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Goodbye Palm Beach, and thank you!

radaronline_logoIt’s hard to say goodbye when you’re having fun!

Yet, this is my last Page2Live entry.

On Tuesday, I became executive editor of Radar Online, one of the country’s biggest celebrity websites.

The sandbox I get to play in now is a lot larger, and the gig often will take me to Los Angeles and Las Vegas and New York City.

But I leave The Palm Beach Post and the readers who supported me with news tips, kudos and criticism for the past seven years with a heavy heart.

I love Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, and not just because it’s my home. There are few places in this country as quirky as Palm Beach, Stuart, Boca and Wellington. News people who work here know they’re lucky because, indeed, there never is a dull moment.

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Asleep at the desk: PBSO lieutenant catches up on sleep during classroom training

Rough day for Lt. Swank (Special to the Palm Beach Post)

Rough day for Lt. Swank (Special to the Palm Beach Post)

I’m told the snoring could be heard across the room!

To the right, fellow taxpayer, is Lt. Jeff Swank, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs executive officer!

And this cell-phone picture of Swank sound asleep obtained by Page2Live has been making the rounds among the chuckling rank and file.

How do I know he’s snoring?

Well, there’s a video, and the sound is quite clear.

I’ve been trying to get a hold of it, but I’m told by an insider that Internal Affairs head Capt. Larry Easton, to0, is hot on the trail of the footage.

Swank was among 70 local enforcement officials at a three-day class last week at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport.

The classroom training focused on the handling of police-involved shootings.

But Swank apparently got so bored he dozed off while fellow policemen, who must have been just as bored, snapped away with cell phones.

Swank’s I.A. squad, by the way, does investigate incidents in which deputies are “rude” during such training sessions.

Said PBSO Chief Deputy Mike Gauger: “Lt. Swank attends college after hours and he was called out twice the previous night.

“Things happen. I fall asleep at church sometimes!”

Palm Beach State prof, ex-Sheriff’s deputy Charlie Mosher arrested in wife stalking

Mosher's booking mug (Click on the photo for more)

Mosher's booking mug (Click on the photo for more)

A well-known Palm Beach State College adjunct professor and freshly-retired Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy was held overnight in the county slammer where he once worked after being arrested in a domestic violence incident.

Seventy-year-old Charlie Mosher, of Royal Palm Beach, was charged with aggravated stalking and aggravated assault after several alleged spats with his estranged wife, Norma Jean Hoefs, since last week. Hoefs, 57, declined comment but confirmed she was his victim.

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Mosher allegedly harassed the lady with incessant phone calls then tailed her in his car around their gated community.

At one point, Hoefs told investigators, she had to swerve off the road to avoid Mosher, who came right at her in his vehicle.

Mosher was released on $10,000-bond about noon today.

He was relieved of duty as a reserve deputy, a volunteer position. Mosher retired from PBSO in June after 22 years as corrections and training deputy.

The six criminal justice courses he taught at the college this term — including “interpersonal skills for corrections officers” and “defensive tactics” — have ended.

The school’s spokeswoman, Dr. Grace Truman, said Mosher has been an adjunct professor since 1992. His status at the school will be evaluated before next term, as is the status of every adjunct professor, she said.

– With Palm Beach Post researcher Niels Heimeriks

PBSO’s child-cybersex hunter Patrick Paige nabbed in online-drug investigation

Paige (Click on the photo for the Hall of Shame)

Paige (Click on the photo for the Hall of Shame)

A Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Deputy who specializes in online child porn was nabbed Tuesday after an investigation into illegal online purchases of the highly addictive pain-killer hydrocodone.

Patrick Paige, 47, a 21-year veteran of the agency who once arrested a Boca Raton rabbi after leading him to believe he was a 14-year-old boy trolling for sex online, was charged with possession of a controlled substance without prescription.

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Paige was booked last night but PBSO spokeswoman Teri Barbera said he’s been on administrative leave from his special investigations post since December. He remains on leave as the Internal Affairs probe starts.

“Deputy Paige is a long-standing and well-respected member of the law enforcement community,” said Paige’s lawyer, Scott Suskauer. “He’s a family man and an ethical, honest policeman.”

Click here to view the probable cause affidavit

Suskauer said he represented several suspects arrested by Paige, and found Paige to be a straight-shooter.

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PBSO sergeant nabbed in Tennessee in alleged beat down of fellow deputy

Hightower, right, participates in a donut-desiging contest with other deputies in 2009 (Bill Ingram/The Palm Beach Post)

Hightower, right, participates in a donut-desiging contest with other deputies in 2009 (Bill Ingram/The Palm Beach Post)

A Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office sergeant has been reassigned and is under Internal Affairs investigation today after a strange hunting-trip incident on the Tennessee-Georgia border.

Page2Live hears that Sgt. Jimmy Hightower, who works in community policing, was arrested by Tennessee authorities after a complaint from a deputy under his command, Dept. James Mackey.

Two sheriff’s office insiders who asked not to be named tell me Hightower, 43, of Loxahatchee, and four other deputies traveled to the wooded areas south of Knoxville, Tenn., a few weeks ago for a camping and deer hunting outing.

The group allegedly did quite a bit of drinking, with hard liquor being passed around.

Then, with Jupiter resident Mackey driving because he hadn’t been drinking, Hightower reportedly spotted a deer and attempted to shoot it from the window of their SUV. Hightower asked Mackey to slow down so he could aim, but the deputy refused because shooting game from a moving vehicle is illegal.

Once the SUV was stopped Mackey, 30, a four-year PBSO deputy, was allegedly assaulted and beaten by Hightower, who towers over him.

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