# General > Doanalsin's Diary >  Fit's in 'e Groat 'is week?

## Nwicker60

John O’ Groat Journal headlines for October 18, 2013
POLICE have been found at fault, in failing to answer whether they acted on instructions to treat a Wick man’s death as a potential murder investigation.  The family of Kevin McLeod have welcomed the decision of the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner, to uphold the family’s complaint against the former North Constabulary.  The 24-year-old was found dead on February 9, 1997, with his body recovered from Wick harbour.  The next day, a pathologist confirmed his injuries were consistent with being kicked several hours before his body entered the water.  That afternoon, procurator fiscal Alasdair Macdonald asked the force’s CID to carry out a murder inquiry.

THE three new schools, which are to be build in Wick, will have Gaelic and English signs despite the former language not being taught there.  Highland Council has confirmed that the new Wick High along with two new primary schools will have English signs and Gaelic translations outside and within the buildings.  The move has been described as “silly” by one Caithness councillor who has campaigned against bilingual signs in a county, which some claim, has more of a Norse  rather than Gaelic heritage.

ALMOST 200 tenants in Caithness were immediately affected by a cut in their benefits when welfare reforms were first introduced in April.  Tenants who have been judged to stay in properties with more bedrooms than they require, have real concerns they will be forced out of their homes with nowhere to go due to the lack of smaller properties in Caithness.  North councillors are pleading with the Government for a change in legislation which will take into account housing availability.

A MAJOR shake-up of Highland Council departments could see two high-earning bosses’ jobs axed in a bid to make £350,000 worth of savings, it has emerged.  The authority’s recently appointed chief executive, Steve Barron, will seek councillors backing next week, to merge seven services including housing education and roads into five departments.  That could see two council directors’ posts, which carry salaries of £100,000-plus, scrapped in the move but Mr Barron believes it could be achieved without the need for compulsory redundancies.

POSTAL deliveries in Caithness look set to be affected next month, with Royal Mail workers primed to go on strike.  Staff at depots in Thurso and Wick, will take part in a nationwide shutdown on Monday, November 4, in a move aimed at protecting jobs, terms and conditions for workers and securing a pay rise.

CAITHNESS is unlikely to be affected by the planned shutdown of the Grangemouth refinery as most of the fuel used in the far north is imported from North Lincolnshire.  Grangemouth oil refinery and petrochemical plant is to be closed until Tuesday after workers threatened to go on strike.  But despite the 48-hour action planned for this weekend being called off, operators Ineos said it would be hazardous to reopen the site until next week.

HIGHLANDS and Islands Enterprise has faced more criticism for the exclusion of the far north from the first places in line to receive superfast broadband links.  A community representative claimed the targeting of eight communities in the Inner Moray Firth is another example of the enterprise agency’s centralised bias and insists the far north was much more deserving given the problems if faces in tackling the Dounreay rundown.

A NEW study to investigate if migratory patterns of wild Atlantic salmon will be affected by the construction of offshore renewable developments is being carried out by scientists in Thurso. Staff at North Highland College UHI’s Environmental Research Institute launched the Pentland Salmon Initiative to map salmon migration in northern coastal waters using information on the complex water movements within the region.

A controversial wind farm plan could gain councillors approval next week despite local concern over its impact.   Highland Council’s north planning applications committee is to meet on Tuesday to discuss Infinergy Ltd’s proposal just south of Reay.  Serious concerns have been raised about the planned 24 turbines with a potential capacity of 75 megawatts.  People have suggested the farm could overwhelm the area and there are worries about low frequency noise and detrimental health impacts.

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