Michaels (middle) with Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey (Click on the photo for more on this and other celebs' homes)

Celeb arrival in Wellington!

Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels plunked down $667,500 for a rather modest 2,100-square-foot, three-bed, three-bath pied-a-terre in South Florida’s horse capital.

The Canadian-born Michaels, 65, his wife and 12-year-old daughter Sophie have been winter regulars here for the last few years as Sophie learns show jumping. They used to stay with singer Jimmy Buffett in Palm Beach then, last season, rented the Equestrian Club Estates house that’s been theirs since July 6.

I’m told Michaels plans on spending 200K on freshening the property. The missus, Alice, wants a lap pool, gourmet kitchen and a glamor bathroom.

Michaels’ is six doors down from actress Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, TV’s The Shield) on Calypso Lane. Elsewhere in the gated community are the horse-season homes of rocker Bruce Springsteen and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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Goodman attended a polo function in 2009 with Lizzie McGuire actress Hillary Duff (Click on the photo for more)

Wellington polo boss and DUI killing suspect John Goodman is receiving alcoholism and drug-addiction counseling three times a week from the shrink who helped Conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh in his battle against pain pills, Page2Live has learned.

According to papers filed in multi-millionaire trust-funder Goodman’s criminal case at the Palm Beach County courthouse, the 46-year-old founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach is banned from traveling out of the county without special permission. He’s out on $100,000-bond as he awaits trial.

Goodman has, however, blanket permission to travel to the North Miami office of clinical psychologist Steven Strumwasser.

Citing privacy laws Strumwasser, the former director of residential treatment for a Miami-Hollywood’s Spectrum Programs, said he couldn’t comment. But in the world of chemical dependency and depression, he is somewhat of a rock star.

Strumwasser is also used as expert witness in SoFla trials in which drugs are at issue, often to explain how addiction can affect a suspect’s behavior.

And then, there was the great Limbaugh Viagra caper!

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British Royal Prince Harry of Wales poses for pictures with Wellington superstar polo player, and Ralph Lauren model, Nacho Figueras Sunday afternoon, after the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic on Governors Island in New York City. And the reason the 25-year-old Harry, the son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, isn’t looking too happy is because he took a spectacular tumble during the match. Or is it because the English national team was spanked by Germany at the world cup soccer earlier in the day? Or maybe, just because he’s a Brit?

Straub

Prominent Wellington landowner and developer Glenn Straub has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of unlawful discharge in a body of water.

Moneybags Straub, 63, is facing a maximum of $1 million in fines and six years in prison if convicted of the two violations of the Clean Water Act. The indictment names both Straub and his Palm Beach Polo Holdings.

Straub’s lawyer, Craig Galle, did not return calls for comments.

The investigation centered on Straub’s work in 20o5 on land he owned near the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Straub sold the property to Equestrian Sport Productions owner Mark Bellissimo six months after he allegedly allowed discharges of fill and pollutants into wetlands known as Peacock Pond.

There were indications as early as 2007 that Straub was under investigation. That year, the Miami-based grand jury subpoenaed paperwork from several companies that cleared the property from melaleuca and Brazilian pepper trees.

A polo buff, Straub is best known in the village as the owner/developer of the fancy Palm Beach Polo Golf & Country Club. He is also known as a lawsuit-happy businessman who pulls no punches when it comes to acquiring, or selling, land. Several environmental issues, including Straub’s desire to develop pristine woods and his allowing one small forest to dry out, have caused the ire of some country club homeowners during Straub’s 20-year tenure there.

A few years ago, a crowd cheered when Straub fell off a polo pony, and had to be airlifted to a hospital.

Straub has denied dumping landfill into the pond, and denied the area should be deemed wetlands.

Goodman with actress Hillary Duff at a polo function last year (Click on the photo for more)

Wellington polo boss John Goodman, the man accused of  killing a 23-year-old engineering graduate in a DUI accident in February, was deemed unqualified to run a family trust-fund by his brother.

In court documents the brother, Greg Goodman, also noted John “never finished college and pursues no serious profession.”

In other words, there’s a good chance you won’t see Greg on the witness list if this killing goes to trial!

The Broward-Palm Beach New Times dug out a decade-old lawsuit stemming from a feud within Goodman’s family that forced John to relinquish control of the trust-fund.

Goodman was charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide for his role in the death of Scott Wilson in rural Wellington. Investigators believe Goodman was drunk when he went through a stop sign in the wee hours of the morning, driving his Bentley into Wilson’s Hyndai.

