Utah Stories Show

Veronica Little witnesses the severity of Utah’s Opioid epidemic every day.

As Program Administrator for the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, she is on the front lines in a war that, at times, seems absolutely and dauntingly unwinnable.

The Opioid epidemic is so prevalent, and because of the nature and causes of addiction, it’s impossible, naive, even, to take a “one shoe fits all” approach. It’s just not logical.

“There’s not one thing that caused this [opioid epidemic], and there’s not one way to solve it.” Little says.

In this Utah Stories Show, we sat down with Little to discuss causes, solutions, and what you can do if you suspect a loved one may be harboring an addiction.

Nerds, as you will see, are passionate about what they do. Perhaps no more so than Charles Prows, creator, and owner of The Nerd Store inside Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City.

There are those that are passionate, but passionate alone just sits, like idling care. But take passion and combine it with a very serious drive to succeed, and what you get is, well, You get Prows and The Nerd Store.

All of Prows' money was dumped into his dream. And when his store finally opened, he had to sleep in the back, sustained on one package of noodles a day.

Success stories are fun, aren't they?

Low wages for Salt Lake City police officers are far below other departments, and it absolutely creates a public safety issue for Salt Lake City residents. 

It’s been seemingly impossible to turn on the television the last few years and not see some drama unfolding around a cop, a gun, and a person of color. Police officers are in the public’s crosshairs. Every move they make is scrutinized, dissected, and put under a microscope.

Being a police officer isn’t easy in the first place.  

But Salt Lake City officers face another challenge that compounds an already difficult job: low wages.

The teenage suicide rate is growing in Utah. Suicide is becoming one of the most common forms of death of people under the age of 45. How and why are more people making the desperate decision to end their lives?

Delving into this important yet neglected topic, We talk to Kim Myers who is the Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the State of Utah. If you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts watch this important episode. You can fast forward to 37 minutes and get the best information on suicide prevention

Salt Lake City is one of the fastest growing cities in the country and Utah’s population is quickly growing. For the first time since the Mormon pioneers settled in Salt Lake City, there are thousands of people who want to live, work and play in downtown Salt Lake City and they are moving here from other states such as California, Oregon, and the East Coast.

In our wide-reaching conversation with Nick Norris, Salt Lake City Planning Director, we discuss the growth and development of downtown Salt Lake City through the years and what the changing nature of downtown Salt Lake City will mean for long-time residents.

Napoleon Dynamite was made for just $400,000. It grossed $40 million at the box office. But Napoleon wasn’t just a cult-classic comedy, it was a completely new brand and style of humor: rural, small-town nerds trying to find their way.

How was Napoleon Dynamite made? And how did it come out of BYU? And how did it get widespread distribution across the country? We answer these questions in our sit-down interview with Napoleon Producer/Editor Jeremy Coon.

BYU students won the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge held at the Lassonde Institute at the University of Utah. The competition was sponsored by Zions Bank, who offered the winning team $40,000 for their winning idea. The money is to be used to help launch their business.

“If it bleeds, it leads.” That’s what you have to follow if you are going to attract viewers in the local TV news business.” said Rod Decker, to me when I sat down and spoke with him for our Utah Stories podcast. I suppose I agree. But If you wish to see my conclusion on this point skip to the end. Because perhaps there isn’t enough blood in this story to make it interesting for a full five minutes to read all of the words.

Dr. Joe Jarvis offers some interesting ideas which are not partisan-based, but instead are common- sense based and “purple”. According to Jarvis a single-payer health care system would save our country trillions of dollars over the next thirty years. Our federal government could do this by extending Medicare to everyone. Medicare is a much more efficient system than private insurance, says Jarvis.

Val Hale, the President of Utah’s Office of Economic Development stopped by our office to appear on our newly launched Utah Stories podcast. We had a lengthy discussion about the future of Utah’s economy including the coming age of automation; the growing divide between the rich and the poor. We also discussed Utah’s tax revenue surplus of $1 billion as well as a growing sales tax deficit. Most importantly, we talked about how Utah leaders go about building stronger local economies for the cities they serve