A man from the Islands has been arrested at Land’s End airport in connection with alleged possession of Class-A drugs.
He was searched during a sniffer dog operation and found to have a quantity of ecstasy tablets and cocaine, St Mary’s police said.
He was released on police bail until December 11.
Radio Scilly mastermind Keri Jones has confirmed the station will be up and running next year.
“Radio Scilly will be on forever next Summer,” he told ScillyNews from an industry convention in Dallas.
“I have sold my stake in Radio Pembrokeshire and I’m just waiting for my house to be sold so I can move over. I hope I will get it done by Christmas.”
Keri has spent over 20 years in BBC and commercial radio stations of all sizes. Under his five-year ownership, Radio Pembrokeshire won prestigious industry awards and
broke records by consistently achieving the UK?s highest reach and audience share.
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He sold his founding stake in the business in 2006 and will be combining consultancy services and speaking engagements with setting up Scilly’s community radio station and a broadcast skills training facility for the Islands’ residents.
Keri oversaw a number of pilot broadcasts from
‘Broadcasting Shed’ at Porthloo between 1999 and 2004.
The station was awarded an Ofcom community radio licence in September 2005.
Scilly felt the effects of a hurricane on Thursday as winds gusted up to 100mph.
Strong winds and heavy rain were forecast for the Westcountry on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as the tail end of Hurricane Gordon headed across the Atlantic.
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Some 50 people were stranded at the airport unable to fly out of St Mary’s after Skybus and helicopter flights were cancelled.
British International Helicopters reported that south/south-easterly winds gusting up to 100mph meant flights would have been battling both ways.
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Winds on Scilly began blowing strongly quite suddenly around 4.00pm and had reached more than 70mph half an hour later.
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“You could hardly stand up sometimes,” one local reported. “Sand was being driven into your eyes. And there was a lot of water coming on to Old Town road. At least one cyclist got soaked.”
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The winds are thought to have been the strongest since October 2004 when Old Town was flooded.
“If this had happened two weeks ago in the very high tides there would have been extensive flooding in Old Town and Littleporth. The Bishop would have been flooded again,” the local said.
“The tide is dropping now (5.30pm) and as far as I know no damage has been done.”
The council were amply prepared with a lorry containing sand bags in place in Old Town before high tide.
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The winds had died slightly by 6.00pm. No rain was reported.
The Scillonian did not sail on Wednesday or Thursday, but was due in on Friday. The Gry was in harbour at St Mary’s on Thursday and returned to Penzance on Friday morning when the weather had settled.
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The Met Office has been warning of strong winds with large sea swells over the last week.
“It is not uncommon at this time of year for the remains of ex-tropical cyclones, such as tropical storms and hurricanes, to move into northern latitudes and affect the weather across Europe. The impacts of such events are extremely variable, ” Wayne Elliott, from the Exeter-based Met Office, told the Cornishman newspaper.
SHIPPING FORECAST THURS 6PM:
Wind South or southeast gale 8 to Storm 10, and Violent Storm 11 Land’s End and St David’s Head, decreasing 5 or 6 later.
Weather Occasional rain.
Visibility Moderate occasionally poor in west, becoming good.
Sea State Rough to high, falling moderate to rough.
Outlook for the following 24 hours:
Wind Southerly 5 or 6.
Weather Showers.
Visibility Good.
Sea State Moderate to rough.
Fears about animal welfare after the departure of the Islands’ vet have deepened after the recent deaths of a meerkat and snowy owl.
Butcher Steve Griffin, from St Mary’s, has lost both pets - and is convinced they could have been saved if there was a vet on Scilly to treat them.
Meerkat Joein was injured in a fight or fall and flown to see a vet in Newquay. He was recovering on Scilly when he suffered a relapse on a foggy Saturday and died the following day.
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Four-year-old snowy owl Chiquita contracted canker, a disease commonly associated with pigeons and doves, after eating a dove which died near her pen. The disease is treatable but kills within 48 hours without medication.
“The Newquay vet did his best but by the time the she got there and was put on a drip it was too late,” Steve told ScillyNews.
“It?s a ridiculous situation. I definitely know that both Chiquita and Joein would have survived if we still had a local vet.
?Not only have I lost two animals but it?s cost me a fortune. As well as the vets fees, meerkats and especially owls are expensive to replace?.
Islanders have been lobbying Parliament for help since vet Rick Barrowman left the Islands at the end of July.
Of all the unusual sights to be seen around the Islands, one of the most unexpected would have to be a seal emerging from the sea wearing a hat.
