Linux Mint 17 synoptic package manager crashes ...

[joe at actionline.com]

When I try to open the Linux Mint 17 synaptic
package manager, it displays the error messages
shown below, and when I close that error message
pop-up, synaptic closes.

E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList
/var/lib/apt/lists/dl.google.com_linux_chrome_deb_dists_stable_main_binary-i386_Packages
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

What can I do to fix this?