Paradise News

Blog

  • Snr Instr & Control Technologist at Sasol

    Purpose of Job

    Provide governance and expert support to control and instrumentation fraternity in areas of technology, project execution and commissioning.
    This includes small project support i.e. scope/engineering reviews, technology selection, technical Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC), instrumentation/system installation and commissioning.
    Lead and guide colleagues in terms of best practices and governance in the instrumentation & control and production fraternities to ensure plant availability and efficient operation.
    Support radiation protection officer (RPO) and assistant radiation protection officer(ARPO) with activities and provide relevant governance in area.
    Manage interfaces with various disciplines (mechanical, electrical etc.) within Sasol Secunda and other Sasol OMEs and with external entities e.g. service providers, government offices etc.

    Key Accountabilities

    Broad base of instrumentation and control engineering knowledge and competence relating to general control and instrumentation technology and standards regarding:
    Control and safety systems – DCS, PLC and ESD
    Field equipment i.e. primary-, secondary- and final element devices.
    Use/Governance of radiation within the C&I and production fraternities
    HMI design and governance
    Process control strategies, control loop analysis and controller troubleshooting
    Functional and process safety requirements e.g. HAZOPs, LOPA, SILs, inventory isolation, hazardous areas, explosion prevention
    Providing input to Sasol specifications and Engineering standards.
    Ensuring governance regarding proposed modifications.
    Developing and review of (conceptual, basic & detailed engineering and commissioning) instrumentation and control engineering scope for small to medium multi-discipline projects.
    QA/QC requirements during project commissioning
    Interdisciplinary requirements for overlapping areas of knowledge with mechanical, electrical, civil fraternity
    Knowledge of international and South African specifications and requirements as applied to C&I e.g. IEC, SANS, etc.
    Developing and maintaining critical competency and guide talent development of team members to have job specific knowledge in all areas of process control, process automation systems and instrumentation including critical control information infrastructure by ensuring correct competencies are available.
    Ensure adherence and compliance to Sasol safety system and culture.
    Knowledge and use of emerging C&I technology e.g. wireless, digitalisation, operator effectiveness
    Developing, maintaining and manage the discipline specific systems, tools, policies and procedures Other useful skills:
    Ensure good working relationship with all stake holders especially with instrumentation and control fratenity as well as plant production and maintenance personnel.
    Maintain healthy and stable relationships with contractors and consultants.
    Active practicing of interpersonal skills to ensure productive working relationships and to work with, or through, others internal and/or external the organisation to get work accomplished.
    Liaise with external engineering companies to share in knowledge and benchmark.
    Plan resources against short and long term objectives.
    Pilot and test plant modifications executed correctly with high quality.
    Ensure compliance with legal requirements, policies and standards.
    Manage of discipline specific project risks.
    Ensure quality control of delivered services.
    Drive initiatives which improves delivery and competitiveness.
    Interpret and translate business requirements into an engineering strategy to enable OME to safely meet production targets.
    Facilitate knowledge sharing and innovation.
    Be responsible for own performance management.
    Provide efficient and high quality services to stakeholders.
    Oversee the management of external service providers.
    Display influencing, negotiating, maturity and emotional intelligence.

    Formal Education

    BTech or Advanced Diploma in Instrumentation
    PrTech (Wish)

    Working Experience

    Experience: 8+ relevant years

    Click Here To Apply

  • Liz Anjorin reacts to claims she is jealous of Iyabo Ojo’s daughter’s wedding (video)

    Nollywood actress Lizzy Anjorin has reacted to claims that she is jealous of her colleague and arch rival, Iyabo Ojo, who over the weekend hosted a talk-of-the-town wedding for her only daughter, Priscilla.

     

    Lizzy and Iyabo have been enemies for the longest and have even dragged themselves to court. Following the success of Iyabo’s daughter’s wedding to Tanzanian singer, Juma Jux, many social media users stormed Lizzy’s page to taunt her. They claim she is jealous of Priscilla and the lavish she had.

     

    Responding to her critics, Lizzy in a video shared on Instagram this evening, asked what is there not to love about the wedding. In her words,

    ‘’Let’s forget about the mother. Let’s face the daughter. who will ever hate such a wedding? who dares to hate such a wedding? do we want to talk about how focused that lady is? how determined she is? The happiness of every mother is to have a daughter that will work along with you regardless of who you are. whether you are a thief, a blackmailer, a destroyer or rich as a mother, every mother prays for a child that always thinks along with the mother. 

