News roundup: LDS Church urges caucus participation

LDS Church urges caucus participation. Obama: Federalize Central Utah Project. Utah voter registrations need cleanup.

Happy Tuesday and Happy Valentine's Day. Concerned about voter turnout, LDS leaders are asking that no church meetings be held on caucus nights next month in Utah. That's a much more direct message to local bishops than in the past, and it's a move that both Republicans and Democrats in Utah welcome. [Trib] [DNews]

Topping the news: A Pew center study finds that 40 percent of Utah voters' registrations are problematic. [Trib]

-> President Barack Obama proposed in his budget to bring the Central Utah Project back under the control of the Bureau of Reclamation — a move that Sen. Orrin Hatch doesn't think is a good idea. [Trib]

Tweet of the day: From @ChaseEverton: "The most important bill of the session: Water Skiing Amendments."

Happy Birthday: To blogger Bob Aagard and to Andrea Candrian, a former Bennett press secretary now working for Sen. Pat Roberts.

In other news: Utah County could get millions back in tax revenue it paid to the Utah Department of Transportation. [Herald]

-> Peg McEntee talks about a young girl who gave a valentine to the state of Utah, encouraging people to recognize her mothers' rights as a married couple. [Trib]

-> A new Utah group — Where's the Line? — hopes to bring back the state's rights part of the Constitution. [UtahPolicy]

-> In a video by the Heritage Foundation, Sen. Mike Lee says the president is "manifestly wrong" on the Constitution. [Heritage]

2012 watch: A pro-Mitt Romney Super PAC gets a head start in Michigan. [NYTimes]

-> Romney has yet to identify all of his bundlers, leaving questions about who is raising big chunks of cash for his campaign. [Globe]

-> Hoping to pick up southern delegates on Super Tuesday, Newt Gingrich tries to pump up his bank account with his latest television ad. [TheHill]

-> Rick Santorum edges out Romney in a Michigan poll. [CNN]

-> Ron Paul continues to lay in wait for his elusive big win. [WaPost]

-> Santorum confronts Occupy D.C. amid chanting for and against the candidate. [NBC]

Heard on the Hill: "We're being attacked every moment, from nation states to a guy in a van down by the river." - Rep. Jason Chaffetz discussing cyber-security.

The Session: Here's today's legislative committee schedule. [Trib]

-> Lawmakers honor U.S. World War II veterans of Japanese descent for their service. [Trib] [StandEx]

-> A House panel approves the use of gold and silver commerce in a move the sponsor says would help Utah stave off inflation and weather impending economic crises. [Trib]

-> Even if he doesn't call himself a reformer, Rep. Kraig Powell aims to shake things up on Utah's Capitol Hill. [UtahPolicy]

-> The Senate honors citizens for selfless acts, rescuing strangers in fire and freezing temperatures. [Trib]

-> Chaffetz's message to the Utah Senate floor: Washington, D.C. is an "absolute disaster." [KCPW] [DNews] [Herald]

-> A bill that would have school principals grade its teachers passes a Senate committee, [Fox13]

-> Legislators chose to side with some Utah County farmers as they tried protect their land from a new pipeline of the Central Utah Project. [Trib]

-> Republicans, Democrats, teachers and education leaders joined together to push a bill that would significantly change school employment laws in Utah. [Trib]

-> A wine-sampling bill that would've let licensed brokers travel to restaurants or resorts to taste — but not swallow — fine wines was rejected by a Senate committee. [Trib]

-> A new bill would target the polygamy police that go behind the back of the law to do their jobs. [ABC4]

-> Banks would have just 90 days to file a claim on the unpaid balance of a home in a short sale under a bill passed out of a House committee. [Trib]

-> A Senate committee kills a bill that would have created a potential list of preferred medications for Medicaid patients. [Trib]

-> A bill passed by a committee would grant the state agency that doles out welfare benefits the power to notify victims of Social Security fraud. [Trib]

-> A Senate bill would require health care mandates to cover public and higher education employees, making the state pick up the tab. [Trib]

-> A bill that would merge the state's housing division within the Department of Workforce Services passed through a committee, despite a steady stream of dissent. [Trib]

-> A panel OKs a bill to let some sex offenders petition their way off the Utah registry early. [Trib]

-> An oil "pre-refinery" gets endorsed for the Uinta Basin. [Trib]

Where are they?

Rep. Rob Bishop attends a Rules Committee hearing.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz meets with the Ghana ambassador to the U.S.

Gov. Gary Herbert discusses legislative priorities with Democratic lawmakers and then visits patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

SL Co. Mayor Peter Corroon has no public events.

SLC Mayor Ralph Becker goes to a department directors' meeting followed by the City Council meeting in the evening.

WVC Mayor Mike Winder attends a board meeting with the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, then goes to the City Council meeting.

President Barack Obama meets with with Vice President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China in the Oval Office.

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

— Thomas Burr and Laura SchmitzTwitter.com/thomaswburr