Joe Conti

Voters will be choosing between a Republican township supervisor and a Democratic political newcomer in the Nov. 2 special election for the vacant 143d state House seat. A third candidate from the newly formed Conservation Party hopes to gain enough signatures to get his name on the ballot. In a district where the Republicans hold a more than 2-to-1 voter- registration advantage, GOP candidate Joe Conti comes from the most populated area and his family is well-known. Conti, a Doylestown Township supervisor, has risen through the ranks of the Republican Party in central Bucks County.

With nearly $1.7 billion in sales, 4,500 employees and 643 stores, the government-controlled monopoly of wine and liquor is a mega enterprise. Now, for the first time, is has a CEO. Former Sen. Joe Conti will start Monday as chief executive of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board - a $150,000-a-year job approved yesterday over the pointed objections of its chairman. "I firmly believe this was a bad idea. I believe in good government," said Jonathan Newman, who criticized the Rendell administration for rushing the appointment without public scrutiny or a nationwide search.

State Rep. Joe Conti was on his way to an easy win for a state Senate seat, rolling over a well-seasoned opponent in a three-way race. In early returns, Conti, a Republican, was leading both Democrat Karen Ritter and Constitutional Party candidate Jay Russell by at least a 2-1 ratio in yesterday's election, which means he will finish the remaining year of the 10th District Senate seat vacated by David Heckler. "I am humbled by the victory, humbled by the support of the electorate," said Conti, who will be the only "freshman" senate member.

The Democratic and Republican candidates for the 10th State Senatorial District, which stretches from Durham Township in Upper Bucks County to Newtown in Central Bucks, both have political experience, street smarts and moxie. Tuesday, they'll find out which won voters' hearts. Democrat Karen Ritter was state representative for Lehigh County from 1986 to 1994, a member of the Allentown City Council from 1982 to 1986, and a onetime candidate for lieutenant governor. The 44-year-old has since relocated with her husband to Milford Township and has put a platform together that includes real estate tax reform, victims' rights, school reform in the form of higher state standards for students, and concern about the proposed Route 202 bypass, which she says "needs further study.

Wanted: Republican social moderate to balance Pennsylvania's 2002 gubernatorial ticket featuring conservative westerner. Firm handshake, penchant for baby-kissing a plus. With the election nearly a year away, the search is on for a lieutenant-governor candidate, and Harrisburg is already abuzz about who will be on the ticket. Bucks County has two options for the No. 2 spot: State Sens. Robert "Tommy" Tomlinson, representing the Sixth District, and Joe Conti, representing the 10th.

Out of a job for only two weeks, former State Sen. Joe Conti today will be named chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, a newly created $150,000-a-year post with the nation's largest buyer of wine and spirits. The Rendell administration pushed the appointment of the Bucks County Republican, calling him perfect for the job. Yet the news was immediately met with outrage by the LCB chairman. "This is not transparency in public government," said Jonathan Newman, adding that he learned of Conti's hiring when Rendell's office gave him a job description for the new position at 3 p.m. yesterday.

WINE aficionados like to describe a fine wine as having the aroma of wild strawberries, or ripe peaches, perhaps with tobacco undertones, or citrus, or some such nonsense. But as a wine consumer, I think Gov. Rendell's naming of ex-State Sen. Joe Conti to be CEO of the state Liquor Control Board smells of something else: the stink of Harrisburg deal-making. The odor was enough to make Jonathan Newman, LCB chairman since 2002, resign in protest. They say that no good deed goes unpunished, and Jon Newman is a perfect example.

When State Rep. Joe Conti delivers his farewell address to fellow legislators in Harrisburg at 1 p.m. Nov. 24 and one hour later is sworn in as a state senator representing most of central and Upper Bucks County, he will be marking a break in, not the end of, a five-year campaigning streak. Despite his victory in last week's election, Conti still must run for his first full term as a state senator in next year's primary, and then again in the general election. "It's just one continuous campaign," said the central Bucks Republican, who by the end of next year will have run for the state Senate twice and for the state House three times - and that does not include primaries.

It's sorry for not puttin' a foot in your mouth Subway is apologizing that its "Footlong" sandwiches fell short of expectations. The world's largest fast-food chain faced widespread criticism last week after a man posted a photo online showing a "Footlong" next to a tape measure that showed the sandwich to be just 11 inches. Subway said Friday that it's redoubling efforts to "ensure consistency and correct length" in all its sandwiches. In a statement Friday, Subway expressed "regret" for "any instance where we did not fully deliver on our promise to our customers.

