Inside your Ross-shire Journal: letter from the editor

IN a week in which the Westminster terror attack dominated national headlines, we talk to three local MPs united in admiration for the response of emergency services and a determination to keep calm and carry on.

In a sobering account, one recalls his personal interactions with the policeman tragically killed and admits that what he saw will never leave him.

The prospect of a pub opening until 3am in one Ross-shire town and a bid to permit late drinking in a planned business in another village has raised concerns amongst locals.

We highlight the achievements of a boy who has made his mark in the female-dominated world of Highland dancing and an Easter Ross high school student whose consistent performances have seen her blaze a trail into the Scottish set-up.

Also inside this week:

• Two coastal communities have been named amongst the places to live in Britain
• An official House of Commons report has revealed a large swathe of Ross-shire has the poorest broadband in the country
• Lochalsh lass sheds her locks to raise awareness of the challenging condition she lives with
• A Dingwall woman is convicted of carrying out an attack with badly injured her boyfriend
• An Invergordon distillery’s plans for an anaerobic digester have split opinion with scores of letters of support and some very strong objections
• Muir of Ord was the launchpad for a new golf trail which it’s hoped will tee up a boost for two Ross-shire villages
• A big-hearted Invergordon lad devised a ‘purrfect’ fundraising idea after visiting a local care home
• A piano teacher from Dingwall has won a national competition and is now in store for another very busy few months
• A motorcyclist who lost control of his vehicle while passing through busy streets in Tain has been jailed
• We highlight the work of a photographer who has for the second year running snapped up the a local camera club’s top award
• Tickets for a Wester Ross book festival entering its 13 year go on sale today – we highlight some of the big names set to appear
• A Black Isle landowner has won an appeal over her plans
• A rare flower is thriving on the Black Isle thanks to a conservation effort, as we reveal in an exclusive report
• An Easter Ross nature reserve has had a makeover which will leave birdwatchers twitching with excitement!
• It’s been a great week for award-winning Inverewe Garden and this week we report on further artistic developments at the Wester Ross attraction
• A Dingwall businessman with a 43-year record of volunteering for a fire service has hung up his hat
• A mental health charity with strong links to Invergordon has scooped two major awards
• Invergordon is set to smash its previous record for cruise liner visits
• Ross-shire pipers bagged high marks in a recent competition as we report in a picture special inside
• In a special feature, we report on how a simple phone call prompted the rise and rise of a bakery already planning expansion in Muir of Ord
• The legacy of a Polish soldier who became a popular member of an Easter Ross community has been celebrated at the Scottish Parliament
• We had so many letters to the editor this week we needed to create extra space to run some of them!
• On our business page, find out how you could take advantage of a telecoms trainee engineer scheme and read David Richardson’s assessment of the local scene
• Invergordon ended a 15-year wait for a football title. That’s worth a picture in the paper!
• And on our back page, Scott Boyd talks about a ‘surreal’ return to Dingwall in an opposing team’s colours – and how he’s looking forward to pulling on a Ross County jersey one last time this weekend

Follow us on Twitter @Rossnews, find us on Facebook and email us on editor@rsjournal.co.uk.

You can call us on 01349 863436 or write to us at the address on our letters' page.

Thanks for reading!

Hector Mackenzie

I'm on Twitter @RJ_hmackenzie