| Bag the Bruck weekend arrives |
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 It was time to Bag the Bruck again, when Environmental Concern Orkney’s (ECO) beach cleaning initiative, which is in its 14th year, took place at the weekend.
More than 75 sites across Orkney were tackled this year – covering beaches, road verges and loch sides. |
| OFS promotes Responsible Fishing Scheme |
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Orkney Fishermen’s Society is bringing a representative from Seafish to Orkney to talk to fishermen about the Responsible Fishing Scheme.
This scheme, developed by the Seafish Industry Authority along with the British Standards Institution (BSI), aims to promote good operational and environmental practices on individual vessels.
John Coleman, from OFS, said: “Today’s consumers are more knowledgeable about the food they eat than ever before. They are seeking reassurance that the seafood they purchase and consume has been caught from a managed resource in a responsible manner. This changing marketplace requires the seafood supply chain to be able to demonstrate that these consumer needs are being met.” |
| Sheriff vows to tackle speeding |
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Orkney’s sheriff has vowed to come down hard on speeding drivers. He feels his message has, so far, fallen on deaf ears.
Graeme Napier warned motorists that he will be handing out stiffer sentences to anyone caught driving at excessive speeds on the county’s roads.
A number of drivers were disqualified this week for travelling at speeds of 80 and 90mph.
He said: “At each court here there seems to be cases of this coming up. I will have to review my approach to this and consider whether lengthier disqualifications might have the right impact.” |
| Reminder on Stromness car parking |
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The OIC is reminding motorists that the Stromness ferry terminal car park is now pay and display, with two ticket machines on-site. |
| Top prices at mart's book sale |
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Orkney Auction Mart’s annual spring sale of Orkney books and paintings saw 507 lots go under the hammer on Wednesday.
Top price of the day was £920 for a framed 1751 map of Orkney, Shetland and Faroe by the cartographer Robert de Vaugondy. Two uncatalogued Harry Berry paintings of Rackwick and Brims shore sold for £240 and £400 respectively.
Among the other sales were twelve framed William Daniell prints, which went for £520, and a copy of Orkney Farm Names by Hugh Marwick which went for £240. |
| Hotels benefit from HIE Orkney grants |
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Two local hotels benefited in the latest round of grants approved by HIE Orkney.
Grants worth over £360,000 were approved last month, of which £20,100 went to the Sands Hotel in Burray for upgrade work and £147,500 to the Albert Hotel in Kirkwall to upgrade it to a four star accommodation provider.
It was incorrectly stated in the The Orcadian that £88,500 was awarded to the Kirkwall Hotel. |
| Jail sentence for St Ola man |
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A 27-year-old St Ola man was jailed for 16 months at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
Paul Flynn, 2 Heathfield Cottage, St Ola, was also banned from driving for eight years following a road accident which seriously injured three passengers on the Old Finstown Road in September last year.
Flynn, who was driving without a licence and under the influence of alcohol, left the scene of the accident and stole a car from a nearby property. He also crashed this vehicle.
Sheriff Graeme Napier said it was the worst case of reckless driving he had ever dealt with.
As Flynn was led away by police, there were angry scenes outside the court between one of the crash victim ’s family and Flynn’s girlfriend. |
| Sanday farmer fined for striking calf |
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A Sanday farmer who struck a misbehaving calf over the head with an iron bar has been fined £1,000 at Kirkwall Sheriff Court.
William Drever, 50, admitted hitting the animal twice after becoming frustrated with its behaviour during the clipping and worming of 140 calves over a two-day period.
Although the blows did not kill the calf at the time, it was discovered dead the next day. |
| Question time for Kirkwall East candidates |
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Kirkwall Community Council hosted an election hustings meeting on Thursday night, featuring candidates for the ward of Kirkwall East.
The event, in the St Magnus Centre was held to allow members of the public to ask questions to those standing for election to the OIC.
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| Stranded whale calf dies |
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 A stranded minke whale on Graemsay's Sandside beach on Wednesday died.
Measuring between 12-13ft long, the unweaned calf, was discovered on Wednesday morning by Mike Braddock, of 2 Hoy High Lighthouse. |
| OIC hosts ports authority meeting |
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Orkney Islands Council's Habours Authority chaired A meeting of the Scottish Ports Committee on Thursday.
