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COUNCIL ANNOUNCES MEMBERSHIP OF NEW HIGHLAND LANDLORD
 

The Highland Council announced today (Tuesday 30 August) the make up of the 15-strong Board of a new landlord for the Highlands, to be developed to take over ownership of the current Council housing stock under its housing stock transfer proposals.  The Board of the new landlord will be made up of five Highland Councillors; five tenants; and five independent members.  The five Highland Council Board members were confirmed by the Council on 23 June 2005 as Councillors Katrina MacNab, (Pulteneytown, Wick), Brian Murphy (Fort William North), Drew Miller, (Portree), Helen Carmichael, (Beauly and Strathglass) and Stuart Black, (Strathspey North-East).

RECYCLING CENTRE FOR THURSO
Work started last week on a new Recycling Centre in Thurso which will allow householders to recycle more of their household waste. Local firm, John Gunn & Sons, have been contracted by The Highland Council to build the new facility on a site in Janetstown. It is expected that up to 60% of the material that is taken to the new Recycling Centre will be recycled which will help towards reaching the Council's 18% recycling and composting target. Householders across the Highlands produce approximately 1 tonne of waste per year, of which only 9% was recycled last year.

INDEPENDENT STUDY CLAIMS SCOTLAND�S MATERNITY SERVICES NEGLECTS VULNERABLE WOMEN
A new independent report criticises maternity services in Scotland, claiming they are failing to meet the needs of some of the country�s most vulnerable women. The year-long study, undertaken by the Scottish Women�s Convention (SWC) which was set up with funding from the Scottish Executive to help advise policy makers, examined the provision of antenatal and maternity care in Scotland. It focused on women living in poverty, women with social problems such as drink and drug addiction and women living in rural areas.

Halkirk Tug O War Team At UK Championships
Halkirk Tug O'War team represented Scotland at the UK Outdoor Tug of War Championships at Bearsden, Glasgow on Saturday 20th August. Pulling as Scotland A, the lads came within a point of qualifying for the semi-finals.

HNC AWARDS ANOTHER FIRST IN BRITAIN FOR NUCLEAR DECOMMISSIONING
The Highlands of Scotland have broken new ground again in the delivery of training and education in nuclear clean-up.  Twelve people enrolled at North Highland College, University of the Highlands and Islands (NHC UHI) have become the first in Britain to be awarded a Higher National Certificate in Nuclear Decommissioning.
And the area will continue to lead the country later this year when it becomes the first to offer two new Higher National Diplomas in Decommissioning Management & Decommissioning Operations. A professional development award will also be available for experienced nuclear workers retraining for this work � �The Certificate in Decommissioning Operations with Safety�.

Prehistoric Physics - An Evening of Ancient Technology
Swanson Gallery, Thurso - 10 September 7.30 - 9.30pm
Come along to this Einstein Year event and find out about prehistoric skills from 6000 year old food production to ancient carpentry - then have go yourself!
Suitable for ages 7 - 107 Book Early To Ensure a Place

NEW IMPROVED ROV TESTED AGAINST DIVERS
FOR DETECTION OF BURIED RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES
Dounreay�s latest investigation into offshore particles will see an improved Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) put to test off the North coast where a comparison will be made of its detection efficiency compared to divers, the use of which is being phased out on safety grounds.  The ROV, nicknamed �Trol�, is operated for UKAEA by Wick- based firm Fathoms Limited which has been awarded a two year contract. It is about the size of large washing machine, moves over the seabed at a speed of just under one mile per hour, and carries an ultrasound positioning system, two video cameras and a large sodium iodide gamma ray detector which can detect radioactive particles buried down to about 50 cm in depth.

New Era For Globally Important Peatlands
A new strategy for the long term management of the peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland was launched by Rhona Brankin, Deputy Minister for the Environment and Rural Development on Tuesday 16 august 2005.  Caithness and Sutherland have the biggest extent of blanket bog in the UK and possibly the world. Large parts of the area are formally recognised under the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act and the EC Wild Birds and Habitats Directives, and have also been proposed as a World Heritage Site.

Ex Caithness Lad With Adventure In His Boots
Robert MacKenzie is a 14 year old Dingwall lad with Caithness roots. A third year pupil at Dingwall Academy, his dad started taking him out rock climbing when he was 3 years old. He has climbed all over the highlands and had some fantastic adventures.

Climbing has been a reason for him to visit some of the wildest landscapes you could imagine from Mingulay in the Outer Hebrides to Sardinia in the Mediterranean, from the forests of France to the glens of Srathconon. Outdoor climbing has a real adventure about it that he loves.

EDUCATION MINISTER MEETS HIGHLAND PROBATIONER TEACHERS
Record Numbers Of New Teachers Opt For The Highlands
Minister for Education and Young People Peter Peacock MSP will today (Friday 12th August) meet more than 100 probationer teachers at Highland Council's headquarters in Inverness when they meet for an induction training day. One hundred and seven probationers will take up post next week in schools across the length and breadth of the Highland Council area, almost double the amount probationers in Highland Schools on last year.  This dramatic increase in probationer teacher numbers for Highland equates to 56 probationers in 2004/05 to 107 for session 2005/06, with 60 probationers going into primary schools and 47 going into secondary.

THE PRINCE CHARLES, DUKE OF ROTHESAY LAUNCHES
THE "NORTH HIGHLAND INITIATIVE"
A new "Mey Selections" brand to market beef, lamb and mutton from the North Highlands is launched today by The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay.  The brand is the result of fifteen months' work behind the scenes on a new initiative for the North Highlands which aims to promote and develop the North Highlands' economy in relation to agriculture, tourism and the built environment. The North Highland Initiative is a direct result of The Duke of Rothesay's involvement in bringing together the farming community, local businesses and the tourism industry to try to address some of the challenges facing rural communities in the far north of Scotland.

SUCCESS OF CAITHNESS KERBSIDER COLLECTIONS
The number of households across the Highlands able to recycle at home has reached 48,000 as the result of the expansion of kerbside collections. This has enabled The Highland Council to almost double its recycling rate.  Initial results show 550 tonnes of paper, 20 tonnes of cans and 2140 tonnes of green waste have being collected across the Highlands since the new door-step collection schemes started this year.  The Kerbside Recycling collection started in Caithness on the 11th April and since then over 650 tonnes of material has been collected. After a slow start, the amount of garden waste collected each month is now around 100 tonnes but this figure is increasing. This waste is taken to Seater Landfill site where it is shredded on site and composted into a soil conditioner.

ERIC LARNACH WINS THE DAY AT LYBSTER OPEN GOLF
Despite the overcast and windy conditions, a grand total of fifty golfers competed in the Lybster Open last Saturday, however, the combination of fast greens and strong wind combined to make low scoring difficult.  The best gross scores of the day were posted by members of the host club, with Alistair Young and Eric Larnach both returning totals of 65.  As a result of taking one shot less than Alistair on the back nine, Eric won the Lybster Open 2005 courtesy of the Better Inward Half.

Suicide Figures Published
The latest figures on deaths classified as suicide ("intentional self-harm") have been published by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). They show that the Highland figures (at 39 such deaths) are back to the levels they were in 2000.