    I have said it that because you are destroying me does not mean I am going to destroy you in return. You guys are trying to destroy me but instead God is using you to promote me’

    Speaking further, she said

    ‘’Who will hate such a wedding? a wedding that they did not tell us any negative thing about the wife or the husband or about the mother in-law or the father in-law? So tell me what you want to hate about that wedding? If we are talking about the wife, she has been on her own, been a very beautiful girl.. she has maintained her lane” she said

    Watch the video of Lizzy speaking below…

     

     

     

     

    Source: Linda Ikeji

  • NYT Connections Today: Hints and Answer for April 22, 2025

    NYT Connections is the one word association game known for the difficulty and amusement that it brings. However, if you are part of the folks lost as to what today’s Connections answer is, then you are in the right place. We post a NYT Connections answers guide every day to help you solve each day’s puzzle easily. So, let’s not waste time and check out Connections hints for today’s game #681 to help you get to the answers for April 22, 2025.

    What is NYT Connections Game?

    After Wordle’s overwhelming success, The New York Times embraced the fun and launched another word puzzle game called Connections. NYT Connections is a popular word puzzle game available to play for free on mobile and desktop.

    Thankfully, it’s easy getting started with NYT Connections. This word association game spreads 16 random words across a 4 x 4 grid. Players must find well, connections among these words and divide them across four categories, colored yellow, green, blue, and purple, based on difficulty.

    Connections Hint Today for April 22, 2025

    As mentioned above, the NYT Connections puzzle has four different categories that are divided into color-coded difficulties. From the Yellow category being the easiest to the hardest Purple one, the game can quickly become difficult if you’re unprepared.

    To make your life even easier, here are the NYT Connections hints for today’s categories:

    • Yellow Category – We do this to our travel plans
    • Green Category – Do you like Pottery?
    • Blue Category – Don’t slip on these please
    • Purple Category – You can use these to get warm

    Spoiler Warning:

    Scroll past this point AT YOUR OWN RISK. Major category hints and answers for today’s NYT Connections below.

    Check out Today’s Connections Categories

    The Connections categories today are an interesting mix of themes, which might get a bit difficult for us all. That said, here are the NYT Connections categories for Tuesday, April 22, 2025.

    • Yellow – CANCEL, AS A PROJECT
    • Green – SEEN IN A POTTERY STUDIO
    • Blue – THINGS THAT ARE SLIPPERY
    • Purple – NATURAL PRODUCERS OF HEAT

    Do you finally see where each word should go? No? Then, keep scrolling to see the NYT Connections answers for today.

    Today’s Connections Answers for April 22, 2025

    The answers for Connections today, on April 22, 2025, are:

    • CANCEL, AS A PROJECT – Axe, Cut, Drop, Scrap
    • SEEN IN A POTTERY STUDIO – Clay, Glaze, Kiln, Wheel
    • THINGS THAT ARE SLIPPERY – Banana Peel, Eel, Grease, Ice
    • NATURAL PRODUCERS OF HEAT – Fire, Lightning, Sun, Volcano
    Image Credit: NYT Games (screenshot by Upanishad Sharma/ Beebom

    The NYT Connections for April 22 was an easy 2 out of 5 but annoying to the maximum. The Yellow group came first and as an expert on cancelling plans, this one was easy to solve. The Green category came next and well, I had this one in the bag pretty soon too. However, I did need Google here.

    The Blue category on the other hand was a bit more troubling since I kept getting confused between the rest of the words. Thankfully, I got it in the end. With only four words left, I got them together to get the Purple category and the NYT Connections for April 22.

    How to Play Connections: Tips & Tricks to Solve the Puzzle

    Given the fact you’re here, chances are that you already know how to play NYT Connections. As you might be able to tell by now, Connections by The New York Times is a word association game where players sort out 16 random words into four categories by finding a common ‘connection.’ This can be anything from a common sound to a deeper meaning.

    That said, if you’re still confused, here are the best tips on how to play NYT Connections:

    • Simplicity is key: Connections will often throw ambiguous words at you. While it’s easy to get caught up in the details, the answer almost always lies in the simplest connections possible. So, instead of dear and deer being connected through a hunter-prey dynamic, they most likely connect because of a similar sound.
    • Watch those guesses: A key thing to note is Connections only gives you four chances in 24 hours for a single puzzle. As such, we advise not being trigger happy and carefully weighing in your words before pressing that submit button.
    • Shuffle Away: While a bit tricky, the sneaky Connections editor deliberately puts the first word placement as a misdirection. So the one golden tip here is to press that Shuffle button before you go on solving it.

