Nation: Actor and Comedian Tracy Morgan is in critical condition after a fatal car accident on the New Jersey Turnpike early this morning. Morgan had done a standup routine and was returning to New York on a limousine bus when it rolled over about 1 am near Cranbury Township. A pileup of vehicles included Morgan’s limo bus, two tractor-trailers, an SUV, and two cars. The turnpike was closed for five hours after the accident. Morgan, 45, was a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” and a central character on the Tina Fey series “30 Rock.”

World: The leading candidate in Afghanistan’s runoff presidential runoff election was unhurt yesterday in a suicide bombing that killed six people and wounded 22. A suicide bomber and a second explosion hit Abdullah Abdullah’s convoy, killing one of his bodyguards and several civilians. Abdullah appeared later on live television and continued his campaign.

>Billionaire Petro Poroshenko took the oath of office today to become Ukraine’s new president, defying Russia saying he would never give up on Ukraine and would continue to seek closer ties with Europe. Poroshenko said in his speech, “Citizens of Ukraine will never enjoy the beauty of peace unless we settle our relations with Russia. Russia occupied Crimea, which was, is, and will be, Ukrainian soil.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a tightening of security on the border with Ukraine to prevent people from crossing illegally a day after meeting with European leaders in France. That would put a crimp on separatist fighters coming from Russia.

Drumbeat: As state bans fall like dominoes, a federal judge in Wisconsin yesterday struck down that state’s ban on same-sex marriage. US District Court Judge Barbara Crab said the issue was simply whether same-sex couples were equally capable of having a loving relationship and raising children. In her decision she said, “This case is not about whether marriages between same-sex couples are consistent or inconsistent with the teachings of a particular religion, whether such marriages are moral or immoral or whether they are something that should be encouraged or discouraged.”

The Wisconsin attorney general said he will appeal.

The Obit Page: Feminist lawyer Karen DeCrow, who led the National Organization for Women in the 1970s, famously breaking down the men only rule at McSorley’s Old Ale House in New York, has died of melanoma at age 76. DeCrow fought to get women into Ivy League schools, little girls into Little League baseball, and pressed for the Equal Rights Amendment.

Post Time: Hopes are high for California Chrome, set to start at the number two post in the mile and a half Belmont Stakes today. If he wins he’ll be only the 12^th winner in history of horse racing’s Triple Crown. The Belmont is the longest and toughest of the 5-week Triple Crown series. Chrome has won six straight races, but the last Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978.

Social Notes: Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore is in a nasty divorce from his wife of 23 years, fighting over several homes, a vacation mansion, a New York Condo, and even the quilts made by his wife Kathleen Glynn. Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith have filed for divorce after 18 years of marriage. Banderas married the perky Griffith but woke up one day years later with a complete stranger in the bed.

Bookbeat: Presidential probable candidate Hillary Clinton is about to publish a 600-page tome about her stint as Secretary of State. According to early critiques, in brief, her leadership of foreign policy and advice to President Obama was almost always spot on. Clinton does say she made a mistake as a US Senator voting in favor of the Iraq war. She says in the book she has not decided whether she will run, but publishing a political manifesto has become standard for candidates getting reading to declare for president. Did we say it’s 600 pages?

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