DOES taking hundreds of peak-time commuters a week off the bottle-necked Kessock Bridge sound appealing?

AN institution of nearly half a century – Dingwall Gala – looks likely to have its swan song this summer as public interest wanes for the annual week-long programme of events and entertainments.

SUMMER, it would seem, is just around the corner.

FOR the many householders who have probably just stumped up their April council tax payment this week, any suggestion of logical solutions on how to save tax payers' hard earned money will no doubt be as welcome as a pay slip at the end of the month.

CLOCKS go forward this Sunday and after many of us get over the initial thought of losing a precious hour in bed, thoughts will quickly turn to the relief of lighter nights.

EASTER Ross people had the opportunity this week to learn for the first time details of a new waste incinerator – or a combined heat and power plant from residual waste to give it its proper term – which is planned 1km from Invergordon town centre.

THE age old saying that school days are supposed to be some of the best of your life may not ring true for all of us.

BEBO – it's the social networking site to which millions have been signing up, making contact with friends via the internet.

THERE was a shocked reaction across Ross-shire this week to the news that a local pensioner had lain dead for more than a year in his home without being discovered.

ANY parent reading the words of Reg Turner – who lost both his sons in separate accidents on Invergordon's notorious Shore Road – will surely sympathise with his pain and loss, but his opinions about taking the road safety message into primary schools will be much harder to swallow.

THE future of a number of Ross-shire services should finally become a lot clearer tonight following months of uncertainty in the run up to the much anticipated budget debate but one thing has been obvious right from the start – the SNP/Independent administration won't emerge untarnished from its "efficiency saving" cuts.

ALL roads lead to Dingwall Academy this week – and that is unfortunately all too evident by the trail of litter that the young students leave in their wake.

THERE can be little comfort for law abiding citizens in Easter Ross this week after confirmation that there is to be no more senior officer than a sergeant actually on the ground to cover the most-populated area in Ross-shire.

PARENTS in Maryburgh, and indeed the whole community, have new reason to feel aggrieved over the proposed closure of their local primary school.

DINGWALL Highland Councillor Margaret Paterson has been inundated with complaints from local residents over the past week.

THERE will no doubt be dismay in Ross-shire this week over the news that the axe is set to fall on six of our lifeline Post Offices, all but one of them in rural locations.