Email Author Chris Sweeney

2012 Stories by Chris Sweeney

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  COVER STORY

  Garrett Holeve, an MMA Fighter With Down Syndrome, Is on His Way to Changing the Sport

  published December 20, 2012

  "I'm dangerous," 23-year-old Garrett Holeve warns as he bounces around a bedroom in his parents' suburban, single-story house, throwing punches... More >>

• Viagra Cures Everything: Off-Label Uses for Erectile Dysfunction Drugs

  published December 6, 2012

  It's been a marquee week for boner pills. First, a University of Florida professor and colleagues published a study showing that... More >>

• Kratom Comes to Florida: Is the Next Big Drug Craze Dangerous?

  published November 29, 2012

  The busty clerk at Grateful J's head shop in Boca Raton holds out a small brown vial. The label reads "Lucky," and she promises the stuff packs... More >>

• Delray's Salt Suite: Can 24,000 Pounds of Salt From the Dead Sea Cure Our Ills?

  published November 22, 2012

  The adult room of Delray Beach's Salt Suite looks like a well-groomed beach.On the ground are several inches of coarse, granular salt. The... More >>

• Wireless Woe: Internetz Harm Kidz? Probably Not.

  published October 18, 2012

  Gone are the days of chalkboards, abacuses, and dunce caps. Nowadays elementary-school students (of a certain social stratus) tote... More >>

• Mistrial Coming for Buju: Did a Juror Violate Court Orders?

  published October 18, 2012

  Terri Wright is one of the jurors who helped convict reggae singer Buju Banton in a federal drug and gun trial in February 2011. She's also... More >>

• Buju Banton: Five More Years in Jail?

  published October 11, 2012

  Early in 2009, legendary reggae performer Buju Banton stood behind a microphone at his Gargamel Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and belted out... More >>

• Did "Herbal Incense" Kill Young Man?

  published September 27, 2012

  Last September, 26-year-old Aaron Stinson sat around a friend's apartment in upstate New York drinking some beer and smoking Relaxinol, a brand... More >>

• TSA at MIA and FLL: 35 Guns, a Chainsaw, and a Cannonball Confiscated

  published September 20, 2012

  Piled on a table in a quiet conference room at the central terminal of Miami International Airport is a dazzling collection of items that could... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  The Fake-Pot Industry Is Coming Down From a Three-Year High

  published September 13, 2012

  For months, Lila Steinhoff wondered what was going on in the middle bay of the peach-colored warehouse across from her home. When the wind came... More >>

• Banking on the Disabled: Serial Filer of Lawsuits Saves the Disabled... and Makes Some Bucks

  published September 6, 2012

  "The urinal is too high," says Douglas Schapiro, a pudgy lawyer dressed casually in a red polo shirt. He's squished into the men's room of Mi... More >>

• Urban Sprawl Kills Endangered Florida Panthers

  published August 16, 2012

  Marc Criffield clutches a small receiver in his hand and peers through the window of a single-engine Cessna. Suddenly, the device lets out an... More >>

• Did You Know MIA Has a Quarantine Station?

  published August 9, 2012

  Picture this: A flight with passengers from Uganda just touched down at Miami International Airport. As the visitors inch toward the terminal,... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  Dash to Dubai: An FBI Fugitive Explains Why She Kidnapped Her Daughter and Fled Fort Lauderdale

  published July 19, 2012

  Leslie Delbecq's voice crackles over the line. "I never had a criminal record," she says with a nervous lilt to her Belgian accent. "I was in... More >>

• Streetcar a Terrible Idea, Expert Says

  published July 12, 2012

  Last month, the Department of Transportation announced that it will fork over an $18 million TIGER grant for the first phase of Fort... More >>

• Is It Porn? HotSpots Magazine: Full of Man Candy but No Frontal Nudity

  published July 5, 2012

  Earlier this month, the Justice Department arrested 26-year-old Boca Raton resident John Michael Romero Mendoza for allegedly using the iPhone... More >>

• Amy Fisher Is Coming: Is She the Worst "Celebrity" Ever?

  published July 5, 2012

  South Florida is littered with C-list celebrities, from Vanilla Ice to Donald Trump. Although it's easy to riff on these... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  Genetically Modified Bugs Glow Red and Self-Destruct, but Can They Keep Away Disease?

  published May 31, 2012

  It's a pristine spring morning on the remote tip of Big Pine Key, 30 miles north of Key West. The lone paved road is surrounded by dense... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  The World's Coral Reefs Are Being Decimated, All for a Few Gaudy Trinkets

  published May 3, 2012

  Kate Lunz didn't know what to expect as she piloted her white Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission truck to the Port of Tampa... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  Ink Wars: A New Law Pits Florida Tattoo Artists Against One Another

  published March 15, 2012

  Dony is wrapped in a pirate-themed kids' comforter, writhing in pain. "Ahhhh, Louie," she groans, thrashing her feet. Louie is clutching a... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  Reggae Great Buju Banton Is Locked Up on Drug Charges. Was He Entrapped?

  published February 9, 2012

  Buju Banton had been blowing off the man he knew as "Junior" for months. The 38-year-old reggae sensation was always ready with an excuse to... More >>