It's a start! Even if it's a small one... Pope Francis, for the first time, publicly sought forgiveness from the thousands of people molested and abused over several decades by Roman Catholic clergy. Previously, the pope had been thin with his contrition—and it's still a long way from acknowledging the systemic coverups in the church hierarchy that allowed the abuse to flourish.

Satellites don't lie, right? New pictures obtained by NATO show the makings of a fearsome Russian invasion force—jets, tanks, and 40,000 soldiers—massing outside Ukraine's border. Russia just grinned at the news and said it would only ever invade to protect ethnic Russians. From the disturbances and unrest its own saboteurs are fomenting.

Death and flames have horribly marred a school field trip in California. A FedEx truck, for reasons still unknown, veered across a grassy median on Interstate 5 and struck a school bus ferrying kids from Los Angeles to Humboldt State. Ten people died in the mass of explosions—five students, three chaperones, and both drivers—with 30 more injured.

He was one of two hostages who tried fleeing his butcher-knife-wielding West Hollywood neighbor when the cops knocked on the door. But the deputies he surprised mistakenly thought he was the attacker. They wound up shooting him dead.

Hideously negative advertising, spewing from the big money sewer pipe affixed to the ample backside of the Koch Brothers' business empire, is not surprisingly swamping and smearing Democrats looking to hold their thin governing majority in the US Senate.

Most of the immigrants who were deported last year were young men from Mexico—with half between ages 15 and 30. What's that mean? Policy changes meant to shift the deportation apparatus away from young people who'd been brought over by their parents clearly haven't taken root yet.

The bureaucrat obviously planted by Republicans to ruin Obamacare from the inside, Kathleen Sebelius, has resigned in disgrace after it turned out the government not only hit, but also surpassed, its enrollment targets. The president has appointed a loyalist, his budget director, as his replacement secretary of health and human services.

Meanwhile, in Oregon! A firm usually called in to "turn around" listing and bankrupt companies has now been brought in to manage Cover Oregon. They're considered good at what they do, because they have success rate as high as 50 percent!

Oh, and also? Did anyone else not realize 911 went down—as in failed—in Oregon and Washington for several hours yesterday morning?

The family of a man who died in a drunken fight with a co-worker is suing the man he scrummed with—as well as the Portland police officer who responded to the clash and is accused of making things worse by indiscriminately using his Taser and pepper-spray.

SOMEONE IN LAS VEGAS THREW A SHOE AT HILLARY CLINTON. SHE MISSED.