Conshohocken

As former mill towns fallen on hard times, Conshohocken and its companion borough, West Conshohocken, have somewhat of an inferiority complex alongside their more affluent Montgomery County neighbors. But Thursday was their day in the sun - and a very hot sun it was. Sheltered from the heat by a bright yellow-and-white tent, up to 500 invited guests gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking on the site of One Tower Bridge, a $40 million, 14-story office complex being built by Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp.

St. Catherine Labouré Medical Clinic , which provides health care for uninsured adults who do not qualify for medical assistance or welfare, has named the following to its board:   John Scanlon , chief medical officer and chief of podiatric medicine and surgery at Chestnut Hill Hospital.   Ilene Warner-Maron , a practicing nurse and specialist in gerontology who is an assistant professor at St. Joseph's University.   Maureen Pié-Bruno , a practicing attorney who is a lecturer in sociology at Thomas Jefferson University.

Talks between the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 14 and Conshohocken Borough Council have broken off, and a new contract will be decided by binding arbitration, officials said early this week. The police union and the borough failed to reach a labor agreement before the contract expired New Year's Eve. Police were working under the terms of that contract. If a pay raise is awarded, it will be retroactive to Jan. 1. "We don't like going to arbitration," said Sgt. Francis D. Ruggiero, a member of the police negotiating team.

Eight candidates with different opinions about the future of Conshohocken are vying for four seats on the Borough Council, and they offer the electorate a clear choice: The voters will decide Nov. 3 whether they will be better served by seasoned politicians who have experience reviewing development plans and policy, or whether new people with fresh ideas are needed. "The town has gone from a blue-collar and factory town. . . . It's undergoing what appears to be not just urban renewal but a massive definition of the town itself," said Richard M. Connelly, a Republican who is challenging Ward 7 Democratic incumbent James J. Mullen.

A 23-year-old Conshohocken woman was listed in critical condition early today after she was shot in the face last night by a gunman who accosted her as she was closing a supermarket where she worked in Whitemarsh Township, police said. Her assailant then stole a car from outside a nearby tavern, but crashed the car a short distance away and fled on foot. Police were searching for him late last night. Whitemarsh police Sgt. Jesse Stemple said the victim, Karolyn Glisson, was getting ready to leave the Top Shelf supermarket at Germantown Pike and Crescent Avenue in Lafayette Hill at 7:26 last night when the man entered the store and shot her. Stemple said there was no relationship between the victim and the assailant, but would not say whether Glisson knew her attacker.

About 200 Conshohocken residents packed the Washington Fire House on Wednesday night to speak for and against a proposed Wawa store on Fayette Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. It was the third and final public hearing on the proposal, which opponents say would exacerbate traffic and ruin the small-town character of Conshohocken. At issue is a proposed amendment to the borough charter to allow the Wawa at a site zoned for office and residential uses. The Borough Council will vote on the proposed amendment April 17. Planners for the borough and Montgomery County have recommended rejecting the plan.

A week after the death of Conshohocken Mayor William M. Mascio Sr., an emotional political battle has erupted over who will replace him. Mascio's supporters say that last weekend, as borough residents lined Fayette Street waiting to pay their respects to the late Democratic mayor at St. Matthew Church, Republican council members already were working behind the scenes to return Francis J. Ruggiero, whom Mascio had defeated last year, to the office...

Being in the right place at the right time is an important part of landing a job, but matching a person's skills with an employer's needs is the real key, says Lori L. Colasanti. The essential element in a job search is evaluating a person's qualifications and career needs, said Colasanti, executive director of the Greater Conshohocken Job Exchange, a nonprofit organization that matches job applicants with interested employers. "I'll spend time on the phone with the applicant, deciding what they're looking for in a job," she said.

Call it a misunderstanding between the written word and the spoken word; the difference between a signature and a handshake. Conshohocken police are unhappy that two provisions agreed to at the bargaining table were not included when the written, two-year contract was prepared. Although council members have verbally agreed to the provisions - and they have been in effect since January 1987 - the council has refused to put them in the contract. Police last week filed suit in Montgomery County Court seeking an order to force the council to include the items and sign the contract.

William M. Mascio, a Democratic candidate in the Conshohocken mayoral primary, sees the job as a way to become even more involved in the borough's renewal. Mascio, a member of the borough Planning Commission and former councilman, expects that the redevelopment will do more than generate sorely needed revenue. Once the riverfront becomes a business hub, the town's daughters and sons "will feel proud enough to say they are from Conshohocken," he said. His Republican opponent, Francis Ruggierio, entrenched in his 11th year as mayor, says the race is without issues.