The meeting has been held in Orkney before, but this is the first time it had been chaired by the OIC.
Seventeen Scottish ports were represented and the meeting concentrated on port policy, working time directive and featured a talk from representatives of the Crown Estate. |
| Tragedy leaves Graemsay in mourning |
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The man who died in the Graemsay pier tragedy on Tuesday was 56-year-old accountant Roger Gershon.
Mr Gershon, of Hoy Low, moved to the island from London in 1991.
It was only last year, following the opening of a renal unit in the Balfour Hospital, that Mr Gershon was able to return to Graemsay. For the 12 months previously, he was forced to relocate to Aberdeen for ongoing life-saving dialysis treatment.
The car involved in the accident was recovered by the Orkney Harbours tug Harald on Tuesday evening. |
| Car plunges from Graemsay pier |
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A Graemsay resident died on Tuesday after his vehicle plunged from the island's pier and ended up in the sea.
A Royal Navy dive team, who were in the county to deal with an unexploded bomb off Shapinsay, were called to the scene on Tuesday afternoon and removed the man's body from the car. |
| Live mine destroyed off Shapinsay |
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 A Navy bomb disposal team destroyed a live World War 2 mine off Shapinsay on Tuesday morning.
The mine was spotted by divers from the dive boat Girl Kilda on Saturday afternoon in Veantrow Bay.
Four ordnance experts placed a charge on the metre-long Y mine and carried out a controlled explosion (pictured right). |
| Voting information maildrop begins |
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Starting this week, every home in Orkney is to receive information about voting in the elections on May 3.
More than 2.1 million leaflets will be distributed across Scotland by Royal Mail as part of the VoteScotland campaign, backed by the Scottish Executive and the Electoral Commission, with around 10,000 households set to receive the information in Orkney.
The two-page information leaflet aims to ensure people know how to cast their votes in the Scottish Parliament and local government elections on May 3 as the electoral system is changing. |
| Rousay GP suspension lifted |
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The General Medical Council (GMC) has lifted a suspension imposed on Rousay GP Dr Garry Mearns.
Dr Mearns was suspended last year while a “review of his performance” was carried out.
A number of conditions have been imposed, including that he does not prescribe drugs for himself or a family member and keeps a log of all prescriptions for controlled drugs.
The conditions raise questions as to whether Dr Mearns can return to practice in Rousay as he must now be supervised by a named GP Principal and confine his medical practice to GP posts in an organisation, or a partnership of a least three members. |
| McAdie and Reeve sold |
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The Kirkwall firm, McAdie and Reeve Ltd, is changing hands.
After 15 years, Jake McAdie and Colin Reeve are selling up to current employees Alex Findlater and Martin Drury.
The new owners will take over the removal and delivery company from June 1. |
| St Magnus Day service in Birsay |
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 Monday, April 16, was St Magnus Day.
The day was marked, as usual, with a service of praise in St Magnus Kirk, Birsay.
This year’s service featured the words of George Mackay Brown to tell the story of St Magnus as well as a performance of the 12th century hymn to St Magnus by the Stromness Church Choir. |
| Lifeboat launched to transfer injured man to Kirkwall |
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The Kirkwall lifeboat was launched at the weekend to transfer a patient from Westray to Kirkwall - because the air ambulance was unable to operate in the thick fog.
The Scottish Ambulance Service had requested the RNLI's assistance due to "weather conditions preventing airlift."
The lifeboat transferred the injured man from Rapness to Kirkwall, where he was transferred to the Balfour Hospital by a waiting ambulance. |
| Successful berthing trials for Hjaltland |
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 The NorthLink ferry Hjaltland carried out successful berthing trials in Stromness on Saturday, before crossing the firth to carry out a similar exercise in Scrabster.
Capt Willie Mackay, one of the masters of the Hamnavoe, was onboard carrying out the manoeuvres at the harbour.
The trials were to determine whether sister ships the Hjaltland and Hrossey, which operate on the Aberdeen-Kirkwall-Lerwick route, could service the Pentland Firth route in the absence of the Hamnavoe. |
