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Claire McNeill - Enterprise Reporter
Claire McNeill

Enterprise Reporter

I've been dog-earing magazines since I was little, and I’m still a constant reader. I love reporting deep on complicated ideas and telling intimate stories that reveal the human experience: a forgotten school shooting victim, a Syrian refugee in a Southern fraternity, a mother-turned-drug smuggler for her dying son. I grew up in a small town in South Jersey and made my way here after attending the University of North Carolina. I covered all kinds of news in Pasco and Pinellas counties before leaping into the higher education beat and then onto the enterprise team. Outside of work, I hoard books, stress-bake and balance my soccer/softball/rock climbing routine with a serious Taco Bell habit. I live in St. Pete with my introverted Pomeranian, Wilson.

  1. Will Florida soon restrict abortion?
    Jan. 25• The Buzz
    “My body, my choice” was the rallying cry on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade in the state Capitol, where abortion rights activists decried a fast-tracked bill that would raise the bar for minors seeking abortions. (AP Photo/Aileen Perilla)
  2. The rush is on for Jollibee, a taste of home for Filipinos living in Tampa Bay
    Jan. 17• Pinellas
    People waited overnight to be the first customers at the new Jollibee Pinellas Park location. It opened Friday.
  3. QAnon conspiracy theorists find kinship on the Tampa Riverwalk
    Jan. 16• Tampa
    Several hundred QAnoners set up camp along the Tampa Riverwalk on Jan. 11 to hear from the celebrities of their fringe conspiracy theory. "It's amazing to see the growth," said Jeffrey Pedersen, better known as "The Matrixxx."
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  5. In Zion Cemetery’s lost history, a glimpse of the memorial park it could become again
    Dec. 17, 2019• Hillsborough
    For some, the lost Zion Cemetery, here in the foreground, and the old Robles Park Village speak to the same issue: a lack of power and respect for black residents.
  6. Young doctors find a calling on abortion’s front lines
    Nov. 5, 2019• Long Reads
    “Coming out,” as providers call it, is not easy. But when people ask her specialty, Dr. Jewel Brown of Tampa owns it. She wants to be an abortion provider. Becoming one, she has found, takes determination at every step of the way.
  7. Gay rights icon Edie Windsor’s sheer force carries ‘A Wild and Precious Life’
    Oct. 8, 2019• Books
    Edie Windsor walks at the 46th annual NYC Pride March in 2016. Windsor was the Grand Marshal of the 2013 parade, just after the Supreme Court ruled in her favor and struck down the antigay Defense of Marriage Act. Her case set the stage for Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the Supreme Court made marriage equality legal nationwide.
  8. Betty Castor wanted Florida to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. She’s still fighting.
    Sep. 6, 2019• The Buzz
    Former Florida Senator and education commissioner Betty Castor, center, speaks during a Mayoral Panel on the Equal Rights Amendment Thursday in Tampa, while Linda D'Aquila, left, looks on. Castor was present earlier in the day when the Hillsborough County Commission resolved to support the ERA.
  9. What is it like to work in an abortion clinic or pregnancy center? Our reporters visited both.
    Aug. 2, 2019• Florida
    MONICA HERNDON | Times
  10. A crisis pregnancy center in Florida wants to redefine choice
    Aug. 1, 2019• Florida
    MONICA HERNDON | Times
  11. A Florida abortion clinic braces for a Southern surge
    Aug. 1, 2019• Florida
    MONICA HERNDON | Times
  12. Ruskin father fatally shot by deputies had plans to be a better provider, relatives say
    Jul. 8, 2019• News
    Angel Ramos Otero, 37, was shot and killed by Hillsborough sheriff’s deputies in Ruskin on Friday, according to his family. Ramos refused commands to drop a knife and advanced at deputies during a domestic disturbance call. [Courtesy of Shaina Otero]
  13. There's a small chance of a tropical system forming in the Gulf of Mexico next week.
    Jul. 6, 2019• Breaking News
    A tropical weather system might form in the Gulf of Mexico next week. (National Hurricane Center)
  14. Who wants to listen to the angel of death?
    Jun. 26, 2019• Florida
    Saundra Piercy, center, makes her pitch to Joyce Grout, left, and her husband, Steve Grout, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's last fall. Piercy was speaking at The Residence at Timber Pines, a senior community in Spring Hill. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]
  15. He was at Stonewall 50 years ago. In St. Petersburg, he remembers the before and after.
    Jun. 12, 2019• News
    Activist Jay Chetney talks about direct non violent action and activism against the Vietnam war as well as his time being assaulted by officers at Stonewall. [LUIS SANTANA | Times]
  16. Those on Florida’s front lines in the abortion battle know change is coming
    Apr. 25, 2019• Florida
    Rep. Anna Eskamani, standing in the center, and Rep. Mike Hill, sitting two rows ahead, are on opposite sides of the abortion debate. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]
  17. Those on Florida's front lines in the abortion battle know change is coming
    Apr. 25, 2019• Florida Politics
    Rep. Anna Eskamani, standing in the center, and Rep. Mike Hill, sitting two rows ahead, are on opposite sides of the abortion debate. [MONICA HERNDON | Times]
  18. The Trial of John Jonchuck, Day 10: Bring on the experts
    Mar. 29, 2019
    Defendant John Jonchuck arrives in the courtroom Friday. DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times
  19. The Trial of John Jonchuck Day 9: Watch as the defense introduces insanity
    Mar. 28, 2019
    Defendant John Jonchuck sits in court Thursday. SCOTT KEELER | Times
  20. Prosecutors rest after quick case. Now the trial of John Jonchuck gets complicated.
    Mar. 28, 2019• News
    Defendant John Jonchuck, right, reacts in court Wednesday as photographs are shown to the jury of the body of his daughter, Phoebe, and the injuries she suffered when he dropped the 5-year-old off a bridge in 2015 to her death. On the left is Pinellas-Pasco Assistant Public Defender Greg Williams. [SCOTT KEELER | Times]
  21. The Trial of John Jonchuck Day 8: Proving the murder
    Mar. 27, 2019
    Defendant John Jonchuck looks at one of his public defenders, Jessica Manuele, in the courtroom Wednesday. SCOTT KEELER | Times
  22. John Jonchuck's mother testifies as her son stands trial for her granddaughter's murder
    Mar. 26, 2019• News
    A photograph of 5-year-old Phoebe Jonchuck is shown to the jury as grandmother Michele Jonchuck, sitting on the witness stand, looks toward her son, John Jonchuck. He is the father of Phoebe, and his murder trial in her 2015 death continued Tuesday. [SCOTT KEELER | Times]
  23. The Trial of John Jonchuck Day 7: Watch prosecutors establish their case
    Mar. 26, 2019
    Defendant John Jonchuck looks across the courtroom before the jury enters Tuesday. SCOTT KEELER | Times
  24. John Jonchuck trial begins with competing narratives over vengeance and insanity
    Mar. 25, 2019• News
    St. Petersburg police Officer Drew Vickers shows the jury where 5-year-old Phoebe Jonchuck was dropped from the Dick Misener Bridge on Jan. 8, 2015. The officer tried to find the girl by climbing down a bridge ladder, shown in the background, on the west side of the bridge. Vickers testified Monday in the murder trial of the girl’s father, John Jonchuck, at the Pinellas County Justice Center. [SCOTT KEELER | Times]