Scottish
Roads Weather Problems Bulletin Board
Elections
May 2003
Who's
Standing & What Are They Saying?
30 April
03
Line Dancers Help Alan McIvor Move Closer To Thurso Book Publication
Alan McIvor and some of the Line Dancers in Caithness caught at a night of
fun and fund raising to help him publish a book on Old Thurso, They had a night of foot stomping and strutting in the
Janet Street Club on Saturday night. The proceeds of the event
£75.00 was donated to Alan McIvor to assist him with publication....
30 April 03
Trevor Wight's "Twist" Exhibition At St Fergus Gallery, Wick
This vibrant and distinctive set of screen printing can be seen at
St Fergus Gallery, Wick until 12 May. Trevor Wight a talented
Canadian artist is passing on some of his skills to pupils at Wick High
School where he is currently a teacher. The exhibition is made up
from some of his work over the last three years....
29
April 03
TREATMENT PLANT TO CLEAN UP
EFFLUENT FROM REACTOR DECOMMISSIONING
The UK Atomic Energy Authority has applied for
planning permission to construct a new plant to clean up radioactive
effluent that will arise during the next phase of decommissioning the
Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay. The £2.4 million project
will remove radioactivity from the effluent before it is discharged to
the sea. Since the reactor closed in 1994, the fuel has been
removed and a £17 million plant built to destroy the 1500 tonnes of sodium
liquid metal used as coolant.
Young Stars Could Be Highland High Fliers
29 April 03
The search is on to find two Highland
children to star in a new television advert promoting air services in the
region. Highlands and Islands Airports Limited is looking for two
youngsters to appear in a TV commercial that will be filmed towards the
end of May. The airport operator and leading Glasgow-based
advertising agency Frame Cunningham will be holding auditions at the
Inverness Thistle Hotel on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May and are inviting
children aged between 8 and 12 years to come along if they fancy a shot at
small screen fame. The final advert will be screened on Grampian
Television later in the year and also be used for marketing and
promotional purposes by the company that operates 10 airports in the
Highlands and Islands.
27 April 03
CASE Report For March
26 April 03
Deirdre
Steven And The Labour Team In Wick On Saturday
With election day for the Scottish Parliament and the Councils
approaching fast all the candidates are out n various parts handing out
leaflets and meeting people. Deirdre Steven had the Labour team in
Wick on Saturday afternoon seeing as many people as possible with less
than a week to go until the polls.
Election
Pages
26 April 03
Summer Training Starts for East End Boys Club
26 April 03
Orkney
Teams Had A great Day At The Mini Rugby In Wick
Over 50 boys in rugby teams from Orkney were just a few of the
teams from all over the Highlands and Islands playing in the Mini Rugby
competitions at Wick High School today. Orkney teams did very well.
We caught up with them after they bought nearly all the ice cream in the
Harbour Cafe. With seriously good weather the boys had lunch at the
school after the rugby and then took the afternoon to look round the town
before getting the ferry from Gills.
24 April 03
Juniors At Halkirk FC make Trip To See Ross County Game
Photos of junior trip to Ross County in March by Halkirk FC brill day had
a tour of the stadium and watched the match in the afternoon.
23 April 03
HAMNAVOE MAKES MAIDEN VOYAGE FROM STROMNESS
The £28m NorthLink vessel, MV Hamnavoe,
made her first commercial sailing on the Pentland Firth route on
Monday, April 21 after engaging in a busy weekend of public events in
Stromness and Scrabster. Two trailers, 52 cars and 250 passengers were
welcomed aboard the maiden voyage.
23 April 03
RATES RELIEF ON OFFER TO COMMUNITIES
DEPENDENT ON
WHITEFISH CATCHES
Harbours and associated
businesses which are experiencing hardship as a result of the reduction in
whitefish catches are being encouraged to apply for rates relief.
23
April 03
NEW SERVICE FOR THE DEAF
A significant new service is about to be launched for
deaf people in the Highlands. NHS Highland and The Highland Council have
jointly commissioned The Deaf Society to develop a Communication Support
Service. Based at Volunteering Highland,
Millburn Road, Inverness, the new service will begin in mid-May and will
initially be delivered by sign language interpreter, Helen Farrelly, who
is currently project manager with The Highland Council’s deaf
communication project, based in Dingwall. It is planned to expand the
service in the future with sessional workers employed across the
Highlands.........
20 April 03
Hamanvoe Trip
20 April
03
Easter Eggstravaganza
20 April
03
Easter Train Takes The Strain
To Caithness, Orkney
And The Highlands
18 March 03
Castletown Under Sevens New Football Strips
Castletown Junior Football Club under sevens side has received a new set
of strips from John Murray, who has the Mace shop in the village. They are
looking forward to the new season which gets under way on the 28th of
April. More info on
www.castletownjuniors.co.uk
18
March 03
Protesters Found Guilty For GM Crop Damage
Scotsman Story
FIVE Green campaigners were fined £100 each yesterday for invading a
field and damaging a crop of genetically modified oilseed rape. .....