Over the years, meanwhile, his own family didn’t seem to think much of John.

John, his brother Greg and two sisters  are the children of a deceased Texas air-conditioning tycoon Harold Goodman. When he died, Harold left a series of trust-funds. One, for Greg’s four children, was supposed to be administered by polo patron John. So, Greg sued to wrestle control of the fund in 1998, saying then that John was not qualified for the job.

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The attorneys defending Wellington polo mogul John Goodman in a vehicular homicide case that could land him in jail for 30 years contributed several thousand dollars to the campaign of State Attorney Mike McAuliffe.

McAuliffe’s the man whose job it is to put Goodman behind bars.

Perp walk: John Goodman (middle) is released on bond Wednesday. He's flanked with attorneys Guy Fronstin (left) and Mark Shapiro (right) (Click on the photo for more)

According to state campaign records, Goodman’s star defender, Miami lawyer Roy Black, made two maximum yearly contributions of $500 in 2007 and 2008, the year McAuliffe was elected, as did Black’s law partner Scott Kornspan.

Boca’s Guy Fronstin, the local pointman on Black’s defense team, and members of his family contributed a total of $2,500 toward McAuliffe’s election. Fronstin’s in kind contributions included food and drinks for McAuliffe’s fundraisers.

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Roy Black (Click on the photo for more)

Through a mouthpiece, Miami criminal attorney Roy Black, who represents DUI death suspect John Goodman, just issued this statement:

Palm Beach, FL – May 19, 2010 — John Goodman was arrested this morning and released on bail hours later in connection with the traffic accident and death of Scott Wilson on February 12, 2009.  Mr. Goodman intends to vigorously defend himself against the criminal charges while continuing to do all within his power to minimize any further suffering by the Wilson family. After thoroughly reviewing the facts available to us, the defense team believes that the arrest warrant and charges reveal only a part of the whole story. Mr. Goodman is entitled to his day in court. We ask that the public and the media not rush to judgment until all of the facts are known.”

– Who’s Roy Black?

– “Let’s get drunk!” Roy Black parties with celebs

– Roy Black and his famous clients

UPDATE: John Goodman was booked this morning after he was arrested at his hotel in Miami Beach late Tuesday.

Goodman's booking mug (Click on the photo for more local famous mugs)

Polo boss John Goodman, the happy-go-lucky Texas trust-funder who gave the Sport of Kings here a new lease on success when he founded International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, was charged in the DIU-related accident that caused the death of recent college grad Scott Wilson.

– Click here for the video of his first appearance in court

My colleagues at The Palm Beach Post scooped everyone tonight (Tuesday) by announcing that a warrant for Goodman’s arrest had been issued. The charges are expected to be vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter.

There is no indication if Goodman, whose access to celebrities like actors Tommy Lee Jones and Hillary Duff made Sunday polo matches more of a happening, will surrender to be booked and fingerprinted, or if Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office deputies will have to hunt him down.

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Marissa Tatakis (left) and Deborah Lindenfeld model hats at the Kentucky Derby fundraiser Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Resort (RC White/Special to Page2Live)

The running of the 136th Kentucky Derby Saturday afternoon was used by dozens of charities throughout South Florida as a fund-raising opportunity. Fort Lauderdale’s Ann Storck Center, a non-profit that provides services to developmentally disabled people, organized a viewing party at the Seminole Hard Rock Resort in Hollywood that also included a hat contest and fashion show. Click here for RC White’s photo gallery, or click on the photo.

Singer/actress Madonna is rumored to be thisclose to signing a contract to buy an eight-bedroom Wellington home, Page2Live hears.

The 10,000-square-foot Tuscan mansion in the exclusive enclave of Mallet Hill is on nearly five acres of lush land and includes a show jumping practice field and a world-class wine cellar. The house is currently listed for $11.9 million, down from $13 million. The location is considered prime in these parts because horses kept on the property can be walked to the nearby Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, home of the Winter Equestrian Festival.

Madonna's new digs? (Click on the Robert Stevens photo for more)

The singer of Like a Prayer and Papa Don’t Preach took up the equestrian sport of show jumping over the last few years. She spent several weeks in Wellington last year to train and watch polo matches, and reportedly was so taken with the area that she went shopping for a home. In December, the singer bought the Bridgehampton horse farm of her friend Kelly Klein, the ex-wife of Calvin Klein and a part-time Wellington resident.

Madonna briefly returned to the area last month but was less visible.

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