This is southwest Florida in focus.

Coming up.

Governor Ron DeSantis is signing death warrants at an unprecedented rate.

The Sunshine State leads the nation in executions this year, despite public opinion on capital punishment beginning to waver.

A hidden fortune could lie within Florida's waters.

How scientists are researching whether seaweed could become a super crop and boost the state's struggling agriculture industry.

And now we're continuing dive into the life of Bob Rauschenberg unveils a clandestine operation to bring the artist's work to interstellar heights.

Hello, I'm Sandra Victorova.

Thank you for joining us.

On October 28th, Norman World Grim Junior is scheduled to die by lethal injection for the murder of his next door neighbor in North Florida nearly 27 years ago.

He will become the 15th death row inmate in Florida to be executed this year, setting a state record for executions in a calendar year.

According to the Department of Corrections.

Florida has executed 119 inmates since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S.

Supreme Court.

12% of those executions happening in 2025 alone.

Earlier this year, Governor Ron DeSantis said that the violent nature of the crimes warranted a death sentence.

Part of it is an appropriate punishment.

Part of it is it expresses the outrage of the community.

Because if you do something less than that, then potentially you're sending a signal that, yeah, it's bad, but not as bad as it could have been.

No.

These are the worst of the worst.

In 2023, Florida passed significant changes to the death penalty standards.

Juries no longer need a unanimous vote for capital punishment in order for the judge to sentence someone to death.

Now, only eight of 12 jurors need to agree.

Retired Lee County Sheriff's Captain Donnie Fuel supports that change fuels twin brother, 24 year old Corporal Ronnie Fuel was shot and killed about 40 years ago while responding to a domestic disturbance call.

Dale Connelly had shot his wife in the stomach and fired on deputies at the scene.

Connelly received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

He eventually died in jail.

Fuel says Connelly should have received the death penalty, and supports Governor Desantis's efforts to increase the number of executions I believe capital punishment is a deterrent.

But the issue I have with capital punishment is, is, people sentenced to death?

It takes such a long time for justice be served.

And, I don't ever want anybody to be executed who has a chance of being innocent.

But, the appeals process and the process can go on for years and years and years and years and for all those years that you're sitting there and on death row hoping that you can find some way to beat the system.

The family is still without their loved.

To learn more, we are joined by Robin Maher the executive director of the nonprofit the Death Penalty Information Center, which studies the impact of executions.

Miss Ma, thank you for joining us.

It's great to be here.

Thank you.

So why has there been such a surge in death row executions in Florida this past year?

There was only one in the state in 2024.

Yeah, that's a great question.

It certainly is a big change from what we saw in recent years.

You know, as with most things, the answer is multifactorial.

We have, a lot of secrecy surrounding the decisions that are being made in Florida.

That's part of the problem for us to understand why exactly there has been such a big uptick in the number of executions.

One thing is not in dispute, and that is that Florida will lead the country this year in the number of executions, and that's something that's never happened before.

So prior to this year, Governor Ron DeSantis had only issued death warrants for nine people.

What do you think is the motivation for the surge in state executions?

Well, I wish he would tell us, but he has not shared his decision making or the reasons for his decision with the public.

But I think that in general, we're seeing a slight uptick in the number of executions because of the political environment that we're in.

Certainly this president, President Trump, has made no secret about his enthusiasm for the death penalty.

And it may be that some elected officials, some political actors are, scheduling executions in order to show that they are in alignment with the president's policies and wishes.

So I want to talk about opinions on death penalty.

You say that opinions about executions are changing.

One of your reports from last year cites a Gallup poll that says 55% of U.S.

adults aged 18 to 43 find the de Well, that's right, but that is a number that has been decreasing over the years.

That's the big takeaway point.

You know, we see that public opinion, public support for the death penalty has been decreasing, over the past 20 years.

You know, we forget that back before the turn of the century, in the late 1990s, we were sentencing to death more than 300 people a year.

And we had many more executions, close to 100 at its peak.

But those numbers have been dropping along with public support.

We now see public opinion dropping from a high of over 80%, down to about 53%.

And among young people, that opposition to the death penalty is much higher than 50%.

And we frankly expect to see those numbers continue to grow.

Miss Ma, a recent Gallup poll showed that 62% of Floridians now favorite life in prison, as opposed to the death penalty.

Why do you think opinions are shifting?

Well, I think one reason not unique to Florida is the cost of the death penalty.

Every state that has studied the costs that must be invested in a capital case have found that the death penalty is much more expensive than sentencing someone to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

And that comes as a surprise to almost everyone.

I mentioned that fact, too.

The other thing that has moved public opinion is the fact that many people are concerned.

