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Comic Rob Schneider’s an animal on Wild 95.5

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Cash, Hookups, Media, Stars, West Palm Beach |
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| Tuesday 17 November 2009 3:21 pm Print This Post
Schneider

Schneider

Funnyman Rob Schneider’s interview on the Wild 95.5 morning show last week has put co-hosts Kevin Rolston, Virginia Lang and Jason Pennington in the national limelight.

Schneider cut short the already-infamous live banter fest on West Palm Beach’s station and left in a huff after Lang walked out on the comic, mumbling: “I quit this bitch!”

And after the video of the ill-fated interview spread on the web, the King of All Media himself weighted in on his Sirius show this morning. Howard Stern sided with the diminutive Schneider, saying that the locals behaved like small town amateurs. Stern called Virginia’s colorful co-host, Jason Pennington, a d…head.

“That’s awesome,” Pennington gloated.

See the video here.

Schneider, an alumni of Saturday Night Live who went on to the big screen in flicks like The Animal and Deuce Bigalow, was at the station Friday to hawk his weekend gig at The Improv in West Palm Beach’s CityPlace.

Schneider, however, got ticked off that a previous interview ran long and that he had to wait in the stations’ parking lot.

Kevin, Virginia and Jason (Courtesy Wild 95.5)

Kevin, Virginia and Jason (Courtesy Wild 95.5)

At one point, Schneider told Virginia on the air: “I make a lot more money than you. I can buy and sell you, and people like you.” What’s more, the actor kept calling the threesome “a-holes.”

“He was pompous and condescending to the staff even before the show,” Lang said, adding that waiting in the parking lot had been Schneider’s choice. “Then we started going back and forth on the air. I was devastated. That’s not what we do. We don’t fight with people. He was a jerk. I just had to leave the studio.”

One highlight: When Schneider put down his headphones and walked out, Pennington announced: “Elvis has left the building. Uh . . . Make that, little Elvis has left the building!”

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West Palm’s Clematis finally looks pretty

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Fashion, Hotties, Photo Gallery, West Palm Beach |
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| Saturday 14 November 2009 3:56 pm Print This Post
The unveiling of the Sex2Sea swimwear line Friday night on lower Clematis (Ray Graham/The Palm Beach Post)

The unveiling of the Sex2Sea swimwear line Friday night on lower Clematis (Ray Graham/The Palm Beach Post)

There’s so much construction that downtown West Palm Beach looks like a war zone, again.

But the place suddenly was beautified late Friday — and it didn’t cost the city a penny.

Twelve Elite and Wilhelmina swimsuit models gave about 500 local swells an eyeful on a 60-foot runway built outdoors near the French restaurant Pistache. The occasion: The unveiling of a line of swimwear dubbed Sex2Sea, “pretty enough for the bedroom, but made for the water.”

The lacy bikinis were designed by local entrepreneurs Christy Sugrue and former gubernatorial galpal Kelly Heyniger, a former contestant on America’s Hottest Mom who dated Gov. Charlie Crist just before his met the First Lady, Carole Rome.

The swimwear, I’m told, is specially designed to avoid embarrassing views while still providing a curve-revealing fit.

Needless to say, Page2Live had a grand ole’ time in the front row. Check out Ray Graham’s photo gallery:

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Swimsuit designer Kelly Heyniger, with fans


West Palm Beach yacht rendez-vous lures big boys with their big floating toys

It’s that time of year. Millionaires at the helm of mega-yachts pulled into town for their yearly rendez-vous at Rybovich Marina on West Palm Beach’s north side. Three dozen 100-footers will be docked through the weekend, and their owners are paying up to $20,000 to be there. That money is going to the Boys and Girls Club of Broward County. The event includes, among plenty parties, a yacht hop and Saturday’s gala at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, featuring a concert by disco diva Donna Summer. Parts of the event are open to the public. To see who’s there, check out Palm Beach Post lensman Ray Graham’s photos of last night welcome party:

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Crime hits anti-crime Mayor Lois Frankel’s ‘hood

Forget the feathery vultures that once hung out on the mayor's roof. Human vultures now invaded the hood.

Feathered vultures once hung out on the mayor's roof. Human vultures now have invaded the community.

Tally for one night this week in West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel’s gated community — five cars broken into, one truck stolen!

“I’m going to inquire about this today,” said Frankel, who swears up and down, cross her heart, that crime in the city is down 30 percent since 2007.

Frankel wasn’t a victim in this spree. But one of her neighbors at the Lands of the Presidents particularly hard hit early Monday morning is staunch mayoral critic Anita Mitchell. She’s a lobbyist who’s the mother of WPB Commissioner and possible mayoral hopeful Kimberly Mitchell.

