Police in Orkney have joined a new campaign to combat knife crime and the possession of offensive weapons.

Northern Constabulary has said it will not be complacent, using stop and search powers in relation to anyone suspected of carrying a knife or offensive weapon.

Specially designed amnesty bins have also been placed at police stations, including Kirkwall.

The Transport Minister has confirmed that the Scottish Government is still not willing to look at including any Orkney route in the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) study, according to Liam McArthur MSP.

But Mr McArthur has vowed not give up the fight.

The RET involves setting ferry fares on the base of the cost of travelling the equivalent distance by road, with a pilot study carried out on one, or more, of the ferry routes linking the Western Isles to the Scottish Mainland.

A public meeting in Stromness next week will outline the latest developments in the Stromness Community Development Trust’s plans for a wind energy project.

The trust is continuing to work towards establishing ownership of the Stromness Reservoir and the surrounding land, leading towards the creation of a community wind energy project.

Public transport started operating from the new Kirkwall travel centre on Thursday morning.

The first bus to use the new stances was the 7am service to Birsay.

The centre's opening coincides with the switch to the new winter transport timetable., which also came into effect on Thursday.

Fresh meat exports from the UK to Europe can begin again from October 12. The decision is reliant on there being no cases of foot-and-mouth disease outwith a 200km zone around the current outbreak.  There are also stringent conditions attached to the lifting of the export ban.

EU veterinary experts have agreed that although the whole of Great Britain will maintain its current risk status, however, the export of fresh beef and sheep meat could be allowed to resume.

North Ronaldsay's sheep dyke is to feature in the BBC’s The Nature of Britain programme on Wednesday, October 17.

Built in 1832, the "A" listed drystane dyke is 1.5 metres tall and around 13 miles long. Its sole function is preventing the island's seaweed eating sheep from straying from the shoreline onto agricultural land.

Temperatures reached more than 1,000 degrees as firefighters battled a house fire at Caldene, St Ola, on Wednesday afternoon.

Two fire appliances from Kirkwall, and one from Stromness, attended the fire, arriving on the scene around 4.40pm.

The blaze, which is thought to have started in the kitchen, left the house extensively damaged – 75 per cent fire damage and 25 per cent smoke damaged, according to a fire brigade spokesman.

Police are looking for information relating to yet more car vandalism in Kirkwall.

Sometime between last Monday and Thursday, a car on King Haakon Street was damaged, while a Rover car parked in the Albert Street car park sustained damage to its rear spoiler between 10.30pm on Friday night at 12.30am on Saturday.

Meanwhile, between 6pm on Monday and 6pm on Tuesday this week a stone bench was vandalised in a garden on East Road, Kirkwall. The seat section of the bench was left lying in a garden pond.

Anyone who can help police on any of the above incidents can call 872241.

The redevelopment of the Pier Arts Centre has been short-listed for a prestigious architectural award.

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has announced the short-list for this year’s RIAS Andrew Doolan Award.

Anyone with information regarding a suspected vehicle collision in a Kirkwall car park is being asked to contact Kirkwall police.

Damage caused to a Ford Ka is consistent, police say, with having been struck by another vehicle – possibly one with a tow bar.

Between 7pm on Saturday night and 1.20am on Sunday, damage was caused to the bonnet of a Mazda car parked in Harbour Street, Kirkwall.

A brand-new house in Stromness has been awarded the 2007 Laura Grimond Award.

Drumlamond, at Innertown, Stromness, is owned by John and Sally Bartkowiak and impressed the judges not only with its design but by the way it integrates into the surroundings.

Built from local stone and Welsh slate, according to the judging panel, Drumlamond “is an example of how a modern house should fit into a rural landscape. The scale and use of natural materials extend to the beautifully laid flagstone paths around the house.”

The Laura Grimond award was established in 1999 to recognise, encourage and promote outstanding building and renovation work in Orkney buildings.

Orkney is to be commissioned as the newest branch of the Royal Naval Association (RNA) this Saturday.

Former members of the Royal Navy now living in Orkney will welcome members of the RNA as part of a commissioning ceremony and parade due to take place over the weekend.

Police are appealing for information after two pieces of jewellery were stolen from Judith Glue’s shop on Kirkwall’s Broad Street.

The pieces, which are red in colour, made up of large flowers and diamante stones, were stolen between noon and 1pm on Friday afternoon.

Police inquiries into a spate of vehicle vandalisms in the county are ongoing.

Between 7.30pm last Thursday and 4am last Friday, damage was caused to a Renault car in Pickaquoy Loan. Also on the evening of Thursday, September 27, a Vauxhall car parked on Church Road, St Margaret’s Hope.

Finally, between 4pm on Saturday and 11.30am on Sunday, vandals left a three feet long scratch on a Honda car on the Holm road, Kirkwall.

The Holm totem pole was raised on Saturday afternoon.

The project was led by Canadian carvers from the Squamish First Nation region, with the involvement of the Holm community.

Ministers have consented to the biggest wave energy project in the world, capable of generating electricity for around 3,000 homes, First Minister Alex Salmond announced in Eday on Friday.

The ScottishPower project will operate from the European Marine Energy Centre in Stromness and will consist of four 750kw Pelamis wave energy converters.

Mr Salmond was in Eday to officially open EMEC's new tidal energy facility, where he exclaimed: "Two world firsts in 24 hours is not bad."

Orkney farmers have expressed concerns over the likelihood of the devastating disease bluetongue reaching the county's shores.

Several animals in the south of England have tested positive, fuelling fears that the disease will spread further north.

NFUS national vice-president, Stewart Wood, told members of the Orkney branch at their meeting on Thursday night that it is only a certain strain of midge which carry the disease.

"Hopefully, a good few frosty nights will sort it out. It can harbour over the winter, that is what happened in the Netherlands and that is why it is so rife there,." he said.