The Scotsman back issues from September 2005:
Ghost town fears haunt West End
Sep 01, 2005; ... ONCE known for its upmarket quirky shops and trendy bistros,Edinburgh's West End was once the thriving Bohemian quarter to rivalLondon's Notting Hill. But with changes to the road layout and 40p-for-15-minutes parkingintroduced over the past year, many of its traders believe the ...
Bowleven: building on GBP 100 oil
Sep 01, 2005; ... BOWLEVEN, the Edinburgh-based oil & gas explorer, has predictedthat oil will spike above dollars 100 a barrel by the end of theyear, and will settle at an average of dollars 60 for the next halfdecade. Chief executive Terry Heneaghan made the forecast after revealingplans to ...
We need more money to keep tabs on sex offenders, say police
Sep 01, 2005; ... POLICE are demanding "significant" extra funds to tackle thegrowing burden of monitoring sex offenders in the community. Bob Ovens, of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland(ACPOS), warned other areas of policing would suffer if new money wasnot found to provide more ...
Rifkind's Tory hopes are dented
Sep 01, 2005; ... SIR Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary, was yesterdayfighting to keep his dream of the Conservative Party leadership aliveafter his former cabinet colleague Kenneth Clarke formally launchedhis campaign. Sir Malcolm was forced into a premature declaration of ...
Dell unveils academy plan to give Scots staff hands-on training
Sep 01, 2005; ... US COMPUTER giant Dell is to set up a training academy in Glasgowaimed at giving students hands-on commercial experience beforestarting their careers. According to Dell's general manager for Scotland, Niall Scolard,the programme will be run in conjunction with colleges ...
Pool's cameras save a young girl's life
Sep 01, 2005; ... THESE are the dramatic pictures that show a young girl being savedfrom drowning. The ten-year-old, who had drifted, unconscious and unnoticed, tothe bottom of a busy public swimming pool, was rescued afterlifeguards were alerted by a hi-tech underwater camera system. Within ...
Anger as Wiseman cuts price it pays for milk
Sep 01, 2005; ... ANGRY dairy farmers again threatened to blockade milk processingdepots last night after Wiseman Dairies announced a price cut tosuppliers, saying the move was to avoid "commercial suicide". Even though Wiseman said its new price of 19.76p per litre, aftera 0.35p cut, would be ...
A thousand pilgrims crushed and drowned in 'bomb' panic
Sep 01, 2005; ... THE death toll in the worst single loss of life since the start ofthe Iraq war was last night heading towards 1,000 after a crowd ofabout one million Shiite pilgrims making their way across a bridge inBaghdad panicked at reports of a suicide bomber in their midst andstampeded ....
Reviews:Franz Ferdinand
Sep 01, 2005; ... T ON THE FRINGE, FRANZ FERDINAND, PRINCES STREET GARDENS,EDINBURGH **** THE last time Franz Ferdinand were scheduled to play in this veryspot, it turned out to be, in the words of singer Alex Kapranos, a"nightmare". On Hogmanay 2003, the stage almost blew away and theband, in ...
Go Lower sows the seeds of growth as it eyes AIM
Sep 01, 2005; ... START-UP Edinburgh health snack manufacturer Go Lower is planningto list on AIM, while it prepares new product lines to capitalise onthe runaway success of its sugar-free snack bars. The bars, made from nuts and seeds, will appear on the shelves atsupermarket giant Tesco after ...
MP brands town of the hidden homeless 'a disgrace to society'
Sep 01, 2005; ... MORE than 5 per cent of St Andrews' residents are victims of"invisible homelessness" according to council figures. The town does not have enough homes for its inhabitants, with onein every 19 permanent residents officially homeless. Sir MenziesCampbell, MP for the area, has ...
Johnston profits lift on new titles
Sep 01, 2005; ... JOHNSTON Press said yesterday it was launching an average of onenew publication a week as it battles against tough advertising anddeclining circulation, but refused to be drawn on speculation linkingit with a string of potential acquisitions. The Edinburgh-based group released 30 ...
Celebrity siblings
Sep 01, 2005; ... Love them or loathe them we are stuck with our siblings, forbetter or worse, as these celebrities know all too well. "He's always slagging me off in the press. He has to talk aboutme, has to bring me into it. Liam this, Liam that. Liam kicks up afuss in the studio. I'm the most ...
