Scottish Roads Weather Problems Bulletin Board

31 July 03
Castletown Junior Football Club Heads For
Presigious Tournament
A group of under tens from Castletown will be heading south this weekend to compete in the Loch Lomond Youth Soccer Festival in Glasgow. The prestigious tournament, which is held at the West of Scotland Science Park, Garscube, is sanctioned by the SFA and FIFA, and attracts team from as far away as the USA.

Thurso Pipe Band 90 Years Anniversary Pictures 29 July

27 July 03
Wick Gala 2003 Pictures

27 July 03
Halkirk Highland Games Pictures

24 July 03
UKAEA and Johnson Control Apprentices
Help Dunnet Forest Project
Four UKAEA and two Johnson Controls first year Dounreay apprentices recently spent a week in Dunnet Forest assisting the Forest Manager, John with new fencing, tree clearing and felling.  The existing fence around the forest has been there for more than forty years and as you can imagine is well past its best.  The apprentices removed around 400 metres of the original fence .........................................

23 July 03
Dounreay Golfers Charity Cheques
The Royal Dornoch Golf Course is renowned throughout the golfing world, a mecca for professionals and amateurs alike.  On a warm sunny day last month thirteen teams of three, representing contractors engaged in decommissioning work at Dounreay, met there to play for the UKAEA Site Restoration Trophy. Two members were employees of the contractor, and the third was a UKAEA employee who acted as host.

22 July 03
CASE June Report

21 July 03
Ragwort Pulling

21 July 03
COUNCIL CONVERTS CANS INTO TREES
Every person in the Highlands is being challenged to get into the recycling habit by supporting a new campaign to recycle more aluminium cans.  The Highland Council and the UK Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) are challenging everybody to join in the �Get Recycling� campaign and to recycle more aluminium. In return The Highland Council promises to plant a tree for each tonne of aluminium cans recycled during the next twelve months.  The Highland Council will collect the cans, separate the aluminium from the steel and bale it. This is then sold to Alloa Community Enterprise and goes from there to Alcan Recycling in Warrington where it is smelted and made into ingots that are then sold on to mills who convert it to sheeting and then into cans.

19 July 03
Caithness County Show

18 July 03
Dunbeath Highland Games

17 July 03
New Equal Pay Legislation Could Mean
Bigger Pay Outs For Businesses
Changes to the Equal Pay Act from this Saturday 19 July 2003 mean that businesses could be paying out even more in compensation claims.  70% of businesses have not carried out an equal pay review, meaning they are unsure if they have a gender pay gap. This leaves them wide open to allegations of unequal pay.  Businesses who currently breach the equal pay act are liable for compensation of up to two year's back pay. The new legislation removes this provision, meaning businesses could be paying out a lot more.................................................................

17 July 03
KitKats Sales Raise Funds for
Macmillan Cancer Relief At Dounreay
Over �210 was raised for Macmillan Cancer Relief by Dounreay staff who purchased KitKats at the Learning at Work presentation, followed by the sale of KitKats by Elizabeth Henderson of Johnson Controls at the Main Gate Reception area.
 

17 July 03
UK Split Over Safety Of Using Hands-free Phones In Cars
With the UK revving up to a ban on using handheld mobile phones whilst driving, more of us are likely to turn to the hands-free kit. But health and safety expert Croner warns of the dangers of talking at the wheel, and reveals that the nation is split over the issue.  Croner, the UK's leading supplier of business information, support and advice, asked health and safety professionals if hands-free kits should be banned at the wheel. 51% were in favour of a total ban, 47% thought we should be able to talk hands-free while driving, and just 3% were unsure....................................

16 July 03
Engender training for women -  
aimed at  making a difference
� Do you want to make a difference - to have your case heard
   and listened to?
� Are you active in the voluntary or community sector in either a
  paid or voluntary capacity? 
� Are you concerned about issues that particularly affect women
  experiencing social exclusion?
Engender's latest training course follows on from the highly successful Engendering Change - Making a Difference training courses..........................

16 July 03
MAJOR CHANGES TO DOUNREAY AUTHORISATION
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has made significant changes to the authorisation covering UKAEA Dounreay's discharges of gaseous radioactive waste. The changes mean a cut of 59% in the quantity of tritium that the site is allowed to release to the environment and will come into effect on Friday 18 July.  The change also permits the operation of UKAEA's new facility for collecting and disposing of liquid waste to sea. This facility, known as the Low Level Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant (LLLETP), will replace the old sea discharge tanks that were the subject of a SEPA enforcement notice in January 2002.  UKAEA is required by SEPA to improve the discharge system for gaseous waste from the main facilities in the fuel cycle area (FCA).............................

15 July
New Mart Opens On the Edge Of Dingwall

Dingwall & Highland Marts opened their new Mart on the edge of Dingwall.  Captain Roderick Stirling, Lord Lieutenant of Ross and Cromarty, Skye and Lochalsh opened the mart on 15 July 2003.   A huge crowd representing farmers in the Highlands turned out for the opening.   The new mart is built on ground which was part of Humberston farm the whole of which the mart bought to provide not only the mart but significant grazing for animals from all over the Highlands and Orkney.  An inaugural show was held with some superb cattle on show.   The first sale takes place on Wednesday 16 July 2003 when over 1600 cattle are already booked into the sale.  Dingwall has been a mart town for almost 120 years with the first two centres established in 1884.

15 July 03
CELEBRITY CHEF TO COOK UP A STORM AT DUNROBIN
Celebrity chef and the star of television programme 'Ready Steady Cook', Ainsley Harriot is set to stun the far north with his culinary skills when he visits the area in October.  As part of the Highland Food and Drink Festival, Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE) and Ross and Cromarty Enterprise (RACE) have committed �20,500 each to stage 'Ainsley at Dunrobin' on Thursday 2nd October.  The event at Dunrobin Castle, Golspie is set to consist of various, delectable attractions including cookery demonstrations by Ainsley, a local producers showcase and a gourmet dinner in the evening for 150 paying guests.

