A fundraising Colour Run event due to take place in Galashiels this weekend has been cancelled for the second time.

It was previously cancelled last October due to extreme weather, and that same fate has reocurred with organisers today deeming the course unfit due to lingering snow and groundwater from last week’s snowfall.

Organisers say they hope to reschedule the event for next month and entrants will receive a full refund this week.

A Live Borders spokesperson said: “It is with a heavy heart that we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone the Colour Run event.

“The extreme weather which battered the region last week has left the course we planned to use in an unusable condition - with remaining snow and groundwater levels preventing us from giving you the very best event possible, as well as maintaining high levels of health and safety.

“We are absolutely committed to bringing a fantastic Colour Run event to the Scottish Borders Campus and we are currently working with our friends at Heriot-Watt to confirm a new date.

“We already have two potential dates in April in mind– and we’re aiming to announce the final date selected by the end of this week.”

Everyone with a confirmed space will have their funds issued for return to their accounts.

A public inquiry has begun into plans for a 15-turbine wind farm south east of Hawick.

The hearing into the proposed Birneyknowe development opened at Minto Golf Club today, March 7, following a two-day postponement due to the recent wintry weather.

County Durham firm Banks Renewables wants to erect 15 turbines up to 132m tall on land near Stobs Castle, and it says the project could yield a £2.5m community benefit fund to support local groups and good causes.

However, Scottish Borders Council feels the scheme is not appropriate because of the landscape, visual and cultural impact it would have.

Giving evidence, landscape architect Brian Denney, a witness for the applicant, acknowledged that the development would have a “significant impact” on the landscape character and on parts of the landscape surrounding the site, but he insisted that it would not constitute an intrusion.

Addressing concerns over the impact on the Teviot Valleys special landscape area (SLA), Mr Denney told the opening hearing: “Intrusion suggests a greater degree of harm, such that the key characteristics and qualities of the SLA would be diminished to a material degree.

“It is not understood that any of the effects identified in relation to the Birneyknowe proposals should be considered to have reached such a degree of harm.

“In all instances, even where significant effects have been identified, the overriding characteristics and features of the SLA, and its landmark features, with their pastoral and woodland settings, would remain.”

Reporter David Liddell said evidence would be heard over a number of days, with final submissions due to be made on April 2 and 9.

Thoughtless drivers are creating hazards for fellow motorists on a busy road in Hawick.

There have been issues with inconsiderate and dangerous parking on Wilton Park Road for some time, but it was hoped the creation of new parking spaces at Volunteer Park in Buccleuch Road, a short walk away over the McLaren Bridge, would see the issue disappear.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case, and some residents are still being forced to drive on the pavement to avoid parked cars.

It’s a problem now being addressed by Hawick and Denholm councillors Clair Ramage and Stuart Marshall, with the introduction of double-yellow lines being one possible solution.

That’s not an option favoured by Mr Marshall, and he wants council chiefs to look into the possibility of creating a new car park there.

He said: “The issue of parking on this stretch of road has been a very long-standing one indeed, and for me personally I don’t think painting the entire length of this road with double-yellow lines is the answer.

“If we are to encourage our youngsters to enjoy the new play park and cafe, as well as allowing them to participate in the many sporting activities on the nearby pitches, then I’m afraid the last thing we want to be doing is slap parking tickets on the windscreens of those parents who are supporting and encouraging their youngsters.

“I strongly feel that we, as councillors, should be sitting down with officials from Scottish Borders Council and asking them to explore the possibility of freeing up some grass space in order to create a proper, fit-for-purpose car park.

“Of course, one may also argue that painting double yellow lines is complete waste of time and money these days, especially if there is no one available to actually enforce them.”

Ms Ramage said: “As the new car park, destination park and cafe were being completed, cars would be parked on the bend at Wilton Park Road and even parked on the corner of Park View.

“This made the area quite dangerous for residents driving out of Park View and onto Wilton Park Road.

“The bend on Wilton Park Road has become so hazardous because of this issue. Indeed, some drivers, to avoid parked cars and oncoming traffic, have had to resort to driving on the pavement.

“There are many car drivers who use this road as a through road to Roberton, the sports fields or even onto the A7.

“Paths do lead down from this area to the park below, but the area is more suited to dog walkers than parked cars.

“The problem is very obvious at weekends and holidays.

“As a council, we will be looking at how this problem might be addressed in the interests of road safety and quality of life for those residents in the immediate area.”

A community radio station in the Borders faces being forced off the airwaves because of a financial crisis.

Borders Community Radio, also known as TD1 Radio, operates free of charge from its home at Galashiels Golf Club on 106.5fm.

It plays a variety of music and conducts live interviews with people representing organisations in the region, offering what has been described as a “vital community service”.

But now its future hangs in the balance because of a cash shortage, and the station could be forced to close by the end of this month if funds cannot be found soon.

As part of a bid to ensure the music keeps playing, the station’s treasurer, Tom Ingoldsby, is to make a plea for financial support at this week’s meeting of Scottish Borders Council’s Galashiels common good fund sub-committee.

Despite growing money worries, a small but dedicated group of volunteers has managed to carry on broadcasting over the last 12 months.

However, a number of upcoming cash pressures mean that the station’s future is uncertain.

Mr Ingoldsby, who hosts a show for the station every Wednesday, revealed that there is now “virtually no money in the company’s bank account”.

He added: “We are grateful to Galashiels Golf Club, who allow us to use their premises free of charge.

“Individual donations from the public and volunteers and income from sponsorship have allowed broadcasting to continue, but we now face significant essential expenditure before April 1.

“By that date, we have to pay our annual licence fee to Ofcom at £850 and our fee for the use of Sky News at £351.

“We also have ongoing running costs of £400 per month to cover our power supply, broadband, insurance and fees to the Performing Rights Society and Phonographic Performance.

“If we cannot raise these funds, the station will be forced to stop broadcasting on March 31.”

The station, established 12 years ago and based at the golf club since 2015, currently has only £800 banked.

Mr Ingoldsby added: “We contribute to the common good by providing local community information of various types, local travel information and a wide variety of programme material not available from any other station.

“We also provide a volunteering opportunity locally.

“We believe we offer a vital community service.”

A man has been put under supervision for 15 months after admitting assaulting a bar manager at a Kelso pub.

Joshua Watson, 24, pleaded guilty to repeatedly punching the man in the face to his injury at the town’s White Swan pub, since renamed the Tipsy Ghillie, on October 6.

He was also put on a curfew keeping him in his Orchard Park home in Kelso for the next nine months between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

A not-guilty plea to shouting and swearing and threatening others with violence at the Woodmarket pub was accepted by the crown.

Depute fiscal Tessa Bradley told a previous hearing at Jedburgh Sheriff Court the accused had been involved in an incident in the bar with a woman at around 11.30pm.

She explained: “The bar manager approached and tried to resolve the matter and calm the situation down.

“He tried to get the accused out the back door of the pub and outside into what is a smoking area.

“The manager was trying to calm him down, but the accused was very agitated, and although he started to move away, came back and punched the manager several times in the face.”

The court heard that Watson was identified by a customer calling up his Facebook profile and witnesseses confirming that it was him who had carried out the assault.

The manager suffered redness and swelling, as well as a sore jaw, but declined medical treatment.

Defence lawyer Robert More said his client was under the influence of alcohol and had taken exception to something that had been said.

Sheriff Peter Paterson told Watson his sentence was an alternative to custody.

Final feedback is now being sought on plans to close St Margaret’s RC Primary School in Hawick.

A statutory consultation period ended in January, and views submitted during it will be included in a report to be presented to the Scottish Borders Council meeting in April that will decide the fate of the Buccleuch Terrace school.

In advance of that meeting, an additional three-week consultation period is being held from today until March 29 to give people the opportunity to submit any further comments.

A report on the proposed closure is available to read online at www.scotborders.gov.uk/stmargarets and also at the school and in Hawick Library.

East Berwickshire councillor Carol Hamilton, the authority’s executive member for children and young people, said: “We would like to thank everyone for the feedback they have provided so far in relation to these proposals.

“All the issues raised have been added to the revised report, and we are now looking for people to give us any final views or comments that they may have before it is presented to elected members for their decision.”

Selkirk remains open for business is the message to locals and visitors as the A7 is set to close during the day all next week for resurfacing.

The latest phase of the Selkirk Streetscape scheme sees resurfacing works being carried out on the High Street section of the A7, from Tower Street to Ettrick Terrace, from Monday 12 to Friday 16 March from 9am to 4.30pm.

In addition, resurfacing will be carried out on a section of Market Place and West Port for three days, which will see sections of these roads closed from 9am to 4.30pm on March 12, 14 and 15.

The decision to co-ordinate the works – which are being funded by Scottish Borders Council and trunk road operator Amey – and run them during the day is an effort to minimise the disruption.

Selkirk businesses remain open during these works, which are part of the £450,000 Streetscape Scheme which aims to provide an improved town centre.

In a joint statement, Selkirkshire councillors Gordon Edgar, Caroline Penman and Elaine Thornton-Nicol said: “Despite this short-term closure of the A7, Selkirk remains open for business and we would continue to encourage people to support our local traders.

“There has been some disruption as part of the Selkirk Streetscape Scheme, but it is nearing completion and will provide a series of improved facilities in the town centre for local people and visitors.

“These include safer access for bus passengers, better seating, improved pedestrian crossings, better road surfacing for drivers and provision for Market Place to host events and markets.

“We also have the ongoing refurbishment of the Sir Walter Scott’s Courthouse which is the centrepiece of the the Selkirk CARS scheme and will maintain the iconic building for years to come.

“We appreciate the co-operation of local people during the scheme so far and would ask drivers to please follow the diversion signs and be patient during these latest works.”

A7 closure details

The A7 closure will see all northbound traffic diverted via the A699, A68 and A6091 to rejoin the A7 at Kingsknowes Roundabout, with southbound traffic being diverted in reverse.

Signage will be in place to divert traffic.

Market Place and West Port closure details

Market Place will be closed from West Port to Kirk Wynd.

West Port will be closed from The Valley to Market Place, with local diversions in place and signage available to divert traffic.

In addition, the one way order on Kirk Wynd will be removed on March 12, 14 and 15 to allow SBC to carry out the resurfacing works.

Buses

The X95 northbound service will divert via Back Row, Scott’s Place, Bleachfield Road, Raeburn Lane, Shawburn Road and Raeburn Place to rejoin the A7 at The Toll, with the X95 southbound service following the same diversion in reverse.

A half-hourly Bannerfield shuttle bus will replace the 72 service bus during the works from Monday to Thursday.

The shuttle service will operate between The Valley and Bannerfield Drive. The shuttle from The Valley will travel via Chapel Place, Ettrick Terrace, Dunsdale Road, Muthag Street, Buccleuch Road, Linglie Road, Bridge Street and Bannerfield Drive. It will leave The Valley at 9.30am, 10am, 10.30am, 11am, 11.30am, 12noon, 12.30pm, 1pm, 1.30pm and 2pm.

The return service will travel from Bannerfield Drive to Linglie Road to The Valley and will leave Bannerfield at 9.45am, 10.15am, 10.45am, 11.15am, 11.45am, 12.15pm, 12.45pm, 1.15pm, 1.45pm and 2.15pm.

The 72 service will return on Friday, March 16, to its normal route and will be allowed to run through the resurfacing works.

Notification

Signage is being put place prior to the works to warn motorists. Letters will be issued to local residents and businesses, and updates will be provided on SBC’s and partners’ social media channels.

Selkirk scoutmaster Graham Coulson is preparing for his new role as kelpie tamer after he won a public vote, which will see him be immortalised in mosaic form on the town’s flood wall.

Graham was nominated for his lifelong leadership of and dedication to the Selkirk Scout Group, as well as his contributions towards various entertainment groups in the town.

He received 189 votes from Souters on artist Svetlana Kondakova’s website.

Graham told us: “I am stunned and very humbled to have been chosen.”

The other two potential heroes shortlisted were former provost Jim Newlands and the Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team’s Steve Penny.

Svetlana said: “The Selkirk kelpie, made in the town colours of scarlet and blue, will symbolise the River Ettrick and floods, and Mr Coulson will be depicted taming the beast as a metaphorical protector of the town.”

The mosaic is being produced in sections at the artist’s studio in Edinburgh and will be installed in May.

With salmon catches continuing to drop year on year, the River Tweed Commission is looking at ways to solve the problem.

Salmon catches on the Tweed continued to fall in 2017 – following a national trend – with 7,003 caught, 15% down on the previous year, the commision revealed in its annual report on Monday.

While catches of salmon have been cyclical historically, governed by the changing currents and feeding patterns at sea, the commission is looking into the “phenomenon” of a rise in fish-eating birds along the catchment, in particular cormorants.

According to Andrew Douglas-Home’s Tweedbeats column, written last month, there are several large flocks of cormorants on the Tweed, ranging from 60 to 200 birds per flock and extending well above Kelso.

He adds: “They are not daily visitors, for they have established resident roosts here over the long autumn, winter and early spring months.”

The Tweed Foundation is tasked with monitoring numbers of piscivorous birds, and that information is used by the commission to support the application of a spring licence from Scottish Natural Heritage to scare the birds and also to remove a small number of birds to help protect the smolt run.

Based on the data collected, a further licence was granted in the autumn in order to expand the scaring regime, aimed at targeting those areas most vulnerable to predation on the river.

Commission clerk Fay Hieatt said: “The rise in cormorant numbers is a recent phenomenon. On the Tweed, the licence for cormorants this year was an increase on previous seasons.

“Many rivers are experiencing the same difficulty as the Tweed, with large numbers of cormorants now in river systems for many months at a time – only returning to the coast to breed – and a co-ordinated and concerted response with the support of Marine Scotland Science is the best approach to ensure that fishery boards around the country are able to tackle this issue.”

Scaring the birds can just shift the problem further up or downstream, she says.

Fay added: “To stay within the terms of the licence, scaring must be undertaken, and demonstrating that it has been – and whether or not it has been effective – assists in the licence granting the power to remove some birds from the system permanently.”

However, despite the low number of salmon catches, more are still caught on the Tweed than on any other UK river.

Catches of other fish, such as sea trout, were up on previous years, and there were reports of a good number of salmon moving upstream in the Tweed and its tributaries.

That led commission chairman Douglas Dobie to say in his report: “It is not unreasonable to be optimistic.

“Even a modest increase in adults returning to the river could significantly improve rod catches for both salmon and sea trout and see a welcome return of confidence in the river and the quality of the angling opportunities it can provide.”

However, a warning has been issued to anglers to keep the parasite gyrodactylus salaris at bay by cleaning and treating equipment that has been used outside Britain and Ireland in the preceding seven days before using it on the Tweed.

The report warns: “If this parasite gets into Tweed, it means the absolute end of our salmon.”

A man has been fined £250 after admitting a £1,650 benefit fraud.

Colin Holness, 56, pleaded guilty to claiming employment and support allowance of £800 and housing benefit of £850 to which he was not entitled.

He failed to tell officials that his wife had started employment over a three-month period in 2014.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told he is paying the sum back through deductions from his benefits.

Holness, of Grieve Avenue, Jedburgh, was originally charged with benefit fraud of more than £12,000 but pleaded guilty to the reduced sum.

A man has been fined a total of £550 at Jedburgh Sheriff Court for growing cannabis.

Police officers investigating a broken window spotted the cannabis cultivation inside Cameron Duncan’s home in Galalaw Road, Hawick, on December 27.

A search warrant was obtained, and cannabis with a street value of between £490 and £620 was recovered, as well as three plants.

Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said his client had suffered chronic back pain since breaking his spine in 2001.

Duncan had become addicted to hydrocodine for pain relief but, in an effort to get off it, turned to cannabis, he said.

Mr Hulme said the cannabis was purely for his client’s own use.

Duncan, 52, was fined £350 for producing cannabis and another £200 for possession of the class-B drug.

Borders police are carrying out an investigation after a man exposed himself to two women in snowy Venlaw Forest, Peebles.

He was seen indecently exposing himself by a dog walker and a second woman at around 2.15pm yesterday, Wednesday, March 7.

Officers attended and the man made off through the forest and was lost to sight.

He is described as white, in his 40s, around 5 foot 10 inches tall, of slim build with grey hair, and was wearing a grey/blue jacket, grey trousers and a hat.

Inspector Mike Bennett of Peebles Police Station said: “Not only did this man’s behaviour cause distress to those who witnessed it, but also used considerable police and partner resource in trying to locate him in cold and snowy conditions.

“Officers, the police helicopter and colleagues from mountain rescue all attended and made efforts to trace him but he was not found.

“This is being treated as an indecent exposure and I would urge anyone who may have seen the man in or near the forest to please come forward and assist with our inquiries.”

Contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting reference 1900 of Wednesday 7th March or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A man has been given one last chance to complete a community payback order or risk facing custody.

Andrew Moriarty, 26, of Hendersyde Park, Kelso, has only completed 22 hours of a 100-hour unpaid work order.

After attending a funeral in Ireland, he had returned to drinking and lost his job and missed appointments for unpaid work, Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard.

The order was revoked and Moriarty was given a fresh order of 100 hours to be carried out over nine months.

Sheriff Peter Paterson told him that second chance is an alternative to imprisonment.

