It was claimed this month that freight rates out of Orkney could rise by a staggering 600 per cent in extreme cases, under ferry company NorthLink.

The company’s commercial rates sparked of serious concerns about the impact on the Orkney economy, which relies on transport links to the Scottish mainland.

Kirkwall building firm Andrew Tait and Son – who went bust in November – left debts totalling more than £500,000, creditors heard this month.

Mr Bill Reeve, a wheelchair-bound MS patient from Orkney, set up a cannabis website so he could pass on tips about the drug to fellow sufferers around the world.

The discovery of what could be a major oil and gas field off the Faroes raised hopes of a boost for business at the Flotta oil terminal.

The find, by US oil giant Amereda Hess, lies close to the UK/Faroes median line, thousands of metres below sea level.

Bruce Mainland, head of fish farming company Aquascot, was fined £1,000 this month at Duns Sheriff Court, after refusing to leave a hotel bar at closing time, and then assaulting police officers, during a working trip to the Scottish mainland.

Up to 70 jobs in Orkney, Shetland and Aberdeen were secured following an announcement that the P&O Scottish Ferries management buyout team were successful in acquiring the haulage and groupage operations.

Management at the Pickaquoy Centre offered to meet Orkney’s young people to discuss the leisure needs of teenagers in Orkney. The move was in response to criticism levelled at the centre during a debate held at Kirkwall Grammar School in November.

Two local GPs said that it was only a matter of time before teenage drinking in Orkney claims another victim.

The warning – from Hoy practitioners Dr Tony Trickett and Dr Paul Kettle – came after a teenager collapsed, dangerously ill, in toilets at a dance in Longhope.

Disgust at the freight charges announced by new Northern Isles Ferry Company NorthLink was expressed this month by North Eastern Farmers, one of the country’s leading agricultural co-operatives.

A transport survey carried out by the Scottish Executive claimed that Orcadians prefer to get in their cars and drive, rather than walk even short distances.

Orkney College’s new postgraduate course in archaeology – which was highlighted as one of the establishment’s flagship initiatives – was postponed on short notice because of administrative delays within the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute (UHIMI).

The postgraduate MA in Archaeological Practice was due to start in February, but was put back for a year because it was not validated by external assessors from the UHIMI. This should have been done by the end of November.

A number of bones, thought to be human, were sent to forensic experts in Inverness to be analysed, after they were discovered under the floor of a house being renovated in Harray.

The bones, which were removed from St Olaf Cottage on the Grimeston Road in Harray, were suspected to be that of a young child and were thought to be “relatively historic”.

It was announced that five Orkney fishing boats – including three whitefish vessels – could be scrapped through the Scottish Executive’s £25 million decommissioning scheme.

Orkney’s separate municipal – the town of Orkney in South Africa – ceased to exist after Orkney Town Council became part of the Klerksdorp City Council. The town of Orkney was founded by two Orcadians who discovered gold in the area.

Sanday knitters officially ceased to exist this week after more than 25 years.

The cancellation of the group’s registration with the Registry of Friendly Societies meant that the society had formally wound up – a process which began more than two years ago.

Orkney’s Highland Park Whisky scooped a gold medal in the inaugural Scottish Merchants Challenge – the third award the whisky had won in 2001, after picking up both the International Wine and Spirit award and the Best Island Malt award.

Councillors rejected proposals to transfer Orkney’s councils houses to Orkney Housing Association.