Anita Mitchell

Anita Mitchell

“My husband’s Silverado truck was stolen,” Anita Mitchell said. “He (carpenter Noel Bridgeman) had $5,000 worth of tools in there, too. They also went in my car and took $3 worth of quarters that I kept for parking meters. We have two guarded gates. One of them logged in my husband’s truck exiting at 2:45 a.m.”

“Are we sure crime is going down?”

Mitchell said the cop who responded Monday at dawn said Mitchell’s was among eight homes hit.

Kimberly Mitchell said she does not believe the crime rate is lower in some areas of the city, even if the mayor and Mitchell’s mom live in $600,000-homes near famous residents such as baseball great Hank Aaron.

“Crime isn’t going down if it happens in your home,” Kimberly Mitchell said.

There have been no arrests.

City spokesman Chase Scott said police believe the cars broken into were left unlocked.

Forget the stats! Crime in West Palm Beach is:

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Channel 12 execs line pockets as company sinks

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Boob Tube, Breaking News, Media, West Palm Beach |
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| Monday 9 November 2009 12:11 pm Print This Post
Wade

Doreen Wade, the West Palm Beach-based president of Freedom Broadcasting, pocketed $150,000 in bonuses on top of her almost $300,000 salary as the company drifted toward bankruptcy. In addition, she also submitted reinbursement forms for sums as little as $12, $24 and $29.

While WPEC-Channel 12 drifted into bankruptcy over the past few months, the bosses at the CBS affiliate nickel-and-dimed their employees.

There were unpaid furloughs here, and straight pay cuts there for the likes of station stars Suzanne Boyd, Liz Quirantes, Curt Fonger and John Matthews.

But what many workers, some paid as little as $30,000 a year, didn’t know is that, at the same time, those ordering the cuts were stuffing their bank accounts with bonuses.

In all, according to a Page2Live estimate based on bankruptcy documents filed in October in Delaware, the Freedom Broadcasting station’s top six managers grabbed more than $400,000 in performance bonuses from September 2008 until August.

That’s in addition to some salaries in the 300Ks-a-year range.

Good performance on a sinking ship? And you thought that corporate ‘tude was confined to Wall Street?

“Often, a management group sets its own salaries and bonuses, so what do they care where they get the money from,” said University of Florida management professor Henry Tosi. “Their bonuses probably came from the pockets of their employees and creditors and equity holders.”

For more on this, and the poll, please look below or click (Read more…)

EXCLUSIVE — West Palm Beach mom of Orlando shooting victim: “It’s high time for this country to change!”

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, RIP, West Palm Beach |
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| Saturday 7 November 2009 1:46 pm Print This Post
Otis "Nickalous" Beckford and his fiance Daneicka Coley (Orlando Sentinel / Courtesy of  Juliet Knight)

Otis "Nickalous" Beckford and girlfriend Daneicka Coley (Courtesy Orlando Sentinel)

Otis Beckford, 26, was killed by a crazed gunman Friday at the offices of the engineering firm RS&H in downtown Orlando. His mother spoke exclusively to The Post’s Jose Lambiet. Read the full story here.
Related links:
Slain worker was well-liked family man

Lawyer: office shooting suspect mentally ill

Video Photos from Orlando shooting

Greg Norman’s ex-wife: You stiffed me!

Norman (AP Photo)

Norman (AP Photo)

Double bogey for Jupiter Island golfer Greg Norman!

Not only is he dealing with his separation from new wife Chris Evert, the Boca Raton-based former tennis star, but now he’s got a ticked off ex-wife to deal with.

Palm Beacher Laura Andrassy says the Great White Shark stiffed her in his yearly payment of their divorce settlement.

She contends in new paperwork filed in the Martin County courthouse in Stuart that his $2 million wire transfer to her June 15 was about $72,000 short. She asked a judge to force Norman to pay up, or order arbitration.

According to their contract, the ex-missus, a former flight attendant, will be $103 million richer by 2023 as a result of the agreement they signed when they were divorced two years ago.

So, what’s $72,000?

“It’s a substantial sum of money,” said Andrassy’s lawyer in West Palm Beach, Jack Scarola. “I have no desire to annoy Mr. Norman. But he has an obligation to meet his contractual commitments. If someone owes $72,000, just pay up.”

Andrassy, leaving a divorce hearing with lawyer Jack Scarola in 2007 (The Palm Beach Post archives)

Andrassy, leaving a divorce hearing with lawyer Jack Scarola in 2007 (The Palm Beach Post archives)

Norman’s divorce attorney, Jeff Fisher, declined comment. But in his response filed in court, Fisher wrote that Norman and his ex promised they’d seek arbitration for disputes instead of the court system.

