Jess Swanson

Jess Swanson is a staff writer at New Times. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami’s School of Communication and wrote briefly for the student newspaper until realizing her true calling: pissing off fraternity brothers by reporting about their parties on her crime blog. Especially gifted in jumping rope and solving Rubik’s cubes, she also holds the title for longest stint as an unpaid intern in New Times history. She left the Magic City for New York to earn her master’s degree from Columbia University School of Journalism, where she spent a year profiling circumcised men who were trying to regrow their foreskins for a story that ultimately won the John Horgan Award for Critical Science Journalism. Terrified by pizza rats and arctic temperatures, she quickly returned to her natural habitat.

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Three Years After Kayla Mendoza's Wrong-Way Crash, the Victims' Families Fight to Save Lives

Three years after the nation's most infamous wrong-way crash, the victims' families fight to save lives.

By Jess Swanson
Dec 13, 2016

Gary Catronio stands in the middle of his daughter Marisa's small bedroom inside a tidy Coral Springs home. A portly New Yorker with a head of white hair and a trimmed white beard, he is careful not to bump or knock anything over. He points to a pile of women's...
All Saints Soup Kitchen Will Feed More Than 250 People on Thanksgiving

By Jess Swanson
Nov 23, 2016

While feeding the needy each day at 2 p.m., All Saints Catholic Mission has racked up more than $10,000 in fines for dodging a cease-and-desist order. This Thanksgiving, Father Bob Caudill and his congregation plan to serve turkey meals to more than 250 people. "I'm thankful that we’re still here," Caudill...
Black Broward Student Schools Teacher for Racist Comments About Latinos

By Jess Swanson
Nov 21, 2016

Emboldened by the President-elect's crusade to make America great again (for white people), Donald Trump's followers seem to be celebrating the election by harassing minorities. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the number of hateful incidents toward immigrants, Muslims, women, blacks, and LGBTQ folks (including swastika vandalism) has spiked since...
Activists Protest Sabal Trail Pipeline to Save Florida's Water Supply and the Environment

By Jess Swanson
Nov 18, 2016

As thousands gather at Standing Rock to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline, closer to home, activists are actively trying to stop construction of the $3 billion, 515-mile Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline slicing through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Not only does it put the environment and water supply at risk, but activists fear the flammable...
After Fatal Wrong Way I-95 Crash, Victims' Father Faces Driver in Court

By Jess Swanson
Nov 16, 2016

It has been 11 months since investigators say Franklin Chavez drove the wrong way on I-95 and caused a high-speed, head-on collision that killed 23-year-old Carmen Criales and seriously injured her mother and brother. Chavez has been charged with vehicular homicide and manslaughter while driving under the influence. Now the victims'...
Trump Protestor Picked Up at Fort Lauderdale Rally Claims Wrongful Arrest

By Jess Swanson
Nov 15, 2016

Thousands took to the downtown Fort Lauderdale streets Sunday night to protest the hatred and bigotry that President-Elect Donald Trump represents. Though it was a mostly peaceful demonstration, there was some conflict with a few pro-Trump counterprotesters. They were allegedly carrying a banner and chanting "Build a wall!" and "Hillary...
Nine Ways South Floridians Can Resist Trump's Fascist Bigotry

By Jess Swanson
Nov 14, 2016

As the shock of Hillary Clinton's defeat settles in, it's easy to feel powerless and hopeless. Though her supporters weren't able to keep Trump's backers from showing up to the polls in record numbers, it's crucial...
Fort Lauderdale Attorney Bradford Cohen Posting Giant "Congratulations President Trump" Sign

By Jess Swanson
Nov 9, 2016

Broward is Florida's largest Democratic county. The day after election night will surely be a somber one as residents pluck their "Clinton-Kaine" and "I'm With Her" signs from their yards. But at least one person in the county is celebrating. After Donald Trump fired him on The Apprentice 12 years...
Trump Supporters With Bullhorns Intimidate Voters at West Palm Beach Polling Site

By Jess Swanson
Nov 8, 2016

Over the weekend, Donald Trump supporters showed up at early voting sites in West Palm Beach. Videos show them at the West Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections office shouting with bullhorns at voters and breaching the 100-foot electioneering line mandated by Florida law. It got so bad that the Palm...
#NeverTrump App Pairs Florida's Third-Party Voters With Blue-State Clinton Supporters

By Jess Swanson
Nov 7, 2016

As election day (and the possibility of ending up with an orange-faced, pussy-grabbing baboon as president) nears, a new Tinder-like app is bringing Hillary Clinton and Jill Stein supporters together. It's called #NeverTrump, and it pairs Hillary Clinton supporters in blue states with Jill Stein supporters in swing states so they can swap votes to...
Delray Mayor Dresses as Donald Trump, Proposes Building a Wall at Boca Border

