Fifty-three per cent of Highland businesses were optimistic – up from the 44 per cent recorded when the same survey was conducted last winter.
Music fans partied until late when the ever-popular Black Isle Calling festival brought top acts to the area at the weekend.
A man (21) is in critical condition in hospital after a serious assault last night.
Train faults and crew shortages have impacted some Far North Line and Inverness-Elgin journeys.
The crash occurred at around 7.10am and emergency services are on the scene. Police are advising motorists to avoid the area.
A special anniversary has sparked an invite for previous Strictly Inverness contestants to dust off their glad rags and hit the dancefloor once more.
A trawler which suffered “complete engine failure” sparked a rescue in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Meteor fragments are believed to have fallen across an area extending from Loch Ericht in the east, and Loch Treig and Ben Alder in the west.
Police are appealing for information to help trace a teenager missing from Inverness.
The crash occurred near Poolewe at around 3.10pm. Motorists were advised to avoid the area.
A crash on part of the North Coast 500 closed a section of the A832 in Wester Ross on Thursday afternoon.
MacAlpine’s Cafe, which is based at the Skiach Services in Easter Ross, where the B9176 Struie Road and A9 meet, shut its doors at the weekend.
The train operator, which runs the daily Highland Chieftain Inverness-London service, said one of its third-party suppliers was hit by the breach.
A Highland youth hostel has turned back the clock for its 50th anniversary celebrations by welcoming back one of its first ever visitors.
Tain’s Alexandra Bridge, a popular historic suspension bridge for pedestrians on Tain Links, has been shut for more than a month due to rotten planks.
The mysterious disappearance of a man in the mountains of Wester Ross has sparked a fresh appeal by police one year after he vanished.
Firefighters were called out to reports of a house fire in Easter Ross on Thursday morning.
Several major household names have re-committed their futures to Inverness’s Eastgate Shopping Centre in the wake of £8.5m of investment in the mall.
Future plans for the Port of Cromarty Firth will be highlighted when it holds its annual public meeting at the end of this month.
Police investigating a crash which killed an Avoch man on the A862 near Beauly are to carry out intermittent road closures at the scene on Thursday.