    If you’re still unsure how to proceed, check out our dedicated how-to-play NYT Connections guide for all the help you need.

    We hope you had similar luck as I did for today’s game. If not, please let us know in the comments below!

    What are the NYT Connections answers for April 21, 2025?

    The Connections categories for April 21 are Yellow: Info on a nutrition label, Green: Metaphor for something unexpected, Blue: Things you can insert into a spreadsheet, and Purple: Helical things. For in-depth answers, check out our Connections hints and answers for April 21.

    How to play past Connections games?

    Thankfully, it’s very easy to play old NYT Connections games. Simply head to the Connections archives and pick any date you wish to replay!

    What is the hardest Connections category?

    The Purple category is without a doubt the hardest NYT Connections category to solve. You have been warned!

    Can I play NYT Connections for free?

    Yes, you indeed can, as NYT Connections is a fully free game.

    Upanishad Sharma

    Combining his love for Literature and Tech, Upanishad dived into the world of technology journalism with fire. Now he writes about anything and everything while keeping a keen eye on his first love of gaming. Often found chronically walking around the office.


    Source: Beebom

  • Tragedy deepens in Lagos as building collapse death toll climbs to seven

    The devastating aftermath of the three-storey building collapse in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos has worsened, with the death toll now reaching seven.

    This grim figure follows the recovery of two additional bodies from the wreckage on Monday afternoon.

    Rescue efforts, involving the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Nigeria Police, and other relevant agencies, have been ongoing since the building, which housed an eatery, suddenly crumbled on Saturday morning. Initially, five bodies had been retrieved from the debris.

    Read also: Vatican Releases Death Certificate: Pope Francis died of stroke, heart failure

    As of 1:00 p.m. on Monday, emergency teams remained at the site, painstakingly working to clear the substantial rubble. The critical question of whether more victims remain trapped beneath the collapsed structure continues to loom large.

    The sudden and catastrophic collapse of the building on Saturday resulted in the immediate deaths of two individuals, while others sustained injuries. The subsequent days have been marked by relentless rescue and recovery operations.

    Source: Ripples Nigeria

  • Florida Bill Proposes Funding Cuts for AP Courses

    Advocates warn that legislation to slash funding for Advanced Placement could make educational disparities worse for already underrepresented Black students. (Photo Credit: Goodboy Picture Company / gettyimages)

    by Quintessa Williams

    What happens in Florida rarely stays in Florida when it comes to education policy. Now, as the state’s lawmakers advance legislation that would slash state funding for college-level high school courses by half, education advocates are sounding the alarm that the move could deepen educational and racial inequities nationwide.

    In early April, the Florida House introduced a bill, House Bill 5101, that would reduce state support for Advanced Placement courses, International Baccalaureate programs, dual enrollment, and career and technical education by up to 50%. 

    Black students already have less access to AP, the most academically rigorous classes, essential for admission to the nation’s most selective colleges and universities. If students can score a three or higher on an AP course’s corresponding exam, they are, depending on the school, eligible to receive college credit. It’s no wonder, then, that advocates say the AP program has helped level the college admissions playing field.

    If the bill passes, cash-strapped school districts across the state—especially those serving low-income and predominantly Black communities—could be forced to reduce or eliminate AP and other advanced coursework altogether. The legislation would also eliminate funding for teacher bonuses, testing fees, and instructional materials that schools depend on to offer these programs.

    “It’s truly another stab at public education,” says Yasmina White, a parent leader and education advocate in Jacksonville, Florida. “It’s being set up to dismantle public schools. And it’s heartbreaking.”

    And White worries that this legislation to effectively defund AP could signal a national trend. “Once Florida does it, others will follow,” White says, noting that Texas has already cited Florida as a model. “We’re already seeing how these talking points travel.”

    Cutting Already Unequal Access

    For decades, AP classes have provided access to college course credit, scholarships, and vital academic prep for students who often don’t have access to resources like private tutoring or legacy admissions. 

    Florida’s House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, a Democrat from Tampa, recently spoke up against the cuts, pointing out that AP classes were instrumental to her “personal dream of attending Harvard University” coming true. Her Florida high school “paid for our AP classes, and coming from a family of six that was on a salary of a teacher and my dad who worked at Publix, I don’t know that we could have afforded those.”

