Darko, you are a genius! The Devil sure does lurk in the details. And I miss him every time!!!
The problem was my omission in bold italics below in case anyone else is head scratching over this too!!!
Thanks again.
$ADMIN->add( 'local_myplugin', new admin_externalpage( 'local_myplugin_index', new lang_string('pluginname', 'local_myplugin'), new moodle_url('/local/myplugin/index.php'), 'local/myplugin:view' ) ); $ADMIN->add( 'local_myplugin', new admin_externalpage( 'local_myplugin_admin', new lang_string('settings', 'local_myplugin'), new moodle_url('/local/myplugin/mypluginsettings.php'), 'local/myplugin:view' ) );