IT stinks! There's no two ways about it, no-one likes treading in dog dirt.

THE controversy surrounding the various manoeuvres of supermarket chains in Inverness have constantly been in the headlines over the last few years – none more so than Asda and its saga in finding a site to try to break the near monopoly of rivals Tesco.

THE indication that Inverness appears set to avoid the credit crisis hysteria sweeping the housing market in many parts of the UK will come as good news for many homeowners, but cold comfort for young couples trying to take their first step onto the property ladder.

FOR most of us the prospect of pocketing £138,000 largely depends on our weekly lotto flutter paying off, a good run of draws on the pools or a huge jackpot win at the bingo.

THE Highland News runs checks on hundreds of potential stories and features every year, some difficult and some straightforward – but rarely have we encountered the level of resistance from officials in public agencies to our requests for information on the situation regarding migrant workers from Eastern Europe who have moved into the Highlands.

IT is inevitable that anger and upset will be felt in any community where violence has claimed a young life.

THOSE who bemoan the perceived lack of "bobbies on the beat" and a visible police presence in the city may be heartened this week by statistics from Northern Constabulary's Inverness area command showing a major drop in the number of violent crimes over the past 12 months and a significant cut in incidents of vandalism.

IN a month when Northern Constabulary has joined other forces in a campaign against under-age drinking and yob culture in general, it is easy to see why a local couple are losing patience with the situation at their farm on the outskirts of Inverness.

ANYONE who has witnessed the eyesore caused by recent high winds blowing rubbish from the Inverness Retail Park around the surrounding countryside will have considerable sympathy with the remarks made by Provost Bob Wynd demanding curbs on the use of plastic bags.

IT may seem an irony that those who want to stop oil and gas exploration in the Moray Firth for fear it could harm the dolphin population cite the hundreds of cars and buses that come to see the creatures every year.

NICE work if you can get it – a job with a full-time pay equivalent of £32,000 a year with a skill requirement of knowing how to wash your hands properly and being able to teach others to do the same.

TWO questionable decisions are highlighted in our pages this week which have left local women in the lurch.

GOING on holiday, especially to far-off places, is supposed to be relaxing and fun – but as we report this week that isn't always the case.

IT seems there's hardly a week goes by when problems associated with drink aren't highlighted in our pages.

THE number of teens being lifted by the police for being drunk and incapable is growing.

IT'S shop till you drop, as ASDA gets the green light.

PREGNANCY is an emotional and often worrying time for mums-to-be and their nearest and dearest – and all the more so when there are complications or the possibility of premature delivery.

IT appears all is not well within Highland Council, with talk of mutiny in the ranks.

IT may the season of goodwill, but that seems to have escaped the mindless morons who torched a charity's van in Culloden this week.

AS an exercise in open government and local democracy, Tuesday's hearing into Asda's eagerly anticipated planning application for a superstore in the Slackbuie area of Inverness turned into a farce.

THE people who have turned to the internet auction site Ebay in an attempt to make some money from the Van Morrison gigs in the city next weekend ought to be ashamed of themselves.

IT looks like quite a few youngsters are going to be disappointed on Christmas morning if the latest games console craze, the Nintendo Wii, was top of their presents wish list.

IT is a bit ironic that Highland Council planners and education chiefs seem to have got their sums wrong with a brand new primary school in the city.

A RARE honour was rightly bestowed on Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Monday when it was presented with a Special Achievement Award at the Highlands and Islands Business of the Year ceremony.

IN the week in which Hallowe'en falls, its seems entirely appropriate to bring readers the story of a team of paranormal investigators carrying out a series of experiments at Culloden Battlefield.

THE huge increase in the number of assaults taking place in the North will be seen by many as a frightening consequence of the recent growth of the area – although law enforcement agencies will be quick to point out that despite the latest figures, Inverness is still the safest city in Scotland.

THESE are worrying times for pet owners.

TO hundreds of young Caley Thistle fans, popular midfielder Richie Hart was a hero.

THE shock and anger in the Loch Ness-side village of Fort Augustus is a sign of the revulsion felt by the vast majority residents at the daubing of anti-English slogans on British Waterways Board buildings in the village.

YOU can get in and out of the country with a paper passport, which contains just a few simple details such as date and place of birth and of course an unflattering picture.

HERE we are well into September with most optimists still hoping for a late summer burst of good weather.

WE can only hope that it is hysteria or over-protectiveness that has apparently made the parents of two local youngsters to buy body armour for their children.

THE rapid growth of Inverness has brought well-documented problems of crime and anti-social behaviour – although nothing on the scale of the sprawling urban areas where tragedies involving knives and guns are now reaching shocking proportions.

THE resignation of Charlie Christie as manager of Caley Thistle this week came as a bolt out of the blue to the club’s fans as well as football writers and pundits.

