The annual bonfire and fireworks display took place on Saturday night at the Peerie Sea, Kirkwall.

The event was organized by the Rotary Club of Orkney, with financial support from Kirkwall and St Ola Community Council.

A new exhibition in the Orkney Museum, Tankerness House, Kirkwall, opened on Saturday.

The exhibition shows new prints and books by Soulisquoy Printmakers who have been dedicated to printmaking in Orkney for over 25 years.

Originally established by a group of professional artist printmakers based in a building at Hatston, the group is now based in a studio workshop at the Pickaquoy Centre and has a membership of around 20.

This year's exhibition contains both wall-based work as well as a series of artists' books. Techniques used include relief and screen printing with some members including digital processes in their work.

Councillors have recommended commissioning a study giving an up-to-date snapshot of Orkney's economy.

The "input-output" study will be funded jointly by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Orkney Islands Council at a total cost of £40,000.

At last Thursday's OIC development committee meeting, councillors heard from development policy officer, Jackie Thomson, who pointed out that the last study of this nature was commissioned in 1996 and completed in 1998.

Mr Thomson said: "Since the 1995 input-output study was completed, Orkney's economy has experienced change in many sectors and it is considered that an updated study is desirable.

Councillors recommended the council contribution of £20,000 be approved.

Sentence was deferred on Steven James Smith (50), of Kirkwall, who appeared from custody at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Friday.

He pleaded guilty to conducting himself in a disorderly manner at Ingale, Kirkwall, on Thursday, and causing damage to a window by striking it with a ladder, and to shouting, swearing and committing a breach of the peace.

Honorary Sheriff Bryan Clark deferred sentence on Smith until December 10, for social inquiry reports.

Smith was released on bail, with the conditions that he does not enter Ingale, or go near the complainer in the charge.

Police are appealing for witnesses to an altercation between two men in the Stromness Royal British Legion Club, at about 11.30pm on Thursday night.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Kirkwall Police Station, on 872241.

A businessman has offered a £100,000 reward for information in connection with the murder of Indian waiter, Shamsuddin Mahmood.

His advert for the reward (pictured right) was placed in this week's edition of The Orcadian.

The man, who has asked to remain anonymous, says he is "horrified" at the chain of events which led to the life sentence handed out to a decorated war hero last month.

The wealthy businessman believes the jury's guilty verdict passed at the High Court in Glasgow against Orkney soldier, Michael Ross, to be a miscarriage of justice.

"I have followed the case very closely, reading the information available through the media reports and believe the whole case to be a sham.

"I am so outraged by the events which has led to a young man being convicted of murder that I have put up a reward of £100,000 for further information which, I believe, will lead to the real killer being identified and tried in a court," he said.

However, Northern Constabulary said the murderer had been brought to justice and the case is now closed. They declined to comment further on the reward.

It would cost £34 million to bring Orkney’s private rented property stock up to an acceptable standard, councillors were told at this week’s Orkney Islands Council social services and housing committee meeting.

Councillors were told the preliminary findings of a private sector house condition survey, undertaken in the summer by Orkney Islands Property Developments Limited showed that 5.8 per cent of the 550 properties surveyed were found to be below the tolerable standard. This was an increase of four per cent from a 2003 survey.

The council’s assistant director of housing, John Richards, said this gave an “implied county wide figure” of 416 homes.

Orkney’s young farmers are invited to the launch of a new NFU Scotland initiative, designed to equip them with the knowledge and skills they need as they gain a foothold in the farming industry.

The ‘Orkney Young Farmers’ Initiative’, built around a series of workshops, will tackle a range of subjects over the next few months.

The initiative will be launched on Wednesday, November 12, in the Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall, and young farmers are invited to the Hotel at 6.30pm, for refreshments ahead of the main event.

For more information, call Alison Gillespie on 0131 472 4130 or e-mail alison.gillespie@nfus.org.uk.

Plans to build a number of new affordable houses in Orkney could result in a rise in rent for tenants.

A report at Tuesday's Orkney Islands Council social services and housing committee identified areas in the county showing the greatest need for housing.

The meeting heard that the council is in talks with Orkney Housing Association (OHA) in respect of plans for an initial 38 homes, to be built in the next financial year. However, members heard that the bulk of the cost would need to be covered by increasing the rents paid by present and future tenants.

Councillors agreed that the OIC director of finance and housing should continue in talks with OHA in respect of the plans for an initial 38 homes.

Two men appeared from custody at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Simon Rendall, 30, from Kirkwall, and Stacey Holland (35), from Stromness, appeared in private before Sheriff D. Leslie at Kirkwall Sheriff Court in connection with an incident in Kirkwall on Monday, November 3, involving an assault and theft.

They made no plea or declaration, were committed for further examination and remanded in custody.

