News roundup: The parallel lives of Romney and Obama include polygamist ancestors

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The parallels between Romney and Obama. Sandstrom's change of heart. Utah's intriguing House race.

Happy Monday. France has a new president and he's a moderate Socalist. Francois Hollande narrowly defeated conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is the latest European leader to fall in part because of the continent's massive fiscal problems. And Hollande is expected to challenge the economic plan to recovery.

"Austerity can no longer be something that is inevitable," he said. [Guardian] [NYTimes] [WaPost] [CNN]

Topping the news: Steve Sandstrom, the champion of Utah's tough enforcement-only immigration bill, has seen his views on the complicated and emotional issue shift in the past two years and now sees the need for compassion. He even plans to sign the Utah Compact. [Trib]

-> NPR launches its "Parallel Lives" series, noting the similarities between Obama and Romney, which the public radio network says includes Harvard, a deep connection to their churches and polygamy. The first story focuses on Romney's Senate run against Ted Kennedy. [NPR]

-> The Utah group Real Women Run is trying to encourage women to seek elected office and train them on how to win campaigns, but they will have an uphill fight to bolster their numbers this November. [Trib]

Today's News: The LDS Church explains its political neutrality in a new video. [FOX13]

-> Rolly writes of a Utahn who says the Secret Service tried to pick up PTA moms back in the day. [Trib]

-> Salt Lake City will debate a change to its liquor laws that could make it easier for bars to open in areas that are now largely residential. [DNews]

-> At the request of BYU, Mormon lawmakers led by Rep. Jason Chaffetz are pushing a bill to sell the trail leading to Y mountain to the private university. [Trib]

-> State lawmakers are starting to take sides in legislative primaries that will be on the ballot in June. [UtahPolicy]

-> In a poll of political insiders, Republicans and Democrats are split on whether its a good idea for Utah to fight the feds over public lands, though a vast majority agree that it's unlikely to succeed. [UtahPolicy]

Opinion section: Paul Rolly argues that it is time for the GOP to stop with the anti-gay rhetoric and he sees hope in a recent position on school bullying taken by state Sen. Howard Stephenson. [Trib]

-> Pignanelli and Webb debate whether Mia Love could oust Rep. Jim Matheson in Utah's 4th District. [DNews]

-> Jon Huntsman says the recent dispute between the U.S. and China over a dissident proves two points: Chinese leaders are insecure and the Chinese people want a more transparent government. [WSJ]

-> Former Sen. Bob Bennett says Congress should reinstate earmarks. [DNews]

-> Carl Fisher of Save Our Canyons goes after Rep. Rob Bishop for his Wasatch County lands bill. [Trib]

-> The Trib's Peg McEntee was one of the Utahns who saw her private info stolen from state computers. She wants Gov. Gary Herbert to find who is responsible for the lapses in cybersecurity and hold them accountable. [Trib]

-> A Salt Lake City mother says the Health Department appears more worried about protecting its reputation than those who were affected by the data breach. [Trib]

-> Pat Bagley compares the threats to American citizens with the antics of government. [Trib]

-> The Deseret News and KSL offers to hold a debate between Sen. Orrin Hatch and former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist in early June. [DNews]

-> George Pyle laments the resignation of Richard Grenell, a gay Republican who had been working for Mitt Romney's campaign. [Trib]

-> Holly Mullen, with the Rape Recovery Center, makes the case for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. [Trib]

-> Nathan Florence, with the Alliance for a Better Utah, wants the LDS Church to invest in education. [Trib]

-> John Florez argues against mother-in-law apartments in SLC and says that city leaders are no longer listening to the people. [DNews]

Tweet of the day: From @TonyFratto: "As Americans, we congratulate the new French President and promise to mispronounce his name with great confidence."

Happy birthday: to Gov. Gary Herbert. And we owe some belated birthday wishes to state Rep. Brad Dee, who celebrated on Saturday, and state Sen. Stuart Adams and former Huntsman aide Lisa Roskelley, whose birthdays were Sunday.

