Caithness Courier headlines for May 13

THE final nail in the coffin looks to have been hammered into a controversial wind farm development after an appeal against its rejection was blown off. The Scottish Government confirmed yesterday, it has dismissed the appeal from developer Spittal Hill Windfarm Ltd, to build seven turbines at Spittal Hill.

TWO vessels made their first visit to Gills Harbour at the weekend in connection with the tidal wave project in the Pentland firth. The mini-ships Uskmoor and Lodesman saild across the Pentland Firth from Orkney on Sunday, to conduct operations in the Inner Sound which separates Caithness from the isles.

A MOTORIST is fuming after a pothole on a Caithness trunk road left him with a burst tyre and a possible repair bill of hundreds of pounds. Adrian Adams said the "atrocious" state of the A99 led to him almost losing control of his car and crashing, when his trye suddenly blew a puncture on the outskirts of Latheron.

"lIKE ANGELS IN UNIFROMS" is how a woman has described the Marie Curie nurses who looked after her father in his final days. Dennise Fitgerald's dad, Syd Barker, passed away at the beginning of April after a five-year battle with lymphona, a common form of blood cancer.

THE finest of the county's rabbits and guinea pigs are being fluffed and cleaned to perfection ahead of show time. The Pulteney Rabbit Club and the Highland Rabbit and Cavy Society are preparing their animals to be at their best for their shows which are to be held together in Lybster on Saturday, May 23.

MOMENTUM was how Dr Paul Monaghan described his victory in the Caithness Sutherland and Easter Ross seat in the General Election and the spectacular success of the SNP throughout Scotland. Mr Monaghan defeated John Thurso, the Liberal democrat MP for the area, for 14 years and saw the SNP vote in the constituency, treble from around 5000 in 2010 to nearly 16,000 in five years.