Nation: Thirty-five years after the crime, the trial has started for a man accused of kidnapping and killing little Etan Patz, whose disappearance May 25, 1979 in New York has been one of the most notorious missing child cases in America. The boy’s parents had allowed 6-year-old Etan to walk to the bus stop alone for the first time that day, and he never got there.

Pedro Hernandez, 54, who worked in a SoHo bodega at the time, confessed in 2012, telling investigators that he lured the boy with a soda, strangled him in the basement, and later disposed of the body in a produce box. Hernandez’s lawyer claimed in opening statements that the confession was coerced and his client has an IQ bordering on retarded.

Exit: In backing away from a third run for president, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said yesterday that he could win the nomination, but not the election. “I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well-known as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee.” It was a swipe at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the current Republican leader, who isn’t an unknown just getting started. Romney had only recently tried out a new campaign line championing the poor and the middle class. It rang hollow and it appears that his supporters told him he didn’t have a chance.

Also Exiting: Facing federal corruption charges, New York’s long time Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday submitted his resignation under pressure from colleagues. He’s not resigning his assembly seat.

Knocking Heads: The NY Times analyzes a serious deterioration in the relationship between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The White House is angry over Netanyahu’s acceptance of an invitation to speak to the Republican-controlled Congress, bypassing the usual leader-to-leader relationship. The two are at odds over US/Iran nuclear negotiations. Obama plans to shun Netanyahu while he’s in the US. The Israeli prime minister is up for re-election March 17 and the Times says if Netanyahu survives relations could be chilly for the next two years.

Drachma Drama: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European leaders are dealing tough with the new leftist government of Greece, which wants to be excused from about half the country’s $360 billion debt. “Greece has already been exempt from billions by the banks. I don’t see a further debt haircut,” Merkel told a German newspaper. Greece has enough money to operate for only several months and has a $10 billion debt payment coming up.

Connect the Dots: The California Dept. of Public health reports there are now 91 cases of measles in that state in an outbreak traced back to Disneyland. The numbers are in conflict with the Centers for Disease Control, which reports 84 cases in 14 states.

Sixty-three percent of the California cases are among people over age 20.

The outbreak is bringing heat and scrutiny to the anti-vaccination movement, with some unvaccinated children being barred from public schools. Most of the cases are among unvaccinated people. The anti-vaccination movement began with a now-discredited 1998 report linking vaccines with autism.

He Inhaled: Presidential almost-candidate Jeb Bush admits that when he was a preppie at Andover Academy in Massachusetts he drank, smoked dope, and was almost kicked out for bad grades. “It was pretty common,” Bush told the Boston Globe in a profile. He graduated in 1971. Former roommate Peter Tibbetts said, “The first time I really got stoned was in Jeb’s room. He had a portable stereo with removable speakers. He put on Steppenwolf for me.” We’ve come a long way since politicians who grew up in the 60s deny they were even there.

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