18 April 03
Highland Council Offices Closed At Easter
Break
Service Points and administrative offices will close at 5.00 p.m. on
Thursday 17 April 2003 and re-open at 9.00 a.m. on Tuesday 22 April for
the Easter holiday.
18 April 03
Will You Be
Conned This Easter?
PUBLIC URGED TO BE ON GUARD AGAINST ROGUE ITINERANT TRADERS
The Highland Council and Northern
Constabulary are urging householders to be on their guard against bogus
workmen and itinerant traders known to operating in the Highlands.
Trading Standards Officers within the Council’s TEC Services and Northern
Constabulary are aware of itinerant traders seeking work or selling goods
door-to-door and are advising householders to be particularly cautious
when dealing with itinerant traders offering cut price tar laying, house
maintenance or gardening services, as well as selling items including
"cut-price" furniture, televisions and clothing.
18 March 03
Web Access To Scotland’s Past As North Highland
Archive Joins Major Internet Project
The North Highland Archive in Wick has become the most recent recipient of
a computer system granted by the Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) project.
North Highland Archivist Phil Astley, said: “Following on from the success
of our recent stock-check which has enabled us to provide a higher quality
of public service by making the records in our care more accessible, I am
delighted that we can now also offer our users free access to the wealth
of historical information which is available via the world-wide-web to
assist them with their research”.
17 April 03
The Lib Dem team was out in force
in Wick taking advantage of the good weather to get round and see the
voters.
Jim Wallace , Graeme Smith, John Thurso and Jamie Stone................
17 April 03
Latest Properties For Sale
17 April 03
Caithness Moto X Club
Round
2 of the
CMXC championship
Sunday 20th April
"Scrabster farm Gala track"
Opposite the "Hill of Forss" junction on the A836, Thurso outskirts
15 April 03
International Rural Network Conference
Delegates from across the world are expected to attend a major
international conference in Inverness in June 2003. Taking Charge (June
23 27, 2003) will focus on various issues around rural development
with speakers sharing experience and the latest research on issues of
rural community empowerment, rural health and rural education.
Organised by the Arkleton Institute for Rural Development Research at the
University of Aberdeen and the UHI Millennium Institute, Taking Charge
will be the first conference of the International Rural Network. Over 400
delegates are expected to attend the event with speakers travelling from
over 30 countries including Australia, Canada, Hungary, Sweden, India and
the USA.
13 April 03
Ossian Exhibition -
Swanson Gallery, Thurso
On until 18 April 2003
13 April 03
Bower Inn Re-opens Under New
Ownership
The Bower Inn will re-open on Wednesday 16 April with new owners.
The bar is opening first but work is well underway to reopen the
restaurant and restart serving food at the once popular place in the
middle of the county.
13 April 03
UPDATE ON BODY
FOUND WEST MURKLE - OMAR JOHN MATTAN
10
April 03
PARTICLE 36 FIND ON SANDSIDE
BEACH
Another suspected radioactive particle resulting from historical
operations at Dounreay was found during routine monitoring of Sandside
Beach today. It was the second to be found today.
10 April
03
STATEMENT
from SCOTTISH ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AGENCY
PARTICLES HEALTH EFFECTS RESEARCH
SEPA has published the most recent report from its research project into
the health effects of particles from Dounreay. The report is a
review of the procedures used for monitoring Sandside beach. It also
calculates the minimum detectable particle activity and compares it with
statutory requirements, and reviews two documents which comment on the
procedures used at Sandside.
10 April 03
PARTICLE 35 FIND ON SANDSIDE BEACH
10 April 03
WHAM Waste Education Exchange Launch Event!
25th April, 10am - 3pm - Beauly
£10 organisations/£5 individuals – includes lunch and refreshments
An opportunity to share new ideas and good practice – on the day and in
the future. For all practitioners of environmental education –
particularly those who focus on the topic of waste – the opportunity to
network, exchange ideas and materials and try out some brand new
resources, like the WHAM Compost Explorer Game – can you meet the compost
challenge and build a happy compost heap?........
10 April 03
LOCAL STUDENTS OFFERED SUMMER WORK PLACEMENTS
IN THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS
Undergraduates from throughout the Highlands and Islands are being
offered the chance to work with a wide variety of local businesses during
the summer. STEP, the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme, is a
UK-wide student placement scheme, backed by Shell UK and administered in
the region by Careers Scotland and local enterprise companies in the
Highlands and Islands Enterprise network. Unlike more general work
experience schemes, STEP offers students in their second or penultimate
year the chance to get their teeth into a specific project designed to
help the business improve its performance.