14 July 03
Scotland�s e-city network;
Reaching parts previously untouched by technology
From Ronaldsay to Raploch, the Scottish e-city network is bringing 21st century technology more and more into Scottish communities; influencing everything from planning policy to how customers interact with their Local Council.   Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have joined this ambitious scheme to ensure the Highlands is part of the growing "e world".

13 July 03
COUNCIL WARNS ABOUT POTENTIAL CHOKING HAZARD
TO CHILDREN FROM BANNED SWEETS
The Highland Council�s Environmental Health service is today warning that children should not eat mini cup jelly sweets containing Konjac after two of these illegal products were found on sale in the UK.  This type of sweet was banned across Europe last year following the deaths from choking of about 18 children worldwide.  Products called Jellyace Lychee Flavor Konjac and a similar mini-cup sweet called Jellyace Buko Pandan, labelled as containing konjac, were found in England and Wales. These Jellyace products are sold under the brand name Sugarland. Parents should be alert to the potential risk from these sweets and children should not buy or eat them.................. 

12 July 03
Wick Pipe Band Week - Fancy Dress Parade Night
 
A big crowd turned out to see the increasingly popular fancy dress night at the end of Wick Pipe Band Week.  With a few highland Dancers for good measure it was a great end to a busy week for the band.

12 July 03
First Latheron Show Pictures
 

11 July 03
Mary Scanlon MSP At Dounreay To See Changing Site
Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon saw the changing the shape of Dounreay when she visited the site on July 10th to learn more about progress with the �4 billion site restoration plan. The construction of new buildings and the demolition of old facilities is gradually changing the skyline of the site, with substantial alterations expected over the next few years as more major decommissioning projects begin to materialise.

10 July 03
Hunters of Brora - Protest At Sale Of Assets
Local supporters of The Scottish Socialist Party have called upon the people of Brora to support a protest today (Thursday 10th July) outside the former Hunters Of Brora woollen mill in Brora, Sutherland.  The demonstration is being called in protest at the disposal of assets at an auction being held at 12 noon. The auction includes state-of-the-art machinery.

9 July 03
CUILLIN MAY BE GIFTED TO THE NATION
Scotland's most renowned and spectacular mountain range, the Cuillin of Skye could soon be gifted to the Scottish people by their owner, John MacLeod of MacLeod.   The possibility of such a gift being made in the near future is central to a set of prospective property transactions being explored jointly by the MacLeod Estate, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and The Highland Council, in association with the John Muir Trust.

7 July 03
VISITORS FLOCK TO SEE NEW FAST BREEDER AT DOUNREAY
Tour  guides at the Dounreay Visitor Centre know all about the fast breeder reactor programme that turned the site into a household name. But  they  learned  quickly  about a very different type of breeder when an Oystercatcher  decided  to  nest  in  a  flower-tub  at the entrance to the centre.

6 July 03
Caithness & Sutherland Vintage Vehicles Club
2003 Rally John O'Groats
Winner of this years annual rally for the Vintage Vehicles club was Geoffrey Minter, Reay in his 1927 Bentley Le Mans.  As part of the rally the vehicles stopped at Wick Harbour.  A great range of vehicles in superb condition despite their age and all in running order.  Motor cycles and stationary farm engines were also at the show.

6 July 03
The Nold Play Park In Wick Opened

5 July 03
Castletown Gala  - First Pictures

3 July 03
SINKING HIGHLIGHTS DANGERS OF TANKER MOVEMENTS
The sinking of the Cyprus-registered cargo ship, Jambo, off the Summer Isles on Sunday, highlights the dangers of tankers and hazardous cargos sailing near the Highland coastline and the need for stricter monitoring and control of shipping movements in the Minch.  The Highland Council�s Vice-Convener, Dr Michael Foxley, is relieved that the 190ft long cargo ship was not carrying a recognised hazardous cargo but is concerned that the area might not be so lucky should another vessel get into trouble, run aground and sink.

2 July 03
The Importance Of Broadband
Recognised By Iceland and Faroes
The importance attached to being linked ot Broadband services has been highlighted in Caithness by the new cable passing through Caithness from Edinburgh to the Faroes and Iceland.  �30 million has been spent partly building a link for the cable in Caithness.

2 July 03
Stubbing Out Smoking In The Workplace
A Brief Guide For Employers by Alan Lewis
There�s no doubt that smoking habits in the UK workplace have changed quite dramatically over the years. Once it was common place to see an office worker hunched over his desk puffing on a cigarette, or a bus driver taking his fares with one hand and flicking ash out of the window with the other. Not anymore. As well as becoming socially less acceptable in public places such as restaurants and bars, smoking is being slowly stubbed out of the workplace.

2 July 03
Where The Visitors Are Coming From
And How A Few Reach The Web Site
Visitors To Caithness.org On 1 July
The global Caithness Community continues to expand and apart from local Caithness and UK based visitors 1 July 2003 saw visitors from 52 countries coming on to the web site.

1 July 03
UKAEA LAUNCHES PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
IN DISPOSAL OF SOLVENTS AND OILS
The closing date for comments is 30 September 2003.
UKAEA Dounreay today invited members of the public to have their say in the options  for disposal of radioactive solvents and oils that are a legacy of fast reactor research and development at the Caithness site.  Launching  the  second  stage  of  a  pilot for public participation in the Dounreay Site Restoration Plan, site director Peter Welsh said it was a new opportunity  for individuals and organisations to communicate directly with UKAEA about how the site is decommissioned and its environment restored.