Scalia in West Palm Beach Tuesday

. . . The appearance for a speech of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at a joint session of the Forum Club an the Palm Beach County Bar Association last week in West Palm Beach won’t soon be forgotten by society shutterbug Daryl Davidoff. Davidoff was doing what he’s been doing at the Forum Club for years, discreetly taking pictures of the guest speaker, when Scalia told him from the podium: “Get out of my face.” Since the mike was on, some in the audience heard it. “He must have been having a bad day,” said Maxine Davidoff, who helps run the family photography shop that employs Daryl. “It can happen to everybody.” Later, Scalia called “impolite” a question from an FAU student about TV camera in the Supremes’ courtroom. Scalia, by the way, stayed for two nights in a $1,200-per suite at The Breakers, courtesy of the organizers . . .

. . . Rocker Bruce Springsteen has been making women weak in the knees on the treadmills at Ultima Fitness in Wellington. The buff singer of Born in the USA, I’m told, looks darn good and sweaty when he pumps iron there almost every day about 10 a.m. . . .

They looked somewhat similar in height when sitting behind the 7 p.m. anchor desk at WPEC-Channel 12 the other night.

But a mischievous staffer at the CBS affiliate just had to snap this photo of anchorman Curt Fonger and newbie Emily Pantelides when they stood up after the show ended.

In case you’re wondering, Fonger stands at 6-feet-4 while Pantelides might be able to peek over her neighbor’s fence if it’s just 4 feet 9 high and she’s on high heels.

Fonger, btw, isn’t Pantelides’ regular 7 p.m. partner. The not-so-imposing Juan Carlos Fanjul is.

UPDATE: I briefly talked with Sierra Friday. She called from the Planet Hollywood Resort to say that she’ll spend the last hours before Saturday’s big show rehearsing some more. Along with the other competitors, Minott is attending a big-deal gala in Vegas tonight. The Palm Beach Atlantic University student says she mentally prepared herself for the possibility that she’d win. “I know only one candidate will win,” she says, “but I’ve imagined what it’d be like to wear the crown. I’ve given a lot of thought to what it’d be like to win.” So, what will she do a few minutes before the show? “I always make sure I pray and get in the right mindset.”

Sierra in the swimwear competition. (photo courtesy Miss Florida Pageant)

She may be from an ultra-conservative university, but don’t discount the chances of West Palm Beacher Sierra Minott to win the bikini contest — and be crowned Miss America.

The blue-eyed, brown-haired Palm Beach Atlantic University student is representing Florida in the hotly-contested girls-are-made-of-sugar-and-spice competition Saturday on the Las Vegas Strip.

Her platform includes “inspiring youth to believe and achieve.”

Minott’s busy primping at the Planet Hollywood resort, which hosts the broadcast at 8 p.m. on cable’s TLC, and she couldn’t be reached. But those who know her say she’s got a prayer.

(Read more…)

. . . You’d figure that when red carpet critic Joan Rivers is in Palm Beach, she checks out some of the finest, priciest dining establishments the area has to offer. Not so. She was spotted at Jon Smith Subs on West Palm Beach’s not-so-pretty Dixie Highway at lunchtime Thursday. Trailed by a camera crew, the tight-skin one turned to those waiting in line after she ordered and said: “Good food here!” The 75-year-old checked into the chi-chi Brazilian Court Wednesday night, with the same shooters in tow . . .

. . . This year’s Red Cross Designers’ Show House on North Flagler Drive in WPB once was owned by none other than disgraced lawyer Bill Boose. Wonder how he feels about this: While he’s serving 2 years in a federal camp in Talladega, Ala., for helping former County Commish Tony Masilotti hide the proceeds of crooked land deals, the same swells he once hung with were nibbling on prime rib hors-d’oeuvres and sipping fine champagne in his old crib . . .

Charlie and Brooke Sheen, pre-pregnancy

The $329 baby monitoring set’s still available. And so are the Zen cradle swing ($209), Peg Perego stroller ($970), Moses basket in chocolate dot velour ($120), $379.99 Medela hands-free breast pump and a nose aspirator retailing for $42.

Thankfully, someone snagged the $28 baby wipes warmer and the $150 diaper bag.

That’s according to the gift registry on juvenileshop.com for Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen’s wife, Palm Beach native Brooke. Who’s buying? The 90 guests invited to a baby shower Saturday on The Island. (Read more…)