U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is calling for action, after the top federal watchdog for Afghanistan reconstruction reviewed-at McCaskill’s request-a series of contracts by the U.S. State Department for “justice sector support” programs in the war-torn country, and found significant lapses in oversight and accountability.

In a report released today from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction on such “rule of law” programs, the Inspector General identified ambiguous benchmarks for progress, unrealistic goals, flawed implementation of programs, and lack of performance oversight, putting at risk hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars. McCaskill had formally requested that the Inspector General’s office review the contracts nearly one year ago, saying at the time, “I have serious concerns about the effectiveness of the [Justice Sector Support Program].”

In one instance identified by the Special Inspector General’s report, a contract to deploy a case-management system to track criminal cases in Afghanistan’s justice system was required to be fully deployed nationwide by May of 2012. When the program failed to expand beyond seven of the country’s 34 provinces, the goals of the contract were retroactively scaled back to an implementation in just those seven provinces where the system had already been installed.

“When you have contractors utterly failing to meet goals, and then going back retroactively and changing those goals to make it seem like they succeeded, you’ve got a major problem,” said McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight. “Unfortunately, waste, fraud, and abuse has too often been the result when it comes to the billions we’ve spent in Afghanistan, and the State Department needs to take action immediately to implement safeguards over these contracts.”

Today’s report-titled “State Department Programs Need Better Management and Stronger Oversight”-also found a lack of adequate safeguards or accounting over contract costs-noting that the State Department failed to provide routine required monthly quality assurance reports tracking contract costs for nearly half the period of the contract.

(AP) University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe says he’ll recommend that tuition at the system’s four campuses not increase for the 2014-15 school year.

Wolfe said on Friday he’d send his recommendation to the Board of Trustees, who would likely take up the matter at a meeting next week.

Wolfe’s recommendation comes after Gov. Jay Nixon proposed earlier this week to put more than $80 million into higher education. But in exchange, Nixon called on Missouri colleges and universities not to raise costs.

An estimated 300 to 400 volunteers searched public and private lands in the Tuttle Cove area at Tuttle Creek Reservoir and further south and east toward Manhattan Saturday.

They were searching for Jane Peterson, who has been missing since Jan.19 . Her truck had been found at Tuttle Cove Monday evening.

Riley County Emergency Management Director Pat Collins confirmed Peterson was not found.

He said it was a volunteer search. “There were hundreds of people that showed up today to try to help them ( Peterson’s family ) find their missing family member.”

Peterson is employed as a Senior Administrative Assistant in the K-State Physics Department.

Collins said the search originated at the Tuttle Cove boat ramp. “It basically searched public and private grounds back toward Manhattan.”

Earlier in the week law enforcement authorities, Fort Riley soldiers, Corps of Engineers, Manhattan Fire Department, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and Riley County CERT had searched the Cove area but were unsuccessful in locating Peterson.

Peterson is 5 ft. 6 in. tall and weighs 140 pounds. She has red hair.

 (AP) – Missouri is going to begin picking up the tab for students to take the ACT college entrance exam and dramatically reduce the amount of time some elementary and middle school students spend taking state assessments.

When the changes take effect next school year, Missouri will join more than a dozen states that already offer the ACT test to all their students. Missouri plans to offer the test once, free of charge to high school juniors.

Elementary and middle school students also will see changes as the state switches to new assessments tied to the Common Core standards for math and reading. Students in third, fourth, sixth and seventh grades will take a one-hour version of the test. Only fifth- and eighth-graders will take a longer seven-hour version.

(AP) – Opposition is starting to form around a ballot measure that would enshrine a “right to farm” in Missouri’s Constitution.

A former Democratic state senator has started a political action committee to fight the ballot measure. Wes Shoemyer says the amendment would take away the people’s ability to use the initiative petition process to regulate agriculture.

A coalition of farming and livestock associations, known as Missouri Farmers Care, argues the amendment is necessary to protect farmers from groups that use the ballot box to restrict farming and ranching.

Missouri lawmakers referred the measure to the ballot last year. It will appear on the November ballot unless Gov. Jay Nixon moves up the date. North Dakota voters approved similar constitutional protection in 2012.

(AP)  H&R Block has stopped handing out real dollar bills bearing stickers with its 2014 tax season marketing message.
The Kansas City-based tax preparation company kicked off an ad campaign Jan. 17 by handing out dollar bills with a sticker pasted across the front saying: “Americans who did their own taxes last year left a billion dollars behind. Get your billion back, America.” The ad also included a toll-free phone number, Web address and a disclaimer that not everyone gets a tax refund.
A federal law, however, prohibits attaching advertisements to money.
H&R Block spokesman Gene King said the campaign has stopped, but the company continues to hand out dollar bills separate from other marketing materials. King didn’t say why H&R Block changed its plans.

 (AP) – Some Springfield residents have raised concerns about a proposed agreement that would have the Missouri National Guard help the city’s police with drug enforcement.

Police Chief Paul Williams says the agreement calls for one unarmed, military-trained information analyst with the guard working at a desk to help curtail drugs sales in Springfield. The analyst’s salary would be paid by the guard.

Several citizens complained at a City Council meeting earlier this month that the planned partnership focused too much on marijuana instead of targeting more harmful drugs.

About 30 words have been since cut from the agreement, removing all references to marijuana-specific, counter-drug efforts.

 (AP) — One lane of westbound traffic on Interstate 70 in northeast Kansas has reopened after a semi-trailer fire closed that portion of the highway.

The section of highway in Wabaunsee and Riley counties was reopened to traffic Saturday morning after the fire was put out.

The fire was reported earlier Saturday at mile marker 318 in Riley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says no injuries were reported.