Nearby Franklin Park is considering a memorial to lionized scientist Dr. Percy Julian, roughly marking the location where Julian Laboratories once stood on Grand Avenue. Julian opened the facility, which was torn down some years back, in 1953, and many of his patents came out the scientific work he and his diverse staff conducted there. Julian sold the company in 1960.

According to an April 1 article in the Chicago Tribune, thanks to publicity generated by the recent NOVA documentary, Forgotten Genius, there is a movement to put an "etched concrete portrait among a pantheon of Franklin Park historical figures proposed for the north side of the underpass that will run through the laboratory grounds."

If they can raise enough money for the memorial, the ribbon-cutting will take place in May during the suburb's annual Railroad Days celebration.

Meanwhile, back in Oak Park, where Julian lived the last quarter century of his life, the main branch library will host showings of the PBS documentary on April 11, the 108th anniversary of Julian's birth. The program will be shown at 10 a.m., followed by a discussion. Two 30-minute versions will also be shown at 3:30 and 7 p.m. that day.

Make that 'Shooter'

"For a brief moment last week," Kevin Peppard wrote us recently with glee, "I thought we had yet another nutty election issue in Oak Park. Had the Lake Theatre converted into a porno house? Was it showing a movie about a bare-breasted Amazon woman who had just one (the better for shooting arrows)? It turns out it was just an ad with a typo in this newspaper for the movie Shooter, where the 'S' was left out.

"It is rumored that several people got their money back using the Lake's own policy, after leaving within the first 30 minutes. They were seen walking away in their trench coats, fedoras, and dark glasses. At least that's one issue we won't have to face on April 17, in an otherwise nutty election."

OK, we do, on rare occasions, print mistakes around here, and admittedly, this one was a hoot(er). The Lake Theatre dropped the first letter of the Rambo-style, orgy of righteous vengeance, "Shooter," in their page 15 ad. Fortunately, they didn't attached the lopped "s" to the end of the title, which might have led to charges of copyright infringement from the fine dining chain featuring ... well, let's not go there.

Now if the title of this Mark Wahlberg epic had included the article "The," it would have ended up HE SHOOTER and we would only have been accused of poor grammar.

We apologize for the raised (and dashed) expectations.

Conservatives for Rossiter?

Wednesday Journal's endorsements are all well and good (see page 29), but the really interesting endorsements were issued by the Oak Park Conservatives, "A community of news, opinions, discussion and resources for Oak Park & River Forest conservatives" on their website (OakParkGOP.org). For District 200, they chose Ralph Lee and Sharon Patchak Layman. For village trustee (four-year terms), they liked the NLP slate of Barbara Dolan, Harvey Lyon, and Mary Shiffer, and for the two-year term, VCA candidate Annabel Abraham. But it was the library endorsements that really caught our attention-Elizabeth Guillette and Charles Rossiter. Charlie Rossiter is about as far from conservative as one could imagine-not that most of the rest of this group falls much closer on the political spectrum. Apparently the pickings are slim for the local GOP. We're not sure how valuable conservative backing might prove for these candidates, but we're pretty sure Rossiter's supporters are getting a good laugh out of it.

Snuggling up with Mugglenet

The visit to Oak Park by Mugglenet creator Emerson Spartz engendered plenty of play in the Chicago Tribune as it made Monday's "Social Page" in Tempo. Lots of photos at Pleasant Home, where the Magic Tree Bookstore-sponsored event took place. Spartz, a Notre Dame University student, started the Harry Potter-inspired website when he was 12, and now he's something of a celebrity, it would seem, among those passionful about Potter. Among the muggle mugs featured on the page were Magic Tree proprietors Iris Yipp and Rose Joseph, Matthew Coffman, Chance Max and Georgia Kmetz, Anna Kleinkuehn and Mindy Ganser, Kevin and Bridget Sullivan, Katie and Dick Bunsold, Charlie Weissglass, and Cressie, Abby and Gennie Stegner-Freitag.

According to the Trib report, approximately 100 fans attended. A lot more will likely show up in these parts come July 21 when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is released. Brace yourself.

Trader Joe's eyes '08 opening

Trader Joe's, the specialty grocer that will occupy the first floor of the Whiteco building under construction at Harlem Avenue and Ontario Street, plans to open in the first quarter of 2008, said Adam Mutolo, the company's regional vice president.

Mutolo told the Liquor Control Review Board last week that the grocer's opening date depends on construction. Board members told Mutolo they liked what they saw in Trader Joe's application for a C-2 liquor license and asked for more information.

Mutolo said a wine and beer section would occupy approximately one-fifth of the store and could be cordoned off when liquor is not sold during business hours. Trader Joe's carries numerous private and "control" label wines, including the Charles Shaw label commonly known as "Two-Buck Chuck." In Illinois, the wines sell for $3 and become "Three-Buck Chuck." Control labels are wines exclusively sold by Trader Joe's but do not bear the grocer's name.

The grocery's staff will be required to ask for ID from customers who might be underage and enter it into the register during checkout. To ensure compliance with its ID-checking policies, the company has sent young-looking (but older than 21) customers into stores to buy alcohol, Mutolo said.

The 10,500-square-foot store will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Trader Joe's has approximately 280 stores in 23 states.

Madison Street Wendy's plans unique look

Owners of the Wendy's at Harlem Avenue and Madison Street plan to rebuild the fast-food restaurant, reorienting it to Madison and giving the building and surrounding landscaping a look unique to Oak Park.

The village board referred the redevelopment plans to the Zoning Board of Appeals because drive-thru windows require a special-use permit. The board also referred the plan to the Forestry Commission to review the landscaping; to the Community Design Commission to work with Wendy's to produce the most attractive signs, lighting and building possible; and to the Madison Street Coalition to ensure the new restaurant fits with the Madison Street corridor plan.