Congrats: Bishop's Chief of Staff Scott Parker and his wife MarLo welcomed a new baby girl into their family very early this morning. The new edition is just over 23 inches long and weighs 11 pounds.

Utah Policy: We asked our faithful readers to let us know if we should continue linking to Utah Policy stories after we received complaints from Utah Democratic Party leader Jim Dabakis, who dislikes that we include stories from online publication, owned by lobbyist LaVarr Webb, in our normal news roundup. He believes Utah Policy slants stories to help Webb's clients. The responses were very interesting, with the vast majority saying we should continue to link to Utah Policy pieces. We'll do so, but we'll also exercise judgement and we will reconsider if we find they are writing about clients without disclosing the conflicts. As always, you can send us your thoughts and suggestions to cornflakes@sltrib.com.

-> Bryan Schott, the managing editor of the site, writes a response to the controversy and argues that Dabakis is off-base. [UtahPolicy]

Weekend in review: A University of Utah student has created a Colbert-like super PAC — Utes for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. [Trib]

-> 331 new state laws go into effect on Tuesday, including the new 72-hour wait to get an abortion, the most stringent standard in the nation. [Trib]

-> Al Hunt of Bloomberg says the battle between Rep. Jim Matheson and Saratoga Springs mayor Mia Love may be the most intriguing House race in the nation. [NYTimes]

-> There's more trouble in Cedar Hills. Not only has the mayor been sued by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, but three other city officials up and quit. [Trib]

-> Those who saw their personal info swiped from state computers wants to know who has their Social Security Numbers and why. [Trib]

-> A whole bunch of Utah counties have decided to take their arguments over roads to court, suing the BLM. [DNews]

-> Take a peek into the life of a family of undocumented immigrants in Utah County. [Herald]

-> A new website allows people to expose undocumented immigrants. [DNews]

2012 Watch: Mitt Romney will return to Utah for the first time as the presumptive nominee on June 8, holding two standard fundraisers and maybe a third for donors who give at least $50,000. [Trib]

-> What would it mean to have a Mormon president? [ABC4]

-> Obama officially starts his re-election bid by arguing Romney will be a rubber stamp for a conservative Congress intent on helping the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. [APviaGlobe]

-> The presidential race will likely come down to just nine states. They are: Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, Iowa and Wisconsin. [NYTimes]

-> Vice President Joe Biden argues the national security situation would decline if Romney is elected. [LATimes]

-> Biden said he believes same-sex married couples deserve the same rights as other married couples, but the White House scrambles to say that is not a new position or a formal endorsement of gay marriage. [AP] [WaPost] [NYTimes]

-> Romney's former rivals are offering only tepid support at best, some strategists expect a stronger backing after they have a cooling off period. [LATimes]

-> Romney is clearly going to be the nominee, but that didn't stop Ron Paul from claiming delegates in Maine. [WaPost] And he picked up a bunch from Nevada too. [ReviewJournal] [WaPost]

-> Is Arizona really a swing state that Obama could win? If so, it would defy state history. [WaPost]

-> Obama is not the only presidential candidate who likes basketball. Romney went to a Celtics-Hawks playoff game this weekend. [WaPost]

-> Romney says he wanted Grenell, national security spokesman who is gay, to stay on his team. [APviaCBSNews]

Where are they?

Rep. Jason Chaffetz will spend most of his time at a lengthy Budget Committee debate, though he plans to do a quick interview with CNN in the middle of the day.

Gov. Gary Herbert plans to visit a state agency (not yet clear which one) and then conduct interviews for the Western Governors Association executive director post.

SL Co Mayor Peter Corroon holds a cabinet meeting and then delivers remarks at the Eddie P. Mayne Kearns Senior Center recognition event.

SLC Mayor Ralph Becker will join the "civility in your community" conference call and then meets with AT&T lobbyist Jason Olsen.

WVC Mayor Mike Winder meets with the executives from Hilton's Home2Suites.

President Barack Obama holds a conference call with elected officials and student government leaders from around the country to talk about the potential increase in student loan interest.

Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven't already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to you inbox. [Trib]

— Matt Canham Twitter.com/mattcanham