    Once at Harvard, the academic rigor of her high school AP courses enabled Driskell to place out of introductory classes at Harvard, “even though she came from a public school in little humble Polk County.” 

    That’s an AP class success story worth celebrating, but it’s out of reach for most Black students. Although Black students make up 15% of the K–12 population, College Board data from 2024 shows that only 11% participated in AP courses, compared to 19% of white students and 50% of Asian American students. 

    White has also seen firsthand how AP classes and other advanced coursework programs have prepared Black students for college.

    “I’ve seen so many friends, colleagues, and family members take AP classes, be in IB programs, and do dual enrollment — and it made a difference,” she says. “But when you cut these programs, you cut access. 

    A visualized bar graph showing disparities between high school enrollment and representation in AP and dual enrollment programs by race and ethnicity, according to the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22. The chart highlights underrepresentation among Black students in advanced coursework and dual enrollment.

    This isn’t the first time AP courses have come under attack in Florida. In 2023, under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the Florida Department of Education rejected the AP African American Studies course, saying it was “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.” Other conservative-led states soon followed suit, leading College Board, which administers the Advanced Placement program, to revise the curriculum.

    In an email to Word In Black, College Board said it is “closely monitoring” what’s happening in Florida. It acknowledged “districts are concerned about the potential impact” of Florida’s legislation. However, they also pointed out that, over the years, educators and districts across the state have worked closely with them to ensure access to AP. 

    Ultimately, College Board said it remains “committed to working with schools and districts to ensure continued access to AP opportunities.”  

    What’s Next?

    Nevertheless, some districts have started planning course reductions, while others are urging families to contact state legislators and local school board members before it’s too late.

    “Start local and ask questions,” White says. “Don’t stay in that mindset that things will never change — because thinking that way ensures they won’t.”

    White also encourages people not to be discouraged: “Stay engaged. Stay involved. Keep accessing these programs and telling your story,” she says. “We are living through our own civil rights movement. The people before us had far less and still fought. We can too.”

    Source: Seattle Medium

  • Matheus Cunha set to reach agreement with Manchester United


    Image Credits: Getty Images

    Manchester United are desperate to sign a new striker this summer to replace Rasmus Hojlund after the Dane fails to provide consistency in front of goal.

    It’s understood that United are looking to sell Hojlund in the summer to generate funds for his replacement, with The Red Devils scouting some of Europe’s top talent to head up their attack.

    United’s search has led them to renewing their interest in Wolves’ striker Matheus Cunha after monitoring him last summer.

    Ruben Amorim has shown his appreciation of the Brazilian attacker over recent days, when discussing the Wolves manager Vitor Pereira and his side ahead of United’s 1-0 loss at Old Trafford.

    Speaking ahead of the game, Amorim commented: “I think he [Vitor Pereira] is doing an amazing job. He has real quality players – [Matheus] Cunha and all these guys, they have real quality.”

    CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CENTRE DEVILS WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT NOW!

    Manchester United close to sealing Matheus Cunha transfer

    Now, The Daily Mail has revealed that The Red Devils are getting close to an agreement to see Cunha move to Old Trafford.

    United are hopeful that the terms of his move can be finalised by next month, with the club needing to trigger his £62.5 million release clause.

    The Red Devils could generate these funds through the sale of their loan stars alone, with Marcus Rashford’s £40 million option to buy for Aston Villa and Chelsea’s £25 million obligation to buy Jadon Sancho, and that’s without considering Real Betis’ desire to retain Antony.

    However, with other stars like Altay Bayindir, Rasmus Hojlund, Casemiro and Andre Onana also on the chopping block to be sold, United should be able to generate the funds to bring Cunha to Old Trafford.

    CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CENTRE DEVILS WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT NOW!

    Source: Centred Devils

  • This One Weird Trick Let D.C. Judges Stage A Coup

    This One Weird Trick Let D.C. Judges Stage A Coup

    The D.C. Circuit Court shadow government

    By Daniel Greenfield

    The Supreme Court’s ruling in J.G.G. v. Donald J. Trump was not an unqualified triumph for the Trump administration’s deportations of foreign gang members, but it was a definite rebuke not just to Judge Boasberg, but to the entire D.C. Circuit Court shadow government.

    The ACLU filed J.G.G. v. Trump in defense of five Venezuelan inmates in New York and Texas. All of the men claimed that they were not gang members and there was no indication that any of them were being deported, denying them any actual standing for coming before the court.

    Especially before Judge James Boasberg who is thousands of miles away in Washington D.C.