The National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek in Cornwall is releasing its seal pups wearing yellow numbered hats to track their progress.
Teign, Bob and Wilson have all been spotted off the Islands this year. Teign (number 41) was spotted on September 4 by visitors snorkelling with seals.
Teign was rescued from Porthcurno on January 3 2005 with large swelling to the left side of her face and broken teeth. She was released back to the wild on the 4th May 2005.
Teign has lost her hat so she now has a pink flipper tag with the number 028.
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People spotting the seals are asked to contact the sanctuary on 01326 221361.
?The hats will stay in place until late winter, early spring of next year and then fall off when the seal moults its fur,” said curator Dr Glenn Boyle.
?If you see a seal with a yellow hat on its head, please call the sanctuary. This allows us to track a seal after we have released it.?
Sightings of Gweek seals (pictured below) have also been reported from Wales, Ireland, Brittany and Holland.
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The National Seal Sanctuary is a rescue centre caring for injured and orphaned Seal pups.
Its aim is to return all the pups back into the wild, although it is also a permanent home to a community of adult seals who for various reasons cannot be released.
Chris Thomas has won the by-election to serve on the Islands’ Council.
He received 467 votes (81%) and opponent Steve Whomersley 108 in the poll on September 8.
The voting turnout was about a third of Scilly’s electorate.
“I am absolutely stunned. I thought I might win but not by this magnitude,” a delighted Chris told ScillyNews when we caught up with him at home.
A Scillonian “and proud of it,” Chris was educated at Carn Thomas on St Mary’s and then Truro school before joining the merchant marines, eventually qualifying as a Master Mariner in 1971.
He took his first command in 1974 and served as captain for the next 31 years on various types of vessels, including Scillonian III, until his retirement in 2005.
He returned to Scilly in 2000 and now runs Auriga, a bed and breakfast, with wife Sheila.
Chris has taken the seat vacated by vet Rick Barrowman, who left the Islands at the end of July.
The Islands? fire and rescue service has been criticised for failing to employ an adequate number of ethnic minority staff.
It has been accused of paying little regard to the government?s equality and diversity policies.
The fire service regions of Cornwall, Cumbria, Isle of Wight, Isles of Scilly and Northumberland still do not have any ethnic minority workers, according to statistics released by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
?Except for London [fire] service, which has good strategies and policies, the general black and ethnic recruitment and representation is abysmal,? said Michael Nicholas, member of the Fire Brigades Union Black and Ethnic Minority Executive Council.
The Islands’ resident fire chief Alan Hicks said: ?Pro rata, the ethnic composition of the fire brigade is entirely consistent with and accurately reflects the ethnic composition of the wider community.”
He added that until recently the fire brigade had a home office dispensation regarding its ethnic make-up, but it had lapsed.
But he noted that the service had one female member of staff, so had exceeded its required quota for women.
A council spokesman said: “The council has no problem with ethnic inclusion but has no ethnics to include.”
Check out these pictures of the Isles of Scilly water ambulance back in action after a six-month haitus for repair work.
The Star of Life was pictured on the way back from St Martins on a gloomy afternoon in its first week of service.
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Two new skippers will man the boat after an induction course, with two full-time and six retained staff to assist.
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Four transatlantic rowers who went missing nearly two months ago have been discovered 150 miles off the Isles of Scilly.
The men were rowing from New York to Falmouth when their satellite link was lost on July 9.
But their families? minds were finally at rest last week when the boat was spotted by Naval ship HMS Mersey.
A team from the Portsmouth-based vessel had been sent to check up on the four men. They were competing in the Shepherd Ocean Fours Rowing Race and are one of four teams who set off on the 2,863-nautical mile trip on June 10 .
‘I think they were a bit shocked to see us coming up to them but when we found out their satellite link had failed we were able to send messages back to their shore team and families for them,’ Lieutenant Commander Ian Lynn, HMS Mersey’s commanding officer, told a Portsmouth newspaper.
Royal Engineers Major Pete Rowlands, Captain Mark Waterson, Staff Sergeant Ben Fouracre and Lance Corporal Charlie Martell have so far raised ?140,000 for the Meningitis Trust.
ScillyNews takes a belated peek at the newly-refurbished cellar bar at the Mermaid Inn on St Mary’s, which opened to the public on Friday August 25.
Landlady Irene Connolly declined to reveal the cost of the revamp, but said: “Put it this way, we won’t be going on holiday this year!”
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