By Michael Moline | Editor in Chief
“The reality is most people in Florida won’t even know it happens next Wednesday. It doesn’t have to happen. It is my prayer that we have enough courage to step back from the brink and not execute William Silvia.” — Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood of Silvia’s impending execution
The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood holds a photo of Florida death row inmate William Silvia during a Zoom conference call on Aug. 12, 2026.
That would be William Silvia, who in 2008 used a shotgun to murder his estranged wife and grievously wounded his mother-in-law. The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, spiritual counselor to death row inmates, says that if Gov. DeSantis is going to put people to death, he should be there to see it done. “We’re talking about a dozen of executions in recent years. And Gov DeSantis does not even have the courage to show up? Why? Does he not care? Is he oblivious to these executions happening?” he said. “I don’t take any joy in doing that. It’s a weighty thing,” DeSantis said of executions.
The 11th Circuit shot down the Center for Biological Diversity’s argument that even running a limited test of phosphogypsum’s utility in road construction would signal openness to its use. A byproduct of fertilizer production, the stuff contains radioactive radon, an established carcinogen. The University of Florida and Mosaic are partnering to research use of the material as a base for roads, underneath asphalt and above subgrade. The research is meant to monitor soil, air, and water around the experimental roads, Jay Waagmeester reports.
COMMENTARY
Sounds exciting — a development in Southwest Florida built around an old Ford Motor Co. testing track, to lure rich guys with really hot cars. Trouble is, it would be plunked right in the middle of an ecosystem critical to the survival of the Florida panther and other endangered species, columnist Craig Pittman reports. The developers insist any impacts would be muted, but the project’s neighbors are alarmed. “We do have a lot of concern about where [the development] is placed,” Amber Crooks of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida told me. “That’s 100% in the panther’s primary zone for adult breeding.”
MORE FROM THE PHOENIX
Thanks for reading Today on the Phoenix. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.