    Despite the lack of standing and the case being filed in the wrong venue, Judge James Boasberg, the chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court, not only blocked the deportation of all gang members back to Venezuela, but ordered that planes currently over international airspace that were carrying gang members turn around and bring them back to the United States.

    Boasberg fumed that the planes were not turned around on his mere word and threatened the Justice Department with repercussions for not recognizing his power over not only the entire country, but also the entire planet.

    But why was a judge from the D.C. Circuit Court on a case involving inmates in Texas?

    The answer is that leftist organizations and the judges of the D.C. Circuit Court were using one weird trick to seize power over the entire country (if not always the planet) and transform themselves into a shadow government able to block any Trump administration move.

    The Supreme Court’s ruling vacating Boasberg’s order stated that, “the detainees are confined in Texas, so venue is improper in the District of Columbia” and directed that the appropriate “venue lies in the district of confinement”. So how did a D.C. judge ever get involved at all?

    In Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurrence he noted that the “only question is where that judicial review should occur. That venue question turns on whether these transfer claims belong in habeas corpus proceedings or instead may be brought under the Administrative Procedure Act.” The Supreme Court’s ruling even noted that “initially the detainees sought relief in habeas among other causes of action, but they dismissed their habeas claims” and stated that “their claims fall within the ‘core’ of the writ of habeas corpus and thus must be brought in habeas.”

    Kavanaugh then laid out a brief history of detainees, including those terrorists at Gitmo, bringing claims under habeas corpus rather than, strangely, under the Administrative Procedure Act.

    The Administrative Procedure Act had been created in response to the rise of a vast unaccountable government bureaucracy under FDR. The APA was supposed to stop the administrative state from turning into exactly the kind of self-governing machine it grew into which FDR had described as threatening to “develop a fourth branch of government for which there is no sanction in the Constitution.” It was not meant to block presidents from executing their policies or subject every one of those policies to the review of the D.C. Circuit Court.

    The D.C. Circuit Court however has enabled every leftist ‘resistance’ group to go ‘judge shopping’ and file APA complaints to block anything and everything President Trump does.

    And so the ACLU appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court, wielding the Administrative Procedure Act, to challenge the question of whether President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act (which predated the APA by 148 years) applied and what could be defined as wartime. The ACLU was asking Boasberg to block President Trump’s use of presidential powers based on an act meant to check bureaucratic overreach. And Judge Boasberg went ahead and tried to seize control of U.S. forces abroad from President Trump in the name of an act meant to regulate agencies.

    The Supreme Court’s response to this unconstitutional abomination was milder than it deserved.

    What gave the ACLU and Boasberg the idea that they could get away with it? The ACLU had previously sued the Trump administration for removing materials falsely describing the existence of a ‘transgender’ society as a violation of the “Administrative Procedure Act” by “removing articles without a reasoned basis” as if that were a matter subject to the APA.

    In another case, ‘Judge’ Ana Reyes, a Uruguayan activist lawyer appointed by Biden as the first gay ‘Latinx’ judge in the D.C. Circuit Court, blocked the removal of mentally ill individuals who hallucinate the idea that they are members of some other sex than their biological one, by claiming that it’ss “soaked in animus and dripping with pretext, Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit” and argued, despite the mountain of evidence, that the Department of Defense had “not provided a legitimate reason for banning all transgender troops” and therefore violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

    Reyes had confused the Administrative Procedure Act with her own personal opinion and rather than ruling on the legality of a policy based on actual laws, abused the APA to seize power over the Pentagon to promote her own favored social and sexual worldviews in the APA’s name.

    But the Supreme Court has begun shooting down some APA abuses.

    In its response to a Biden judge in Massachusetts blocking the Trump administration from ending education grants that violate its ban on DEI, the court noted that Judge Myong Joun and the court “lacked jurisdiction to order the payment of money under the APA” and that monetary cases involving the government are supposed to go to the Court of Federal Claims.

    The APA has become a favored weapon of choice whether the issue at hand is financial, foreign policy, deporting illegal aliens or even publishing materials about the existence of transgenderism on government websites. During the first term of the administration, leftist groups had taken to boasting of having entire “teams of APA litigators and experts”.

    And with a 93% loss rate for the Trump administration in APA cases, the judicial coup was a sound strategy. All a leftist judge had to do was declare that the Trump administration’s actions were “poorly reasoned” or lacked “sufficient rationale” and would override the president’s orders.

