John O' Groat O' Groat Journal headlines for October 7, 2016

THE long-time licence afforded to motorists, who regularly flout parking regulations in the centres of Thurso and Wick, is set to end shortly, with new patrols being introduced by Highland Council. Rogue parking will be the target of a new team of enforcement officers who aim to be operating in Caithness before Christmas, as part of a Highland-wide crackdown. They are empowered to issue tickets and, in exceptional cases, to uplift vehicles under a new decriminalised enforcement regime.


THURSO could be in line to become a centre for low carbon travel with plans to establish a refulling base to encourage people to switch to cars run on hydrogen. Director of Caithness Renewables, Louise Smith, is spearheading the initiative because Caithness is seen as a key part of an emerging new network of such hubs, given its link to the mainland road network and Orkney.


PLANS to provide superfast broadband to rural communities in Scotland, by 2020 are a pipe dream according to an IT expert. Charlie Boisseau, chief technology officer at Commsworld, claims the scheme, led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, is too reliant on BT and its partners.


THE neglected state of Castletown's cemetery is upsetting families according to local community councillors who hit out at the lack of maintenance being carried out by Highland council. They are concerned that paths full of weeds and gravestones are covered in ivy and want something done to resolve the problems.


WICK'S dog fouling problem has been branded 'disgusting' by community councillors who are calling for more action to be taken to tackle the problem. Wick community council is kicking up a stink about the amount of poo which is not being picked up by dog owners.


CAITHNESS had two winners in this year's Highland Business Awards which were handed out at a weekend function in Inverness. The best social enterprise award went to Wick-based Pulteneytown People's Project while Mackays Hotel from Wick picked up the Caithness and Sutherland area accolade.


THE miracle at Mosset Park on Wednesday night will go down in the club folklore as Wick Academy pulled of a five star comeback of Lazarus proportions. With a number of first team regulars missing and three down after just 23 minutes in the Highland League clash, the Scorries looked to be in line to ship a heavy reverse. But Forres capitulated in the second half and Academy took full advantage, to pull off one of the greatest recoveries in the club's history. The final result - 5-3.