News roundup: Paul targets Nevada's Mormon voters

Paul targets Mormon voters. 'Personhood' amendment could rise in Utah. Horiuchi in good condition.

Happy Thursday. Nevada's caucuses on Saturday look to be a lock for Mitt Romney, who shares his Mormon faith with a quarter of the voters in the Silver State, but that doesn't mean Rep. Ron Paul is going to yield that swath of potential supporters. The Paul campaign is actively targeting Mormons in Nevada, sending volunteers to canvas near Mormon temples and handing out cookbooks. [SFGate]

Topping the news: Following on the path of several states, Utah lawmakers plan to offer a "personhood amendment" to voters next year that would declare life starts at conception. The idea has yet to pass in any state. [Trib] [ABC4]

-> Mitt Romney bests Jon Huntsman 4 to 1 in Utah fundraising efforts, bringing in $2.3 million out of the Beehive State last year. [Trib]

-> Salt Lake Councilman Randy Horiuchi is now listed in good condition after suffering a stroke on Friday. [DNews]

-> Rep. Jason Chaffetz helps Mia Love meet a few inner-circle Republicans in Washington, D.C. but says he's not endorsing anyone. [Trib]

Great read: The Detroit News' Marisa Schultz takes a look at Romney's childhood as the son of a wealthy automaker and three-term governor (but also as a kid who loved practical jokes). [DetNews]

Tweet of the day: From @daveweigel: "Talking to campaign volunteers and cowboy poets in Elko, NV. So very sad I'm not there to cover Trump's latest crap. Seriously. Tears."

In other news: Sen. Mike Lee testifies against President Barack Obama's recent "recess" appointments, calling it a "day of infamy." [WaPost]

-> Some 88 percent of Salt Lake County Republicans who previously served as delegates consider themselves conservative. [UtahPolicy]

-> Ah, The Onion, what would we do without you. Headline: Obama criticized for living in lavish mansion while most Americans struggle to make ends meet." [TheOnion]

-> Obama signs a disaster declaration for the windstorm that swept across Utah in December. [ABC4] [StandardEx]

-> Pat Bagley offers his take on when Super PACs attack. [Trib]

-> Peg McEntee catches up with Karen Shepherd on her life beyond politics. [Trib]

2012 watch: Even with an convincing victory in Florida, Romney isn't slowing his attacks on Newt Gingrich whom he accused of pandering to local voters. [CNN]

-> Romney relies heavily on a small group of wealthy donors, according to an analysis of his disclosure data. [WaPost]

-> Easing off of the larger primaries, GOP candidates Rick Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul buckle down to focus on smaller caucus contests. [FoxNews]

-> Focus on the Family's James Dobson makes a surprise appearance at a Santorum event. [CNN]

-> In Nevada, Ron Paul says Latinos have become "scapegoats" just as, he adds, Jews became scapegoats in Nazi Germany. [LATimes] [Politico]

-> Romney takes heat for his comment about focusing his energy on middle class Americans and not the "very poor." [CNN]

-> Utah volunteers of the Romney campaign head to Nevada to flank the candidate at the next stop on the trail. [DNews]

The Session: Federal regulators could find that Utah drivers licenses are out of sync with the REAL ID Act and the fight could put conservative Utah lawmakers in a tough spot. [UtahPolicy]

-> A House panel clears a bill that would tighten the legal age gap for sexual offense against minors, decreasing the allowed age difference to seven years instead of 10. [Trib]

-> Lawmakers are stirring up an old congressional promise that would require the feds to give Utah back its lands and give 5 percent of the profit to Utah schools, a move which Congress promised in 1894. [Trib]

-> A tax break for families with disabled dependents was stopped after concerns that the drop in state revenue could hurt Utah schools. [Trib]

-> One senator wants to set aside $500,000 for the Utah Defense Alliance to help Hill Air Force Base from becoming a casualty of BRAC. [StandardEx]

-> A move to waive property taxes for deployed soldiers sailed through a Senate committee and could become a Constitutional amendment. [Trib]

-> Utah's Democratic chairman isn't laughing after a Republican joke bill took aim at closed caucuses, arguing that message bills suck time and money from the Legislature. [Trib] [Fox13]

> A bill that would criminalize the possession of graffiti tools comes closer to becoming law. [DNews] [StandardEx]

-> The first stage of an education budget clears both houses, giving Utah's public school system $3.5 million in funding. [Trib]

-> Payday lenders — some of legislators' largest campaign donors — escaped, by one vote, legislation that would change how they sue delinquent borrowers. [Trib] [DNews]

-> One senator pitches a bill that would add extra penalties for intentionally assaulting police or soldiers in uniform. [Trib]

-> A Senate committee advances a bill on when fireworks can be shot off, but only after extending the legal time to midnight on the Fourth of July and Pioneer Day. [Trib]

-> The Senate advances a bill that would protect Utah's farmland from highway expansion, a move meant to preserve the greenbelt areas that would otherwise go extinct by 2030. [Trib]

-> A panel advances a bill that would require local police departments to post their policy about using off-duty officers on security. [Trib]

Where are they?

Rep. Rob Bishop meets with constituents.

Gov. Gary Herbert sits down with the new U. president, David Pershing, films a spot for Zions Bank and heads to a Utah developmental disabilities council meeting.

SL Co. Mayor Peter Corroon attends the S.L. County caucus, a UAC legislative meeting and then heads to the S.L. Chamber of Commerce legislative reception.

SLC Mayor Ralph Becker has breakfast with community council chairs, then goes to Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Solutions Grant Funding meeting, ending with a S.L. Council of Governments meeting.

WVC Mayor Mike Winder attends the S.L. County caucus meeting at the Capitol, goes to a joint planning meeting with regional planning groups and finishes his evening at the Salt Lake County GOP Lincoln Day dinner.

President Barack Obama talks at the National Prayer breakfast at the Washington Hilton.

Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com.

— Thomas Burr and Laura SchmitzTwitter.com/thomaswburr