Nation: Senate Republicans blocked a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, saying a hike would slow the economy and force employers to shed hundreds of thousands of jobs. The federal minimum is now $7.25. But Sen. Senator Michael Bennet, D- Colo., said, “Right now, if you work 40 hours a week in America, in the greatest country in the world, at a federal minimum wage, you make barely over $15,000 a year. Think about how crazy that is.”

>Rail tankers carrying crude oil derailed and caught fire on the banks of the James River in Virginia yesterday. Some oil leaked into the river. Transportation of crude by rail has caused increasing concern after several accidents in the past year. Last July a derailed oil train exploded killing 47 people in a small town in Quebec.

>The Pentagon says reports of sexually assault in the military have increased 50 percent since the beginning of efforts to get more victims to come forward. The general in charge says there’s no reason to believe the increase in reporting represents an increase in sexual assaults.

Blast: Two inmates were killed and about 100 injured in an apparent gas explosion inside a Pensacola, Fla. jail. About 600 people were in the building. Authorities attribute the gas leak to flooding caused by nearly two feet of rain.

Storms have spread north. There’s flooding in Queens and a collapse in Baltimore swallowed cars.

High Finance: The Dow Jones closed at a record high of 16,580 yesterday. Although first quarter economic growth was reported to be slow, the Federal Reserve predicts faster growth and announced it is once again cutting its stimulus bond buying by another $10 billion a month, dropping to $45 billion. The Dow is off a little this morning.

Gone Girls: Anger and frustration are rising in Nigeria over the abduction two weeks ago of 230 schoolgirls by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram. About 500 protesters, mostly women, marched in the Nigerian capital demanding government action. The girls were taken from a boarding school by the rebel group that opposes Western education. A few of the girls managed to escape, but reports from Nigeria say some of the girls still in captivity may have been sold into marriages.

The Troubles: Police in Northern Ireland arrested long time Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in connection with the 1972 abduction and murder of a Belfast widow. Jean McConville, a 38-year-old mother of 10, was killed by the Irish Republican Army as a suspected spy for the British. Sinn Fein is the political wing of the Irish Republican movement and Adams, 65, has always claimed he was never a part of violence. Adams was implicated by two IRA veterans who said he ordered the killing.

The Ferry: A video posted by the NY Times shows the last moments of South Korean high school students aboard the stricken ferry. The video starts with joking and a reference to the Titanic. One student is ribbed for putting on a life jacket. Then the remarks get serious as the kids leave final messages.

“We’re all finished. I have to leave some farewell words before I die,” one says.

“Mom, I love you,” says another.

Roundup: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is taking a leave of absence to get help for substance abuse; The toxicology report says Peaches Geldof had heroin in her system when she died; Malaysia Airlines has asked the families of passengers missing on Flight 370 to leave the hotels the airline is paying for; In a bid for publicity the owner of Nevada’s famed Bunny Ranch has put a lifetime ban on LA Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling.

It seems extreme. They could have just revoked his senior discount.

-30-