The Palm Beach Post
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Michael Buble showers SoFla with Crazy Love; First look at new tour

Hunky pop crooner Michael Buble, arguably the greatest thing to come out of Canada since Celine Dion and socialized medicine, kicked off his Crazy Love world tour in South Florida last night. After his sold-out gig at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, the singer of Haven’t Met You Yet headed to Tampa and Atlanta then on through the United States and Europe. Be the first to get a glimpse of the show by clicking here or on the photo below:

Buble, Friday at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise (Click on the photo for more)

Buble, Friday at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise (Click on the photo for more)

And click here for more South Florida concerts

New papers: Tiger Woods had pain pills before Thanksgiving crash; Domestic violence cited

Woods

Woods (Click on the photo for more)

According to new documents released in the Thanksgiving car crash that eventually brought golf prodigy Tiger Woods back down to earth, Woods’ wife handed ambulance personnel two bottles of pain medicine which she told them Woods took earlier in the day.

The paperwork, released by the Florida Highway Patrol to the Orlando Sentinel today, also shows that Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, tried to ride to the hospital in the ambulance with Woods.

The paramedics, however, barred her from entering, saying that the case was domestic violence-related.

The state troopers’ notes also intimates that the hospital where Woods was taken after he hit two curbs then a tree while pulling out of his driveway in Windermere, went all out to protect Woods’ reputation.

How? Look below, or click (Read more…)

Wine turns into bread for wounded warriors

Philanthropist Patrick Park dug deep in his legendary wine collection, and some of his world-class bottles went up for auction Thursday at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.

The bottles of rare Chateau Lafite, Mouton-Rothschild and Chateau Margaux brought in thousands, although organizers were still counting the loot late Thursday. And it was all for charity: National Enquirer heiress Lois Pope’s Disabled Veterans LIFE Memorial Foundation. Pope is raising money to build a memorial to wounded warriors in Washington, D.C.

Check out Page2Live’s gallery by Michael Price by clicking here, or on the photo below:

Wine consultant Dennis Foley shows off a bottle of Staglin Family Cabernet Thursday night at Mar-a-Lago (Click on the photo for more)

Wine consultant Dennis Foley shows off a bottle of Staglin Family Cabernet Thursday night at Mar-a-Lago (Click on the photo for more)

– Want more? Check this out, from the wine-drinking Swirl Girls at pbpulse!

Mother of victim in polo boss John Goodman’s crash lawyers up

Wilson

Wilson

Attorneys representing the mother of a recent college graduate who died after his car was struck by Wellington polo mogul John Goodman’s Bentley are launching their own investigation into the crash that killed her son.

Jack Scarola, a partner at the high-profile West Palm Beach law firm Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart and Shipley, said the firm is starting from scratch its own probe into the death of Scott Wilson, 23.

International Polo Club Palm Beach founder Goodman suffered minor injuries in the Feb. 12 accident. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and State Attorney are conducting a criminal investigation. They’re not expected to decide before May whether charges will be filed against Goodman.

Said Scarola: “We will independently and thoroughly investigate. It’s highly unlikely that there’ll be a single lead that we won’t follow.”

Scarola said the firm has been representing Wilson’ mom Lili in other matters. He said the firm’s involvement “could include civil action arising from the death.”

Goodman visited two parties before the crash, and authorities seized credit card receipts showing Goodman paid for 18 shots of booze less than an hour before he allegedly blew through a stop sign and struck Wilson. And Page2Live revealed Monday that fire rescue workers failed to find Wilson’s body in his car, which was partly submerged in a canal after the Bentley hit it.

Society couple too “societal” for Alzheimer’s Care?

Donald Trump and Geri Morrow at the Jan. 15 gala. (Click on the photo for more)

Donald Trump and Geri Morrow at the Jan. 15 gala. (Click on the photo for more)

Tensions at Alzheimer’s Community Care.

The popular chairs of the non-profit’s yearly Palm Beach gala, Frank and Geri Morrow, resigned last week after they were told that they’d have to have all features of future events approved by the group’s full-time staff.

Usually, the chair of Palm Beach galas exert tremendous control. They pick the entertainment, decorations, menus and the seating arrangements with little, or no, staff involvement. And attendance depends on a chair’s popularity.

“We resigned when they told us we’d have to get everything approved,” Frank Morrow said. “They are not really giving us a reasons why the policy changed. This year’s event (click here) was very successful.

“But one thing that (CEO) Mary Barnes indicated is that she thinks the gala had become ‘too societal,’ too much of a party and not enough of a fund-raiser. Well, if they want full control, now they’ve got it.”

For more, look below or click (Read more…)

Palm Beach artist Edwina Sandys shows her wares

The boisterous Palm Beach artist Edwina Sandys — a painter, sculptor, illustrator, print-maker, and the granddaughter of WWII British Prime Minister Winston Churchill — is showing some of her work at the Whitney building downtown West Palm Beach. The show’s curated by local collage artist Bruce Helander. The show opened over the weekend, and is scheduled to be open to the public until March 20. To see who’s been there, click here or on the photo.

