A look back at events of 2004

February

• February began with some disappointing news for the islands' salmon industry. There were 38 Orkney Sea Farms Ltd workers laid off, following a controversial article that appeared in Science magazine criticising Scottish salmon. The report, which claimed that Scottish salmon should only be eaten once a month, was blamed for a major decrease in sales. The job losses piled more pressure on the industry, with Mainstream also shedding jobs, leaving the industry in a precarious position.
• Hatston pier was eventually opened for business in February when Prince Edward declared the passenger terminal officially open. The facility, which cost just under £20m, was handed over to the OIC's department of harbours and work began to transport as many boats as possible from Kirkwall to the new complex.
  
  The department of harbours said that the delay was caused after problems had accumulated with wave screens on the side of the pier.
• Orkney Rugby Club didn't make as impressive a start to February as they would have liked, with the second XV being decisively beaten by Shetland in the Shetland Times cup.
  
  Despite an unbeaten run prior to the game, Orkney were no match for their Lerwick rivals and fell to a 20-5 defeat. Despite a spirited second half performance, and a consolation try from Adam Towrie, it was not enough to take the trophy from Shetland.
• The first twins to be born in Orkney in nearly 20 years were at the centre of a medical drama in February. Danny and Jamie Adam were born by emergency Caesarean section at Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall.
  
  Although 20 sets of twins have been born to Orkney parents over the last seven years, Danny and Jamie were the first to be born at the Balfour Hospital.
• One of Orkney's longest-serving GPs spoke of his devastation following the closure of the Scapa Medical Group. Dr Tim Wright said that the partners had gone through a period of hell as an increasing workload could not be matched and that partners of the practice were left with no option but to close.
• Orkney was confirmed as one of Scotland's biggest cruise destinations in the month of February. Figures collated by Cruise Europe - an organisation made up of 89 member ports throughout Atlantic Europe and the Baltic - showed that Orkney had 62 cruiseliner visits and 21,162 passengers travel to the islands in the previous year. Compared to Shetland, Orkney receives 5,000 more passengers per year.
• Kirkwall's Orkney Hotel came under new management in February, when Mary Krueger and Aaron Boddy bought the property which had a £1 million price tag. Mary and Aaron revealed that Orkney's rich heritage and friendly community atmosphere was one of the factors behind their move.
  
  They took over from the Spence family who said that they were overwhelmed by the interest that was shown in the hotel and that they were happy to see it go into good hands.
• Orkney's very own Pop Idol was chosen by a big audience at St Andrews Community Association's version of the show in February. Cheryl Leask, 15, from Kirkwall, impressed judges with her version of the song Summer of 69 to win the competition. Playing to a full house, Cheryl wowed the panel of judges that consisted of music teacher Ruth Harvey, Radio Orkney's Dave Gray, and jazz singer Maureen Cursiter.