Volunteers behind plans to build a commemorative wall for the 736 men lost on HMS Hampshire in 1916 are hoping to create an unusually large recycling project in Orkney. The planned wall, to be built next to the Kitchener Memorial, will be around 20 metres long and the project team hope ...

Scottish Water says that it is continuing work on restoring water supplies to Graemsay, and that repair work is complete on the subsea pipeline that supplies the island from north Hoy. A spokesman said this morning: “The focus is now on preparing the water main to bring it back into ...

The three Northern Isles parliamentarians have challenged the Scottish Government on plans to devolve control of the seabed. Alistair Carmichael MP, Tavish Scott MSP and Liam McArthur MSP have written to finance minister John Swinney asking that the Scottish Government fully backs proposals to give the Northern Isles full control ...

Health Secretary Shona Robison has praised staff in NHS Orkney for treating 99 per cent of accident & emergency patients within four hours in January. A&E figures for the month of January show Balfour Hospital’s A&E department treated 99 per cent of people within four hours – far exceeding the ...

The phones are currently out of action at the assessors and electoral registration office in Kirkwall. Efforts are under way to sort out the fault. In the meantime, people can phone Orkney Islands Council on 873535 and ask to be put through to the Assessors and Electoral Registration team, call ...

The first of a series of OIC drop-in sessions – part of a consultation into waste collection and recycling – takes place in Westray today. The council is asking how folk in the isles feel the service could be implemented in future so there is a greater opportunity for residents to ...

Orkney is featuring in a VisitScotland campaign which will give eight thousand people the chance to enjoy a free return trip to one of 23 islands in Scotland. The new campaign at www.visitscotland.com/brilliantislands runs until March 25, and offers free passenger tickets on NorthLink and Caledonian MacBrayne routes. There will be a draw each ...

Scottish Water is continuing work on restoring water supplies to Graemsay, following a confirmed issue with the subsea pipeline that supplies the island from north Hoy. A team of divers has located a burst on the pipe but, according to company, the repair will be complex and will take a ...

The financial details of a proposed five-year plan aimed at improving burial grounds around Orkney is back on the OIC agenda this week. Elected members of the OIC are to discuss the funding arrangements for the plan at a meeting of the full council tomorrow, Tuesday. Last month, a meeting ...

A delegation from a Faroese shipyard is to visit Orkney next week on a fact-finding mission to the islands. Weather permitting, the visit is set to take place over March 10-11, after the original trip, which had been set for earlier in the year, had to be cancelled because of ...

Stromness Academy pupil Rachel Wood has been chosen as this year’s Stromness Shopping Week Queen. Rachel is pictured here in the centre, flanked by her Shopping Week attendants, fellow Stromness Academy pupils, Alison Crichton (left) and Halle Omand. The 2015 Stromness Shopping Week is set to run from July 19 to July 25.

The RNLI Stromness Lifeboat assists the fishing vessel Aquarius in rough seas to the north-west of Orkney on Friday night/Saturday morning.

Enquiries to trace missing 35-year-old Shona Johnston have been scaled back. A large number of resources have been deployed in the search for missing Shona including specialist searchers, dog handlers, SARDA dogs, the dive and marine unit, police helicopter, RAF Search and Rescue helicopter as well as Coastguard and RNLI. ...

Stromness lifeboat is back in Stromness after an all-night rescue north-west of Orkney. The crew were paged at just before 10pm on Friday night to help a 20 metre fishing boat, Aquarius, whose gearbox had failed to the northwest of Noup Head, Westray. There were 6 crew onboard the fishing ...

A passenger plane approaching Kirkwall Airport last August took evasive action due to fears it might collide with another aircraft. According to a report published by the Airprox Board, the pilot of the Saab 340, inbound from Edinburgh on August 29, 2014, saw a Piper PA31 which appeared to be ...