Who'd have thought Terry Dean's piece two weeks ago about the hugging ban she instituted at Julian would have made such a national-no, international-splash? Nobody got this exercised when nuns used to tell kids not to dance cheek to cheek. Now everyone seems to have an opinion on the issue. Google "Julian hugging ban" and you get 117,000 hits. Below are just a few of the sites you can visit to get a sense of the nations'-make that the world's- reaction to the Julian story.

Visit us online for a link to the specific stories.

1) School cancels 'extreme hugging', Chicago Tribune

2) No Hugs Allowed at Ill.
Middle School, AP

3) Pitts: When schools jump on the hug ban-wagon, humanity suffers, The Salt Lake Tribune

4) Schools jumping on the hug ban-wagon - MSNBC

5) Oak Park school bans hugging , Chicago Sun Times

6) Oak Park School Bans Hugging, CBS2 Chicago

7) Illinois middle school bans hugs between students, Arizona Star

8) Comment page, Arizona Star

9) School cancels 'extreme hugging', Chicago Tribune

10) Streak for the right to hug your backpack, The Commonwealth Times

11) School ban on hugging not productive, Daily Illini.com

12) Educational Tidbits, The Conservative Voice

13) Principal clarifies school hugging measure, EarthTimes.org

Loose pooch nemisis passes away

The man who put an end to dogs romping freely throughout Oak Park's numerous parks, Dr. Dan Parmer, has passed away. Parmer, who was in his 70s, died August 3 after a battle with cancer.

In September, 2005, Parmer, then head of Cook County's Department of Animal and Rabies Control, sent a letter to the Park District of Oak Park ordering it to "cease and desist" allowing dogs to run off leash in village parks, pursuant to new county legislation.

Though firm in his insistence that the village- all villages, in fact- follow the law, Parmer took time to visit with park district officials and assist them in setting up parameters for properly enclosed "bark parks."

While village dog lovers may remember Parmer as the guy who made their lives more difficult, Parmer, whose career spanned five decades and who worked for the City of Chicago or Cook County for nearly 35 years, was remembered by county officials as a dedicated bureaucrat who took his job of protecting both people and animals seriously.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners honored Parmer with a resolution in January, 2006. In December of that year the Anti-Cruelty Society's honored him with the Rose Fay Thomas Special Recognition Award for his dedication to animal welfare and the advancement of humane education.

"In addition to being a great veterinarian, Dr. Parmer will be remembered as a great public servant," said a not-so-great public servant, County Board President Todd Stroger.

Actually, Wednesday Journal, which had the opportunity to sit down with the good doctor, shares that opinion.

Brick roads on hold

Contrary to what Wednesday Journal reported last week, brick streets on the 900 and 1000 blocks of Wenonah Avenue are yet to be completed.

Workers just completed utility work on those blocks, adding new sewer and water lines, and the village expects bricks to be completely laid out on Wenonah by this Thanksgiving, said Village Engineer Jim Budrick.

There are no delays or problems on the two block stretch, it's just how the village sequenced the completion of the brick streets.

Budrick said it takes a village crew, averaging around five workers, about two weeks just to lay the 75,000 bricks on each block, which is all done by hand.

The Marion Street mall, soon to be auto-accessible, will also be brick-paved, Budrick said.

There was a bit of levity-or was that just fatigue?-toward the end of the four hour Zoning Board of Appeals meeting last Wednesday that included Oak Park and River Forest High School's stadium lights application.

"You're interrupting my momentum and that's really crapping me out this late in the evening," said Steven Rouse, zoning board chairman, to the school's attorney who attempted to speak as board members were trying to schedule a meeting for public comments on the lights issue.

"This process will have taken longer than the Olympic committee in deciding where to hold the next Olympic games," one of the school's attorneys said after the board set an additional meeting for public comment.