We're just not getting it right.

There are many people who have credible claims of innocence who are in the media today, on death row with executions scheduled.

That is really shaking the confidence of people who believe the death penalty has to get it right, or it shouldn't be used at all.

And overall, people are just uncomfortable with the amount of resources that need to be invested instead of, diverting those resources to things like supporting victims families or, investing in meaningful solutions that will keep communities safer.

So for lots of reasons, public support has been shifting for many years.

So since we're talking about exonerations, what are the latest?

You know, studies show us about how many more people are being exonerated than, than in previous years.

Well, one thing that Florida holds is the status as the state with the most exonerated people in the country.

So Florida has exonerated 30 people.

That means it has gotten it wrong 30 times, sentenced someone to death who was later exonerated by a court of law, not just someone's opinion, but a court of law saying, no, this person was actually innocent.

So that's a very unfortunate headline across the country.

We have seen about 200 people exonerated from death rose.

But we know that many more, many more innocent people probably never got the relief they deserved.

Miss Ma, we thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

My pleasure.

Florida is researching a way to break into $1 billion farming industry.

Coming up, efforts to bring in the green by harvesting seaweed.

Playing team sports reduces stress, enhances cognition, and builds self-esteem.

That, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health, 100 student volunteers at Florida Gulf Coast University work to do just that in support of athletes with disabilities.

As part of the annual Adaptive Sports Day.

WGCU's Amanda Inscore Whittamore reports.

No.

No no no no no no.

Christina Thomas watched from the sideline as her son, Justin played basketball with FGCU student volunteers and a couple of other players.

It's his day.

He's lighting up.

You can see the smile.

It means the world to him.

I'm doing it.

Justin is ten years old and has spina bifida.

He has been playing basketball and flag football for several years on teams with able bodied kids.

Thomas says the event is a good opportunity for Justin to see other people in wheelchairs and with other disabilities.

He can check out the equipment and be with kids that have, you know, unique abilities like he does.

I want him to know that, you know, there are tons of people out there that have disabilities.

It doesn't make you any different.

It just makes you a little bit more unique.

Fgcu Professor Ellen Donald helps oversee the event.

A lot of people don't have a lot of opportunity to engage in just fun and be able to be physically active and try out sports, so it's a welcoming environment.

Irfan.

Nine she says Adaptive Sports Day also benefits the students in the Fgcu occupational and physical therapy programs, as well as those studying nursing and exercise science.

One two, three what we're finding is that as people grow older, there's not service providers that will work with this population.

So we're trying to expose students across all areas of expertise to this population.

FGC student Lexia Hall is a third year physical therapy student who volunteered by putting yourself in their shoes and like being in a wheelchair while trying to play basketball.

Like that's really difficult.

So being able to kind of step into what their life is like and being able to embody it, you can better do the treatment or interventions or trying to help them find the right path.

That's it.

Great for WGCU news.

I'm Amanda Inscore Whittamore There is an old saying that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind.

Now there are even more reasons to develop a positive lifestyle.

New research shows that simple behavioral changes can help ward off the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Gcc's Carrie Barbour has more.

Florida ranked second in the country for the number of people living with Alzheimer's disease.

Exciting new research published this summer shows that simple lifestyle changes can delay the onset of symptoms.

The first large scale clinical trial on Alzheimer's disease in the U.S.

shows that behavior can have an important impact on brain health.

Physical activity eating whole food based meals, and staying socially engaged can help delay the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, especially in people who are at a genetic risk for it.

Research further shows that structured support with accountability is more helpful than a self-guided program.

Jennifer Breasted is director of government affairs for the Alzheimer's Association Florida.

This really shows that taking these lifestyle interventions can make a difference in your cognitive health and can reduce your risk of cognitive decline, which could ultimately reduce your risk of developing dementia.

Cynthia Perth, Use of Naples, watched her father struggle with Alzheimer's disease and eventually die from it.

She learned she carries the gene that increases her risk for the disease, so she began to do everything she could to stave it off.

She even began to work to help other families manage the disease.

She says the advice is very simple.

If you can put all that into just for little things.

Eat well, get exercise, make some friends, and keep getting educated.

It's good for your brain, which means it's good for your body and vice versa.

She follows this protocol herself, playing pickleball every day, which is active and social.

She eats lots of fruits and vegetables and reads to keep learning.

You can't really stop Alzheimer's right now.

There's not a cure for it.

But are there things we can do ahead of time to not see that horrible disease?

It's a horrible disease.

And so we we should be thinking about ahead of time.

And so you enjoy a drink.

You just don't have it all the time.

So you enjoy having like I like to fried chicken.

Just don't have it all the time.

