PDA

View Full Version : Fit's in 'e Coorier 'e day



Nwicker60
26-Sep-12, 09:44
Caithness Courier headlines: September 26,

WICK airport is to be renamed next week to the Wick John O’ Groats Airport, in a public relations stunt to capitalise on the multi-million pound redevelopment of the hamlet at the end of the road. The name extension is designed to bring about more business to the airport through its association with John O Groats which has been transformed over the past year with luxury chalets for high rollers by Cheshire-based holiday firm, Natural Retreats. But the move comes following harsh criticism of the closure of the airport on Friday afternoons and all day Saturday, due to what the airport operator called “sudden and unexpected changes to air traffic control staffing levels”.

THE story of Wick’s herring industry has been given a new home, thanks to the completion of a restoration project. The Wick Society has opened its new fishing hall to give the public an insight into the industry that supported so many people during its heyday. The building has just undergone a £162,000 refurbishment with grants coming from several agencies.

THE show will go on for Thurso Gala after a last-minute plea for volunteers saw an overwhelming response to ensure the event will carry on into the future. More than 30 people attended an emergency meeting at the town’s Royal Hotel, as Thurso Town Improvements Association, which had been whittled down to seven members, made one final attempt to attract new volunteers failing which, the summer carnival would be consigned to history. But they were not disappointed as they received a flood of offers from willing locals far surpassing the required minimum of 10 new volunteers.

CAITHNESS will lose jury trials and its Justice of the Peace Court if plans being set out by the Scottish Court Service are given the go-ahead. If they get the green light, the proposals, put out for public consultations on Friday, would mean Caithness jurors face a 200-mile plus, round trip to Inverness while the JP Court cases would be merged into the criminal proceedings at Wick Sheriff Court. Views are being sought on the mooted changes which also included the closure of 11 sheriff courts around the country.

FOUR new staff, tasked with improving community well-being, could be hired by Highland Council to work in Wick and several other of the region’s most deprived areas, it has emerged. Councillors will this week debate proposals aimed at tackling problems like poverty and health inequalities which could help save public money in the long term. As part of the SNP-led administrations’s spending agenda, it has set aside £1 million investment this year and £3 million next year to fund the proposals.

THE chances of recovering £23,000 which was paid into a failed businessman’s personal bank account by Highland Council are slim, because he has been declared bankrupt, it has emerged. Northern Constabulary is investigating the alleged fraud after the contractor, whose firm had gone into liquidation, failed to declare his financial circumstances and finance staff approved the payments to him for work carried out by his firm.

LOCAL residents across the Highlands will be encouraged to pick up a shovel and play a part in combating ice and snow conditions in their communities. Highland Council is writing to community councils across the region asking if they want to nominate colleagues or householders who would be willing to pitch in and lend a hand, if harsh weather strikes this winter. The authority would provide basic equipment and tools like grit shovels to communities, which could then take it upon themselves to treat icy paths outside elderly homes or clear snow.

AND finally...it’s not something you’d usually find on offer at the fish market but for one family enjoying a stroll on the beach, it proved to be the catch of the day. Measuring over a metre tall, what is believed to be an oarfish was found washed up on Keiss Beach at the weekend, thousands of miles away from it natural habitat in the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean.