Dr Friedland views mandatory medical cover as a viable solution to help the public sector.

A Nigerian man, Onele Fab

A COUNCIL has built a £51million park and ride site that might not be used by cars until 2027.

All major construction work at the 850 space car park in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, was finished in January – and landscaping completed last month.

But there will be no vehicles parking at the 19-acre site until funding is secured for the infrastructure to connect it to the A40 – potentially 2027.

The situation has arisen because of the part-cancellation of the A40 improvements programme due to cost pressures.

The planning application for the park and ride was made in April 2021 and funding from the Department of Transport (DfT) was approved in December that year.

The county council also secured funding for the access road and proposed roundabout along with other elements of the A40 improvements programme.

These included an extension of the dual carriageway from Witney to the park and ride and a four-mile bus lane in both directions from the park and ride to Duke’s Cut bridge at Wolvercote roundabout.

But this project had to be redesigned because cost pressures, including inflation, meant it couldn’t be completed within the available budget.

However, with all the building and landscape work complete, the county council is now providing ongoing maintenance of the site as part of the current contract.

Work has to be done each week, including grass cutting, topsoiling and seeding as needed, despite no cars being able to use the site.

The changes, which were submitted in September 2023, now need to be approved by funders Homes England and the Department for Transport before work can start.

Oxfordshire County Council said it was unable to share a delivery timeline until the conclusion of these discussions.

Meanwhile construction of the park and ride started in December 2022 and was completed on time and in budget in January, apart from landscaping.

Oxfordshire County Council estimates the park and ride has the capacity to cut up to a third of the peak traffic travelling in each direction.

This comes as drivers were warned they face being trapped in “car stacking” sites near Dover in an attempt to avoid 15-hour queues.

Elsewhere, a historic bridge that is almost 200 years old is to be taken apart, restored and reassembled piece by piece following safety concerns.

JOCKEY Lauren Keen-Hawkins is fighting for life in hospital after suffering an ‘horrific’ fall at Worcester races.

The amateur rider fell face-first into the turf after being unseated from trainer Kim Bailey’s 10-1 Faerie Cutlass.

Legendary trainer Bailey confirmed Keen-Hawkins had been rushed to hospital after the terrible incident three hurdles from the end of the 2m4f race.

Writing in his blog, Bailey said: “What was a great day at Lord’s with Archie and his mates was ruined by the horrific fall that Faerie Cutlass had at Worcester.

“Lauren Hawkins, who was riding FC, was knocked out and did not look in a good way.

“She was taken to Birmingham Hospital and was last night in ICU… We are all thinking of her and her family.”

More to follow.

THIS is Lake Lanier – a man-made reservoir built on an ancient burial ground where 700 people have died since the 1950s.

The spooky lake in northern Georgia has long had the reputation of being a hotspot for spirits who believers claim haunt visitors.

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Before Lanier was a lake, it was a place called Oscarville[/caption]

YouTube / 11Alive

Hundreds of families sold an unbelievable 56,000 acres and the lake was built[/caption]

US Army Corps of Engineers

The Army Corps flooded farmland bought from hundreds of families to create Lake Lanier[/caption]

US Army Corps of Engineers

Lake Lanier was built in the 1950s to provide electric power, water and flood protection[/caption]

Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Wardens from Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources on Lake Lanier in 1961[/caption]

The massive winding lake is a tourist hotspot for boating and water sports – but it has a dark underbelly.

The lake has seen more than 700 people die there – including 200 victims to swimming or in boating accidents since 1994.

Before the man-made lake was created, the area was reportedly very green and fertile land called Oscarville – the home to numerous families and businesses.

But Oscarville was also the place where racial violence was rampant and witnessed wrongful convictions, horrific lynchings and the forced expulsion of Black communities from the area.

Oscarville soon became Lake Lanier in the 1950s by flooding valley communities.

The US Army Corps of Engineers wanted to create a lake to provide Atlanta and surrounding areas with power, water and flood protection.

Hundreds of families sold an unbelievable 56,000 acres to the government which built a dam on the Chattahoochee River to form the later haunted lake, CNN reports.

Infrastructure like bridges were taken down and trees were moved, kicking out wildlife and the community – and 20 graveyards also had change location.

While the Corps claimed to move marked graves, it’s believed that some were left behind and therefore got submerged in the waters – fuelling rumours that ghosts haunt the area.

A spokesman for the Corps told CNN: “While the Corps made every effort at the time to locate unmarked burials the limited capabilities of the time make it probable that unanticipated finds of human remains are possible.

“Whether from the antebellum and Civil War periods or of Native American origin from pre-colonial and ancient times.”

Over the years, divers have reported seeing terrifying things below the waters, like a catfish the size of a car.

Videos have even been posted online of divers showing sunken houseboats and various piles of debris in the scary lake.

One diver Buck Buchannon even told local media that he had horrifically felt human body parts during various explorations.

He said: “You reach out into the dark and you feel an arm or a leg and it doesn’t move.”

One of Lanier’s most talked about ghost stories is about a car with two women in that went off a bridge in April 1958.

Believers claim the ghost of one of the women called ‘Lady of the Lake’ wanders the bridge at night in a blue dress.

Around an unbelievable 11 million visitors visit the site each year – roughly the same amount as Paris’ iconic Louvre.

While the lake clearly has had some tragic incidents’ take place, it’s important to note that there is no evidence to support claims that ghosts wander the area or haunting’s occur.

The Lady of the Lake

Many supernatural believers of Lanier say that one specific ghost lady haunts the area.

In 1958, two friends named Delia May Parker Young and Susie Roberts left a dance they had attended.

After filling up the car and not paying for it, the car went straight over the bridge while attempting to cross the lake and disappeared.

But the next year, a fisherman tragically discovered an unidentifiable body near one of the bridges.

And it wasn’t until 1990 that officials found a 1950s Ford sedan containing the remains of Susie Roberts.

This leads them to believe that the remains found in 1959 belonged to Delia.

Locals didn’t need forensic analysis to confirm this discovery however, Oxford American reports.

They had seen Delia themselves wearing a blue dress that she’d borrowed from Susie wandering in the bridge.

Now a scary tale tells that Delia’s been spotted with handless arms and takes unsuspecting lake-goers and drags them to the bottom.

Getty

The lake attracts millions of visitors each year[/caption]

Getty

Lake Lanier is man-made and used to be Oscarville[/caption]

Getty

Many boats dock in the marina of the lake[/caption]

POKÉMON has just announced its next event, where it will give away the most powerful ‘mon in the game.

With three Pokémon World Championships under its belt, this is the perfect chance to grab one for the next competitive season.

The Pokémon Company

Incineroar will be available over two weekends[/caption]

Incineroar has the most competitive wins of any Pokémon in the game, despite being introduced in Generation 7.

Despite only being introduced in Alola, it is used on more than half of competitive teams and has reached highs over 80% at certain points.

What makes Incineroar so good is not just its Intimidate ability, which drops the opponents’ attack when it switches into battle, but it also has an amazing move pool.

With some of the rarest and most valuable moves in the game such as Fake Out, Parting Shot, Will-O-Wisp, and Knock Off, it’s the strongest supportive Pokémon in the game.

Soon everyone will be able to grab an Incineroar that has its ability and stats fixed so that it’s ready for battle.

Pokémon has just changed to Regulation H which means that all Legendary and Paradox Pokémon are not able to compete.

This means starter Pokémon like Incineroar are now some of the strongest in the game.

Incineroar the Unrivaled will appear in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet in seven-star raids for two separate weekends.

It will be available firstly from Friday, September 6, 2024, until Sunday, September 8, 2024, and again from Friday, September 13, 2024, until Sunday, September 15, 2024.

The Incineroar will come with the Hidden Ability Intimidate, which is perfect for competitive play, and the Dark-tera type.

This will power up Incineroar’s Dark-type moves which can make it difficult to defend against.

One Incineroar Tera Raid will be available to players for every day that the events take place.

If you fail the raid, you can still retry it as many times as you like until you defeat it.

Every time you complete the raid you’ll be able to collect a number of valuable rewards like Herba Mystica, Tera Shards, and Nuggets.

However, you’ll only be able to catch one Incineroar no matter how many times you take on the raid.

No Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required if you want to take on the raid alone, however, this can be difficult to do.

With a subscription you’ll have the benefit of being able to take part in the raid with others.

If you want to read more about Pokémon, check out all the announcements from the Pokémon World Championships.

WATCH the incredible transformation of a teacher whose small spot ballooned into a melon-sized tumour that made it hard to eat, sleep and even speak.

Auguste, 64, developed a small spot on his jaw 13 years ago aged 51 – which grew so large that he was forced to quit teaching and became a recluse.

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Auguste, 64, developed a small spot on his jaw which grew to the size of a melon[/caption]

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Auguste was able to receive surgery through Mercy Ships – he’s pictured beaming ear to ear before surgery[/caption]

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Auguste at his home following the procedure[/caption]

The grandfather quit his beloved job as a headteacher in 2018 because it became difficult for him to talk, eat and even sleep.

Auguste, from Dakar, Senegal, tried to find a treatment for years but struggled – until he was advised to visit hospital ship Mercy Ships, which happened to be docked nearby.

He met with a volunteer surgeon on board and and was booked in for the life-changing surgery to fully remove the growth.

On March 13, 2023, he went under the knife and woke up to see his face tumour-free for the first time in over a decade.

He even returned to work – despite being of retirement age – because he sees teaching as his “calling”.

Auguste said: “I’m only here to help underprivileged and orphaned children – to teach them if I have the means.”

When the teacher first noticed the tumour on his jaw 13 years ago, he recalled thinking it was a “lymph node” because it was “so tiny”.

He eventually sought treatment for it after it continued to balloon in size and was told it was a cyst.

As his rapidly growing tumour began to distract students and made it hard for him to teach, Auguste was forced quit his beloved job as a teacher and headmaster and found himself becoming a recluse.

He claims neighbours would even avoid him because they feared his condition was contagious.

He said at the time: “All of my activities have stopped. I don’t really do anything.”

Auguste searched unsuccessfully far and wide for years to receive surgical care – until the day he heard that Mercy Ships had come to the port of Dakar, only 10 miles from his home. 

Mercy Ships deploys hospital ships to countries in need, delivering free healthcare.

Volunteer ear, nose, and throat surgeon, Dr Josh Wiederman, met and operated on Auguste during his first week volunteering for Mercy Ships.

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Auguste had difficulty eating, sleeping and speaking due to the size of his tumour[/caption]

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Dr Josh Wiedermann, Dr Mark Shrime and Dr Gary Parker removing Auguste’s bandage following surgery[/caption]

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Auguste was giddy with excitement to get his life back after surgery[/caption]

He said: “This type of condition is seen in high-income countries like the United States but in very early stages.

“With routine dental examination x-rays, these types of lesions are picked up before they really can be seen from the outside.

“Auguste would have developed it somewhere in the second or third decade of his life.

“It comes from the enamel of the tooth within the mandible, and it will slowly grow over time – you can think of it like blowing up a balloon.”

By the time he boarded the ship, Auguste struggled to eat textured foods and he could only speak out of the corner of his mouth.

The sheer mass of the tumour also made it difficult for him to rest his head comfortably, so he was sleep-deprived.

Dr Wiederman said the tumour would have only continued to grow and “consume more and more of the mandible bone” if not treated.

Auguste’s growth could have eventually caused “life-threatening” breathing difficulties, according to the surgeon.

When he finally went into the operating room for surgery, Auguste was giddy with excitement to get his life back. 

He spent six weeks recovering on the ship before being discharged and went home to his wife, Claire, as well as their adult children and young grandchildren.

Auguste said: “I can’t explain their reactions when they saw me after the surgery.

“I was well welcomed – very well received.” 

Auguste has since returned to the primary school he used to work at because he was so keen to continue teaching.

The school’s head teacher, Mamadou Bamba Ndiaye, said: “We’re very happy to have him back at school.”

Auguste is now is even dreaming of opening new schools when he’s fully healed.

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Auguste was able to return to teaching, having quit as the size of his tumour made it hard to keep up[/caption]

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Students hugging Auguste finding out he is back at their school to teach[/caption]

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Auguste was welcomed back to the school with open arms[/caption]

Hello This post You went too far – Dele Momodu reacts to Oshiomhole’s childless comment to Obaseki’s was first posted on Naijaonpoint.com.ng and is written by naijaonpoint.

The Ovation Media Group chairman, Dele Momodu, has berated Senator Adams Oshiomole over his unflattering comments against Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki and his wife, Betsy. Advertisement

Hello This post You went too far – Dele Momodu reacts to Oshiomhole’s childless comment to Obaseki’s was first posted on Naijaonpoint.com.ng and is written by naijaonpoint.

Hello This post “It was a great moment” – Mbappe reflects on scoring first La Liga goal was first posted on Naijaonpoint.com.ng and is written by naijaonpoint.

Kylian Mbappe expressed his relief after finally scoring his first La Liga goal in Real Madrid’s 2-0 victory over Real Betis, Soccernet.football reports. The Frenchman came under heavy criticism after enduring a three-match goal draught in the Spanish top flight. Mbappe finally quieted his doubters by hitting a brace for the defending champions in a […]

Hello This post “It was a great moment” – Mbappe reflects on scoring first La Liga goal was first posted on Naijaonpoint.com.ng and is written by naijaonpoint.

Pastor Enoch Ofori Boamah, the leader of the Christ Embassy Airport City Youth Church (CECY), recently addressed the backlash he received following claims that he had ‘healed’ John Peasah, a popular Ghanaian actor known as Drogba from the TV series YOLO. John Peasah shared his testimony during the Friday Night Miracle Service held in Accra ... Read more

The post Pastor Enoch Boamah Hits Back At Critics After Drogba’s Healing Testimony – ‘I Am Not Looking For Clout'” appeared first on GhanaCelebrities.Com.