Broward Palm Beach News Blog

Linda Ferrara, a former Cooper City commissioner and longtime School Board appointee and volunteer, was among what is really turning into a rogue's gallery of attendees for the party on the Intracoastal thrown by the FBI in December.

Drinking At The Public Trough

​Funny thing is that Ferrara knows all about partying at the expense of taxpayers -- she was one of the Cooper City commissioners caught on tape by CBS-Channel 4 eating and drinking at a neighborhood restaurant on the public's dime before commission meetings (that's Cooper City Mayor Debbie Eisinger getting ready to swill at left). That report broke in 2006, and Ferrara was turned out of office soon thereafter by disgusted voters.

But even after that disgrace, she kept volunteering at the School Board, serving on a variety of committees, including the now-notorious Qualification Selection Committee (QSEC) that her good friend Beverly Gallagher supposedly rigged for bribe money from undercover agents. It was Gallagher, of course, who invited her good friend Ferrara onto the boat, which she didn't know at the time was owned, operated, and well-bugged by the feds.

I contacted Ferrara at Planet Fitness in Sunrise where she works. As instructed by the receptionist, I left a detailed message for her (just the basics -- "FBI boat, QSEC, Bev Gallagher"). Will update if she calls back.

Gallagher told agents that she'd fixed the vote for the $70 million Hollywood Hills High School renovation for Pirtle Construction. The company did, indeed, win the committee's recommendation. But here's an interesting twist: Her good friend and yachting partner, Ferrara, didn't vote Pirtle in the top spot. Instead she gave the company a close second to Weitz Co., another school contractor.  

Now what on Earth might have caused her to do that? Hmmm?  

Does Anna Nicole Smith corrupt everything she touches, even in death, or is she just a magnet for sleaze?

Everybody who crossed paths with the late pin-up and reality TV star seems to want to make a buck on her celebrity. Personal attorney Howard K. Stern is looking for a cut of the Marshall fortune, probable baby-daddy Larry Birkhead cashed in on her photos, mother Virgie Arthur is selling out to the tabloids, and Broward Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin was apparently auditioning for his own TV show last week during the burial hearings.

But what about Dr. Joshua Perper (or "Dr. Pepper," as Judge Larry misnomered him during the hearings)? Is the esteemed Broward County Medical Examiner whose candor and willingness to answer questions endeared him to the nation during the ANS soap opera trying to cash in on the case, too?

Last week, while Anna Nicole's corpse cooled in a refrigerator in his office, the Boca Press released Perper's new book, "When To Call The Doctor ...". Here's how the press release starts out:

"Dr. Joshua Perper, expert Broward County Medical Examiner, performed the autopsy on Anna Nicole Smith. Dr. Perper is available for interviews about the autopsy he performed on the body of Anna Nicole Smith and his new book, "When To Call The Doctor..."

It concludes: "Due to the recent sudden deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and her late son, the timeliness of this book makes it an invaluable resource for everyone."

So it certainly appears the good doctor is angling for Anna to give him a bump in book sales. But when the Pulp questioned him about it today, he immediately denied that was the case...

Johnny Depp came to town a couple weeks ago (January 28) and played with his old band, The Kids, at Club Cinema in Pompano Beach. So quiet it was like a secret (Sentinel reported he probably wouldn't make it, DeFede had it that he would be here the preceding Friday). Here's some more photos of the event, which occurred at a venue that has an unsavory founding. While getting this together, stumbled across this old clip on YouTube of Depp in a highly cheesy 80s music video. Who would have thought the tongue-wagging goof would become one of the best actors going in filmdom?

Here's another little tabloid/cable news bombshell. Now she's banging (assumedly) the Bahamian immigration minister. He let inside the country and she let him inside her ...

... God this is ludicrous. But there were two distinctive local takes on Anna Nicole over the weekend worth mentioning. The first came from Palm Beach Post entertainment reporter Leslie Gray Streeter, who starts with the now-familiar "train wreck" theme.

"We all know that term, used to describe a person whose sheer weirdness should compel us to look away as we drive by, yet we just can't help slowing down for a look. We're bursting to capacity with celebrity train wrecks like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and the Simpson sisters — we just shake our heads and cluck our tongues."

Cluck our tongues? Not in my car