3 Questions with Bob Evans

He is an avid mountaineer with his eye on the next big challenge. A man who likes to do hard things and solve big problems. Dave Roskelley of Alpine just recently became the first American to summit the highest volcanoes on the seven continents. Of course, summiting the seven tallest peaks came before that. And before that, the granddaddy of them all: Mount Everest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She started out as an environmental activist, concerned about Utah’s air quality. But rather than just talk about the issue, Erin Mendenhall got busy, ran for public office and landed a seat on the Salt Lake City Council. And now, after six years there, she is Salt Lake City's new mayor — just as concerned about the environment, but more empowered than ever to actually do something about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He was arguably the first and most prominent face of the Utah Jazz when they first arrived in Salt Lake City in 1981. Frank Layden was the boisterous, often hilarious head coach who worked his way into the hearts of the fans, and most importantly, his players. Now at age 88, he's enjoying the fruits of all that hard work and affection. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been five years since "Mormon Stories" podcast host John Dehlin was excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a very difficult episode for him and his family, who also either left the church or are no longer active. The podcast began 15 years ago and has become a place where Latter-day Saints having a faith crisis can go for support and understanding. Now it has sparked a community of both former and current believers who look to Dehlin for camaraderie. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In recent months, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have intensified — with the shooting down of a U.S. drone, the killing of a U.S. contractor, the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. There is fear Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, despite economic sanctions. Amos Guiora is a University of Utah law professor who played a key role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, served in the Israel Defense Forces, and is a counter-terrorism expert who lives much of the time in the Middle East. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Passing legislation during the day, and stopping speeders and criminals at night. Lee Perry of the Utah House of Representatives has spent the past nine years juggling both responsibilities. As a Lieutenant with the Utah Highway Patrol, he was in the unique position of writing Utah law, and enforcing it too. Now, after a 31 year career in law enforcement, his retirement is bittersweet. Being a Utah Highway Patrol Trooper has been his dream job. But calmer waters are calling him. Bob Evans with FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City sat down with this outspoken lawman/politician in January of 2020 for a 3 Questions interview. Citizen Legislatures in the United States are made up of everyday, ordinary people, who come from a wide variety of professions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Provo, Utah Mayor Michelle Kaufusi has a reputation of being warm and friend, but very tough. And she’s had to be. Her husband Steve Kaufusi played for the Philadelphia Eagles and is the former Defensive Line Coach for BYU. Sons Bronson and Corbin play for the New York Jets. And Devin is a Defensive Lineman for BYU. Daughters Daryl and Alexis were active in high school sports. Now Mayor Kaufusi is using many of the same skills used to build successful professional athletes to run the city of Provo, Utah. When Michelle Kaufusi was elected the first female Mayor of Provo, political advisers told her it would be political suicide to propose a $69 million bond her first year in office. But after seeing the decaying and grossly overcrowded police and fire facilities at City Hall, she made the very difficult decision to put the bond issue to the voters. It passed by a narrow margin. And now after almost two years in office, with the new City Hall under way, she has taken on the massive project of building a new and expanded Provo airport. Mayor Kaufusi doesn’t consider herself a politician, and you’ll hear why. But she does like to move fast. Bob Evans with FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City sat down with her in December of 2019 for a 3 Questions interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

His daughter and family have been through indescribable trauma. Ed Smart’s daughter Elizabeth was kidnapped by Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee in June of 2002. Her miraculous safe return happened after nine torturous months of search, praying, and hoping. Since then, Ed and Elizabeth have become outspoken advocates for missing and exploited children with the Elizabeth Smart Foundation. But under the turmoil of this whole experience and aftermath, lay a deep anxiety the Ed had carried since he was 12 years old. After decades of marriage, six children, and life as an active Latter-day Saint (Mormon), Ed could no longer maintain what for him was a grotesque façade.  After a crisis in faith, Ed finally admitted to his wife Lois of 33 years, that he is gay. And bombshell after bombshell, he informed each of his children, the Smart’s close friends, and finally the public. Bob Evans with FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City sat down with Ed Smart in December of 2019 for a 3 Questions interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth’s career spans film, television, voiceover and stage. In 2015, Chenoweth received a coveted star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, she received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in “Pushing Daisies.” In 1999, she won a Tony Award for “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” and she was also nominated for her original role of Glinda the Good Witch in “Wicked” in 2004. Chenoweth has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and for a People’s Choice Award for her role on “Glee.” In 2009, she wrote an upliftingly candid, comedic chronicle of her life so far, “A Little Bit Wicked,” which debuted on the New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction Best Seller List.  Prior to the release of her new album with Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Bob Evans of FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City sat down with her in November 2019 for a 3 Questions interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s easy to look at police officers as the embodiment of official authority; enforcers of laws and rules; and a societal element to be cautious of, if not feared. But for those who look on them as corruptible bullies or worse, famed radio commentator Paul Harvey pointed out that less than one half of one percent of police officers “misfit the uniform”. And “that’s a better average than you’d find among clergy.” Walking the “thin blue line” is often a thankless job, fraught with mortal danger and never-ending hours chasing a never-ending stream of ne’er-do-wells. But you will never hear a police officer talk about how difficult their job is, despite the fact that most of us couldn’t conceive of what we really ask of them. In this 3 Questions interview, Bob Evans of FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City talks with Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown about the recent challenges his department has faced. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Outgoing Mayor Jackie Biskupski was Salt Lake City’s second female Mayor, and the first openly gay Mayor in Utah history. She presided over the city during an eventful time, but decided that important family matters needed her attention more than the Mayor’s office. During her term, Salt Lake City hosted the United Nations Civil Society Conference, saw a 30 percent drop in crime, the restructuring of homeless services and housing, and is getting ready to host the NBA All Star Game and Winter Olympics once again. Bob Evans of FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City sat down with her in November 2019 for a 3 Questions interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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For hundreds of years, the Jewish people have been the victims of violence, discrimination, and derision. Even in the information age, where we know more about each other than ever before, rather than receiving increased tolerance, Jews continue to be the target of hatred, bigotry, and deadly attacks, both around the world, and here in the United States. While in the religious minority in Utah, Jews in the Beehive state have found somewhat of a refuge dating back to the 1850’s, just years after the Mormon Pioneers settled the valleys of the Rocky Mountains. From that time forward, a special kinship has developed between the Latter-day Saints and the Jews, whose narratives of enduring religious intolerance have paralleled each other to a degree. A recent survey by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany indicates 22% of millennials are either unaware or unsure of what the Holocaust is. In this interview with Rabbi Sam Spector of Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, FOX 13’s Bob Evans examines the reasons for the growing ignorance of the Holocaust, the reasons for continued animus against the Jews, and how the Jews and Latter-day Saints are getting along in Utah. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Swallow is a man who is rebuilding his reputation. It was a long drop from Utah Attorney General to defendant in a public corruption trial that ended in his acquittal.  When he and his predecessor, Mark Shurtleff, were accused of a complicated “pay for play” scheme, it became known as the biggest political scandal in the history of Utah. But the charges against Shurtleff were dropped. And Swallow was exonerated. And the State was left to pay millions of dollars to retire both men’s legal debts. In this 3 Questions interview, Bob Evans with FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City asks Swallow about the whole ordeal, how it has changed him, and what advice he has for future lawmakers to help them avoid the trouble he’s had. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carol Lynn Pearson shot to the top of literary awareness among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 70’s and 80’s. Raised as a Latter-day Saint, she married Gerald Pearson in the Salt Lake City Temple, aware that he was gay, but with both of them thinking it was something that could be overcome with prayer and righteous living. But for all of their best efforts, Gerald’s sexual orientation wouldn’t budge. Recognizing their marriage could not survive, they divorced, and continued to love each other as committed friends. In fact, when Gerald contracted HIV Aids in the early days of that disease’s devastating run, it was Carol Lynn who cared for and nursed him until his dying breath. And thus her book, “Goodbye, I Love You”. Since that time, she has actively encouraged love and understanding for LGBTQ members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But that’s not all. Despite the Church’s abandonment of polygamy long ago, she has been disturbed by the concept of polygamy in the eternities, a mindset that has persisted in LDS thought and practice. As she took the temperature of fellow Latter-day Saint women and men, she found her sentiments were widespread. And thus her book, “The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy”. Bob Evans, with FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City interviewed her in October of 2019, for his segment “3 Questions”. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At 100 years old, Gene England is a legend in the trucking industry. His father, Chester R. England, started what would become CR England Trucking in 1920, now the largest refrigerated trucking company in the USA.    At the age of 14, Gene and his 11 year old brother Bill, drove a truck load of potatoes from Utah’s Cache Valley to market in Wyoming. Having spilled most of their load when they were forced to take a detour off Highway 30, the boys were all alone through the night, reloading the truck. But the trucking bug bit both of them, and they joined their father in the business.   Then, while a US soldier in World War II, Gene managed to save $5,000 dollars to buy his first big rig when he got home. And he’s been driving big rigs ever since. Gene and Bill took over the company when their father retired. And only in recent years has Gene stopped driving.   His is a remarkable story of grit and determination, with some very interesting stories of the road along the way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don’t call him James the Mormon anymore.  In fact, pretty soon you won’t be able to call him JTM either.  For James Curran, getting to the top of the Billboard Rap Chart and having Number One iTunes releases has been the easy part. Dealing with his fame and notoriety in the LDS community has been another story. Raised in an abusive family, James Curran is used to disappointment and negativity. But he never anticipated the mixed reaction he’s gotten from his faith group because of his music. In fact, it has caused to him to abandon his moniker, which had attracted an audience he appreciates, but wasn’t aiming for. So how can he fix the music streaming algorithms that lump his secular rap music with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Bob Evans with FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City sat down with rapper James Curran in September of 2019 for a 3 Questions interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018, there were 58,083 wildfires that scorched 8.8 million acres in the United States. California's Mendocino Complex Fire in July 2018 was the largest in state history. But it was the Camp Fire in Butte County, Northern California in November of 2018 that became the deadliest and most destructive, killing 88 people, and all but decimating the city of Paradise, California. Who are the people that fight these fires? What does it take to put these fires out? And how do they know which fires to allow to burn, and which to throw everything they have into put it out? Bob Evans with FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City sat down with Jason Curry with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands in September of 2019, for a 3 Questions interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you do when the CEO of your multi-million dollar company steps down because of his involvement in FBI investigations of the Clintons and Russian collusion with the Trump campaign? It was hard for many to believe was actually happening, but happen it did. To Overstock.com. Patrick Byrne established the company in the 1990’s, and built it into one of the largest online companies in the world. Now, it is being run by his long-time associate and confidant, Jonathan Johnson. Bob Evans of FOX 13 News in Salt Lake City sat down with Jonathan Johnson in August of 2019, for a 3 Questions interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They are often the strength behind their husband-Governors; the mostly-silent partners in politics whose advise, counsel, and support is absolutely vital. What is it like to be the first lady to a Governor? What do they do? How does politics affect their families? And what about that Governors Mansion; is it haunted? Bob Evans of FOX 13 Salt Lake City sits down with Jeanette Herbert, wife of Governor Gary Herbert, and First Lady of the great state of Utah for a 3 Questions interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.