Orkney’s new draft Community Plan sets out a long-term vision on how the quality of life in Orkney can be improved in years to come.

It focuses on some of Orkney’s most important issues, including transport, health, housing and learning.

The plan is available to download from the OIC website at www.orkney.gov.uk, from the Council’s Customer Services Reception or you can request one over the phone on 01856 873535.

An Orkney farmer is one of the new national vice-presidents of NFU Scotland.

Stewart Wood, pictured right, from Garson, Sandwick, was named vice-president this morning after the elections at the NFUS Council Meeting in Dunblane.

The new president is Jim McLaren and the second vice-president is Nigel Miller.

Weather permitting, folk in Orkney will get a good view of next Saturday's lunar eclipse.

According to Rousay astronomer John Vetterlein, the eclipse will begin just after 8.15pm, reaching maximum eclipse will be at 11.20pm on March 3, when the moon is in the southern sky.

Out of  nine lunar eclipses over the next eight years, only two will be visible from Orkney.

A man was jailed for six weeks on Thursday after declaring he was staging a robbery in the Royal Bank of Scotland last week.

Norman Garson Wood, 37, Gunn’s Close, Kirkwall, admitted entering the bank on February 13, stating that it was a robbery and that he had a gun.

Appearing in Kirkwall Sheriff Court, Wood admitted that his alcohol problem had caused him to commit the offence.

Orkney's volunteer lifeboat crews were busier than ever last year, rescuing 55 people throughout 2006.

An event to raise awareness of the children’s and young persons (CYP) advocacy service in Orkney has been running this week at Stromness Academy.

Orkney’s CYP advocate, Jayne Sinclair held a confidential surgery at the school on on Friday afternoon for any youngster who wishes to speak to her.

Kirkwall police are appealing for information after two mountain bikes were stolen from a communal stairwell at 59 Dundas Street, Stromness.

The cycles, one of which was silver, were taken sometime between 1pm on Thursday of last week and 2pm on Monday. The police can be contacted on 872241 or the confidential line 870999.

Two youths have been charged after two separate break-ins in Kirkwall over the weekend.

An 18-year-old has been charged after the Orkney Auction Mart was entered in the early hours of Sunday, while a 15-year-old has been charged with entering C. J. Paterson's, on Bridge Street, between 11.30am on Sunday and the early hours of Monday.

From March 1, a single team of health visitors will look after families from the Scapa, Heilendi and Skerryvore practices.

The health visitors ­ Shenagh Leiper, May Armour and Susan Atkinson - with a fourth to be appointed in the next few weeks - will cover Kirkwall, St Ola, East Mainland and the surrounding areas.

An Orkney-based researcher and lecturer has been appointed to a new advisory forum in a move to develop further links between Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), local communities and key stakeholders.

Sandy Kerr of Orkney, along with Ronald Eunson of Shetland, will represent the Northern Isles on the Forum.

The next election information meetings will take place in Holm and Shapinsay later this month.

The Holm meeting will be held on February 27 in the Holm Community Room at 6.30pm. The Shapinsay meeting is on February 28 in the Shapinsay Community Centre at 6.30pm.

The Scottish Executive has announced grants worth more than £13 million for marine energy projects – the bulk of which will be developed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Stromness.

Among the grants announced by Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen is £4.141 million for CRE Energy Ltd to use four Pelamis “sea-snake” devices as a single wave array, while £2.128 million goes to AWS Ocean Energy for the construction of a wave energy converter at EMEC.

Orkney company ScotRenewables is to receive £1.796 million for a floating tidal stream energy converter while a project to install siphon pipes in the first Churchill Barrier will receive £273,000.

An additional £2.5 million has been ring-fenced for upgrading the site at EMEC to accommodate the new projects, as well as £50,000 to develop a testing berth.

The first wave energy device to generate electricity for the National Grid is to undergo a new test programme at the European Marine Energy Centre in Stromness.

Pelamis has undergone an upgrade designed to further enhance the commercial potential.

The new system means far smaller vessels can be used to deploy the machines at offshore wave sites and retrieve them for inspection and routine maintenance.

The Kirkwall lifeboat was launched on Monday to rescue the crew off a creel boat aground in breaking seas off Papa Westray.

The creel boat, Wings of the Morning was aground on the south end of Papay and, in a force seven wind, was being knocked against rocks by waves.

A Finstown resident was jailed for five months on Monday, after a jury found him guilty of possessing a knife in a public place.

Appearing at Kirkwall Sheriff Court, Ian Graham, who is currently serving a prison sentence for a separate offence, was sentenced to five months and ten days in prison for possessing the blade in the Albert Street car park on July 23, 2006.

Having heard the jury’s majority vote, Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood told Graham: “I'm not persuaded that anything other than a custodial sentence is appropriate.”

It’s been a busy weekend for the police with a number of incidents around Kirkwall.

A man has been charged with breach of the peace at the Orkney Auction Mart following an alleged incident at 1.15am on Sunday morning. A short time later, a male was apprehended by officers for an alleged breach of the peace on Kirkwall’s Junction Road. Reports will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

Meanwhile, in Evie, in the early hours of Sunday morning a male driver was stopped by police and charged with drink driving.

A reminder to motorists that, due to street light upgrading, Victoria Street in Stromness is closed to traffic until Thursday.

A man is being reported to the procurator fiscal after a series of alleged incidents inside and outside the Fusion nightclub on Saturday night.

Although the 48-year-old man has been charged with breach of the peace following an alleged disturbance outside the premises, police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen, or was approached, by the individual, who was naked from the waist up, earlier in the evening.

Orkney Auction Mart was broken into overnight on Sunday and property stolen.

Police say the premises were entered some time between 2.30am and midday on Sunday. Anyone with information is asked to call Kirkwall police on 872241.

Meanwhile, there were ten seizures of alcohol in and around the area during the Saturday night dance at the mart. All came from under-age youths.

If you've always wanted to try ballroom dancing, painting, or even learn to play an instrument, then St Margaret’s Hope is the place to be next weekend.

A week long festival is planned to coincide with Highland 2007 — the year Scotland celebrates Highland culture — in the village’s Cromarty Hall.

Twenty workshop sessions will be held between February 24 and March 2, hosted by local craftspeople hoping to pass on their skills to others.

Click here for full details