LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas authorities are trying to find who killed a beloved neighborhood peacock using a hunter’s bow and arrow. Officers with Animal Protection Services are investigating the death of Pete, a peacock that belonged to a resident in a small gated neighborhood but had come to be accepted as the neighborhood’s pet. Neighbor Felicity Carter says she found Pete this week and rushed him to a vet. Veterinary staff found the bird had been shot twice. Several neighbors say they are heartbroken. In Las Vegas, animal cruelty is a misdemeanor offense with a penalty of up to six months in jail and a maximum $1,000 fine.

Fire at Louisiana oil refinery sends tower of black smoke into the air, but no injuries reported

GARYVILLE, La. (AP) — A massive fire at a south Louisiana oil refinery sent a tower of black smoke billowing into the air above the Mississippi River. It forced nearby residents evacuate for several hours. No injuries have been reported. Marathon Petroleum, which operates the facility, said the fire was under control and contained to two damaged storage tanks by late afternoon Friday. Photos from above had shown orange flames leaping into the air as emergency crews sprayed long arcs of water onto the inferno. The president of St. John the Baptist Parish had ordered a mandatory evacuation for people within two miles of the refinery in Garyville, about 30 miles northwest of New Orleans.

Slain Marine’s family plans to refile lawsuit accusing Alec Baldwin of defamation

NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for the family of a Marine killed in Afghanistan says he’ll file a new version of a $25 million lawsuit accusing actor Alec Baldwin of unleashing his social media followers against them after a federal judge tossed out the last one. Judge Edgardo Ramos earlier this week invited the family to refile the lawsuit by Sept. 12 to correct deficiencies and renew claims of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Attorney Dennis Postiglione says a rewritten lawsuit will be filed by the deadline. A lawyer for Baldwin called the ruling a victory for the First Amendment and predicted a rewritten lawsuit will get thrown out.

A motorcyclist died in a crash after a New York City police sergeant threw a cooler at his head

NEW YORK (AP) — Police say a man fleeing a New York City drug bust crashed his motorcycle and died after a police sergeant threw a cooler at him in an attempt to stop him. The sergeant was suspended without pay pending an investigation into the man’s death Wednesday in the Bronx. Surveillance video shows the motorcycle rider driving on a sidewalk toward some people. The video then shows one of the persons picking up a red cooler and throwing it at the motorcyclist’s head before he loses control and is thrown toward a tree. Authorities say the man had fled as a plainclothes narcotics unit tried to arrest him on suspicion of selling drugs.

What is Stockholm syndrome? It all started with a bank robbery 50 years ago

STOCKHOLM (AP) — This week marks 50 years since a failed bank robbery that gave rise to Stockholm syndrome, a term used to describe the bond that victims of kidnappings or hostage situations sometimes develop with their captors. It has since been applied to a series of hostage-takings around the world including the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in the 1970s. In some cases, hostages or kidnapping victims may develop sympathies for their captors and their cause or demands and even turn against the police. Experts describe it as a psychological coping mechanism used by some hostages to endure the trauma of being held captive and abused.

A crush at the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games in Madagascar kills at least 12

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — A crush at a stadium in Madagascar has left at least 12 people dead and 85 injured as sports fans attended the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games. The government spokesman says 33 of the injured remained in the hospital. The crush on Friday at the Mahamasina Stadium in the capital, Antananarivo, happened as people gathered at an entrance for the official opening of the regional multi-sports event. Madagascar Prime Minister Christian Ntsay said Friday that 11 people were in critical condition. He visited victims at the hospital. President Andry Rajoelina was at the ceremony at Mahamasina Stadium and asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence. The opening ceremony went ahead.

Alabama wants to be the 1st state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe only nitrogen

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen. The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith using the new method of nitrogen hypoxia. For years the state has said it was working to develop the method. The disclosure that it is ready to use nitrogen hypoxia is expected to set off a new round of legal battles over the constitutionality of the method. A number of Alabama inmates seeking to block their executions by lethal injection, including Smith, have argued they should be allowed to die by nitrogen hypoxia.

A father describes rushing his 7-month-old to safety during a California biker bar shooting

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One father recalls escaping to safety with his 7-month-old daughter as a gunman opened fire on a popular California biker bar. Ryan Guidus says everything happened so fast Wednesday night as John Snowling fatally shot three people and wounded six others. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department says Snowling began by shooting his estranged wife in the face before turning his gun on the crowd at Cook’s Corner. Authorities have identified the fatally shot victims as John Leehey of Irvine, California; Tonya Clark of Scottsdale, Arizona; and Glen Sprowl Jr. of Stanton, California. A vigil was held Friday night.

Savannah picks emancipated Black woman to replace name of slavery advocate on historic square

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Leaders of Georgia’s oldest city have made history by voting to name one of Savannah’s treasured downtown squares for a Black woman who taught formerly enslaved people to read and write. The Savannah city council voted Tuesday night to put Susie King Taylor’s name on a public space that for 170 years was named for John C. Calhoun, a former U.S. vice president who vocally supported slavery. City officials stripped Calhoun’s name from the square last November, then spent the past nine months collecting and reviewing nominees. Taylor was born to enslaved parents and during the Civil War fled to a Georgia island occupied by Union soldiers. She started three schools in Georgia to teach emancipated children and adults.

Trump and all 18 others charged in Georgia election case meet the deadline to surrender at jail

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and the 18 people indicted along with him in Georgia on charges that they participated in a wide-ranging illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election have all turned themselves in to a jail in Atlanta before the deadline at noon Friday. After Trump was booked Thursday evening, seven co-defendants who had not yet surrendered did so Friday morning. All but one of those charged had agreed to a bond amount and conditions with Fulton County District Fani Willis ahead of time, and they were free to go after booking.