By Jess Swanson
Nov 4, 2016

Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein made an entrance at Tuesday night's commission. He was wearing a shaggy blond wig and a red cap that read "Make America Great Again" — except "America" had been crossed out and "Delray" had been scribbled above it. The audience chuckled and snapped photos. Glickstein didn't break...
At Clinton's Sistrunk Rally, Former Gay Activist Bob Kunst Assails "Vagina Voters"

By Jess Swanson
Nov 2, 2016

At 4 p.m. yesterday, three white men cheered for Donald Trump outside the Hillary Clinton rally at Delevoe Memorial Park, near Sistrunk. They held signs calling Hillary a liar and stating that she belongs in prison. It was a demonstration organized by Shalom International, a Jewish group led by controversial activist Bob Kunst.
Convert Palm Beach's Abandoned Black Hospital Into a Memorial for Police Shooting Victims

By Jess Swanson
Nov 1, 2016

As activists took to the streets to protest the police shooting deaths of Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and others, two Palm Beach law partners wanted to do more. Malik Leigh and Danielle Watson were frustrated that only these victims' deaths were discussed. Now they're working to convert an...
Heroin Overdoses Are Good Advertising for Drug Dealers

By Jess Swanson
Oct 31, 2016

October has been the deadliest month for drug overdoses in Delray Beach. As of October 19, the city's police force reported 38 overdoses, nine of them deadly. Though cops, firefighters, and experts continue to warn about the dangers of mixing heroin with fentanyl and carfentanil, it seems...
This Abandoned Broward Jail Is the Creepiest Place in South Florida

By Jess Swanson
Oct 27, 2016

Female serial killers like Judi “Black Widow” Buenano and Aileen Wuornos once walked the grounds of the Broward Correctional Institution on the far western reaches of Pembroke Pines. Shuttered in 2012, the maximum-security female prison is abandoned, overtaken by weeds and satanic graffiti.
Ten-Year-Old's Halloween Prank Frightens Delray Beach Neighborhood

By Jess Swanson
Oct 25, 2016

When Jill Hyman Gallo pulled up to her Delray Beach townhouse Saturday afternoon, a tiny person in a black hoodie with a creepy mask was waiting eerily beside her driver's side window. Gallo's teenage daughter seated beside her initially laughed. The single mother of two shrieked in terror. The disturbing figure...
West Palm Beach Moves to Ban Anti-Gay Conversion Therapy

By Jess Swanson
Oct 24, 2016

At tonight's commission meeting, the City of West Palm Beach is planning to ban "conversion therapy" on minors. It's a cruel practice that essentially stigmatizes homosexual attraction as a mental illness. Similar bans have recently passed in Miami Beach, Miami, and Wilton Manors. Conversion therapy is predominantly regarded as a...
On Claims of Rigged Election, Trump Supporters Exit Polling in Fort Lauderdale

By Jess Swanson
Oct 21, 2016

Donald Trump repeatedly declares that this election has been "rigged" against him and, at Wednesday's debate, announced that he'd leave the country "in suspense" on whether he would accept its outcome on November 8. Yesterday he said he would only accept the results "if I win." Now the Guardian reports...
After Losing Bet on the University of Miami, Broward Mayor Wears FSU Jersey

By Jess Swanson
Oct 20, 2016

As if it wasn't painful enough that the Miami Hurricanes lost to the Florida State Seminoles by one point earlier this month, Broward County Mayor Marty Kiar, a lifelong UM fan, spent Tuesday's eight-hour commission meeting uncomfortably dressed in a white and garnet FSU jersey. "I just tried not to...
To Make Drivers Pay Fines, Fort Lauderdale Introduces Wacky Alternative to the Boot

By Jess Swanson
Oct 19, 2016

Fort Lauderdale's parking scofflaws beware; the City has found a strange new way to strong-arm drivers to pay outstanding parking fines. By blocking a driver's view, The Barnacle uses two commercial grade suction cups to latch onto windshields with 750 pounds of force. This peculiar bright yellow contraption is supposedly more efficient...
Las Olas Marina Could Receive $25 Million Facelift to Accomodate Megayachts

By Jess Swanson
Oct 18, 2016

Yachts are becoming bigger and more luxurious, forcing the marinas were they dock to adapt, too. As the yachting capital of the world, officials say that Fort Lauderdale must upgrade, expand, and redevelop the Las Olas Marina to maintain its title. It's a move that could cost $25 million and...
During King Tide, Two Feet of Seawater Flooded Hollywood's Streets

By Jess Swanson
Oct 17, 2016

Approaching the high tide at 10 a.m. Sunday, a fleet of concerned residents waded through severely flooded Hollywood streets to document the effects of sea level rise during the king tide. Marching down Adams Street, the group was armed with soggy sneakers, rulers, and cameras. They were optimistic that their photos could...

Archives from 2016

Jess Swanson