Conshohocken

The grand opening of Wilhelmina Philadelphia included telltale signs of a big-league modeling agency: golf ball-sized shrimp, a nicely styled runway presentation, and local fashionistas preening front and center. But there was something small-town about the late June soiree at Trust, an Old City hot spot. Maybe it was the way Wilhelmina local owner Kelli Walters (to the horror of spectators) butchered the pronunciation of red-carpet design duo Badgley Mischka. Or maybe it was the models who unsteadily teetered down the runway.

There are plenty of myths surrounding retirement. Let's examine one of the biggies. Myth: Take your age and subtract it from 100: The remaining amount is the percentage you should have invested in stocks. Fact: Americans are living so much longer, in some cases well into their 80s, so that old axiom no longer works. Now that we've cleared that up, how should you allocate among stocks, bonds, and alternatives if you are 5, 10, or 20 years or more from retirement? That asset allocation depends not on when you are retiring, but on how long you expect to live, local advisers say. And Americans are living so much longer than they - or their financial planners - expected, that among the chief worries now is outliving assets.

Authorities in Montgomery County are investigating the possibility that Catherine Kelly, the Conshohocken woman found dead in the Schuylkill on Wednesday morning, got there by sleepwalking, her priest, family, and the county coroner confirmed late Thursday. Kelly, 72, died from drowning, Coroner Walter I. Hofman ruled Thursday. He termed the ruling provisional until Whitemarsh Township police complete their investigation. Hofman and family members said Kelly had narcolepsy, which causes excessive sleepiness and daytime sleep attacks.

Dozens of silent watchers, working for corporations that want to learn about you so they can sell you things, track you when you go online. Why does America tolerate all that spying? "Consumers are concerned about their privacy and about being tracked online. But the commission recognizes that a lot of content is advertising-supported, and advertising is tracking-supported," says Peder Magee, a senior staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission who specializes in "behavioral advertising" policy.

Champagne corks popped in John F. Nugent's office in Conshohocken when word arrived from U.S. Rep. Lawrence Coughlin that the borough had received two Urban Development Action Grants totaling $6.47 million. A grant of $5,725,000 will help finance a 320-bed hotel proposed by the Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp. for a site in West Conshohocken. A second grant of $750,000 will be used to build an office/warehouse for the Raymond Rosen Co. in Conshohocken. The borough's slice of the UDAG funds awarded Thursday represented 27 percent of the $24 million total distributed to economically distressed communities throughout the nation.

It started six months ago as an innocuous idea to transfer 27 elementary- school children from Ridge Park to Conshohocken. It ended last Thursday with a emotionally charged decision by the Colonial school board to close Conshohocken Elementary and reshuffle 297 students after this school year. It began in November, when administrators in the Colonial School District realized that the rapid population growth at Ridge Park was going to be a problem next school year. To keep class sizes down to a tolerable level of 24, the logical solution seemed to be transferring an "extra" 27 students from Ridge Park to Conshohocken, where there was plenty of room.

Down the street from a lumberyard and a converted textile mill, Billy Cunningham's Court on Front Street in West Conshohocken looks more like a chic Center City bistro than a working-class neighborhood tavern. Waiters in white shirts and suspenders serve drinks against a backdrop of oak paneling, hanging green light shades and ornately framed mirrors. The clientele leans heavily toward young, urban professionals. And that is just what he had hoped, said Cunningham, the former 76ers player and coach, explaining that he is investing in the future of the small borough on the Schuylkill.

James Joseph Mullen, a Conshohocken Borough councilman, has been charged with drunken driving in Upper Merion Township. Township police said Mullen, 53, of the 100 block of East Ninth Avenue in Conshohocken, was stopped about 9:45 p.m. Monday after police saw him drive through a red light while traveling south on North Gulph Road at First Avenue. Mullen failed three field sobriety tests and was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital in Norristown, where a blood test found his blood-alcohol level to be 0.15 percent, according to a police report.

AON Corp., a Chicago-based insurance holding company, said yesterday that it had agreed to purchase Miller, Mason & Dickenson Inc., an employee-benefits consulting firm based in Conshohocken. Terms of the proposed acquisition were not disclosed. Miller, Mason & Dickenson, founded about 30 years ago, employs approximately 200 people in Conshohocken and at offices in Dallas, Chicago and Detroit. Miller Mason's principals are Richard Scott and Melville Dickenson, Scott said yesterday.

William M. Mascio Sr., who won an upset victory to become mayor of Conshohocken last year after being heavily involved in efforts to redevelop the borough, died yesterday at Sacred Heart Hospital in Norristown after a short illness. He was 59. Mr. Mascio, a Democrat and former member of the Borough Council, upset incumbent Mayor Francis Ruggierio in November. Mr. Ruggierio, a Republican, had been mayor for more than a decade. Mr. Mascio said during his campaign that the borough's future lay in developing the riverfront, and that he had the experience and skills to work with borough officials to guide the growth.