The former P&O office, centre, which is the subject of a planning application, with the St Ola Hotel to the left, and the Orkney Club to the right..

Orkney businessman, Neil Stevenson, hopes to open a new pub on Kirkwall¹s Harbour Street.

The established entrepreneur has lodged a planning application for 14 Harbour Street, currently home to the public defenders¹ office, but previously P&O's offices, for a change of use to a public house.

He said: "14 Harbour Street is positioned right in the middle of the area where the majority of bars and pubs are situated in Kirkwall. Both its neighbouring properties are licensed premises. This is a natural location for a business of this type.

"I intend to completely upgrade the building retaining and enhancing original features both internally and externally."

The Communication Workers Union have announced plans for national Royal Mail strike action. T wo 48-hour strikes are planned for October 5-6, and 8-9.

Royal Mail commented: "They are going out on national strike, so it will affect the whole of the UK. It will effect everything, the whole of Royal Mail - the postmen, deliveries and desks.

"We have contingency plans set in place that we will be working on between now and October. In the past we have had volunteers helping out in the mail centres and delivery offices, we usually try to get out all the special deliveries and business mail."

On Friday morning, a group of representatives from Orkney joined a meeting in Inverness to discuss smoking issues.

The group, including Andrea Spence Jones, Health Promotion Officer for NHS Orkney, joined the meeting through video link, which involved representatives from the Highlands and Islands and the North East.

Representatives talked with ASH Scotland on issues including reducing smoking, especially in young people, and the problems faced by those working in tobacco control in rural and isolated areas.

Sheila Duffy, of ASH Scotland, said: "Smoking remains Scotland¹s biggest preventable killer, with 24 per cent of deaths every year being attributable to smoking."

A partnership between Loganair and the St Magnus Festival was commended on Wednesday night at the Arts & Business Scottish Awards 2007.

For the project, Loganair sponsored travel from the Scottish mainland for performers in last year¹s St Magnus Festival closing concert - Ring of Strings - as well as that of composer Eddie McGuire, who wrote the new piece.

At the ceremony, which celebrated the best of arts & business partnerships, culture minister Linda Fabiani said: "I believe strongly in the mutual benefits that come from corporate sponsorship of the arts - and there are some wonderful examples recognised at the Arts & Business Scotland Awards."

A seminar will be held in Kirkwall next month to help farmers maintain organic status.

The Scottish Agricultural College and the Scottish Organic Producers Association have joined forces to present the seminars across the country to help meet the new standards for organic feed for animals. These come into force on January 1, 2008.

The Kirkwall seminar will take place at Orkney Auction Mart, on Friday, October 19, and places are still available.

Super Station Orkney community radio looks set to be back on the air before the end of the year.

The station is currently awaiting frequency clearance from the media regulator Ofcom, which says managing director Dave Miller, is hoped to be assigned by October 22, so that the service can finally start.

Support Training in Kirkwall have donated space to the radio station and work is already under way building the studios.

A 50-year-old man who denies a domestic assault in Stromness has been barred from entering the town.

John Montgomery of Stromness, appeared from custody at Kirkwall Sheriff court on Wednesday, when Sherrif Graeme Napier, released him on bail, on condition that he did not enter Stromness.

His new address was given as 5 Quoybanks Crescent, Kirkwall.

A trial date was set for October 18.

A Kirkwall woman has admitted 29 counts of fraud and theft to obtain £6,925. 

Patricia Williamson, 40, of 34 Kirklands Road, changed her not guilty plea at Wednesday’s Kirkwall Sheriff Court and admitted uttering and altering cheques on various occasions between July 25, 2005, and December 4, 2006.

She denied a further 12 counts which was accepted by the court.

Sentence was deferred until October 17 for social inquiry, community service and restriction of liberty reports.

Two of the world's leading astronauts and cosmonauts paid a flying visit to Orkney on Wednesday to encourage pupils in the area to consider careers in science and technology.

Pupils at Stromness Academy, Kirkwall Grammar School and Stronsay Junior High School met Bertalan Farkas from Hungary and Roy D. Bridges Jnr from the USA.

The astronauts addressed pupils at the schools, inspiring them with their experiences of space travel and scientific exploration.

A project to install up to 45 wind turbines at sites across Orkney took a step forward this week, with the announcement that the project is about to enter the planning process.

According to Dennis Gowland, chairman of Fairwind Statkraft (Orkney) Ltd, the submission follows an extended assessment of up to nine potential sites on the Orkney Mainland and South Ronaldsay.

The biggest careers convention ever staged in Orkney will be held at the Pickaquoy Centre early next month.

Preparations are well advanced for the event, where well over 60 exhibitors will provide a wealth of advice and information for people from throughout the islands.

A campaign road show, organised by Diabetes UK Scotland and RNIB Scotland, was in Orkney on Tuesday.

The event, in the Kirkwall Community Centre, aimed to make sure that people with diabetes will be more aware of the importance of attending eye screening appointments.

There are 800 people with diabetes in Orkney and it is vital that all of those aged 12 and over have their eyes screened for diabetic retinopathy at least once a year.

Orkney is still one of the safest places to live and work in the UK with crime detection rates of 73.4 per cent, according to a police performance report.

Northern Constabulary chief constable Ian Latimer addressed a meeting of the Northern Joint Police Board at the launch of the force’s public performance report for 2006/07.

He said: “Northern Constabulary has again achieved excellent results in delivering a range of modern and progressive police services that contribute to making the Highlands and Islands a safe place to live, work and visit.”

Failed attempts by the Danish Crown to claim back Orkney and Shetland between 1549 and 1667 will be outlined at a talk in Shetland this week.

On Wednesday night, Brian Smith, head archivist at the Shetland Museum and Archives, will use little-known documents, including a recently discovered letter by James III to King Hans of Denmark from 1486, to investigate exactly what happened when Orkney and Shetland were annexed to Scotland in the 15th century.

After receiving a number of complaints from the public, police are reminding drivers of agricultural vehicles that they must adhere to road traffic legislation.

According to police, some of the main concerns were regarding lights and indicators not being used when required, especially at night, and drivers failing to use amber warning beacons where fitted.

Police are appealing for information after a set of traffic lights were removed from roadworks at the bottom of the Heddle Road in Finstown.

The incident occurred some time between 7pm on Thursday night and 7am on Friday morning.

A specialist Orkney company has secured a contract worth around £85,000.

Flotta-based Opus Plus will supply a 9,000 BPD Mare’s Tail coalescer to Tanjung Offshore Services Sdn Bhd. The project, for Murphy Sarawak Oil’s West Patricia platform off Malasysia, is scheduled to be finished this autumn.

The project aims to enhance the performance of existing hydrocyclone water treatment technology, and therefore the quality of produced water discharged, without the need for de-oiling chemicals.

Orkney Rugby Club's new strips was unveiled at Pickaquoy on Saturday afternoon.