Former councillor JAMES J PATON, who now lives in North Yorkshire, fears for the future of his beloved isles with particular regard to the Conservative-Liberal coalition government, the fight against Tesco and the continued failure of the local authority.

The composition of Shetland Charitable Trust is in need of reform. Of that there is no doubt, and hopefully wheels will be set in motion soon to amend the trust deed to accommodate a majority of non-councillor trustees well before the next SIC elections.

While much of the Accounts Commission findings following its hearing on Shetland Islands Council is unfortu-nately written in lawyer-speak, when you extracate the main thrust from the jargon the council comes in for some heavy criticism.

We extend the hand of welcome to the SIC’s new, albeit interim, chief executive Alistair Buchan who eased himself into post at the Town Hall this week.

Hughie was reassuring. “It’s a 30 per cent chance of no getting you out but it looks ok!” Tingwall on Tuesday morning for the Direct Flight into Papa Stour. I pointed hopefully to a patch of clear blue sky overhead and got a look from our captain which suggested that basing a forecast on that was verging on the overly optimistic.

If the Standards Commission, which among other things looks into alleged breaches of the councillors’ code of conduct, rules after investigation that the councillor in question should be exonerated, the complainant can at least say that the body which exists to uphold ethical standards in public life in Scotland thought it worthy of consideration.

The actions of Faroe and Iceland in increasing their mackerel quotas is, as has been widely pointed out, utterly irresponsible. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has warned that it is likely, within the next two years, to have the effect of rendering a species the fishing of which is currently sustainable, unsustainable.

The decision by the House of Commons energy committee to examine the question of a ban on drilling west of Shetland in light of the Gulf of Mexico disaster is welcome. The beefing up of the number of civil servants in the energy department’s Aberdeen-based safety division, announced recently by the minister, Chris Huhne, appeared a little cosmetic.

For lovers of the peculiar, The Guardian website’s re-creation of World Cup matches on a lego pitch with lego men, filmed in slow motion, proved to be almost as good a summary of the action as any written report.

The street is dying, say the doom mongers, and Tesco’s extension is likely to administer the coup de grâce. That’s a big claim, but it is more or less what is being argued by the Lerwick Town Centre Association (LTCA).

A former Lerwick optician is suing his estranged wife and erstwhile business partner for more than £800,000, claiming that her actions after they went their separate ways six years ago effectively left him out of work.

New SIC chief executive Alistair Buchan came face to face with all councillors this week for the first time since taking up the post for what he described as “very positive” initial discussions about how to react to major criticisms in the Accounts Commission’s recent report on the local authority.

Multiple Grammy winner Steve Earle, the outspoken singer-song­writer responsible for a host of classic Americana songs including Copperhead Road, Guitar Town and Galway Girl, will be stopping off in Lerwick next Thursday for a re-arranged show at Clickimin.