Former Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Sir Jamie McGrigor has died at the age of 75.
Sir Jamie stood as the Conservative candidate in the Western Isles in the 1997 general election, before being elected to the first devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999.
He served as an MSP for 17 years and was a Scottish Conservative spokesman on fisheries, communities and sport.
He stood down in 2016, becoming a councillor in Argyll and Bute between 2017 and 2022.
The Highland Council has been shortlisted for three national awards at the 2025 Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Service Awards.
APSE is a not-for-profit local government body working with over 300 councils throughout the UK to promote excellence in public services. The awards are specific to frontline services provided by UK local authorities.
The Highland council has been nominated for
• Best Service Team: Parks, Grounds and Horticultural
• Best Service Team: Technical Services
• Best Community and Neighbourhood Initiative - for the Burnside Play Area Project.
The winners will be announced at the APSE Annual Charity Awards Dinner in Glasgow in September.
The Highland Book Prize 2025 has been won by Shetland Journalist Jen Stout with her eyewitness account of reporting at the start of the Russian invasion.
Night Train to Odesa: Covering the Human Cost of Russia’s War was selected from a shortlist of four titles and was commended for writing at the most human level, deeply moving and important.
The Highland Book prize is open to work in fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and aims to bring recognition to books created in or about the Highlands.
Highland council have warned that part of Harbour Road in Inverness will be closed overnight from 8 pm until 6am for three nights starting tonight.
The closure, for resurfacing works, is at the junction next to the Mitsubishi, Ford and VW car dealerships, between Seafield Road and the Milburn Road roundabout.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area.
