Beckham, last night in Manchester (Reuters)

To the rest of the world, L.A. Galaxy superstar David Beckham’s gesture Wednesday night didn’t mean much.

But in England, it was the equivalent of Becks flipping the bird at Palm Beacher Malcolm Glazer!

Heartthrob Beckham, who’s with AC Milan in Europe when U.S. soccer is off in winter, was lingering on the pitch after playing against his old Manchester United squad when a fan handed him a green-and-gold scarf.

Beckham put it around his neck.

And the Brit media went nuts.

Yep. Just of a scarf.

What’s the big deal?

Find out by looking below, or click (Read more…)

Kelly and Washburn

If you believe her employment file, Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office corrections deputy Perla Kelly was no model worker as of late.

She was disciplined or reprimanded four times last year, and was under Internal Affairs investigation.

But even she may have gone overboard when she got friendly with an inmate she guarded at the county slammer in West Palm Beach — and she got pregnant.

In time, the 17-year PBSO veteran married the dude, Victor Washburn. He was arrested at least 12 times in South Florida over the past decade, according to records.

Newlywed Kelly, 40, got canned two weeks ago, a month before the baby’s arrival.

“She was terminated for abandoning her post,”  said Col. Mike Gauger, PBSO’s chief of operations. “She had a lot of unexcused absences from work and then didn’t show up for three days in a row.”

For more, including Washburn’s exclusive interview, look below or click (Read more…)

Trent Thompson, one 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.

Oscar winning actor Sean Penn checked into the Fontainebleau resort in Miami Beach early Sunday, after more than a month of work on the relief effort in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Now the star of Mystic River and Milk, 49, is spending several days in the fancy hotel, which at $500 a night is a far cry from what Penn saw in Haiti. That country’s best hotel, the Montana, collapsed in the Jan. 12 catastrophe, and most relief workers have been staying in tents.

Actor Sean Penn, last week in Haiti

Penn was checking in about 1 a.m. with his 18-year-old daughter, Dylan, and a half dozen teenagers who obviously also worked on the relief effort.

“They all looked like a road crew, dirty and tired,” my spy tells me. “Obviously, they were in a serious need of a shower and some down time. They seemed to be happy to have returned to the States but Sean particularly looked beat.

“Fans were congratulating him on his work, and he just said ‘Thanks!’”

Penn is at the head of the Jenkins-Penn Haitian Relief Organization, and flew to Haiti Jan. 21. He has been credited with saving several lives from buildings that collapsed in aftershocks.

Welcome to the fifth annual Caron Renaissance gala! (Click on the photo for Michael Price's gallery)

Petra Levin, the chairwoman of Friday’s fifth annual Caron Renaissance gala, said the economy forced her to think outside the box.

How would she attract people to Palm Beach’s Mar-a-Lago willing to pay between $1,000 and $500 for a charity dinner on one of the busiest gala weekends of the year?

“I figured I’d make it less formal than the average Palm Beach gala, and more laid back,” Levin, a former Miss Germany, said during Friday’s wingding.”I thought that’d bring back the husbands, who no longer like the pomp and circumstance by the middle of the season.”

And then, she reached out to Miami singer Jon Secada, who performed for a hour.

Result: Levin had 300-plus helping themselves to fine foods around the pool, then moving to the grand ballroom for Secada’s show.

And by the time the receipts were tallied, the Boca addiction treatment center Caron Renaissance was $1 million richer — money that’ll go mostly to pay for rehab for those who can’t afford it.

Check out the guests by clicking here or on the photo.

This may be the professional kiss of death for Palm Beach Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Keith.

Keith, a gang liaison and community policing figure in areas near Boca Raton, is under Internal Affairs investigation today after the parents of a 16-year-old girl complained that Keith and their daughter exchanged inappropriate text messages. Keith apparently met the girl in one of the neighborhoods he patrols.

He’s been reassigned to desk duty in the wake of the incident, but only because he claimed to be suffering from an undisclosed disorder.

The 39-year-old Keith, a three-year veteran, was already disciplined last year — a one-month suspension and reassignment — for having sex with his patrol partner’s wife while on duty in 2008.

