TOPEKA, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced this week to 12 years in federal prison for trafficking in methamphetamine, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Charles Wesley Clearwater, 32, Topeka, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. In his plea, he admitted he sold methamphetamine to investigators working undercover several times. A search warrant served at his home in the 1600 block of S.W. Western Avenue turned up eight firearms that Clearwater used in furtherance of drug trafficking.

McAllister commended the Drug Enforcement Administration and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Hough for their work on the case. This case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas agricultural officials are considering a quarantine to slow the spread of an invasive plant that’s threatening the state’s native grasses.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture recently sought public input on a plan to quarantine invasive yellow and Caucasian bluestem grasses. The varieties have invaded all but three counties in Kansas.

Declaring the quarantine would prohibit the movement of all seeds, plants or parts of bluestem grasses within Kansas or across the border into the state.

The move could affect some ranchers who rely on the species when cutting hay to feed livestock.

Ron Klataske, executive director of environmental nonprofit Audubon of Kansas, expressed support for the proposal, saying bluestems are both difficult and expensive to eradicate.

“It has a dramatic detrimental impact,” Klataske said. “It basically destroys all native plants.”

He said bluestems are inferior to native grasses in terms of livestock forage, erosion control and wildlife habitat.

Kansas Livestock Association Attorney Aaron Popelka acknowledged that bluestem grasses pose a threat to the state’s biodiversity. But Popelka said the livestock group opposes the plan because it could economically hurt producers.

He said the quarantine would prevent hauling hay containing the invasive bluestems, affecting farmers and ranchers in areas where the grasses aren’t posing a big challenge.

Popelka said most of the bluestem grasses “came from the (state) Department of Transportation allowing it to be seeded along roadways.”

He said producers shouldn’t be forced to deal with a problem largely manufactured by the government.

Popelka instead suggested that the state blocks the sale and planting of bluestem seeds in Kansas. He also said the state could list bluestems as a noxious weed. The label would allow the plant to be managed on a county-by-county basis.

The Department of Agriculture doesn’t have a timeline to decide on the quarantine, according to officials.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita fire officials say two people were injured in an apartment fire that saw the complex evacuated.

The fire was reported around 9:30 p.m. Friday in southeast Wichita near the Garvey Sports Center YMCA.

Fire officials say the blaze was quickly extinguished, and the two people injured suffered only minor injuries.

Damage was sustained to two of the buildings. Officials say residents were displaced due to smoke and fire damage.

By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A dispute is escalating in Kansas between top Republicans and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration over a policy change making it easier for adults who are not working to keep receiving food assistance.

The state Department for Children and Families on Friday released an internal analysis defending the legality of the change, made in May. The department has said the change will help the homeless and young adults aging out of state’s foster care system and that recipients could receive extended benefits through September.

The agency released its analysis in responding to a letterearlier this week from Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt. He told the department’s top administrator, Secretary Laura Howard, that the change “appears to conflict” with a 2015 state law setting tougher rules for food and cash assistance.

Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature contend the change violates the 2015 law, which included a work requirement and have promised that a committee will review the issue later this year.

House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said Friday that the department’s legal analysis does not change his mind. He said a lawsuit to block the change “certainly is a possibility,” though a spokesman for Schmidt said only that his office is reviewing the response.

“There’s an intent out there that they were not to skirt the work requirement in any way, and we’re going to continue to press that,” Hawkins said.

The federal government pays for food assistance and covers half of each state’s administrative costs. It generally limits able-bodied adults age 18 to 49 without dependents to three months of assistance within a three-year period if they aren’t working or enrolled in job training.

The 2015 state law specifies the same policy and says the department can’t ask the federal government for a waiver or start a program to avoid the rule. The law codified stricter policies for food and cash assistance that former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration set, making them harder to undo.

The federal government gives states some flexibility to grant exemptions to extend food assistance month by month to people who are about to lose it because they aren’t working. Spokesman Mike Deines said the agency expects to grant about 16,000 extensions through September, each good for one month for one adult, with some recipients receiving three.

The agency’s legal analysis said it is not seeking a waiver of federal rules and, “ascribing to ‘program’ its ordinary and common meaning, the one-time grant of an additional three months of benefits does not fit.”

Kelly was a state senator before becoming governor in January and strongly opposed the 2015 law. The measure gained national attention for telling families they can’t use cash assistance to attend concerts, get tattoos, see a psychic or buy lingerie, with the list of don’ts amounting to several dozen items.

Critics like Kelly contend Brownback’s welfare policies punished poor families. DCF announced this week that it is loosening a work requirement for people receiving state childcare subsidies to cover another 3,000 kids. So far, Republicans are not contesting its legality.

“This is a first step in repairing the safety net that was pulled from vulnerable Kansans during the previous eight years,” the governor said.

Hawkins said Kelly has made her opposition to work requirements clear, but taxpayers don’t want people who can work “just living off of the government.” Republicans argue that the stricter rules promote self-sufficiency.

