Limo

IT MAY HAVE been a slow Election Day in Philadelphia yesterday, but there still were a couple of dirty dealings out in the streets. And Republican controller candidate Al Schmidt learned that in this town, you can't trust anybody. Not even your own party. In at least two divisions in the 31st Ward - in the lower Northeast - Republican committee people were handing out sample ballots with Schmidt's name crossed off. Could this cut have anything to do with Schmidt's tense relationship with the GOP ward leader in the 31st, Philadelphia Parking Authority Director Vincent J. Fenerty Jr.?

Johnny Donohoe, director of operations for Sterling Limousine Service in Newtown, has his crew "tweaking belts and spark plugs" in anticipation of the big crunch the World Series will bring. He wants all of his 35 vehicles running smoothly during the rush. The World Series draws a moneyed crowd - both corporate and private - who look to limos for convenience and safety, limo company officials say. Travelers can drink at the game without worrying about driving and they can escape faster afterward than fans in the parking lot. Business will be even better if the Phillies' opponent winds up being the nearby Yankees.

Philadelphians and visitors to the city could face a long wait for a taxi today. The largest group representing drivers of city medallion cabs plans to start a 48-hour strike at 6 a.m. today, a concerted action with New York City cabbies to protest the imposition of in-cab global-positioning dispatch and credit card systems. "We're very confident that we're going to get a high level of participation," said Ronald Blount, president of the Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania, which represents about 1,200 Philadelphia cabbies.

There's trouble again in pachyderm paradise, where city fathers have stopped paying utility bills for their beloved elephant icon, Lucy. They have accused Lucy's executive director, Richard Helfant, of drawing too large a salary for the task of caring for a stationary elephant. Of splurging with Lucy dough for limo rides to NYC to go shopping. Of squandering money in a dubious effort to lure Barry Manilow to Lucy's cause. Of mismanaging the only surviving wooden elephant of three built by Philadelphia Realtor James Lafferty in the 1880s.

A public apology to the fourth-graders of Pittsburgh: It has come to our attention that Rep. John Perzel, a Republican from our hometown of Philadelphia, visited your fair city recently to deliver books to Beechwood Elementary School. The speaker even stopped by a class of fourth-graders to read stories to you. These were good things for him to do. That's why, boys and girls, we didn't think anything bad could happen while the speaker was sitting on a bale of hay, reading stories.

All he wanted to do was donate books to an elementary school and perhaps pick up some good press in return. Instead, Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel's trip last week to Pittsburgh's Beechwood Elementary School put him smack in the epicenter of the pay-raise outrage that is western Pennsylvania. Perzel left the area not with favorable ink, but with an editorial calling on Philadelphia voters to kick him out of office after he refused to answer reporters' questions about the pay raise and ducked a little girl's query about his "limo.

Va-va-boom dress. Check. Awkward photos. Check. And signed pledge card. Mock-accident viewing. Approved limo. Check. Check. Check. It must be prom season. Prom-safety programs - sobriety-pledge cards, mock DUI car accidents, alcohol-free limo lists and more have become as much a part of the Big Dance as the fancy dresses and clicking cameras. "I think it's a necessary part of the ritual," said Barbara Mitidieri, student activities coordinator for Cherry Hill High School West.

AT HOME in Los Angeles, Catherine Zeta-Jones had to deal with a stalker. So she goes off to Mexico to shoot "Legend of Zorro" . . . and she almost gets kidnapped. The London Sun reports a gang of Mexican bandits "armed to the teeth," according to police, ambushed Zeta-Jones' limo Saturday as she was returning from filming. Quick-thinking bodyguards rammed the bad guys' car and Catherine's driver used the diversion to floor the gas pedal and whisk the star back to her rented villa.

Friends and family of the limousine driver killed by Jayson Williams have broken their silence - and say they ache to see the basketball star behind bars. "Some jail time may do Mr. Williams some good," Andrea Adams, sister of Costas (Gus) Christofi said in her first interview since the April 30 verdict. "Maybe it would give him something to think about, so something like this would not happen again. "I'm a religious person, and it's not like me to be vindictive," said Adams.

Florence Inhoffer of Leisuretowne sits in her living room with her prayer rug and tiara and recalls over and over her 91st birthday party in December. "It was unbelievable," she said. No doubt about it. It was a corker. First, there were the three days at Bally's Park Place Casino Hotel. (OK, so a lot of folks go to casinos for three days, and more.) Then, there were the two limo rides. (Big deal. Casinos are free with their limos - if you throw a little business their way.)