    The APA enabled a massive shift of power from the executive branch to district courts, and to the D.C. Circuit Court which had seized virtually unlimited power from both the president and local courts and judges in the process creating an unelected shadow government.

    But the D.C. judicial shadow government overreached itself. And Boasberg’s attempt to seize presidential powers has created a constitutional moment of crisis that may unwind the coup.

    ***

    Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center’s Front Page Magazine.

    _________

    SOURCE

    Header featured image (edited) credit: Org. post content. Emphasis added by (TLB)

    ••••

    ••••

    Stay tuned to …

    ••••

    The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

    ••••

    Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.

    ••••

    Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

    ••••

    Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Source: TLB

  • Idaho teen with autism dies after he’s repeatedly shot by police

     An Idaho teenager with autism who was hospitalized for a week after being shot by police died over the weekend.

    The Bannock County Coroner’s Office confirmed to the Idaho Statesman that Victor Perez, who was physically impaired, died after four officers from the Pocatello Police Department shot him several times outside his home last week.

    His family took him off of life support Saturday after testing showed he didn’t have any brain activity, The Associated Press reported. He was 17. The Bannock County Coroner is expected to perform an autopsy.

    “Those police broke our family,” his aunt, Ana Vasquez, told the AP. “There is no way to explain the pain that we are feeling right now. It’s like our hearts are kind of empty — it’s not full anymore.”

    The shooting has sparked outrage in the eastern Idaho city after video footage circulated on social media, and showed four officers opening fire on Victor behind a fence. The incident began a little before 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5, after a neighbor called 911 to report a man wielding a knife in the yard of a Pocatello home. Within 20 seconds of arriving, the four officers opened fire, striking the male, later identified as 17-year-old Victor.

    Video footage of the shooting taken by the neighbor showed the four officers get out of their vehicles, draw their guns, line up behind the yard’s chain link fence — which was between them and the teen — and yell at him to drop his weapon.

    Victor began to stand up as the officers approached the yard, but before he could take more than two steps toward them, they fired their guns.

    Victor’s family told the AP that barely any of the officers spoke to nearby family members before firing. The neighbor on the 911 call said Victor looked intoxicated. If police had stopped to ask a question, they would have learned that he wasn’t intoxicated but instead staggering because of his cerebral palsy, his aunt said.

    “Everybody was trying to tell the police, ‘No, no,’” Vazquez told the AP. “Those four officers didn’t care. They didn’t ask what was happening, what was the situation.”

    “How’s he going to jump the fence when he can barely walk?” she said.

    In the week since Victor was shot, community members have held protests calling for police accountability and a candlelight vigil outside the Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello to mourn the teenage boy. More than 5,500 people have also signed a Change.org petition calling for an independent investigation into the shooting as of Monday afternoon.

    Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei said at a news conference that the officers gave “repeated commands” to Victor to drop the knife. He said the teen didn’t comply, stood up, and advanced toward the officers “while still armed.”

    “In situations like this, officers must make decisions in seconds, they assess threats not just to themselves but to those nearby,” Schei said. “In this case, two individuals were within a few feet of an armed noncompliant individual. The risk was immediate, and the situation rapidly evolving.”

    Prosecutor to decide whether to release officers’ names

    Per the city’s policy, all of the officers, who haven’t been identified, were placed on administrative leave immediately after the shooting, Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad said in a statement.

    It’s unclear how long the officers will remain on leave. The Pocatello Police Department didn’t respond to several phone calls or an email seeking clarity.

    The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting as part of the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. Police are also conducting an internal investigation, Schei said.

    For many law enforcement agencies in Idaho, police shootings are investigated through a Critical Incident Task Force, or CITF. In East Idaho, over a dozen counties are involved in the task force, and when one agency is involved in a shooting, another agency is asked to step in and investigate the incident.

    Once the investigation is complete, it will be handed over to an outside prosecutor to review the findings and decide whether the officers should face criminal charges. A prosecutor hasn’t been assigned yet, Emma Iannacone, a spokesperson for the county, told the Statesman.

    Iannacone said it would be up to the prosecutor to release the officers’ names. Body-camera footage is expected to be released in the coming weeks, Blad said.

    It’s rare for officers to be criminally charged following a shooting. In the last 20 years, only two law enforcement officers in Idaho — Idaho Falls Police Department Officer Elias Cerdas and Nez Perce Tribal Officer Robert Wall — faced criminal charges. Both cases were eventually dismissed.

    Blad said the city’s addressing the incident “with the seriousness and thoroughness it deserves.”