The Beeb wants to take a lead in on-demand telly
Sep 01, 2005; ... BBC Director General Mark Thompson was in avuncular mood as heprepared to give his speech at Edinburgh's International TelevisionFestival. Dressed casually in jacket and jeans, he joked about thepresence of two former director generals, John Birt and Greg Dyke, atthe conference. Perhaps ...
Thin models no big deal when it comes to selling products
Sep 01, 2005; ... FOR decades, advertisers have used ultra-thin models to selleverything from toiletries to cars, drawing stiff criticism fromthose who say the images are harming women's health. But a new study presented at a major psychology conference inEdinburgh has revealed that the advertisers ...
Monty's GBP 5m home finally under offer
Sep 01, 2005; ... IT HAS three floors, an indoor pool, a putting green, tennis courtand a housekeeper's cottage. But for golfing legend Colin Montgomerie, his luxury mansion inSurrey was more than just a plush abode: it represented theculmination of his dreams, his hard work and ability to provide ...
BT and NTL fail to get ringing endorsement for phone services
Sep 01, 2005; ... BT AND the cable company NTL finish bottom of the league in asatisfaction survey of Britain's phone users released today. The Consumer magazine Which? asked customers to rate their homephone suppliers on service levels, billing and overall levels ofsatisfaction. Of the 854 ...
Holyrood 'could enact air-gun law'
Sep 01, 2005; ... MINISTERS came under pressure last night to introduce tough newlaws on air weapons, after the SNP claimed that Holyrood couldlegislate if the Executive had the will to do it. Kenny MacAskill, for the SNP, published a set of proposals whichhe said would help restrict the sale of ...
Junior doctors urged to ease GP shortage
Sep 01, 2005; ... SCOTLAND needs more junior doctors to train as GPs to avoid ashortage in the future, it has been claimed. NHS Education for Scotland said yesterday there will be 75 postsfor Scottish junior doctors to train as GPs from summer 2006, anincrease of 20. But the ...
Wanted: postmaster for tiny Shetland office
Sep 01, 2005; ... AN ISLAND community is helping in the search to find a new sub-postmaster for one of Scotland's smallest and most remote offices. The post office on Papa Stour in Shetland is based in a caravanand has a customer base drawn from a population of just 20. But failure to find a ...
Businesses must act now on rate valuations
Sep 01, 2005; ... SCOTTISH businesses should appeal "unfair" business ratesvaluations while there is still time, the Federation of SmallBusinesses (FSB) in Scotland said yesterday. The new valuations, which came into effect on 1 April of thisyear, will apply until 2010, but business owners only ...
More power to Holyrood, Scots urge
Sep 01, 2005; ... A MAJORITY of Scots now want to see the Scottish Parliament givenmore power, it has emerged. An opinion poll, commissioned by Scottish Television to mark thestart of the new parliamentary session next week, showed that 58 percent of Scots believe Holyrood should be given more ...
Council accused of GBP 1m PPP waste
Sep 01, 2005; ... A COUNCIL has been accused of "wasting" GBP 1 million on a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme after it failed to find anyone to dothe work. Construction News, a trade newspaper, found that Dumfries andGalloway Council, which is run by a coalition of Liberal Democrats,the ...
When it pays to pay more
Sep 01, 2005; ... We all love a bargain, but when it comes to certain essentials,buying on the cheap usually turns out to be a false economy. JessicaKiddle has the products that are worth paying a little bit extra for Chocolate What is it? Valrhona chocolate How much is it? GBP 3.50 for ...
Scrutineer:Matalan hiccup can't disguise an underlying strength
Sep 01, 2005; ... BUDGET clothing retailer Matalan is strikingly symbolic of theskittish nature of the high street and consumer spending appetitescurrently. The group was undoubtedly one of the few winners in the retailsector when the latter suffered one of its toughest-ever festiveseasons last ...
'Edinburgh wants its own body to promote city'
Sep 01, 2005; ... TOURISM businesses in the capital have given a ringing endorsementto proposals for a forum to promote tourism in Edinburgh and torepresent their interests. The concept was first touted last week by the Edinburgh Chamber ofCommerce (ECC) to compensate for the abolition of the ...
