A 24-HOME development received the planning green light in Fortrose this week, bringing a welcome promise of affordable houses in the highly pressurised Black Isle.

YOUNGSTERS at Dingwall Leisure Centre are being taught to swim by staff who hold no teaching qualifications, it was revealed this week.

PRESSURE is mounting this week on business owners in Invergordon who have abandoned and neglected their properties to face up to their responsibilities.

THE final piece of funding for the £1 million restoration of a famous Ross-shire church looks set to fall into place.

THE shocking consequences of Ross-shire's post office closures were revealed this week after a pensioner told how she was forced to push her amputee husband a mile and a half in his wheelchair following a trip to a local post office.

THE Cromarty Firth looks set to be a safer place for all users with the donation of new radio equipment to Invergordon Boating Club.

THE long-awaited replacement of the Muir of Ord railway bridge will be the subject of a public meeting in the village on June 17.

TAIN has scored a major coup by becoming the new host of the Vintage Car Rally – a former money spinner for Easter Ross which has been in abeyance for three years.

"WE have the same goals as the community" – that was the message from the RSPB this week after controversy surrounding a Black Isle beauty spot.

PEOPLE in Ullapool have been left with very little food on the shelves of their sole supermarket as the retailer prepares to change hands.

ROSS County's championship winning stars have been banned from an Inverness nightclub – a move which has come under fire from officials at the football club.

IT'S not every day a primary schoool's playing field turns into a temporary landing strip — but when your visitor is Prince Edward exceptions can be made.

A CONTROVERSIAL £10million Ross-shire windfarm development has been set back two years after the company blundered over a bird survey.

DINGWALL'S once buzzing weekly car boot sale at the local auction mart has folded, apparently a victim of the increasingly wet winters and the "economics" of the mart.

CONON Bridge Railway Station is set to open again for the first time since the Highland rail closures of 1960.

A ROSS-SHIRE football club claims it has been turfed off its local pitch in favour of an Inverness team – because residents overheard players swearing.

ONE of the most controversial planning applications to affect Tain in recent years received the go-ahead this week despite objections from over 1,000 people.

A SHOCKING lack of ambulance cover was revealed in Ross-shire this week following a serious road accident involving two HGVs.

A LEADING wildlife charity in charge of a famous Black Isle beauty spot has been accused by local residents of adopting a "can't do" attitude.

MEMBERS of Dingwall Bowling Club have been dealt a major blow after thieves broke into the clubhouse causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage to new security cameras and making off with a substantial haul of alcohol.

THE good samaritans who made it possible for Dingwall's senior citizens to enjoy their annual party were asked to take a public bow this week in recognition of their generosity.

AN elderly Easter Ross couple got the shock of their lives when they opened their gas bill – for in the envelope were 18 demands amounting to thousands of pounds.

DINGWALL folk are being urged to get onto the streets this week and clean-up their town.

AN Easter Ross councillor is calling on the Cromarty Firth Port Authority to reinstate local residents' access to Invergordon's West Harbour.

A SENIOR civil servant moved from a North development agency to a top £100,000-a-year job at Highland Council this week – and also picked up a £138,000 payment from the public purse on the way.

A NEW business which is aimed at breaking down barriers in the community has opened its doors in Invergordon.

SMOKE alarms were hailed as having saved residents who had to evacuate a fire-ravaged block of flats in Dingwall at the weekend.