School Shoot: One person is dead and three injured after a shooting that took place at Northern Arizona University at about 1:30 this morning. Police may reveal more details at a morning press conference.

Peace on Earth: The Tunisian democracy group the National Dialogue Quartet was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today “for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy” in the North African country following its 2011 revolution. The citation by the prize committee said, “It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war.”

Banana Republic: The House of Representatives is in shock after California’s Kevin McCarthy, the majority Leader who was the assumed replacement for John Boehner as Speaker, abruptly pulled himself from consideration yesterday. Facing the opposition of 40 hard line conservatives, and a bid by Florida’s Daniel Webster, McCarthy might not have been able to collect the 218 votes necessary and didn’t want to risk the embarrassment of losing. These things are supposed to be settled before the vote, but it’s a House divided. McCarthy said, “Over the last week it has become clear to me that our conference is deeply divided and needs to unite behind one leader.” Not him.

McCarthy shot a hole in his own foot last week when he said on Fox News that the House committee investigating the attack on the Benghazi consulate had the political motive of damaging then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects.

This whole mess leaves the Republicans in disarray with no set date for a vote on replacing Boehner.

Controlling both houses of Congress, the Republicans are unable to control themselves. Enjoying the moment, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “It certainly is easy to poke fun at the chaos.”

Nation: Air Force airman Spencer Stone, one of the three Americans who stopped a potential mass shooting on a French train in August, was repeatedly stabbed in a fight outside a Sacramento, Calif. bar early Thursday. Stone was listed in serious condition, but is expected to survive. Stone was also cut with a knife in the French incident and was awarded the Purple Heart.

>The city of North Charleston, SC, reached a $6.5 million settlement with the family of Walter Scott, who was unarmed when he was shot in the back and killed running away from Officer Michael Slager in April. Scott’s death became one of the prominent cases in the push to draw attention to police killings of black men. Video taken by a passerby showed that Slager was not in danger and made immediate moves to cover up his actions. Slager has been indicted for murder.

Company Officials Say: The CEO of Volkswagen in American told a Congressional committee yesterday that the computer programming designed to defeat tailpipe emission tests in diesel cars was the work of rogue engineers not approved by top executives. He admitted that it’s “hard to believe” and some committee members found it equally difficult to digest.

Horn said Volkswagen would fix but not buy back the cars sold in the US with deceptive programming. Bringing some of the older cars up to standard could take years, he admitted.

The Obit Page: Chef Paul Prudhomme, who introduced Cajun and New Orleans food to the world, has died at age 75 after a brief illness. He was the chef at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans before opening K-Paul’s in 1979. His restaurant became a world destination and his blackened redfish became so popular the state of Louisiana had to put a limit on the redfish catch. Go to any grocery and his spices are on the shelf.

Prudhomme loved food and it showed. He once weighed 560 pounds and had to get around on a motorized scooter. After strict dieting he pared down to 220 and said his secret was, “I eat everything, just not as much of it.”

The Globe: Scientists say a worldwide “bleaching” event is taking place that threatens to kill 4,500 square miles of coral reefs, about 5 percent of the world’s coral, this year. The bleaching, in which colorful coral reefs turn white, is caused by a combination of global warming, a strong El Nino this year, and the so-called warm “blob” in the Pacific Ocean. If coral is stressed by warm water it dies, often killing the ocean life in and around it as well.

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