Leaked report damns agency over mountain railway fiasco

Herald Scotland – One of Scotland’s leading enterprise agencies will this week be accused of “unacceptable bad practice” for wasting up to £27 million of public money on the doomed Cairngorm mountain railway. The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee will launch a scathing attack on Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for failing to properly control [...]

Woman serious after falling from Banff hotel

STV – A woman is in a serious condition in hospital after falling from a hotel room window in Banff, Aberdeenshire. Emergency services raced to the scene following the incident which happened at the Barclays Hotel just after 9am this morning (Sunday).

Skiers survive 2000ft fall in new Glencoe avalanche

Two skiers have survived being swept 2,000ft down a mountain by an avalanche in the Glencoe area.
Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, police and a Royal Navy helicopter went the aid of the duo this morning (Saturday) after their emergency call was received at around 9.25am.
Police, the local mountain rescue team and a Royal Navy rescue helicopter [...]

Experts bid to uncover secret that lies beneath Moray field

Press and Journal – A field in Moray is being investigated as the possible site of a former ancient settlement. Specialists from Glasgow University started a three-day geophysics study of the field yesterday. A hoard of Roman coins and brooches, Bronze Age gold-plated ring money, a shield stud, a gold ring and a mediaeval belt [...]

More than 3,000 homes still without power after storms

Scotsman – MORE than 3,000 families from Highland Perthshire to the Moray coast were still without power last night as engineers battled against atrocious conditions in a bid to restore electricity to their homes.

Sainsbury’s payout holds up work in Nairn

Press and Journal – HIGHLAND Council’s continuing deliberations on how best to invest a £250,000 contribution from Sainsbury’s towards Nairn’s town-centre regeneration programme are delaying construction of the supermarket, approved for a site on the east side of the resort. The money was agreed as part of the company’s planning approval for a 25,000sq ft [...]

Doctor Who’s new assistant gets pregnant

STV – Doctor Who’s assistant in the new series – Karen Gillan – will become pregnant in episode seven. But insiders say the Time Lord is not the father. Karen, from Inverness, plays new sidekick Amy Pond to fresh Doctor Matt Smith. But in the episode, written by Men Behaving Badly talent Simon Nye, all [...]

Far north passenger ‘astounded’ by cold train

John O’Groat Journal – A CASTLETOWN woman has criticised ScotRail’s service on the Thurso to Inverness rail line following a trip this week in an unheated carriage. Karen Doonan said of the four-hour journey: “I have never endured cold like that in my life. I was astounded to find no heating for the entire journey.”

Council seeks to put all meetings on web

Press and Journal – HIGHLAND councillors will be asked next week to agree to extend the authority’s use of webcasting to include all formal meetings at their Glenurquhart Road headquarters in Inverness once a test run ends in June. The estimated £22,156 cost will come from the chief executive’s service budget.

Ex-high ranking police officers oppose drying-out centre closure

Press and Journal – Several former high-ranking police officers in the Highlands have signed up to an online petition calling for an Inverness “drying-out” centre to be saved. And among them is Lindsay Lowson, a former superintendent who was the first police liaison officer on the original Beechwood House board.

Homes hit by storm still lack power and deliveries

Herald Scotland – Hundreds of homes were still without power yesterday in Aberdeenshire following the flash snow storms that brought parts of Scotland to a standstill.

Fears for jobs as talks take place over leisure centre funding cuts

Press and Journal – Senior managers at Moray Leisure have been in talks about the budget of its centre at Elgin, after its funding was slashed by £100,000. Councillors agreed earlier this month that the annual management fee paid to the complex in Borough Briggs Road would be cut from £663,000 to £563,000.

Turriff mum makes safety pledge as sheriff defers accident findings

Press and Journal – The mother of a 15-year-old girl who was killed in a north-east road accident moments after she stepped off a school bus pledged yesterday to continue a safety campaign.

Snow brings third day of travel disruption

Press and Journal – Roads were impassable, dozens of schools were closed, ferries were cancelled and broadband went down as snow brought a third day of disruption in the Highlands.

Minister to visit Bervie Braes landslip site

BBC – A Scottish government minister is to visit Stonehaven, where parts of the town are believed to be under threat from landslips.
Heavy rain is thought to have weakened ground around Bervie Braes and many local residents have been evacuated.

Police road report (Feb 27)

Northern Constabulary reports the following roads are closed today:
A835 Ullapool road at Aultguish.(Transerve working on it)
A833 Drumnadrochit to Kiltarlity (Coulnakirk road).
B862 Fort Augustus to Whitebridge
A939 Grantown to Dava road Grantown to Brig O Brown
B9007 Carrbridge to Ferness road
A889 Laggan to Dalwhinnie road
B9176 Struie road
Applecross road (Beallach Na Ba)
A961 Holm Road, Kirkwall
NOT ADVISED:
B862 Inverness to Whitebridge [...]

Tot’s cancer battle spurs campaign

Northern Scot – A MORAY couple whose baby daughter has undergone numerous operations, intensive chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant in the course of treatment for a rare childhood cancer have embarked on a fund-raising campaign to aid research into the condition. Samantha and Ross Simpson’s daughter, Isla, is continuing her treatment at the Royal [...]

‘Adopt a Street’ is pick of the pops!

Northern Scot – COMMUNITY pride in a Moray town has seen an innovative litter-picking project grab the imagination of townsfolk. The ‘Adopt a Street’ initiative in Forres now has almost half the town covered by volunteer litter-pickers, intent on keeping their streets as clean as possible.

Put on your dancing shoes

A brand new dance event for all ages is hoping to fill the last few places for its energetic charity day next month.
There is still room for participants of all ages in the brand new event called “Dance on For Life” taking place at the Inverness Leisure Centre on Sunday March 7th between 10am and [...]

Glencoe ski site ‘is world’s snowiest’

BBC – The ski centre at Glencoe Mountain has had the heaviest snowfalls of any winter sports resort in the world, its operators have claimed. Spokesman Andy Meldrum said data collected by the British Ski Club revealed that two days ago the area experienced a fall of 80cm.

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