The Highland Council, NHS Highland and Jobcentre + joined forces yesterday (18 November 2008) to discuss ways they can work better together at getting people back into and in retaining employment.   The event entitled ~Building a Fairer & Healthier Highland~ brought together over 80 participants from Government and local agencies to look at the positive health impact of work and the way services in Highland that assist people into employment needed to be adapted or created.   ... [more]

DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (November, 19th) sold 419 weaned calves and store cattle and 136 OTM cattle.  Bullocks (237) averaged 159.1p and sold to 205.8p per kg and £790 gross.   ... [more]

The Highland Council is giving top priority to tackling the impacts on Highland communities of the Credit Crunch and large rises in energy bills.   A task force of councillors and officials has been set up to effectively respond to the downturn in the economy.   ... [more]

Plans by The Highland Council to modernise and significantly extend home care services to cope with more referrals and provide 24/7 cover take a step forward this week.   The Council has already embarked on a wide-ranging programme to modernise its own in-house home care service to ensure wider and better access to services and to support more people in their own homes for longer.   ... [more]

Kate Birch, The Highland Council's Children's Services Manager for Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey, has been chosen at the Council's Employee of the year.  She received her prize at the Council's annual Quality Awards, held at the North Highland College, Thurso, on Monday night.   ... [more]

FORT WILLIAM, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd, (November, 7th) sold 489 rams at its annual sale of rams.  Blackface shearlings (239) sold to £900 gross from Craig Farm, Straiton, Maybole.   ... [more]

A pre-Christmas appeal with a difference is going out to people in Caithness - recycle your cooking fats, oils and greases.   The appeal has been prompted by the discovery of large amounts of illegally-dumped fat in the county's sewer system and waste water treatment works, in particular Thurso and Castletown.   ... [more]

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing us today.  There are many things we can do as individuals to reduce our impact on climate change but if we act together as communities we can do even more.   ... [more]

Work has started on the first Clinical Research Facility (CRF) in the Highlands and Islands to provide a specialist environment for carrying out clinical research with a view to creating new products and services in the health sector.   The CRF is located at the Centre for Health Science in Inverness which was developed and is owned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and accommodates some of the healthcare and medical related organisations in and around the city.   ... [more]

DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (November, 6th) sold 2,992 store lambs, breeding and feeding sheep.  Lambs (1,167) averaged £27.43 and sold to £52 gross for Suffolk crosses from Park Farm, Strathpeffer.   ... [more]

Articles in this month's publication include: A word from Stuart Chalmers, NDA Site Programme Mananger (Dounreay) PFR's electrical strip out Apprentices help Dunnet Forest count its visitors Dounreay's Health and Safety Week 2008 See it at www.dounreay.com/news/2008-11-03/novembers-dounreay-news-out-now.   ... [more]

DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (November, 5th) sold 516 weaned calves and store cattle and 66 OTM cattle.  Bullocks (289) averaged 143.5p and sold to 183.2p per kg and £860 gross.   ... [more]

The annual hunt is underway to find the best young innovators in the Highlands and Islands.   The ICT Youth Challenge is looking for more young people with bright ideas.   ... [more]

A new survey is being funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to draw together current data relevant to marine energy developments in the Pentland Firth.   By collating the information HIE will be able to help identify gaps that exist in the current data, and underpin future survey work needed to support the industry's development.   ... [more]

A three and a half hour bus service between Thurso and Inverness has been reinstated following much public pressure and a closed doors meeting between senior Stagecoach staff and Caithness Transport Forum.   At a meeting on Friday morning between Caithness Transport Forum members and other local stakeholders with Stagecoach officials, Stagecoach Operations Manager, William Mainus announced that the bus company was bowing to public pressure and from the 8th December both the 7.03am Thurso to Inverness service (via Wick) and the 25X 8.03am Thurso to Inverness service (via Halkirk) would be speeded up by limiting stops after Tain, arriving at Inverness at 10.30am and 11.30am respectively.   ... [more]