In at least one respect, Joe Conti, the (sort of) outgoing head of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, is the perfect man for the job: We can't seem to get rid of the LCB, and we can't seem to get rid of Conti, either. Conti is serving his last week as the alcohol monopoly's CEO, but he and the agency have already seen to it that his retirement party will presage a throbbing hangover. Two weeks after he leaves his $156,000-a-year post, The Inquirer reported last week, Conti will be eligible to return as a very costly temp.

It's sorry for not puttin' a foot in your mouth Subway is apologizing that its "Footlong" sandwiches fell short of expectations. The world's largest fast-food chain faced widespread criticism last week after a man posted a photo online showing a "Footlong" next to a tape measure that showed the sandwich to be just 11 inches. Subway said Friday that it's redoubling efforts to "ensure consistency and correct length" in all its sandwiches. In a statement Friday, Subway expressed "regret" for "any instance where we did not fully deliver on our promise to our customers.

HARRISBURG - The chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is resigning his $156,000 post, even as Gov. Corbett prepares to make his most aggressive move yet to privatize the wine and liquor stores it runs. Joe Conti's letter of resignation was submitted Friday, according to a lawyer who is familiar with his decision and spoke on condition of anonymity. The lawyer said the LCB had agreed to let Conti return on a contractual basis temporarily to assist with the transition to a new chief executive.

Only in Pennsylvania would an effort to privatize an archaic state-run liquor system dry up the same week public officials got caught accepting gifts from vendors and using wine as a weapon. Lording over who gets to buy Yuengling when, where, and in what quantity has been a nonstop party for political heavyweights. Underage drinkers plan their beer bashes via text messages, but officials at the Liquor Control Board are so drunk with power, they use state e-mail servers. Thanks to the Inspector General's Office, we now know that VIPs at the PLCB go to Phillies and Union games for free.

HARRISBURG — The push to privatize liquor sales in Pennsylvania is on the rocks — for now. House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, privatization's champion in the legislature, conceded Tuesday that he did not have enough support in the House to get the measure approved before lawmakers' summer break. He vowed to try again this fall. "Right now, we can't get it over the goal line," said Turzai (R., Allegheny). "Consumers are expecting it. But to get to the sweet spot to garner the support in the House is going to take additional work.

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's wine kiosk era quietly went off-line Tuesday morning. That is when officials from the state Liquor Control Board made the last call to pull the plug on the remaining 21 wine vending machines in supermarkets scattered across the state. The reason: a dispute over money with Simple Brands L.L.C., the Conshohocken company that owns the machines. The LCB contends that Simple Brands owes nearly $1 million for expenses incurred setting up the kiosk program.

HARRISBURG - The state Liquor Control Board's one-year experiment with wine kiosks may soon be coming to an end at a supermarket near you. The LCB claims the Conshohocken-based contractor that provided the kiosks owes the state nearly $1 million. The contractor disputes this. But the liquor board has warned that if its differences with Simple Brands L.L.C. can't be resolved within the next 45 days, it will "cease all kiosk operations," according to letters between the board and the company obtained by The Inquirer.

All 20-plus employees of the Liquor Control Board's warehouse store in South Philadelphia - the state's largest - were dismissed Friday over what the LCB's chief executive called "widespread financial irregularities. " Joe Conti declined Monday to specify the nature of the allegations that followed an internal audit several months ago, pending further investigation. Sources said workers at the low-slung warehouse at 23d Street and Washington Avenue in Point Breeze - at which many of the region's bars and restaurants buy wine and spirits - were suspected of selling products to some regular customers in a fashion that was off the books.

CHUCK Stone was legendary in these pages for, among other things, his role as the man to whom fugitives would turn when they were ready to submit to authorities. My goals aren't so lofty. I'd be content to play peacemaker between a prodigal wine-lover and his former employer in an effort to expand the selection available to those of us who like to imbibe here in Pennsylvania. I think I'm well- suited to play King Solomon. Jonathan Newman was a law-school classmate of mine at Penn.

In his official capacity as CEO of the state Liquor Control Board, Joe Conti cannot talk business with members of the Senate until the end of November - his one-year anniversary of leaving the upper chamber, according to an opinion yesterday by the state Ethics Commission. But Conti, a Bucks County Republican who served nine years in the Senate, can socialize with his former colleagues and continue renting a portion of a Harrisburg home from a senator, the commission said. "It's clear that I will have to be very careful with interaction," Conti said moments after the ethics panel voted unanimously on the opinion.