Former U.S. Congressman Mark Foley (right) with Ginny Bond and Foley's partner, Layne Nisenbaum (Click on the Michael Price photo for more)

Former U.S. Congressman Mark Foley (right) with oil heiress Ginny Bond and Foley's partner, Layne Nisenbaum (Click on the Michael Price photo for more)

EXCLUSIVE: Polo boss John Goodman shuns Welly, lands in luxury beachside retreat

John Goodman, the embattled polo boss under criminal investigation for his role in a fatal crash in rural Wellington last month, has been shunning friends and business associates since he crashed his Bentley into 23-year-old Scott Wilson’s vehicle Feb. 12, killing him.

But that doesn’t mean that the multi-millionaire Texas trust-funder Goodman has been roughing it.

Far from it.

The Canyon Ranch Miami Beach (Click on the photo for more on John Goodman)

The Canyon Ranch Miami Beach (Click on the photo for more on John Goodman)

Page2Live tracked down the 46-year-old founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach in a boutique hotel in Miami Beach that specializes in relaxation, health and wellness. The joint boasts a “serene atmosphere of casual elegance,” health experts on-call and countless ways to “reawaken your spirit and refresh your soul.”

For more, look below or click (Read more…)

One oxy deputy resigns; partner returns to work

pbsoTrent Thompsonone of three Palm Beach Sheriff’s deputies investigated in connection with illegal oxycodone purchases, resigned from the agency in the wake of a drug test in which he tested positive for opiates, Page2Live has learned from agency sources.

Eighteen-year veteran Thompson, a former SWAT team member and son of former PBSO Col. Tommy Thompson, put in his letter of resignation hours after taking the test. I’m told there will be no further investigation concerning Trent, 38.

However his wife, Deputy Sarah Thompson, 33, remains in the eye of the storm. She’s still on administrative leave after her arrest last week for allegedly buying the powerful and highly addictive painkiller from one of her street informants.

A third deputy, Shawn Monti, 41, was also placed on leave and ordered to undergo a drug test. He tested clean and returned to work.

All three deputies were on the same patrol shift in the North County District.

There’s no comment from the brass.

As a SWAT member in 2003, Trent Thompson killed a MAC-10 wielding suspect in a standoff.

County scandal: Code enforcer cited homeless shelter by day, dropped off relative by night

Terry Verner, in September 2008, objecting to questioning by a Tabernacle lawyer (Richard Graulich/The Palm Beach Post)

Terry Verner, in September 2008, arguing a point of law with a Tabernacle lawyer (Richard Graulich/The Palm Beach Post)

An out-of-town filmmaker may have unwittingly dug out Palm Beach County’s ultimate government hypocrisy:

By day, former Palm Beach County code enforcement boss Terry Verner was citing the Westgate Tabernacle Church’s homeless shelter for violations, threatening to shut down one of West Palm Beach’s biggest refuges for the poor.

By night, however, Verner would drive a relative to the shelter through back alleys so that he wouldn’t be seen, according to his ex-wife.

E-mail exchanges between county officials obtained by the Palm Beach Post’s Jennifer Sorentrue show that filmmaker Mark Crupi has been seeking to interview them about his discovery.

But red-faced bureaucrats haven’t been stepping all over each other to get in front of Crupi’s cameras to explain.

Crupi, who’s been working on a film about the shelter, stumbled into the controversy when he interviewed the retired Verner and his ex-wife, Cyndy Stephens. Their divorce, finalized in 2008, was particularly acrimonious and fueled gossip at county hall for months.

Stephens, who’s now retired, also worked for the county — as the secretary of disgraced former Palm Beach County Commish Tony Masilotti, who’s serving five years in a federal camp for corruption, and Commish Jess Santamaria.

So, what did Stephens tell Crupi?

Look below to find out, and vote on the poll, or click (Read more…)

Let’s get drunk: Roy Black, polo boss John Goodman’s lawyer, hosts yearly shindig

International Polo Club Palm Beach founder John Goodman, whose alleged killing of a 23-year-old man in a car crash last month is still under investigation, was nowhere to be found among those who paid homage to high-profile South Florida attorney Roy Black.

Funny thing, because when it comes to celebrities attending The Blacks’ Annual Gala in Miami Beach Saturday night, Black and his wife Lea can always count on those he extracted from the criminal justice system. And yes, there may be some of future clients of Black’s there, too.

Girls Gone Wild’s Joe Francis was one of them. He once had tax and public morals problems, but Black made it all better. So he came to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach for the big party.

“He wins every case,” Francis said. “His approach is different from other lawyers, partly because he never worked for the government as a prosecutor. He believes in your case 100 percent, and I don’t know any other who does that.”

Roy Black kicks off his yearly gala: "If you don't get drunk, . . . then this party has failed!" (Click on the photo for more Mike Jachles images of the party)

Roy Black kicks off his yearly gala: "If you don't get drunk, . . . then this party has failed!" (Click on the photo for more Mike Jachles images of the party)

Three-time Indianapolis and Dancing With The Stars winner Helio Castroneves showed up. Black got him out of his little tax evasion issue last year.

Yet John Goodman, who could soon be facing DUI and manslaughter accusations but hasn’t been charged, was MIA.

And who could blame him?

Roy Black, after all, kicked off the open bar, three-course fiesta with this announcement to the 1,000-plus guests who’d paid up to $1,000 each: “If you guys don’t get drunk and dance on the tables, then this party has failed!”

For more, look below, or click (Read more…)

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