9 April 03
Loads For Wester Yard Held Up Traffic In Wick
Cars parked South Road, Wick made it impossible for the heavy loads
bound for the Wester Pipeline Construction Yard operated by Haliburton to
get through. Traffic was diverted for about 30 minutes yestersday while
police found one of the owners to move the car and open the road.
8 April 03
HIGHLAND JUNIOR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP HOTLY CONTESTED
AT SKIBO CASTLE
Organisers of The Highland Council’s first Highland Junior Golf
Championship have been encouraged by the number of applications for the
new tournament to be included in the golfing calendar.
Seventy
four young golfers from throughout the Highlands, Islands and Moray have
been announced as competing for the Highland Junior Golf Championship to
be held on Tuesday 15th April at the internationally renowned
Carnegie Golf Club at Skibo Castle.
8 April 03
Town & Count Club Annual Bowling Competition
The Billy Bain annual Triples
Competition was held in the Town and County Club in Wick on Saturday and
Sunday 5th and 6th April. All profits from the event goes to a local
charity, and this year's charity was the Macmillan Cancer
Nurses...........
8 April 03
PARTICLE 34 FIND ON SANDSIDE BEACH
7 April 03
First Gear Runs
Another Successful
Driving Course For Young People.
The
latest course of the First Gear training programme, a youth initiative for
pre-learner drivers aged 16 & 17, concluded recently with Bob Law of RML
Safety Training Services presenting the 8 young people with certificates
after they successfully completed the course.
6 April 03
Junior Badminton Winners U13 U15
U17
6 April 03
Thurso FC win Morris Newton Cup
5 April 03
Caithness WRVS Wins Choirs Final
5 April 03
Caithness Badminton
Under 13s Boys Doubles League Winners
The
Dunnet/Castletown team, coached by Isobel Mackay, who were undefeated all
season, and won the Under 13s Caithness Badminton Boys' Doubles League.
5 April 03
Good Turnout At Watten Hall
For Election Candidates
With almost a month to go the Scottish Crofting
Foundation got the election off to a flying start with a surprisingly good
turnout at Watten Hall on Friday 4 April 2003.
All
of the main players were there and the only change from the notified
candidates speaking was David Jardine (Green Party) who replace Eleanor
Scott who had been at another meeting that day in the south.
4 April 03
GYMNASTICS CLUB SHIELD COMES HOME TO CAITHNESS
North District Novice and Intermediate Competition
was won by the Caithness squad
last
Sunday. Caithness Gymnastics Clubs' - Competition Squad, competed in the
North district Gymnastics Competition, with fantastic outcome. They came home with 9 Gold Medals, 7 Silver Medals and 2
Bronze Medals.
4 April 03
Daughters At Work Day
Daughters
and Sons who came to Dounreay for Daughters to Work Day on Thursday 3rd
April 2003. The initiative is spearheaded by the Girl Guides UK to give
girls a chance to expand their horizons in thinking about their future
careers.......
1 April 03
William Mowatt
Retires After 50 Years In Motor Trade
Wick motor dealer William Mowatt has called it a day after 50 years of
selling, servicing and repairing motor vehicles. Mowatt’s Garage has
closed the doors after the retirement of William Mowatt last week.
1 April 03
Concordat Sought From Renewable
Energy Developers
Highland Councillors have agreed to ask prospective developers of wind,
wave or hydro power in their area to sign a concordat to demonstrate their
willingness to work in harmony with the local community. Councillors
believe the current level of benefit offered to communities from operators
of renewable energy developments is inadequate and they are eager to
campaign to establish procedures so that a greater share of the profits
from the business should be secured for the local community........
1 April 03
CASE HELPS WITH
PURCHASE OF COW BATH!
An innovative piece of agricultural machinery designed to assist in
the treatment of sick or injured cattle is now available for hire in the
far north, with help from Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE).
G, E & A Mowat of Quoynee Farm near Halkirk have been awarded a business
development grant worth £1,500 towards the purchase of an Aqua Cow Riser
Tank, which can be hired out to vets and other farmers in the area through
the Caithness Machinery Ring. Farmers often have to deal with
'downer cows' - cattle which through sickness or injury are unable to get
back on their own four feet themselves.
1
April 03
NATIONAL FIREARMS AMNESTY
A SAFER SCOTLAND IN OUR SIGHTS
People all over the country are being invited to Set their Sights on a
Safer Scotland by handing in firearms and other weapons to the Police.
"The aim," explained Northern Constabulary Chief Constable Ian Latimer at
the launch today at the Forces Firearms Range," is to remove as many
weapons as possible - principally guns of all types, including air weapons
and imitation or replica firearms, but also knives, swords, coshes and
indeed anything capable of causing injury - to avoid their being misused.
"Our Scottish Amnesty, fully supported by the Scottish Executive and all
Political parties, is being held in parallel with one south of the border
and will run from Monday 31 March 2003) until 30 April
2003....................................