    “We truly recognize the difficulty and pain of this situation,” Blad said. “Everyone is looking for answers, including me and the City Council. That is why it is important to let the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force and others complete their investigations.”

    “Once the investigations are complete, we will act in accordance with the findings. No determinations will be made until the independent investigators have done their job,” he added.

    ___

    © 2025 The Idaho Statesman.

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


    Source: American Military News

  • JUST IN: Vatican Reveals Pope’s Last Wishes, Cause Of Death

    Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke that led to a coma and “irreversible” heart failure, according to his death certificate released by the Vatican.

    His passing comes nearly a month after being discharged from a five-week hospital stay where he was treated for pneumonia.

    The Vatican made the announcement Monday, accompanied by the release of the Pope’s final testament, in which he detailed his final wishes regarding his burial.

    In the handwritten document, Pope Francis expressed a deep and lifelong devotion to the Virgin Mary and requested to be buried at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. His wish is a departure from tradition, as many of his predecessors are buried at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

    “As I sense the approaching twilight of my earthly life, and with firm hope in eternal life, I wish to set out my final wishes solely regarding the place of my burial,” the Pope wrote.

    He noted that Saint Mary Major had long held personal significance, as it was his custom to pray there at the beginning and end of every apostolic journey.

    His wish is for a simple tomb, without ornamentation, bearing only the Latin inscription “Franciscus”. The tomb is to be placed in the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel and the Sforza Chapel, as outlined in a plan attached to his testament.

    The Pope also noted that the cost of the burial would be covered by a benefactor and that arrangements had already been made with Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Commissioner of the Liberian Basilica.

    He concluded his testament with a message of peace, saying, “The suffering that has marked the final part of my life, I offer to the Lord for peace in the world and fraternity among peoples.”

    Pope Francis served as the 266th pontiff and was the first Jesuit and Latin American pope.

    JUST IN: Vatican Reveals Pope’s Last Wishes, Cause Of Death is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

    Source: The Whistler

  • There’s a new kind of American whiskey, and distillers are buzzing about it – Paradise Post

    More than a dozen whiskey-filled oak barrels sit on racks inside Ironton Distillery’s production facility in Denver. Most of it won’t be ready to drink for a while — it needs to age for two years — but when it is, this whiskey will be bottled and labeled as “American single malt.”

    Colorado distillers are raising a toast to this new standard of identity for domestic whiskey, one that formally defines what ingredients can be used and how American single malt should be made. Instituted in December by the federal alcohol regulators, the designation joins vaunted labels like bourbon, rye and Irish Whiskey. This is the first time since 1968 that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has added a new one.

    While U.S. distilleries have been making single malt spirits for a long time, local whiskey producers believe the designation will allow them to better compete with powerhouses like Scotland and Japan. They are also confident that Colorado can take the lead in popularizing American single malt, thanks to the state’s strong beer heritage, which has cultivated a generation of distillers familiar with using its base ingredient, one that is frequently grown here as well.

    “Colorado was and is at the forefront of craft beer in the country. We have a lot of people like me, who were brewers, who understand malt and who started distilling and making malt whiskey,” said Craig Engelhorn, co-founder and master distiller at Spirit Hound Distillers in Lyons. “Just like we were pioneers in the ’90s with craft beer, we’re pioneers now with malt whiskey.”

    A bottle of Ironton Distillery’s Colorado Straight Single Malt Whiskey at Ironton Distillery in Denver on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

    Creating a category

    The TTB defines American single malt whiskey as a beverage made from 100% malted barley that is mashed, distilled and matured in the U.S.

    It must be aged in oak barrels that are a maximum of 700 liters (185 gallons) and bottled at least 40% alcohol by volume. While the spirit is required to be distilled entirely at one distillery, the definition leaves room for companies to either make it in-house or source it from another producer.

    The parameters were largely informed by whiskey producers, who spent the nine years lobbying regulators. The movement started in 2016, when Steve Hawley, then working at Seattle’s Westland Distillery, convened with eight other spirit makers at a Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicago. The group’s objective: To find consensus about what makes American single malt whiskeys distinct.

    The meeting took roughly one hour and catalyzed the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission, which took the lead advocating for the code update on behalf of U.S. producers. (The spelling of “whiskey” differs across organizations. (The TTB uses “whisky” in its American single malt definition, but for clarity, The Denver Post will spell the word as “whiskey” in this story.)

