TRIBUTES WERE yesterday paid to a 24-year-old member of 45 Commando Group, Arbroath, who died on Monday after sustaining fatal injuries when his patrol was caught in the blast of a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

THE 48-year-old man who was fatally injured in a collision on the A926 Kirriemuir to Alyth road on Monday has been identified as Philip Pritchard, of Golf Road Park, Brechin.

PATIENT TREATMENT in Scotland is continuing to improve, according to health statistics published yesterday, writes Steve Bargeton, political editor.

CHANCELLOR ALISTAIR Darling was yesterday accused of a “smash and grab” raid on the Scotch whisky industry in his bid to bail out the economy.

PERFORMANCES, musical workshops and community visits will all feature in a spectacular January week of musical events supported by The Courier in Perth and Kinross.

UNCERTAINTY WAS in the air last night over the future of staff in Kirkcaldy and Dundee who work for budget clothing chain Mk One.

EVERY MOTHER-TO-BE in Tayside is about to get the opportunity to give birth in a community midwife unit, close to her own home.

A CONVICTED killer has been jailed for six months after he went on the run from an Angus prison.

MORE THAN 2300 identified perpetrators of domestic abuse crimes or offences in Tayside had no further action taken against them by police last year.

THE VICKY Hamilton murder trial at the High Court in Dundee was adjourned without hearing evidence yesterday.

A NUMBER of Perth and Kinross primary schools will be among the first in Europe to use a novel approach to teaching children how to develop their self-confidence and coping skills, following a successful pilot in 2007.

FIVE DAIRY heifers imported from France to a farm near Preston have tested positive for btv1, the strain of bluetongue disease now widespread in northern France but hitherto undetected in the UK, writes Ewan Pate, farming editor.

ONE OF Britain’s best-known journalists was in Perth yesterday to launch her latest book.

ONE OF Scotland’s most iconic emblems, the Forth Road Bridge, is flying the flag for the nation on St Andrew’s Day.

WILDLIFE TOURISM experts are meeting in Perthshire tomorrow to examine the reasons why the sector is bucking the trend of recession and how it can continue to play an important role in Scottish tourism.

MORE THAN 110 workers at a Fife electronics firm are still waiting to hear if the business can be sold as a going concern.

THE REMARKABLE tale of how two Dunfermline men played vital roles in shaping an American city is being told at Abbot House.

CHILDREN AT Tayport Primary School have just had a “hedgehog mad” term following a visit from well-known animal lover Sandy Boyd, who runs the Wormit Hedgehog Care Centre.

A ROW has broken out over the closure of a popular playgroup session at Duloch community campus which was officially opened earlier this week.

AN OPTICIAN from Cupar is to travel to Pune, India, for a two-week project aiming to improve the eyesight of thousands.

A FIFE MSP has called for action to improve life chances for children in care in the region after new figures revealed that educational attainment among such youngsters was the lowest in Scotland.

THE SAGA of Fife’s controversial new structure plan seems set to continue well into next year because of slippage in the timetable for final approval.

A SENIOR Westminster politician has leapt to the defence of under-fire Perth and Kinross Council, branding the administration councillor who last week resigned amid a bitter row over local authority policies “little known.”

HEALTH SECRETARY Nicola Sturgeon has been urged in parliament to visit Kinloch Rannoch and discuss the contentious out-of-hours GP service with residents.

PERTH FACES a testing couple of years as it bids to reclaim its position as one of Scotland’s prime shopping destinations.

PUPILS AT Pitlochry High were celebrating yesterday after inspectors revealed they study at one of the country’s top educational establishments.

MATRIX ENGINEERED Systems Limited, Brechin, have called in the administrators and a threat hangs over the 70-strong workforce.

KINCARDINE MSP Mike Rumbles slammed the SNP government after First Minister Alex Salmond refused to broker a meeting between the transport minister and campaigners calling for safety measures on the A90 Laurencekirk-Marykirk junction.

A BASIC Moves Festival was held in the Ardler Complex last night..

WHITFIELD RESIDENTS angered by the recent shake-up of bus services across Dundee yesterday presented a petition against the changes to Travel Dundee.

A FORMER Dundee primary school is to be turned into a new home for the city council’s IT staff in a £675,000 project, writes Brian Allison, local government reporter.