WE have all become used to the building boom in Inverness over the past few years, with major housing, retail and commercial developments springing up all over the city at an incredible rate.

STREET upon street of cafes, bars and restaurants with outside eating and drinking areas is a common and accepted sight in most countries on the continent.

THIS week sees the return of our popular “48 Hours in the City” feature in which we attempt to give a picture of what’s happening on the streets of Inverness at weekends – and once again its been a bit of an eye-opener.

IN it’s very short lifetime, the first politically-led Highland Council has shown it’s mettle by abandoning plans to axe valued publicly-owned care homes.

MOST parents will testify that a good education is pretty near the top of the wish list for their children – especially in the current climate where more and more teenagers are being channelled towards colleges and universities after their schooldays come to an end.

THERE’S something pretty sick about community nurses being threatened, harassed and sometimes assaulted as they go about trying to help patients in their homes.

IT was rather ironic that a week which began with the spotlight falling once again on a new probe into guilt or otherwise of the Libyan jailed for the Lockerbie bombing outrage should end with Scotland again bearing the brunt of a terrorist attack.

OVER the years there have been sporadic complaints from locals and tourists about the antics of boy racers in and around the city — and, in particular, at Inverness Castle.

IN this age of high speed communication, broadband, e-mail, you name it, you would think it would be a simple matter to get a message from A to B without any unnecessary hold-ups or inconvenience for any of the parties concerned.

IT is nothing short of a scandal in this day and age that an increasing number of people in the Highlands, including children, are being forced to live in B&B accommodation.

PASSENGERS have never had it so good for air travel choices and prices out of Inverness.

DESPITE December's decision by the Crown Office that there was not enough evidence in a new police report to prosecute a person named as the prime suspect, it was clear that the Renee MacRae murder mystery was one that would not go away.

THE stereotypical images of football hooligans are gangs of lager-lout skinheads and bovver boys wreaking havoc on the streets and pubs around football grounds or smarter-dressed "casuals" scheming organised ambushes on opposing fans.

JIMMY Greaves was right. Football is a funny old game. And often the antics off the pitch are as interesting or strange as those on it.

IT is difficult to imagine the stomach-churning shock of an abused girl who is suddenly confronted by the sight in a public place of the molester she thought was out of her life forever.

THE plight of Inverness dad Sinclair MacIvor touched the hearts of many readers recently when he spoke exclusively to the Highland News about his anguish at the loss of his wife Donna and their newborn baby girl within hours of each other in hospital in tragic circumstances. He told us how, despite the heartbreak, he was trying to be strong for the sake of their six-year-old son Colin.

THE show will go on, according to bosses behind the redevelopment at Eden Court Theatre.

WE'VE never been so popular – or so it would seem. As the polling cards started dropping through letter boxes this week, we learned an incredible number of people want to represent us this time round at various levels of government.

IT is worrying when a group of young mums complain that their children are suffering from constant illnesses which they believe are linked to the conditions inside their homes.

"IT'S a Small World After All!" That's the Disney tune which resounds around the theme parks of Florida embracing thousands of holidaying Brits at the Magic Kingdom and other fantasy worlds.

OUR story this week about the car valet finding herself convicted of careless driving for her vehicle's tinted windows raises a number of interesting questions.

HUNDREDS of staff at two NHS Highland buildings face some difficult decisions if plans go ahead to severely restrict parking outside the offices.

IF you want action, and action now, then the Highland News is proving to be THE paper for you.

EVICTING someone by mobile phone voicemail, as happened to a former Inverness soldier, does not seem the most sensitive, caring and helpful way of dealing with someone whose life situation should be regarded as fragile.

NOTHING arouses emotions in others more than the killing of a child.

BOTTLE attack victim Steven McFarlane has made a brave decision to allow pictures to be released of his badly scarred face, and hopefully something positive will come of it.

PLANS to establish a ‘wet hostel’ for alcoholics in Inverness should be welcomed. Such facilities have already been established in other Scottish cities and offer a vital lifeline to people at their lowest ebb.

THERE’S troubled waters brewing on the River Nairn with canoe enthusiasts and anglers coming into conflict as a result of legislative changes in Scotland’s access laws.

IT IS bad enough for Malcolm Morrison that he is seriously unwell and has been for a long time, so it must pain him further that other people have decided he is “not ill enough” to access a small pension pot.

ALL too often it can seem that those in charge of running the country and its infrastructure are putting the cart before the horse. Or, in the case of our train services, the crap before the horse.

ARAM Jaber was feeling quite settled and at peace with his life until last week.

CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown may be trying to curry favour with the electorate with his swingeing cuts on civil service jobs in advance of this year’s elections.

MANY regulars at Caley Stadium were quite left quite bemused last week by the hysteria in certain quarters of the media that followed Caley Thistle’s 2-1 victory over Rangers.