* Elk Grove Village drops legal challenge of O’Hare expansion

* Elk Grove Throws In The Towel

* Minnesota rips Illinois tollway about drivers it says were unfairly ticketed

* Minnesota Attorney General Asks Illinois Tollway to Hold Off on Tickets

* Minn. To Ill.: Stop Sending Tickets To Our Drivers

* Metro Chicago unemployment up to 9.3%

* City to use federal cash to buy, fix, sell foreclosed home

* Marketers, corporations offer to soften blow for unemployed

* Jewel to slash prices on groceries

* Which way are state, local economies likely to go?

* Empress’s icons come tumbling down

* Burned Joliet casino pavilion demolished

* PJSTAR: May shared gains follow the pain when Cat recovers

* Ford posts $1.4 billion 1Q loss, burns less cash

* Robberies on CTA trains, buses and L platforms rise sharply in 2009

* A Story About Potholes and What Can Be Done About Them

* Making the tough call to Fran Spielman, Sun-Times City Hall reporter who’s receving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Headline Club

* Chicago Marathon registration hits 45,000

* Blagojevich critic gets his turn at WLS mic

That will be an advantage, said a nervous state Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat, who follows in the footsteps of impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich this morning by co-hosting a radio show on WLS-AM.

“I would not even be close on that one,” Franks said of a contest between Blagojevich’s famous do and Franks’ sometimes less than perfectly coifed silver mane.

Franks fills in from 9 to 11 a.m. for the vacationing Pat Cassidy on the “Mancow and Cassidy” show. While Franks has been on the radio many times during his decade as state representative, this morning he’ll be on the air with Erich “Mancow” Muller.

* Thousands of pigs killed in farm fire

* Bean calls for investigation into pharmaceuticals in drinking water

* Liberal group aims at Biggert

* Class-action lawsuit filed over water

* Crestwood no place for environmentalists

* Daley praises Maggie’s resolve in battle with cancer