Just be in moderation.

The recommendations are not complicated, and according to the new research, they can pay off in big dividends for your brain.

For WDSU news, I'm Carrie Barber in Naples.

Bigger, stronger and more modern.

Fort Myers Beach town leaders say plans are moving forward to rebuild their pier.

Just a handful of pilings are all that remain after Hurricane Ian destroyed the iconic landmark more than three years ago.

And as WGCUs Jennifer Crawford details, tourists from around the world are already excited for its return.

We love it because it's always sunny.

It's it's.

You feel much lighter than at home.

For more than a decade.

All of our Hank Ofer and his wife Zena, from Germany have vacationed on Fort Myers Beach.

And that's special for me.

So it's the one place in the world.

I go into the water and into the sea.

This is their first visit since Hurricane Ian devastated the area three years ago, destroying lives, homes, property and the famous fishing pier.

It's a shame that we haven't, that pier anymore.

And, it's always fun to be here on the pier.

See the people fishing and see dolphins.

Looking for the sunset.

But if Fort Myers Beach town and Lee County leaders get their wish.

Construction on the new pier will begin in 2026.

Renderings show a modern, resilient design, almost doubling the length of the pier to 1000ft and widening it to 12ft.

The new pier features three shade structures, a fish cleaning station, and lighting.

The pier is expected to take a year to build.

If all goes as planned, it would open in 2027.

I think it's kind of a symbol of the rebuild of the whole downtown area here, and I think it will mean a lot to a lot of people.

The golfers are already planning their next trip to walk on the new pier.

We are looking very hopefully to come back and see the bigger pier.

For WGCU news, I'm Jennifer Crawford reporting from Fort Myers Beach.

As industries like citrus continue to struggle, should Florida look to boost its agricultural output by relying on its coastline?

Researchers at the University of Florida are looking at seaweed.

Whether it could be the next sustainable crop for the Sunshine State.

For more on the potential future of seaweed farming in Florida, we're joined by Doctor Ashley Smith.

And so you're an associate professor of soil, water and ecosystem science at UF's Tropical Research and Education Center.

Thank you, Doctor Smith, for joining us.

Hi.

Happy to be here.

So seaweed is a massive crop in several Asian countries where it's in big demand there.

Is seaweed a fit for Florida agriculture?

That's what our new project is really looking at.

A lot of the work that comes out on seaweed has come from not tropical systems like we have here in Florida.

So our work is focused right now on finding out if we're able to culture and grow, seaweed that is marketable and could be profitable.

What are you finding right now?

I know you're sort of early in the process, but what are you seeing so far?

Yeah, we are.

We are just getting started.

And so right now, what we're doing is we are actually working with our commercial, shellfish farmers because seaweed right now for them is treated as a nuisance, like it covers their, their clams, for example.

And so they have to go out and spend extra time to remove all that seaweed.

And so that seaweed, though, has a lot of potential.

It could be really tasty treats.

It could be really great at nitrogen storage and actually have water quality benefits and be used as fertilizer.

So right now what we're doing is going to these leases and just characterizing the types of seaweed that we see there.

This is our way of saying this seaweed does grow here in Florida.

And if it's growing here, it's native, it's natural.

Then there's a chance to cultivate that.

Once we have identified the most common species of seaweed that occur on our shellfish leases, we're then taking it back to the lab, and we're going to do some genetics and try to figure out if any of the seaweeds that we have do have really high potential for a different commercial operations.

How big is the potential market for seaweed?

I think when people think of seaweed, they're probably thinking of, you know, how they might, you know, eat it in sushi.

But there's a lot more purposes for it, right?

Yeah, CB can be used for a variety of different things, and consumption is actually just a small fraction of that.

Seaweeds and cosmetics.

Seaweeds can be used for pharmaceutical production.

And see, we can actually even be used in packaging material to reduce our reliance on plastics.

I think a lot of people are wondering, since you mentioned, nitrogen, what is the impact to the health of our waters and the environment by bringing in farming it to our waters?

So aquaculture is farming in the water and it is a green industry.

It actually does a lot of really great things for our waterways.

So we can think of let's use shellfish for our example here.

And shellfish are really great filter feeders.

So what they do is they actually clean the water, and they can remove nitrogen in doing that.

And they provide tasty treats for us.

So it's really a win win win.

Aquaculture often gets a dirty reputation like they think of it as a bad thing.

But a lot of that actually comes from what we know from other places where it's finfish aquaculture and it's these big pens where they have to use feed or different, medicine to treat the fish.

But we don't have that with our, our shellfish, aquaculture and seaweed would be the same thing.

