News roundup: Bush defends President Obama's frequent golf outings

Bush defends Obama's golf outings. Lee to fight bill he asked House to pass. Mother Jones writer qualifies for a Utah concealed carry permit in four hours.

Happy Tuesday. Think President Barack Obama plays too much golf? Well, his predecessor doesn't. Former President George W. Bush defended Obama's weekend golf outings as a good way to get outside the bubble of the job and blow off some steam. Bush and Obama may not be best pals, but Obama can count on him to deflect some of the criticism conservatives have thrown at the incumbent for spending too much time on the links. [CBSSports] [Politico]

Topping the news: To stop Obamacare, Sen. Mike Lee is willing to do anything, even block debate on the very bill he advocated the House to pass. [Trib]

-> Blue Castle, the company that wants to build Utah's first commercial nuclear power facility, says it has enough money to begin financing that project. Environmentalist group HEAL Utah says Blue Castle is probably $50 million short to apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The estimated cost of the plant would be around $16 billion to $18 billion. [Trib] [DNews] [KUTV]

-> A writer for Mother Jones goes to a suburban Maryland shopping mall, spends four hours and qualifies for a Utah concealed carry permit, good in 32 states. And he's never shot a gun. [MotherJones]

Tweet of the day: From @hillhulse: "Sen Reid calls Sen Cruz the 'junior senator from Texas' in a way that makes it seem Cruz should be in short pants."

From @amandacarpenter: "Apparently, Senator Cruz is the most sincere anarchist Leader Reid has ever encountered. Ha."

Happy birthday: To state Rep. Bradley Last, and Sen. Orrin Hatch's chief of staff, Michael J. Kennedy, and to Salt Lake County Deputy Mayor Nichole Dunn.

In other news: UDOT's boss says that he wants his agency to be the most transparent organization in Utah, possibly even the country. He also wants to focus on quality and safety in the future. [Trib]

-> The Sandy City Council will begin discussions to push picketers 100 feet back of the property line of the intended target. The ordinance is modeled after similar ones from Salt Lake County and SLC. [Trib]

-> Gov. Gary Herbert has named Ann Silverberg Williamson as the new director of the Utah Department of Human Services. [Trib] [DNews] [KUTV]

-> The County My Vote initiative may benefit Democrats and third-party candidates who won't have to obtain as many signatures as Republicans who dominate districts in most of the state. [UtahPolicy]

-> Pat Bagley offers his take on the proposed nuclear power plant's use of the Colorado River. [Trib]

-> The EPA will begin to remove hazardous materials from the now-closed Parish Chemical Co. site. The cleanup will include the disposal and recycling of thousands of containers, the EPA has cleaned this site twice before. [Trib]

-> Utah County residents expressed their concern about whether the county should begin regulating trampoline parks. The county wants more injury data from doctors and the three parks in Utah County before making a decision. [Fox13]

-> The Salt Lake City Council will decide whether horse-drawn carriages should be allowed to continue after public outcry for Jerry the horse who died earlier this year. [Trib]

-> The West Davis Corridor is facing even more opposition, more than 1,600 comments received by UDOT were published; among those against the extension are the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, Utah Transit Authority and Hooper City. [Trib]

-> A temporary legislative fix will make sure political parties won't have to hold their 2014 state conventions the day before Easter, but Republicans still support moving the primary elections date back. [DNews]

Nationally: Even as a government shutdown looms, don't expect Congress to act on anything until the final hour. Here are a couple views of what to expect from Washington in the coming week. [LATimes] [WaPost]

-> A key official to the IRS' scandal of the tea party investigation, Louis Lerner, has resigned. Sen. Orrin Hatch says that just because she stepped down, the investigation is not far from over. [Politico] [WaPost]

-> Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said there could be a compromise in the middle in regards to defunding Obamacare. Paul stated that Republicans want zero funding, and Democrats want 100 percent of funding, but there might be a chance to compromise. [Politico]

-> If the government does shutdown, many families are worried how it will affect them. Here are some ideas of what a government shutdown might look like. [WaPost]

-> The White House will begin to rollout a six-month advertising campaign to attract the uninsured to sign up for Obamacare; the total cost of the campaign is estimated at $1 billion. [NYTimes]

Where are they?

Gov. Gary Herbert takes a personal day.

SL Co. Mayor Ben McAdams attends the County Council meetings and the Millcreek Executive Township meeting.

WVC Mayor Mike Winder meets teachers at Valley Junior High School and conducts the City Council meeting.

President Barack Obama addresses the U.N. General Assembly and meet with different U.N. leaders before returning to Washington.

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 your inbox. [Trib]

— Thomas Burr and Jordan Bailey Twitter.com/thomaswburr Twitter.com/thejordanbailey