated on the last working day of September and the conditions for converting it into other currencies are laid down by EC regulations. Farmers receiving money under all CAP reform schemes will have their payments calculated using this rate.

A Stromness man who admitted throwing a table through a window had his sentence deferred at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Monday afternoon.

Alan Stanger, 36, of Pumpwell Park, Stromness, admitted, on September 30, at Guardhouse Park, conducting himself in a disorderly manner, verbally abusing a woman, throwing a table through a window and committing a breach of the peace.

He was released on bail with the condition that he does not approach the complainer. Sentence was deferred until November 1, 2006 for a social inquiry report, community service and restriction of liberty assessments and a psychiatric report.

The Coastguard helicopter was scrambled at the weekend to take a pregnant woman from Papa Westray into Kirkwall.

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) helicopter was unavailable as it was on a call out elsewhere.

An SAS spokesman said: "Our helicopter was on a call out, dealing with a very serious road traffic accident - a motorcyclist with very serious head injuries. They were with that case for some time.

"We were advised that the patient in Papa Westray needed to go, so we sent the coastguard helicopter - that is exactly how the system is meant to work."

Orkney will play a key part in the plans for the Interregional-European conference, further exploring how tourist destinations in Europe can share experiences, and create sustainable tourism destinations.

The CREST project, will be holding a conference in Kirkwall, from October 11 to 15, at which European partners from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Whitby and Orkney will meet to discuss ways to set guidelines which address economic, social and environmental issues for these tourist destinations.

The conference will discuss the implications partners face in becoming a sustainable tourism destination, and use the Orkney Boat Museum, one of the UK partners, as a case study.

Businesses and individuals who illegally dump waste will be the focus of a targeted enforcement campaign this week.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is joining forces with other agencies such as the police, local authorities and Network Rail in a bid to stamp out fly-tipping.  

Stromness lifeboat was called out in the early hours of Sunday morning to aid a Wick-registered fishing boat 20 miles north west of Birsay.

The Kemarvin, with four crew on board, had suffered a blockage in the fuel system, when they called Shetland Coastguard for help.

The lifeboat took the vessel under tow and arrived back into Stromness harbour about 10am on Sunday.