PROPOSALS for a masterplan to guide a multimillion-pound housing and retail development in Tain received a positive response from locals when it was unveiled for public scrutiny last week.

IS Scotland's relationship with alcohol something to joke about?

A PUBLIC outcry in Conon Bridge over plans to flatten its popular pub and replace it with 12 flats has sparked a concerted cyber campaign to save it.

COST-cutting proposals which could see schools music tuition slashed across the Highlands have hit a bum note in Ross-shire with a public outcry mounting over the issue.

IRRESPONSIBLE dog owners in a Black Isle community have been put on notice after concerns about fouling on a children's play area.

AN Easter Ross town well used to turning the heads of visitors is poised to go one step further through another innovative artistic venture that will leave many rubbing their eyes in disbelief!

FRUSTRATED passengers of an increasingly unreliable Ross-shire bus service have been forced to hitch or take expensive taxi rides when left stranded at a village stop.

One desperate visually impaired woman was left trying to hitch a lift to make a job interview in time - while many others complain of being left high and dry time and again.

SCORES of homes in Dingwall were left without a gas supply for several hours on three separate occasions over the past week after a fault with a pipe was uncovered.

HOUSEHOLDERS cut off for six days by 4ft-snow drifts have strongly criticised the Highland Council for refusing to help clear their very steep, unadopted single track road.

AN apathy-struck Ross-shire community stands to miss out because hard-pressed members of a community council serving it are fed-up of the lack of support they get.

TWO hundred British Red Cross emergency response workers, RAF personnel and other agencies are taking part in a dramatic exercise in Easter Ross this weekend.

A BIRDBOX fitted with a webcam linked to a television is just one of a number of innovative projects which have helped a tiny Ross-shire school win its second green flag.

AN open day event is planned to raise public awareness of a proposal to develop an off-road cycle and pedestrian route between Strathpeffer and Dingwall.

AN expert's view of what makes Dingwall's historic buildings and townscape so special will set the scene next week for a potentially far-reaching appraisal. Dingwall History Society and Highland Council are working to commission a Conservation Area Appraisal for the town.

A YOUNG Ross-shire couple received an early wedding present this week when they finally got the go-ahead to build their family home outside Contin after a two-year struggle - in the face of concerns about an unsafe junction at their road end.

A ROW has broken out over a £2.5million-plus Easter Ross development which it's claimed could ultimately support 1,000 jobs - but which is set to go through without any requirement for planning permission.

A BID by a retired man to build a house on a family croft on the heights above Strathpeffer has been thrown out by councillors due to road safety concerns about a dangerous crossing.

PROPOSALS for a master plan to guide multimillion-pound housing and retail developments on a swathe of land in an Easter Ross town will be unveiled for public scrutiny next week.

COMPLAINTS about foul-smelling burned fishmeal left outside at Invergordon harbour following a shed fire has led to an environment agency serving a notice on the owners to clear up the rotting waste.

TWO members of a tightly-knit Wester Ross community are planning their holidays after celebrating a £30,000 cash windfall this week.

The residents of Pier Road in Aultbea received an unexpected but very welcome visitor in the shape of the People's Postcode Lottery man on the street, Angus Purden, who travelled to the Wester Ross beauty spot to break the good news in person.

THE Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum in Portmahomack and the Cromarty Firth Ward Forum in Ardross, which were to be held on Thursday, February 25 have both been cancelled due to weather conditions.

INVERGORDON Academy pupils are creating an art display with a difference.

They are busy working on beautifully crafted replicas of two well-known local features, an anchor and a map of the Cromarty Firth, to be revealed soon in the window of the former Patience's Bakery in Invergordon.

THE construction of a new £1.3million community hub in Easter Ross, which will create jobs and bring local services under one roof, got underway this week - despite a last-minute major Scottish Government funding concern which put the whole project at risk.

A ROSS-shire community is gearing up for a display of pedal power that could see 500-plus riders breaking records in aid of a much-loved Highland organisation.

A SENIOR Highland councillor this week defended his handling of a planning meeting where hecklers claimed he was "rude" and "ungentlemanly".

ROSS-shire residents can now contact their Lord Lieutenant and keep track of her engagements by simply logging on and clicking on a new website.

COMMUNITY groups in Alness could soon be singing from the same hymn sheet if a new scheme gets off the ground.

A FORMER Invergordon man - said to have been regarded as "an easy touch" by drug users - who admitted being involved in the supply of heroin was jailed for nine months at Tain Sheriff Court this week.