Bosnia Floods, Chrome Again, Mine Arrests

World: Flooding in Bosnia and Serbia forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Bosnia and Serbia yesterday. At least 25 people were reported dead and many thousands without power. Some people had to be rescued from the roofs of the their homes as flood waters rose into the second floor. Mudslides swept away homes and cars, even some of the warning signs around minefields left by the Bosnian war in the early 90s.

Two Legs: California Chrome won the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore yesterday, setting up a shot at becoming only the 12th winner of horse racing’s Triple Crown when he runs the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 7. Chrome would be the first to win all three since 1978, but the Belmont is the toughest of all. It’s a mile and a half.

Recrimination: Eighteen people, including the director of the Soma mine, have been arrested in the investigation of Tuesday’s accident that killed 301 miners, according to Turkish press reports.The mining company claims that an unexpected buildup of heat caused the explosion and collapse.

Nation: A 67-year-old old Massachusetts hiker was shot and killed on a remote stretch of a Northern California trail during a robbery. The man’s 76-year-old hiking partner was critically wounded, but is expected to live. The gunman took the money and possessions of both men on a trail that leads to an overlook on the Sacramento River. Francis Gregory, who owned a computer store on Martha’s Vineyard, died where he was shot. He and his partner were found by hikers who came along hours later.

You’re Still Fired: NY Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. issued a statement yesterday saying gender and money had nothing to do with his firing of Executive Editor Jill Abramson. This comes despite reports by the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta that as Abramson climbed the ladder at the Times, she was always paid less than the man who had the job before her.

In his defense of the firing, Sulzberger wrote that the staff had repeatedly complained about Abramson’s “arbitrary decision-making, a failure to consult and bring colleagues with her, inadequate communication and the public mistreatment of colleagues.” He said he concluded that, “she had lost the support of her masthead colleagues and could not win it back.”

While supporters have defended Abramson as a woman wrongly scorned, lost in the noise is that her replacement, Dean Baquet, is the paper’s first black Executive Editor.

Gluten Free: Food writer Michael Pollan says the trend toward gluten-free diets is more of a social fad than a medical necessity. Pollan says that unless a person has celiac disease, in which gluten damages the small intestine, going gluten free has only psychological benefits. Pollan said, “I think that the number of people that are genuinely gluten-sensitive cannot be growing as fast as the market niche is growing.” He said, “There are a lot of people that hear from their friends, ‘I got off gluten and I sleep better, the sex is better, and I’m happier,’ and then they try it and they feel better, too. The power of suggestion.”

Stand Your Ground: Fox News host Sean Hannity says he’s putting his money where his mouth is and plans to move to Florida. Hannity said this past winter that he wanted to escape the over-regulation of New York and move to a state with no income tax. In a recent on-air interview with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Hannity said Rubio is going to be his senator. “I’m going to Florida, and I’m going to get a little Texas ranch. I’ve decided I’m leaving New York when my kid graduates high school.” That gives him a few more years to complain about New York.

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It's Been Said

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