Scottish Tourism:The Way Ahead:Capital praise from tourists
Sep 01, 2005; ... DESPITE concerns over the management and performance ofEdinburgh's tourism infrastructure, the results from a newindependent survey show that visitors have become more impressed withthe city as a global tourist destination. The 2004-5 Edinburgh Visitor Survey has revealed that ...
Major road and rail projects 'driven by political expediency'
Sep 01, 2005; ... MAJOR road and rail projects in Scotland have been approved forpolitical expediency rather than value for money, according to adamning independent assessment of the Scottish Executive's transportstrategy. Academic experts said schemes such as the Borders rail line andthe ...
Reviews:Tristan und Isolde
Sep 01, 2005; ... INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, USHER HALL, EDINBURGH*** OPERA buffs can be a queer lot. Take the moment late on Tuesday -during the festival's concert presentation of Wagner's Tristan undIsolde - as Isolde drew to a close her sublime and monumentaltransformation ...
TV Review:The point of this tosh is Lost on me
Sep 01, 2005; ... Lost, Channel 4 It's Me Or The Dog, Channel 4 THE token English bloke on the American series Lost has a tattoostating: "Living is easy with eyes closed." So is watching TV, andthat's how I'm always tempted to view Lost. The drama series about a bunch of largely beautiful ...
Market Reports:Katrina's knock-on effect is lifting FTSE
Sep 01, 2005; ... RISING energy stocks put the FTSE 100 index back within a whiskerof the 5,300 barrier yesterday. The petrochemical sector, accountingfor 20 per cent of London's key blue-chip index, made gains amidworries about the impact of Hurricane Katrina on America's Gulf coastoil production. The ...
Approval for Waverley line funding 'not likely under English rules'
Sep 01, 2005; ... THE report's criticism of the Executive's decision to fund thepartial reopening of the Waverley line has again put the spotlight onthe controversial Edinburgh-Borders rail link. Ministers are to provide the lion's share of the GBP 151 millioncost of the 35-mile route, despite ...
How Ken Clarke could snatch it by default
Sep 01, 2005; ... LET us indulge in some harmless counterfactual history. Ken Clarkehas won the Tory leadership in the wake of the party's electiondefeat in 2001 and the subsequent (and perhaps premature) resignationof William Hague to take up writing history books. Cue the invasionof Iraq. In ...
Leader:Danger: major quango ahead
Sep 01, 2005; ... ON WHAT basis should major transport infrastructure projects beapproved? According to a group of academics (including a formergovernment adviser, Professor David Begg), many recent road and railprojects in Scotland have been decided on the basis of politicalexpediency rather than ...
Building confidence
Sep 01, 2005; ... If you are considering building anextension, converting your loftor generally renovating your home but don't know where to start,expert help is at hand from the Homes & Interiors ScotlandExhibition, where professional architects will be offering freeconsultations. During the ...
Unique Selling Point:A perfect pool
Sep 01, 2005; ... TWIN PINES is a contemporary family house which is certainly oneof a kind. Built in the 1970s of brick and timber, it has recentlybeen upgraded to suit a modern family with the addition of morebathrooms and a brand spanking new kitchen. The house is in Saline, a large village ...
Simon Pia's Diary:'Podgy risk' Ken defies the Diaries
Sep 01, 2005; ... WITH Ken Clarke throwing his topper into the ring for the Toryleadership, we could not help but recall the famous description ofhim in the Alan Clark Diaries. That, of course, was the Clark who prided himself on healthyliving but who is no longer with us. He wrote off the ...
Shocking tally of drugs deaths: one victim a day
Sep 01, 2005; ... ONE person now dies from an overdose in Scotland every day,following a 12 per cent rise in drug-related deaths. The number of lives lost to drugs last year totalled 356 -significantly up on the previous year's figure of 317. The alarming rise was revealed by the Registrar ...
Match to Murray - despite upset
Sep 01, 2005; ... ANDY Murray has smashed any doubts about his level of fitness bywinning a gruelling five-set victory over Andrei Pavel in the USOpen, overcoming a bout of on-court vomiting. Humidity and too much energy drink were said to be behind Murrayinvoluntarily treating the Grandstand Court ...