“We want to help the people that honestly need help, but if you can work, go to work,” he said.

WICHITA, KAN. – The owner of a now-closed used car lot in downtown Wichita was sentenced for using threats and fraud in connection to his business.

Abdallah “Adam” Alashqar, 27, of Wichita, pled guilty in May of this year to two counts of criminal threat and one count of felony theft related to the operation of Adams Auto Sales & Repairs, formerly at 220 E. Kellogg, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney.

The district attorney dismissed additional counts of forgery and theft as part of the plea. District Judge Bruce Brown granted Alashqar probation in the case and ordered him to pay $44,500 in restitution to two victims. Judge Brown told Alashqar that he could serve 12 months in prison if he violated the probation conditions. An investigation showed Alashqar threatened customers who complained about the used cars that they purchased at his lot.

Evidence presented in court showed Alashqar also defrauded his bank by cashing a worthless check and then spending the proceeds. As part of the plea agreement, Alashqar handed over a $3,000 refund check Thursday to a woman who bought a car from him. Alashqar also transferred a parcel of real estate back to a former employee who had tried to buy an interest in the failing business. Alashqar ran the car lot with his brother, Obada Alashqar, 25.

The younger brother was previously convicted of one felony count of conspiracy to impair a security interest for defrauding the finance company that provided a line of credit for the business. Obada Alashqar was ordered to pay $15,739.92 to NextGear Capital. The Alashqar brothers were previously ordered to pay $526,802 in a civil judgment brought by the Consumer Division of the Office of the District Attorney against the brothers and their dealership.

The Office of the District Attorney launched an investigation of the brothers and their dealership following consumer complaints that began in January 2017. The district attorney’s civil lawsuit alleged 48 consumer violations, including failure to disclose safety recalls, failure to provide car titles, taking customer trade-in vehicles without paying for them, selling vehicles “as is” and not having an auto dealer license with the Kansas Department of Revenue. The criminal and civil cases were investigated by the Investigations Division of the Office of the District Attorney.

By STEPHEN KORANDA

Build higher, build stronger — it pays off big in Kansas.

Disaster mitigation investments in Kansas yielded more savings than efforts in any other state, a new study found. The Pew Charitable Trusts listed Missouri as a close second.

The report shows that every dollar spent in Kansas to protect against flood and tornado damage saved $6.81. In Missouri each dollar saved $6.72.

“The takeaway for policy makers really should be that investing in mitigation saves,” said Colin Foard, one of the authors of the study.

The savings come from avoiding property repairs, casualties, disruptions to businesses and administrative expenses related to insurance.

The findings come at a time when Kansas residents are dealing with floodingaffecting most of the state and cleaning up from recent tornadoes.

The study looked at the continental U.S. and considered mitigation programs aimed at averting costs from earthquakes, fires, floods and wind damage.

The mitigation efforts in Kansas and Missouri addressed only the threats of wind and flooding, but those projects had such a large payback that the two states topped the rankings.

The smallest payback was in earthquake- and fire-prone California, but the study still estimated that every dollar of mitigation in the Golden State saved $3.26.

Mitigation can include adding storm shelters and structural updates to buildings that reduce damage from tornadoes. When it comes to combating floods, officials can remove structures from flood-prone areas or require building structures higher to avoid flood damage.

Over the 23-year period that was examined, the report found the state and federal government spent around $220 million dollars on wind and flood mitigation in Kansas, which netted about $1.5 billion dollars in savings.

Federal programs play a major role in disaster mitigation in Kansas and elsewhere.

“The mitigation projects that the Kansas Division of Emergency Management are able to support or implement are largely reliant on the federal grants,” said Bryan Murdie, director of the Planning and Mitigation Branch at the Kansas Division of Emergency Management.

Looking ahead, state officials are turning their attention to the new National Mitigation Investment Strategy, developed in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. That storm hit the East Coast in 2012 causing $65 billion in damage. The program is still in the draft stage, but Murdie expects it will go live soon.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency describes the strategy as a broader shift to preventing damage and loss from disasters.

The strategy will include investments in larger infrastructure improvements such as levees. The range of projects will also include smaller local improvements such as installing warning sirens and demolishing buildings in flood-prone areas.

Murdie said state officials hope to have assistance in the future for Kansans to upgrade their homes.

“Our office has begun the initial steps towards a residential safe room program that will help protect the citizens of Kansas,” Murdie said in an email.

The federal programs typically include a match that must be paid by the state or the local government receiving the grant. Those local matches are often 25 percent, but can be smaller in certain cases where the community is impoverished or the program is targeting an area that’s been repeatedly flooded.

Foard said it’s worth it for governments to find ways to fit mitigation costs into their budgets.

“This analysis shows that it can be a great return on investment for the money spent.”

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for the Kansas News Service.. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda or email skoranda (at) ku (dot) edu.