As tidal, wave and offshore wind power generation become ever more serious options for Shetland’s seas, we could lose control over their development. But, says Kate Johnson, of Heriot Watt University’s International Centre for Island Technology, Shetland already offers a model of how local control could benefit communities throughout the UK.

The bears are back!

I remember when that headline popped up in The Shetland Times, back in early 1988 I think. The CUI (Corrosion Under Insulation) project was kicking off in earnest and hundreds of workers had arrived in Shetland to rip out Sullom Voe’s rusty pipes and replace them with ones that wouldn’t corrode quite so quickly.

Forty years after the first ‘hippies’ came to the island, and with only eight full-time residents, Andy Holt asks if there’s still hope for the future. He believes there is.

Girvan is a seaside town in Carrick, South Ayrshire. It has 8000 inhabitants and is the biggest community between Ayr and Stranraer, straddling the main A77 road to the main Irish ferry port and thus prone to constant thrumming attack from giant lorries.

The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic has rekindled memories of two Shetlanders who were involved in the tragedy, writes Jim Tait

Scalloway man Walter Gray, who with his wife later founded the Walter and Joan Gray Memorial Home in the village, was working as a radio operator for Marconi on the east coast of Canada at the time of the disaster.

By the time you read this we may well have endured another of those cold, dismal Junes which give Shetland summers a bad name. But I’m writing this at the start of the month while that glorious spell of weather towards the end of May is still fresh in my mind. And, as always in these circumstances and despite the fact I should know better, I’m currently deluding myself that we’re in for a cracking summer.

April will be a cruel month for the expectations of some Council candidates, as, to the general relief of those of us who think democracy is important – and, let’s face it, have a weakness for electioneering as a spectator sport – there is competition for seats in every Shetland ward. Some candidates will rise to the occasion, will triumph by their wit, intelligence, passion and commitment to serve. Others will not.

Nobody ever expects to become a cancer patient, in spite of statistics. The shock of knowing you’ve got a tumour isn’t helped by being told that your treatment means a stay in Aberdeen, away from your family and friends just when you need their support most. Luckily, for us Isles people, and folk from the northern coast of Scotland, there’s CLAN Cancer Support.

The long sleek hull emerged from the early morning fog, the blunt bow cutting through the water as the diesel engines propelled the U-boat steadily north towards Lerwick.

A few men moved about the deck watching the coast move steadily past while one figure, wearing a thick white sweater against the cold, looked out from the conning tower at the southern entrance to the harbour beginning to form in the distance.

Rosa Steppanova is aghast at the antics of amorous amphibians, and has some tips on how to turn your potted plants into miniature marvels.