John O' Groat Journal headlines for February 10, 2017


A BODY has been recovered off the east Caithness coast, less than a week after a kayaker went missing. The discovery was made by a police helicopter crew yesterday afternoon and the body, believed to be that of 35-year-old Dominic Jackson, was taken to Wick by the local lifeboat


PLANS to build a replica Iron Age broch, which could become a major tourist attraction in Caithness, have moved one step closer, after it was revealed those behind the proposal have been offered several sites on which to establish it. Caithness Broch Project has been offered three sites on which to create the broch and adjoining dry-stone dyking workshop to tell the story of life in the far north over 2500 years ago.

A CALL for an independent review on the future of maternity services in the far north is not being pursued, it has emerged. Caithness councillor made the plea after NHS Highland decided to downgrade the maternity unit, from a consultant to a midwife-led unit at the end of last year.

MAJOR repairs to the Killimster Moss road in Caithness are due to get imderway next month. Exploratory work on a 20-metre stretch of the B876 road is expected to begin in three weeks, with the rest of the £525,000 project starting in May.

A 'VITAL' service providing financial advice to new mothers and people with mental health issues could soon dry up. Highland Council has been funding the project, delivered by Citizens Advice Bureaux across the region but this is due to come to an end in March.

SCOTLAND'S top junior female surfer is set to appear in a television documentary following her across Europe and taking on the best surfers in the world. Murkle teenager Jona McLachlan is set to teature in the CBBC show My Life: Surf's Up.

'RAGING' community councillors are demanding to know why costs to replace a dilapidated bridge in Wick have risen by £335,000, putting the project in doubt. Wick Community Council members said they were stunned to learn the price of replacing Coghill Bridge had risen from £170,000.

A CO-0P store in Thurso has been sold to the McColl's Retail Group as part of a £117 million deal for almost 300 shops. The store, in he town's Mount Pleasant Road, is expected to formally change hands in early May, according to a spokesman for the Co-op.