Moriarty was originally convicted at Jedburgh Sheriff Court of spitting in a police constable’s face in Horsemarket, Kelso, on April 2 last year and struggling violently with officers.

A 44-year-old man will stand trial by jury at Jedburgh Sheriff Court next month accused of assaulting a woman on various occasions over a 10-year period to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

Alexander Kenmuir, of Tower Street, Selkirk, is also charged with sexually assaulting the woman in May 2015 and, in the same month, assaulting a man by throwing a metal pole at him.

He is charged with repeatedly striking and kicking the woman to the head in various places in Galashiels and in Fairhurst Drive, Hawick, between September 2005 and June 2015.

Kenmuir denies pouring liquid on her, spitting in her face, striking her head against a wall, brandishing a knife at her, inserting a syringe into her groin area, punching her in the face and seizing her by the throat.

He pleaded not guilty on indictment to three charges.

Kenmuir is due to stand trial at a jury sitting beginning on April 23.

A 37-year-old man has been given a deferred sentence with special conditions for causing a disturbance at Jedburgh Medical Practice.

Ricky Lee, of Blair Avenue, Jedburgh, pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the surgery last month.

The case will recall at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on April 17.

A man has admitted two offences at Jedburgh Sheriff Court following an incident in Hawick in January.

Ross Wightman, 37, of Wilton Dean, Hawick, pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and making offensive comments and kicking a car at his partner’s home in Burnhead Road, Hawick, on January 14.

Wightman also admitted scratching grafitti on cell walls at Hawick police station.

A not-guilty plea to assaulting his partner to her injury was accepted by the crown, however.

Sentence was deferred until April 17 for background reports including an assessment for a domestic violence programme.

Background reports have been ordered on a Hawick man after he admitted smashing the window of his sister’s hairdresser’s shop with a hammer.

Remo Nardini pleaded guilty to committing that offence at Style Ahead in Hawick High Street on Thursday, March 1. Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told the cost of the damage was between £250 and £300.

The 59-year-old, of Slitrigbank, had bail refused and was remanded in custody until March 26 for the production of a criminal justice social work report and a restriction-of-liberty order assessment.

A pedestrian walking along a pavement in Kelso town centre was struck by a pole sticking out from a trailer being pulled by a lorry, a court heard.

The man was struck on the arm by the piece of metal, causing a cut below his elbow requiring treatment at Kelso Cottage Hospital.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard that a van driver following the trailer flashed lights and sounded his horn in an attempt to attract the attention of the lorry driver in Bridge Street on the morning of August 21.

Self-employed heavy goods vehicle driver Stephen Swift, of West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving a lorry with an unsecure load.

The 55-year-old was fined £150 and had three penalty points placed on his driving licence.

A man involved in a long-running dispute with neighbours has been fined a total of £270.

Jason Cooper, 46, pleaded guilty at Jedburgh Sheriff Court to shouting and swearing and making offensive and abusive remarks at his home in Burnhead Road, Hawick, on September 2.

He also admitted behaving in a threatening manner and making racially abusive comments on November 11.

Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser explained that Cooper’s wife had been apprehended on September 2 and he took umbrage to that and began shouting and swearing at police officers while intoxicated.

Turning to the events on November 11, Mr Fraser said that Cooper had taken objection to a closed-circuit TV camera an elderly neighbour had put up pointing towards his home.

He began shouting and swearing at his neighbour calling him a Geordie b******* three times, and the police were called.

Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said the dispute was a “two-way street” and the neighbour had been trying to wind him up.

He added: “Whenever he reacts, the police are called as if on speed dial. They are as bad as each other.”

Cooper was fined £120 for the September 2 offence and £150 for what happened on November 11.

A man accused of assaulting his wife has been ordered not to drink any alcohol until the outcome of a trial.

Kevin Johnston, 43, pleaded not guilty at Jedburgh Sheriff Court to striking her hand with a pool cue, punching her in the face and throwing a metal fan at her at their Croft Street home in Galashiels on February 26.

A trial date was fixed for May 10, with an intermediate hearing on April 9.

The crown said it would not object to bail if Johnston could provide a different address.

Defence lawyer Sophie Russell said Johnston’s wife wanted him to come back to the family home to help with childcare, adding that on the night of the alleged offence, both had been drinking.

Sheriff Peter Paterson allowed bail to the Croft Street address with the special condition that Johnston does not consume any alcohol and agrees to a breath test if required by a police officer.