FWIW ... I removed the "Featured Post" status on 1 of my 6 Featured Posts and for right now anyway it's working the way I like (it scrolls through banner photos of my 5 featured posts). This is a sad hack work around and presumes I'll never write another awesome (i.e., Featured) post. Still interested in hearing from any and all 7.0 Bedford blogging experts. Oh, and I even added an (imperfect FEATURED menu link that just links to /blog.