Showground owners reject alternative sites
Sep 01, 2005; ... THE owners of the Royal Highland showground have rejected a listof potential relocation sites to make way for the expansion ofneighbouring Edinburgh airport. The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland saidalternatives identified in an Executive study compared ...
Murray's share issue cuts Rangers' debt to GBP 23.1m
Sep 01, 2005; ... THE full effect of Rangers' share rights issue was revealedyesterday when the club's annual accounts showed a huge reduction intheir net debt from a crippling GBP 73.9million to a more manageableGBP 23.1million. The figure still leaves Ibrox chairman David Murray ...
Hearts take a chance on boy from Brazil
Sep 01, 2005; ... HEARTS took a step into the unknown yesterday when they signed theBrazilian midfielder Samuel Almeida Camazzola without having watchedhim play. The player was identified by Vladimir Romanov, Hearts' majorshareholder, and has joined on loan until the end of the season ...
The original 'Broon from Troon'
Sep 01, 2005; ... AN Ayrshire town is once more in mourning this week after thedeath of the original 'Broon from Troon'. Jock Brown, father of the late Scotland rugby international GordonBrown, has died at the age of 90. As well as producing his famous off-spring - Gordon's brother Peter is a ...
Jeffers ready to kick-start career after Ibrox move
Sep 01, 2005; ... ENGLAND striker Francis Jeffers described signing a five-monthloan deal with Rangers as "one of the biggest days" of his career.The 24-year-old, looking to re-ignite his career, passed a medicallast night before agreeing to join the Scottish champions fromCharlton Athletic until January ....
Fearless Murray looking for the game of his life
Sep 01, 2005; ... ANDY Murray described his thrilling five-set victory over AndreiPavel at the US Open as his "best win" yesterday, but he will have toimprove on even that terrific performance if he is to make anyfurther progress at Flushing Meadows tonight. Murray is very close to his goal for the ...
Arm injury puts Harrison defence in serious doubt
Sep 01, 2005; ... SCOTT HARRISON's scheduled defence of his WBO featherweight titleon 1 October is in jeopardy after it emerged yesterday that hesustained an arm ligament injury during his training camp in FortWilliam. The 28-year-old Glaswegian will meet with his manager FrankMaloney today to ...
Hearts sign Tall but Burley says Romanov role 'not ideal'
Sep 01, 2005; ... THE extent of Vladimir Romanov's interference in team matters atHearts was exposed yesterday when manager George Burley admitted newBrazilian signing Samuel Almeida Camazzola was the Lithuanian'schoice. The Gorgie club, who also completed the signing of Senegaleseright-back ...
Hearts take a chance on boy from Brazil
Sep 01, 2005; ... HEARTS took a step into the unknown yesterday when they signed theBrazilian midfielder Samuel Almeida Camazzola without having watchedhim play. The player was identified by Vladimir Romanov, Hearts' majorshareholder, and has joined on loan until the end of the season ...
Jeffers joins Rangers on five-month loan deal
Sep 01, 2005; ... RANGERS last night signed former England striker Francis Jefferson a five-month loan deal from Charlton Athletic. The 24-year-oldpassed a medical before agreeing to join the Scottish champions untilJanuary as he looks to re-ignite his career. Jeffers, who has been long admired by ...
No excuses if we fail, says Smith
Sep 01, 2005; ... IF WALTER Smith maintains his present course, he will run the riskof giving national team managers a good name. While a substantial number of his colleagues in internationalfootball tend to make a career out of listing their disadvantages -too little preparation time, squads ...
Points race for K Club tees off
Sep 01, 2005; ... AS THE gun sounds at the Omega European Masters in Switzerlandthis morning to mark the start of European qualification for the 36thRyder Cup showdown, Sam Torrance, the victorious captain at theBelfry, reckons the dozen individuals from this side of the Atlanticwho face the USA in 2006 ...
Walsh hits the beach with Atlantic Gamble
Sep 01, 2005; ... BATTLE-hardened jumps jockey Ruby Walsh is not the type of man youwould expect to see getting sand kicked in his face, but for theunique race meeting on Laytown Strand, he makes an exception. Walsh, more used to steering novice chasers round three miles'worth of fences, will be ...