Orkney Islands Council in partnership with NHS Orkney is taking a significant step forward in providing modern facilities for older people.

At the Council’s social services and housing committee meeting on Tuesday, councillors agreed with proposals for the development of joint, community based health and social care facilities, which will see an increase of some 60 new places for Orkney's older population by 2012.

These facilities, which will be built in Kirkwall and St Margaret’s Hope, are based on the most modern models of service provision.

Of major significance will be the potential increase in job opportunities in Orkney.

A 38-year-old Stromness man, who appeared from custody at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Tuesday, has admitted a breach of the peace and smashing a car window.

Allan James Stanger, of 4 Pumpwell Park, pled guilty to the breach at Dundas Street on Saturday, trying to enter a house uninvited, and struggling with a man.

Stanger was released on bail on condition that he does not enter Guardhouse Park or Dundas Street, has no contact with his estranged wife, and that he remains within his house between 8.30pm and 6am every day until the case is concluded.

Sentence was deferred until November 25 for background reports.

A proposed £922,000 project could turn the former Commercial Hotel in Stromness into flats and retail units.

The B-listed building is the key project in the Stromness townscape heritage initiative and a decision on its future will come before councillors at a meeting of the Orkney Islands Council development committee on Thursday.

The preferred option will accommodate arts-based activities open to the public on the ground floor, with accommodation on the upper floors; particularly for the emerging renewables industry.

Councillors will be asked to recommend, in principle, funding of up to a maximum of £40,000, towards the project costs, subject to the full funding package being secured.

The first round of payments in Orkney Islands Council's Christmas Grant scheme will be made this week and the council are reminding anyone who has yet to apply that there is still time to do so.

Following a decision by the council to target the grant, the eligibility criteria has changed.

From now on, to receive the Christmas grant you must be: a person aged 60 years or over receiving Pension Credit, a disabled person aged 18 years or over, or a parent of a disabled child under 18 years.

Pension credit is an entitlement for people over 60, which guarantees them a minimum weekly income.

A 16-year-old man was arrested in Tankerness on the evening of Friday, October 31, for alleged assault on the police and carrying a lock knife in a public place. A report is being submitted to the Procurator Fiscal in Kirkwall.

Following an incident in Palace Road, Kirkwall, on Monday, a man has been charged in relation to the misuse of drugs, relating to cultivation of Cannabis A. A report is being submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, Kirkwall.

A fatal accident inquiry began in Orkney on Tuesday.

Sheriff D. Leslie is hearing evidence following the deaths of two crewmen on board the Singapore-registered oil tanker, FR8 Venture, in the Pentland Firth on November 11, 2006.

Ravindra Shrirang Bagal, 31, and Harjivan Bhikhabhal Kharva, 39, were killed in the incident when two waves crashed over the vessel hurling them across the deck.

The inquiry at Kirkwall Sheriff Court, is expected to last all week.

Women in Orkney are being encouraged to attend cervical smear appointments, as figures which have been released show that the number of women being tested across Scotland has fallen to its lowest rate for more than a decade.

This trend is reflected in Orkney, which is down from 88 per cent in 2006-07 to 82.6 per cent this year.

A spokeswoman for NHS Orkney said: "There has been a gradual decline across Scotland over the last several years. There has been a change in the way figures are calculated which has contributed to the drop.

"We would encourage all women who are invited for a cervical smear to take up the offer."

On Hallowe'en, damage was caused in the Marengo Gardens in St Margaret's Hope.

Two wooden gates and the adjoining dry stone dyke were damaged.

Kirkwall police said: "This was a deliberate act and clearly connected to a number of other such incidents during the evening.

"While many other incidents that evening were of a relatively minor nature, this matter relates to a well-tended community garden which will now have to be repaired at the expense of the community."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Kirkwall Police Station on 872241, where information will be treated with the strictest confidence.

An elderly couple who live in Orphir were passengers on a Thomas Cook chartered flight which skidded off the runway at a Lanzarote airport on Friday.

Nora McNair, 80, and her husband, Archie, 84, were on board the Air Europa Boeing-737 travelling from Glasgow when it came off the runway after touching down in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.

All 74 people on board the flight, which left Glasgow at 3am, were unhurt.

Spanish airport authority spokesman, Alberto Martin Carvajal, said passengers and crew were evacuated from the plane and no-one was hurt.

This month, people making their will can choose to donate the fee to charity, instead of paying the solicitor.

Lows Orkney are taking part in this year's Will Aid campaign, where they write basic wills free of charge, allowing clients to donate the fee to the Will Aid charities.

People writing their will with Will Aid will see their fee shared equally between nine UK charities. The suggested donation level is £40 for a codicil, £75 for a single will and £110 for a pair.

To book an appointment, contact Euan Penny at Lows on 873151.