Conshohocken

Before a development boom spurred a restaurant renaissance in Conshohocken, Totaro's was a beacon in the borough's foodie dark ages. It was serving what critics hailed as superb Italian food in a friendly neighborhood setting before the Montgomery County community changed from a mill town to a nexus of office parks, hotels, and apartments near the Schuylkill Expressway and the Blue Route. "It was our Cheers," said longtime customer Beth Holmes of Lafayette Hill, referring to the Boston-tavern setting of the old TV show.

It is a problem so obvious you wonder why it hasn't already been solved: how to deliver online orders in a way that cuts the odds of missing a delivery or having a package stolen after drop-off to an apartment lobby, stoop, or an unsecured porch. One way Americans have worked around this, as their love affair with online shopping has grown in recent years, is to have deliveries sent to the office, which requires discretion and an indulgent boss. Or they suck up the status quo, unglue missed-delivery slips from the front door, and hope that, the next time, the truck comes when someone is home.

A fire claimed the life of a 71-year-old woman and injured her husband when it tore through their Conshohocken home Saturday afternoon, police said. Firefighters and police were dispatched about 3:30 p.m. Saturday to 367 Roberts Ave. in the Conshohocken section of Whitemarsh Township, according to a press release from Whitemarsh Township Police Chief Mike Beaty. They found James Conicello, 70, at the rear of the home with burn injuries, "while extensive fire was engulfing the entire structure," the release says.

A fire claimed the life of a 71-year-old woman and injured her husband when it tore through their Conshohocken home Saturday afternoon, police said. Firefighters and police were dispatched at around 3:30 p.m. Saturday to 367 Roberts Ave in the Conshohocken section of Whitemarsh Township, according to a press release from Whitemarsh Township Police Chief Mike Beaty. They found James Conicello, 70, at the rear of the home with burn injuries, the release reads, "while extensive fire was engulfing the entire structure.

Two weeks ago, I introduced you to some Philadelphians I consider to be disruptive - innovative change agents who challenge the status quo in their respective fields. Since then, you've e-mailed me a lot of other names. Some - such as fiscal watchdog Brett Mandel and mural maven Jane Golden - are no-brainers. In a town long characterized by a go-along-to-get-along culture, they have the guts to stand up and stand out. I've been most intrigued, however, by the disrupters who have been operating below the media radar.

Michael J. Henry, 30, had one thing going for him: a clean record. His lack of a criminal past allowed him to buy guns. Andrew C. Thomas, 44, had served time for forgery. He could not legally buy firearms, but he wanted lots of them, police said. Henry, of Philadelphia, and Thomas, of Bala Cynwyd, met in April. On May 30, Henry, allegedly acting as a "straw purchaser," went to a Jeffersonville gun shop and bought a 9mm Beretta - the weapon that authorities said Thomas used five months later to kill Plymouth Township K-9 Officer Bradley Fox. Though Henry could have legally bought the gun for himself, he broke the law when he did it for Thomas, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said.

John F. DiJiosia Sr., 83, a nurseryman and landscaper who was mayor of Conshohocken from 1970 to 1978, died of cancer Monday, Sept. 3, at Montgomery Hospital. During his terms, he accompanied state and local officials to Washington to help obtain a $5.4 million urban renewal grant, son John F. Jr. said. "There was an impoverished area at the lower end of Conshohocken where the Tower Bridges are right now," he said, referring to the office complex near the Schuylkill. "At that time, there was an old movie theater, several other small shops; and they were also adjacent to very small, impoverished row homes," he said.

At the top of the creaking staircase in the century-old home on Eighth Avenue in Conshohocken, the front bedroom - Fran Crippen's room - is quiet. Spread across it are reminders, trappings of what was. A children's book about Geronimo. A little boy's cowboy boots. Collegiate swimming championship rings. Three USA Swimming "Open Water Swimmer of the Year" plaques. In open-water swimming, this second Friday of these Olympic Games was going to be Fran Crippen's day. He was determined to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

There will be no ribbon-cutting ceremony, not even a speech, Wednesday afternoon when the state Department of Transportation plans to reopen Route 23 in West Conshohocken and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County. Sometime before 5, crews will simply take down the barriers, letting the 15,500 daily drivers who have coped with yearlong detours stream through. "We don't want to keep it closed one minute more than we have to," said PennDot spokesman Eugene J. Blaum. The reopening is not being ballyhooed because the botheration is not over.

On Tuesday, IKEA officially plugged in rooftop solar arrays at three regional facilities – stores in Conshohocken and South Philadelphia, plus its U.S. service center in Conshohocken. The arrays have a total of 9,198 panels and are expected to generate 2,654,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, the equivalent of powering 228 homes. The savings in carbon dioxide emissions is expected to be the equivalent of removing 359 cars from the road. IKEA has now installed solar at 29 of its U.S. facilities, with installations under way at 10 more, according to the company.