Andrassy’s recent motion to enforce is nothing more than a “method to feed information (usually of a disparaging nature) about the former husband to the media.”

The $72,000 alleged shortfall, according to court papers, comes from the calculation of Andrassy’s share in Norman’s Colorado ranch, Seven Lakes Lodge. She’s supposed to get close to $780,000 a year for the ranch, but got much less.

Incidentally, Norman recently put the property on the market for $55 million.

The motion reopens the saga of golfer/vintner’s divorce, which was filed in June 2006 after Andrassy accused him of cheating on her with tennis champ Evert. Although Norman and Andrassy were officially divorced when he married Evert in June 2008, they’ve been ironing some of their differences since.

Laura Andrassy's attempt to collect $72,000 in her $103 million-divorce from Greg Norman is:

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After 10 months, no charge filed in Palm Beach rape probe

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Island’s Finest, West Palm Beach |
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| Wednesday 4 November 2009 12:41 pm Print This Post
The Mine Games (Courtesy www.charterworld.com)

The Mine Games (Courtesy www.charterworld.com)

The office of State Attorney Mike McAuliffe Monday declined to prosecute a businessman from California accused of raping a well-known area woman after a party on a Palm Beach-based yacht.

The alleged victim, whose name is being kept confidential by Page2Live because of the nature of the crime, told Palm Beach Police in February that she believes someone dropped a roofie in her drink during a Super Bowl party on the 164-foot Mine Games. The yacht, which is usually docked at the Australian docks, is owned by West Virginia coal mogul and North Palm Beach resident Chris Cline.

The victim, a 38-year-old woman who’s popular among The Island’s nightlife dwellers, told police she remembers being at the party, at times doing tequila shots. But she doesn’t remember much past 9:30 p.m., Feb. 1, until she found herself in the front seat of her car engaged in sex with a man who was on the yacht but whom she had not met.

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Blue flu: More sex-related allegations vs PBSO lieutenant lead to sick leave

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Heroes, Politicos, Polls, West Palm Beach |
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| Tuesday 3 November 2009 1:47 pm Print This Post

pbsoLt. Paula Kronsperger, one of the highest-profile females at the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, is out on worker’s comp as more allegations of sex-related wrongdoing rain on her.

Kronsperger, 41, the warrants and fugitives unit’s executive officer, went out on leave Oct. 11, according to PBSO spokeswoman Teri Barbera. Barbera couldn’t legally discuss the reason for Kronsperger’s temporary departure. But two sources at the department said months under Internal Affairs scrutiny and a new investigation by PBSO’s Human Resources have stressed out Kronsperger.

Four days before Kronsperger’s departure, as many as 20 of her employees descended on the office of HR honcho Joyce Stelling to file a federal EEOC complaint against Kronsperger.

Reason: Hostile work environment!

John Kazanjian, head of the local PBA police union, confirmed the existence of the EEOC complaint.

“The sheriff (Ric Bradshaw) called me to ask if I could hold off some of my members from joining the EEOC action,” Kazanjian said. “But I couldn’t do it.”

The troops, meanwhile, are grumbling that it is highly unusual for a PBSO employee to be allowed on worker’s comp for stress. Usually, stressed out employees have to use the Family Medical Leave Act.

FMLA leaves are unpaid. But because Kronsperger is on worker’s comp, PBSO continues paying her $104,000-a-year salary, Barbera confirmed.

Last month a member of Bradshaw’s cabinet, Maj. Michael Veccia, invoked the FMLA to take a leave the day he was supposed to be interviewed by Internal Affairs in connection with a hostile work environment complaint. He, too, told the brass he was stressed out.

Why the double standard? It’s nothing of the sort, Barbera said.

For more, and the poll, look below or click (Read more…)

Devil’s Night slays ‘em in West Palm

Satan protecting the vodka bar? A good call with this crowd! (Michele Sandberg/Special to Page2Live)

Satan protecting the vodka bar? A good call with this crowd! (Michele Sandberg/Special to Page2Live)

Nearly 400 people — culled mostly from local young society — passed the gates of party hell Friday night for the Ann Norton Sculpture Garden’s yearly bash known as Devil’s Night.

Devil’s Night is, bar none, one of the best Halloween-themed event in SoFla. I’m told students from the Dreyfoos School of the Arts spent most of the week decorating with ghouls and skeletons and graves and spider webs a garden that seems to have been designed only for this party.

And as they do every year, the dark nooks and crannies filled up, on the late side, with those seeking a little privacy.

At $160-per, the affair is the Gentlemen of the Garden’s richest fundraiser of the year. Proceeds go to the waterfront sculpture museum.

Check out Page2Live’s largest ever party photo-gallery, by Michele Sandberg:

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