A 65-YEAR-OLD Merseyside man has been blasted for wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money after refusing to board an RAF helicopter scrambled to rescue him from a remote mountainside.

WE all know by now that breast is best and NHS Highland's latest campaign to highlight the benefits of mother's own milk is to be generally welcomed especially if it helps remove some of the stigma that still surrounds breastfeeding in public.

THE first round of the Macaulay Cup brought some high scoring, close shaves and an event unique in the Newtonmore club's history – an abandonment of their game due to thunder and lightning.

THE people of Grantown are to be found these days huddling in corners talking in whispers from the corners of their mouths.

A WELL-known Scottish "super group" is set to have the audience jigging when they return to perform in Strathspey this weekend, along with a local winner of the BBC's Young Traditional Musician of the Year.

TV's Aggie MacKenzie will be swapping her skates for a bike when she competes in a gruelling ride through Highland Perthshire for national health charity Action Medical Research at the weekend.

Sir, – Johnny Pott, Nethy Bridge, writes ('Strathy', 'Hidden cost of windpower', April 23, 2008) that 'the sighting of wind farms anywhere on the Dava, or the Findhorn catchment, would be devastating.

THERE was a debate in Holyrood recently at which Parliament unanimously expressed its concerns over the cost of increases to basic food products and the potential for global food shortages.

HAVE you a blog you think deserves a wider audience? This is your opportunity to get it known. We don't mind what you write about as long as it keeps us interested or entertained and the subject or the author is from our area.

CALLING all local musicians: the Strathy wants you – and your music - on our website.