Celtic League to offer Italian sides place in 2006/7 season
Sep 01, 2005; ... THE Celtic League is to hold the door open for Italian sides tojoin next year, but only until this autumn. David Jordan, the tournament director, stated yesterday that he isseeking some stability in the league structure after the farceearlier this year when the Welsh Rugby Union ...
Climate change blamed as birds fail to breed
Sep 01, 2005; ... SEABIRDS have suffered an appalling breeding season around much ofScotland's coast, research from three of the country's leadingconservation organisations has shown. Drastic reductions in the number of sand eels, the staple foodsource of many birds, has caused major failures of ...
Edinburgh preparing for life after Hadden
Sep 01, 2005; ... EDINBURGH captain Chris Paterson says his team-mates are preparedto lose their coach within days of kicking off the Celtic League thisweekend. Frank Hadden applied for the post of Scotland coach beforeTuesday's closing date, and he is expected to be confirmed as theSRU's ...
Paterson expects Hadden to get the nod
Sep 01, 2005; ... EDINBURGH captain Chris Paterson revealed yesterday that his teamwere prepared to lose their coach within days of kicking off theCeltic League this weekend. Frank Hadden confirmed that he had applied for the post ofScotland coach, before Tuesday's closing date, and he is expected ...
Axis shares surge 9 per cent on first profits
Sep 02, 2005; ... AXIS-Shield shares surged another 9 per cent yesterday after theDundee-based diagnostics company posted its maiden profit andannounced a crucial US distribution deal for Afinion, its new point-of-care testing kit. Shares in the Scottish pharmaceutical company gained 30p to ...
After Katrina, a new mission for America
Sep 02, 2005; ... FROM the mass feeding and housing of hundreds of thousands ofpeople to the rebuilding of an entire city, Hurricane Katrina willmark the drawing of a line for America. For all the confidence over the "can-do" attitude and itsastonishing capacity for re-invention, there has seldom ...
Further nod towards cut in business rates
Sep 02, 2005; ... FINANCE minister Tom McCabe has given his clearest indication todate that the Scottish Executive is preparing to reverse its refusalto restore business-rates parity with the rest of the UK. Following a "cordial" meeting between McCabe and a delegation fromthe Scottish Chambers of ...
Infected human remains may have led to first BSE case
Sep 02, 2005; ... ANIMAL feed containing the remains of human bodies may have beenresponsible for the first case of mad cow disease, a new study hasclaimed. The cause of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which isthought to have developed into the fatal human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob ...
Cadbury's GBP 1.2bn drinks sale
Sep 02, 2005; ... CADBURY Schweppes put its European drinks business on the blockyesterday with an estimated GBP 1.2 billion price tag in order tofocus on its confectionery and North American and Australian drinksbusinesses. Cadbury said proceeds of the sale of the business, which includesbrands ...
CD of the week: THE ROLLING STONES: A BIGGER BANG The Stones still have rocket fuel left in their tank
Sep 02, 2005; ... THE ROLLING STONES: A BIGGER BANG *** EMI, GBP 12.99 THE FIRST thing to note about the 276th Rolling Stones album isthat it didn't have to be made. Precisely no-one would havecomplained if the Stones had embarked on their 341st world tour withno new product to punt. Some ...
How safe are our children?
Sep 02, 2005; ... THE ABDUCTION of a child by a total stranger is a crime so rarethat when it does happen, the entire country holds its breath andsilently prays for a positive conclusion to the policeinvestigations. Parents know that, given the potential dangers theirchildren face - road accidents, coming ...
GBP 1.4bn for Diageo investors
Sep 02, 2005; ... DIAGEO, the world's largest spirits group, yesterday announced itwas doubling its share buyback programme this year to GBP 1.4 billion- but said it still remained "alive to acquisition possibilities" fortargeting more top brands. Paul Walsh, Diageo's chief executive, who returned ...
Dunedin deal boosts managed funds 50 per cent
Sep 02, 2005; ... DUNEDIN Capital Partners, the Edinburgh-based private equityhouse, has boosted its funds under management by 50 per centfollowing the acquisition of a rival London company. The group - which counted Jessops and Goals Soccer Centres amongits profitable exits last year - is believed ...