Lappin

Put on your hip-waders for this one.

The federal lawsuit brought against Palm Beach Pops maestro and founder Bob Lappin by former orchestra general manager Jill Kaplan is oozing some serious sleaze.

With the case headed to a July trial, the revelations of sexual shenanigans at the highbrow orchestra — including late-night nudity and sex at the institution’s West Palm Beach office — are coming fast and furious.

And so is evidence that include receipts for battery-operated sex toys that the maestro allegedly bought for ex-underling Kaplan!

There are also depositions about the usage of such toys, the number of times the maestro received oral sex and public displays of affection in front of musicians.

“We are vigorously defending the claims,” said attorney Keith Sonderling, who represents both the non-profit orchestra and the 71-year-old Lappin.

Kaplan, 49, filed a federal lawsuit a year ago alleging that Lappin, who’s also the orchestra’s CEO, dangled the non-profit’s health benefits as incentive to keep her on the job so that they could continue their affair.

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Richard and Lakeisha in 2009 (Fred Montana/Special to Page2Live)

Tennis champs Venus and Serena Williams have a new stepmom — and she’s barely older than the Palm Beach Gardens sisters are!

Their famous stage dad, Richard Williams, was quietly hitched two days before New Year’s Eve to a grocery store owner who is 37 years younger.

According to a marriage license in the Palm Beach County archives, the 69-year-old Richard Williams was legally wed for the second time Dec. 29 to a 32-year-old Broward native Lakeisha Graham.

– Click here to see the marriage license

They were engaged for nearly two years before Richard marched into the county courthouse on PGA Boulevard to trade I dos with Graham, who bears a faint resemblance to hip-hop star Rihanna.

Page2Live broke the story of the May-December hookup in March 2009 when the lovebirds were on a shopping spree at Sports Authority in West Palm Beach and asked a paparazzi to snap their photo.

– Click here to see the sisters’ palatial Palm Beach Gardens crib, and the homes of other celebs

At the time, Richard first called Graham his new wife then said the two were planning to be wed after the 2009 Ericsson Open. And he wouldn’t talk about Venus and Serena’s feeling about the age difference.

Richard Williams, who’s credited for shaping Venus, 30, and Serena, 29, into No. 1-rated players, was divorced from their mom, 58-year-old Oracene, in 2002 — after allegations of domestic violence surfaced.

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Casey

For the second time since 2007, the Palm Beach area chapter of the Red Cross is losing its CEO after a brief tenure.

Larry Casey, the visible frontman of the disaster-responding charity, told Page2Live he’ll step down on April 9. He has been leading the non-profit’s branch, which reaches into the Treasure Coast and cuts across Florida to the west coast, for just 20 months.

Casey took the reins from J.B. Hunt, who was fired in 2008 because she made it a habit to take decisions without discussing them with the board.

About his departure, Casey said he is looking for a change in his career. And he’s taking in a teenage family member, with whom he plans to spend more time.

Privately, according to an insider, Casey had expressed frustration with the American Red Cross’ current drive to take more control of local chapters.

And then, Casey always seemed more at ease in one of his previous jobs, as longtime aide to former Republican U.S. Rep. E. Clay Shaw.

“It’s just the right time to go,” Casey said. “Hurricane season is still a few months away and the chapter will have time to find someone else.

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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?

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It’s a deal some can’t refuse.

But it’s one that many may ignore.

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who staring at $50 million in cuts for the next fiscal year, has made his offer to 117 employees who told him they’d be interested in getting a chunk of change to leave.

In letters sent last week to lieutenants, captains, majors and colonels with more than 20 years on the job, PBSO officials spelled out their offer: two weeks pay for each year worked, capped at one year; a hefty contribution from PBSO toward health care premiums; and some in the upper ranks would get a lump sum equivalent to twice their unused annual leave, which could amount to another to six months’ pay for some.

While the sheriff’s office didn’t comment, PBA union rep John Kazanjian called it “a decent offer.”

Still, he’d be surprised if more than 12 employees take it.

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