That incident also exposed Keith’s inappropriate affair with a one-time patrol supervisor, Lt. Paula Kronsperger. Incidentally, Keith’s wife had intercepted text messages between Keith and Kronsperger. Kronsperger also was disciplined as a result.

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

What does the guy who literally has everything want for his 47th birthday?

How ’bout a dismal NBA team?

Retired basketball superstar Michael Jordan, who should be living in Jupiter this time next year when his humble Walmart-sized home at the Bears Club is finished, turns 47 today.

And right on cue comes the news he wants to buy the Charlotte Bobcats from part-time Wellington dweller Bob Johnson, the co-founder with ex-wife Sheila Johnson of the BET network.

According to Chicago’s WGN, league commish David Stern expects the former Chicago Bull to be a majority owner of the not-so-good team by spring.

Bob Johnson clearly overpaid for the then-new franchise when he plunked down $325 million in 2003. Word is he’d more more then happy to get his original investment back.

By the way, Happy Birthday MJ!

Hillary and Lou Dobbs, at the Equus Foundation fundraiser Saturday (Phelps Media Group/Special to Page2Live)

Former CNN star Lou Dobbs, who’s considering a run for the U.S. Congress, appeared at the Equus Foundation’s Equestrian Idol talent show Saturday in Wellington to watch his daughter perform. Good girl Hillary Dobbs, who juggled school at Harvard and her rise through the ranks in the U.S. equestrian world, sang Joan Jett’s I Love Rock’n'Roll and whacked out Amy Winehouse’s Rehab. She placed fourth. Thankfully, Dobbs the elder remained in his seat and didn’t sing. He owns a home at the Ibis Golf and Country Club in West Palm Beach. (See it here)

Adam Sandler and fellow comedian Kevin James on the field before Super Bowl XLIV (Click on the photo for more celebs at the game)

. . . I’m at my seat above the Indianapolis Colts’ end zone. The ride to the stadium-that-keeps-changing-name, about 1:30 p.m., was a breeze. Scalpers are still pushing tickets at various interstate exits. Weather’s clear and the temperature is in the mid-60s. Football weather!

. . . Click on the picture to the right for Michele Sandberg’s full gallery of celebs at the game.

. . .  Bobby Boucher’s in da house! Funnyman Adam Sandler, who played the lovable half-witted football phenom Boucher in The Waterboy, is on the field with shrill-voiced comedian Chris Rock. Sandler won’t tell who he’s rooting for, but he’s getting on just about every pre-game show . . .

. . . Also expected: actors Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Hillary Swank, Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba, David Caruso and Jim Carrey. A law enforcement source is telling me that former Prez Bill Clinton flew in yesterday and was expected to catch the Super Bowl but plans changed at the last minute and he’s a no show . . .

. . . Speaking of Clinton, I ran into his former campaign manager, and current TV pundit James Carville at the W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale Saturday night. He was with his wife, GOP commentator Mary Matalin, unrecognizable without her TV makeup on. The two argue on just about everything, but both are rooting for the New Orleans Saints. Carville, who has hung out with the most powerful politicians on earth was giddy as a school girl when he had his picture taken with Hall of Fame inductee Emmitt Smith at the hotel’s steakhouse, Steak 954. “Look, I’ve got my picture taken with Emmitt Smith,” he said on his way out . . .

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

Sparks, Wednesday at her charity gala in Miami Beach (Click on the photo for many more celebrities)

There was a mini-American Idol reunion Wednesday at the Eden Roc Miami Beach.

Former winner Jordin Sparks and Season 7 runner up David Archuleta performed together for 250 guests in the ballroom, then attended a picnic and a formal gala.

It was all for charity.

For the past three years, the 20-year-old Sparks has held a fundraiser in the  Super Bowl host city, four days before the big game.

“Wherever the Super Bowl goes, we go,” the Phoenix-based singer of Tattoo told Page2Live. “That’s where the money is. We’re hoping to raise $200,000. Most of it is going to the Miami Children’s Hospital. Every year, we’re doing better.”

Nearly 100 children and their families attended a teddy bear picnic by the hotel’s pool earlier in the day, then joined Jordin and Archuleta for a 45-minute evening show.

Sparks is from a football family. Her dad, Phillippi Sparks, was a cornerback for the New York Giants.

For more on Archuleta and The Incredible Hulk, look below or click (Read more…)