In fact, seaweed aquaculture would provide a benefit for our waters because it sucks up that nitrogen that would otherwise cause those algal blooms and have our waters turn that guacamole colored green that no one wants.

Right?

Right.

I'm not familiar with how you farm seaweed, so share with our audience how actually would these farms, you know, produce the seaweed?

What is it?

What does that process look like?

This is a great question.

And one of the things that we're trying to work out here in Florida, there's a variety of different ways that you can culture seaweed.

Some people will actually put it on ropes and so it's big long lines that hang throughout the water.

And there's just seaweed attached to that.

Some some other organizations will put seaweed into different cages and those cages stay in the water.

And then they get tumbled and moved around and the seaweed just grow in there.

And then we also grow seaweed on land.

So we have these land based systems or tanks where we can bring in water from the ocean and help to get the seaweed to grow in a more controlled environment.

Ashley Smith with the University of Florida, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Taking culture to outer space.

After the break, how renegade artists took matters into their own hands to get their artwork on the moon.

In 1969, Bob Rauschenberg was brought on by NASA to develop art to commemorate the moon landing.

However, the acclaimed artist wasn't content with his work staying grounded.

As GQ arts reporter Tom Hall explains.

Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and scientists at Bell Labs conducted a secret operation to put their art on the moon.

Among the reasons artist Bob Rauschenberg relocated from Manhattan to Captiva Island was its proximity to Cape Canaveral.

Jay Dellinger, with the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, said.

NASA's mission to land a man on the moon had captivated his imagination.

Rauschenberg, as it turns out by the late 60s, becomes one of the first artists in residence for NASA.

It's one of the reasons he ends up moving to Florida was because he was in attendance.

He knew the astronauts when the Apollo 11 mission happened.

So he came to Florida to watch that incredible event in person while in Manhattan.

Rauschenberg had formed a group called experiments in Art and technology that included many top NASA scientists.

This group made performances where they would be partnering as both artists, composers, choreographers, and dancers with scientists and engineers that were equally of world renowned.

Connected to industry in ways that were interesting.

Forrest Frosty Meyers was one of those artists.

According to Dellinger, Meyers applauded the moon landing achievement but questioned the footprint that man left behind.

We had planted our flag nationalistic Lee claiming the moon.

But other than that, we'd really left detritus.

We'd left trash on the moon.

To remedy that, Myers, Rauschenberg, and four other artists created drawings to send to the moon.

Some scientists at Bell Laboratories transferred the drawings to a ceramic chip about the size of a postage stamp.

Then they asked NASA for permission to allow one of the Apollo 12 astronauts to leave it on the lunar surface.

That authorization never came, but the scientists would not be thwarted.

So in the last minute, they sent one of these small chips to be attached to the landing legs of the Lem six to secretly, surreptitiously, and without permission, send a museum with works of art by Robert Rauschenberg, by David Navarro's Faust Meyers, John Chamberlain, Klaus Oldenburg, and Andy Warhol to the moon, where it has resided without much fanfare since 1969.

Meyers got the confirmation that the chip made it to the moon.

It was Forrest who initiated the project through E.T., through experiments in art and technology, and then who received an anonymous telegram just before the launch of the Apollo 12, and it was signed.

A-okay.

All systems are go.

But it was signed John F. Of course, there was no John F that worked for Grumman.

We've been through the Grumman yearbook.

The person who started this on, you know, our quest for the moon was John F Kennedy.

Bell labs made 24 copies of the Moon Museum chip.

Each artist and engineer received one.

Roughly half have been accounted for today.

It's the smallest object in the Museum of Modern Arts permanent collection.

It's in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.. And then each of the artists who had been gifted one as a souvenir.

Some of them maintained them with retaining them.

Most of those artists are now deceased, but Rauschenberg's is in his foundation, being held.

Klaus Oldenburg remains with his estate.

Andy Warhol is in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and occasionally on display.

And then we think John Chamberlin probably gave his to a girl in a bar and kept asking frosty for another copy, but never received a second copy.

Rauschenberg's drawing was a simple black line.

He felt that just like Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon, art is about mark making.

So it wasn't necessary to send a recognizable image to the moon.

He was literally making his mark there for WGCU news Im Tom Hall.

We end today recognizing the loss of a Southwest Floridian who made a mark in our community.

Lee County Commissioner Mike Greenwell has died.

Greenwell, a former left fielder for the Boston Red Sox, was appointed to the district five seat by governor DeSantis in 2022.

A post from Lee County government called him a strong advocate for the people and businesses of Lee County.

He had been battling medullary thyroid cancer.

Greenwell was 62.

Our condolences to his friends and family.

We thank you very much for joining us on Southwest Florida in Focus today.

We hope to see you next week.