* Great Wall Street Journal article on Amtrak featuring Illinois’ Lincoln Service

* City Hall still not following anti-patronage rules, monitor says

A year after submitting a blueprint to clean up its scandal-plagued hiring system, the city has “failed to comply” with parts of its own plan, city hiring monitor Noelle Brennan said in a report filed in federal court.

* Some of Burke’s war chest may violate ethics law

* Judge grants Fast Eddie’s slow motion

* More cost-cuts to follow Sun Times’ gloomy Q2

* O’Hare-area demolitions may proceed in Bensenville, judge rules

* South Side Residents Launch Campaign to Demand Protection for Homes and Jobs

* Cindy Bischof’s legacy

* Lincoln event slated at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home

* State fair kicks off with Twilight Parade

* Did gov skip parade of hecklers?

“I just don’t think he’d have been well-accepted at all,” Poe said. “… When you treat a county like he has treated Sangamon County, it’s pretty hard to get any respect.”

* State Fair parade video

* And the Spammiest State Is…

* Rolling Stones classic wakes grandfather from coma

* Cavaletto Signs No-New-Tax Pledge

“People down here need to know they can count on their elected representative to stand up for them against tax-and-spend Democrat policies,” said Cavaletto. “As your State Representative, I will vote against any income tax, sales tax or other tax increase on families and area businesses.”

* URF’s 8 in 08 Gary Dahl: State Senator for the 38th

* Politicians running for 59th Senate seat say nay to raises

* Sen. Brady:Members of health board should be terminated

“… We cannot pretend to reform the health-care planning process in Illinois without replacing the executive secretary who steered it during a time when we now know its activities reeked of corruption.”

* Local gun rights advocate speaks to Rotarians

* AT&T’s PEG System fails to comply with Illinois law

* Illinois state parks in dire straits

* Our opinion: Blagojevich’s bill rewrite harms state

* Governor: Coal is ‘Comeback Kid’

“As the nation searches feverishly for clean, affordable, secure sources of fuel, coal is the Comeback Kid of the energy game.”

* A Failed Governor, Failing Illinois

* It’s the Election, Stupid

* Polling: A Greater Margin for Error

* Average Joes struggle to be heard as campaign system favors the rich

* Congressional candidates rake in millions

* Measuring the Oprah Effect: 1,000,000 Votes

According to a study by university economists Craig Garthwaite and Tim Moore, it added about 1,000,000 votes to Obama’s column in the contested primary battle.

* Friday Beer Blogging: Stag Edtion