    Hawley, who serves as president of the commission, submitted a formal petition to regulators shortly after that initial meeting. As the rulemaking process inched forward over the years, the organization worked to “spread the gospel” of American single malt whiskey, rallying distillers, maltsters and liquor stores around its cause. Today, it boasts 113 members.

    What galvanized so many producers, Hawley said, was an opportunity to level the playing field between American-made spirits and the world’s most coveted Scotch and Japanese single malts.

    “America has been known for bourbon for such a long time, but it’s not the only kind of whiskey that’s being made here,” Hawley said. American single malt “stands toe to toe with Scotch whiskey, Japanese whiskey and whiskey being made all over the world.

    “I think what you’ll find with American single malt whiskey is, in a broad sense, a very intentional approach to be distinct — to have our own voice in the world of single malt,” he added, “not just be a copy of Scotch or to replicate what other people are doing.”

    Head distiller Laura Walters works at Ironton Distillery in Denver on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
    Head distiller Laura Walters works at Ironton Distillery in Denver on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

    Colorado’s role

    Malted barley is the primary ingredient used to make beer and the majority of whiskeys, and many local distillers transitioned to the spirits industry after cutting their chops at breweries.

    That means local drinkers have access to some of the best single malt whiskeys in the country, said Spirit Hound’s Englehorn, who helped develop the original recipe for Dale’s Pale Ale in the early 2000s while he was a brewer at Oskar Blues.

    Spirit Hound sells six different single malts, including one called Colorado Honey, which is finished in barrels used to store local honey. It was awarded the title of American Single Malt Whiskey of the Year at the 2024 London Spirits Competition.

    It’s not only the technique that sets Colorado single malt whiskey apart, however. Many craft distillers use locally grown barley, which gives their spirits a sense of place and showcases the Rocky Mountain terroir, said Justin Aden, head blender at Stranahan’s in Denver.

    Stranahan’s has been making exclusively single malt whiskey since it was founded in 2004. Every spirit starts with the same base recipe: A 100% malted two-row barley mash that’s fermented off the grain husks, distilled and then aged for at least four years in new American white oak barrels. After that, Aden gets to have some fun concocting various flavors by finishing the spirits in different casks – like those previously used for sherry or rum – and by blending different ages together for complexity.

    But what makes Stranhan’s whiskey distinct is the Colorado grains, most of which are grown on the Front Range, Aden said. He expects distilleries in other states to use their own barley in single malt whiskeys as well, in order to highlight local agricultural communities. (That’s why the growth of American single malt whiskey is a potential boon for farmers, Engelhorn said.)

    “There’s a whole bunch of varietals of barley that grow in different regions of the country better than others,” Aden said. “That’s a really fun thing for whiskey geeks to discover.”

    To commemorate the new federal designation, Stranahan’s will soon debut a new blend called Founder’s Release. The 12-year-old whiskey is one of its oldest and highest-proof expressions, clocking in at 60% alcohol by volume. It’s expected to be available for sale in late spring for $199.99.

    Distillery dog Ludo, a golden retriever, lies in the sunshine next to oak barrels with aging whiskey at Ironton Distillery in Denver on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
    Distillery dog Ludo, a golden retriever, lies in the sunshine next to oak barrels with aging whiskey at Ironton Distillery in Denver on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

    Flavor and creativity

    What most excites Ironton head distiller Laura Walters is the opportunity for creativity and innovation. The single malt definition mandates that distillers use 100% malted barley, but it doesn’t specify what kind or how it is roasted, which creates room for experimentation.

    For example, her flagship American Straight Malt Whiskey features 60% specialty malts roasted to various levels, drawing out different sugars and flavors. But a recipe Walters developed for Colorado State University athletics featured a different ratio of base malts and specialty malts, which created an entirely new flavor profile.

    The freedom to design a mash bill like this, plus the ability to leverage barrels and even elevation, means there’s an almost endless well of flavor combinations to play with. “Everybody talks about terroir in wine, but it’s definitely a thing with whiskey, too,” she said. “Even in our state alone, a barrel that is aged at Denver’s level is going to be totally different than a barrel in Aspen.”

    Or even in the Boulder County town of Louisville, where Ironton Distillery is moving its production at some point in the next few years.

    So, how will American single malt sell? Hawley said he hopes to see new sections at liquor stores denoting the style to help customers more easily identify it. But one of the best ways to try the local tipples remains bellying up where they’re made.

    “Go out there, try new single malts, support local distilleries,” Walters said. “It’s an exciting time.”

    Originally Published:

    Source: Paradise Post