The Oban Times

THE A83, Mid Argyll and Kintyre’s main road artery is expected to reopen on Friday afternoon (July 3) after an RAF Tornado aircraft crashed into a hillside in Glen Kinglas on Thursday morning.

The two crew on board died when the fighter aircraft crashed into the hillside.

RAF Squadron leader Paul Lipscombe spoke to the press near to the scene, a hillside on the Loch Fyne side of the Rest and Be Thankful on Thursday afternoon. He said: ‘We are very much in the early stages of securing the area and recovering the situation.’

A spokesman for TranServ, responsible for the trunk road, said the road closure was until inquiries and the investigation were carried out.

A ‘UNIQUE and courageous’ Mull soldier was laid to rest at Suie Cemetery, Bunessan this week – in one of the biggest funerals the island has seen.

THE NAME of Private Robert McLaren may soon be added to the war memorial at Kintra – if moves by Ministry of Defence officials and the island community are approved.

A 90-BED private care home planned for Camaghael near Fort William has been knocked back over fears its sheer size would mean an over provision of care beds locally and compromise health and planning policies in the Highlands.

A CONCERT in the Nevis Centre, Fort William, in memory of South Laggan mum Sharon Fraser raised around £2,500 for Cancer Care in the Highlands.

A TEXAN woman who was due to help at Dunollie Homecoming in Oban this month was told she was not allowed into the country because she was a volunteer.

SCOTLAND’S Parliament was 10 years old yesterday – and so was Steven Cameron of Claggan, Fort William.

A NATIONAL road condition survey for 2008-09 says Argyll and Bute Council has the highest percentage of roads needing attention of any Scottish local authority.

A RUGBY club on the island of Mull is claiming that it is cheaper to give drink away rather sign up to new licence regulations.

MCKEVER Hotels group which owns the Columba Hotel in Oban has gone into administration.

CROFTERS on the island of Iona are being driven demented by the Right to Roam legislation.

INVERARAY and District Pipe Band returned home on Sunday night to a heroes welcome after being crowned British champions for the third year running.

THERE were emotional farewells as the Oban leg of the Oban-Laurinburg exchange programme ended with a ceilidh in Oban Rugby Club.

THE 2009 Royal Highland Show may be remembered for many things – record attendances, a Royal visit from Her Majesty The Queen – and the year that a young stockman from Benderloch, Argyll dominated the livestock rings of the nation’s top agricultural event.

IT began with an article for Oban War and Peace Museum and morphed into a book about Mhairi Livingstone Ross’s mother growing up on a croft.

FIRE and rescue officers in Oban are proving that as well as doing their day jobs they are also pretty good in their spare time after picking up a major award for the way they deal with emergencies.

AN extensive area of hillside near Arrochar is being searched to recover parts of the RAF Tornado F3 which crashed just before midday on Thursday (July 2) killing both pilot and navigator.

FRIGHTENED residents in a block of flats in Oban are reeling after discovering that an all night ‘raucous drinking party’ ended when police were called to assist a man allegedly suffering from serious stab wounds.