w/ Ric Hanson

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The Iowa Department of Transportation plans to start a five-year plan to spread out the renewal dates for driver’s licenses. D-O-T Motor Vehicle Division director, Mark Lowe, says it’s part of the effort to transition from five-year to eight-year licenses as directed by lawmakers. “Right now we have really significant swings in our renewal volumes and we are in a peak year right now. They range from as high as 530-thousand in some years down to about 275-thousand,” Lowe says.

In order to spread out the renewals, licenses will be issued with four different lengths. “The system will assign a person a five, six, seven or eight year license according to the percentages we determine for each year,” Lowe explains. “By the time we get to the end of it starting in 2019, we will have a very even distribution across an eight-year renewal cycle.” The hope is the even distribution of renewals will also make it so the lines at the driver’s license station aren’t longer in one year than another.

“When we have those big swings, it really strains our service delivery in those peak years, and then in low years we are really understaffed,” Lowe says. “So by evening that out we’ll be able to even out our resource distribution and provided better service at the same time.” He says knowing how many staff to have on hand will save them money. There are some restrictions on the eight-year license as the regulations regarding drivers under 18 and temporary foreign nationals will stay in place. Some of the state’s oldest drivers will not be eligible for a long-term license.

“If you are 72 or over, then the maximum license we can issue you is two years,” Lowe says. He says that’s a safety issue as they find drivers over 72 start to have more accidents and they want to assess their overall condition to drive more frequently. Lowe says they will still face another peak period of license renewals before the plan starts to even things out. “We will see early on the predominance of five-year licenses and then in 2017 we are going to see a shift to a predominance of eight-year licenses,” Lowe says.

It doesn’t matter how many years you get on your new license, the cost will stay at four dollars for each year. The D-O-T estimates the changes will save drivers three-point-four million dollars annually in reduced travel and time to get licenses. And it’s expected to save the department about one-point-eight-million dollars annually in production costs for licenses. For more information, got to the Iowa D-O-T’s website at: www.iowadot.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

Many Iowans purchase lottery games to give away as presents over the holidays. Iowa Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer says she’s yet to hear from any of those gift givers who raised a dispute over a big prize. “We hear every year from people who say they got the ticket as a stocking stuffer or they got the ticket maybe in a holiday gift exchange and it ended up being a big winner and so far it doesn’t seem like the folks who gave the tickets didn’t have any hard feelings,” Neubauer says. “They were happy for the folks that they gave the tickets to.”

Some of the big winners this year might be young kids. “Here in Iowa the law says that you have to be 21 — at least 21 years old — to purchase lottery products, but you can be younger than 21 to play lottery products and if you were to win a prize in that case there’s a process where a parent or a guardian has to sign the claim form with you when you claim the prize,” Neubauer says, “so there certainly is a process in place for that.”

Neubauer notes that lottery games may not be an appropriate gift for anyone. “Certainly that applies to lottery tickets, but it could apply to a lot of things, you know, maybe the movie that you give somebody…or the video game that you give someone,” Neubauer says. “…Is it a violent game? Are you giving it to a small child? So we just want people to remember that, that certainly you are welcome to give whatever gift you would like, but some gifts may not be appropriate for certain people.”

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Ric Hanson

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska nuclear plant that sat idle for nearly three years while regulators evaluated problems should reach full power sometime on Christmas Day. The Omaha Public Power District received permission on Dec. 17 from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to restart Fort Calhoun.  OPPD spokesman Jeff Hanson says the restart process that began last week has gone smoothly.

Fort Calhoun initially shut down for routine maintenance in April 2011, but significant flooding that summer, a small fire and a series of safety violations forced it to remain closed for an extended period. The utility has spent more than $180 million as it addressed more than 450 concerns at the plant, and federal inspectors double-checked the work.

The repair bill may grow because that cost estimate just runs through November.

No injuries were reported following a two-vehicle collision Monday afternoon, in Villisca. Sheriff’s officials say a 2011 Hyundai Sonata owned and driven by 63-year old Gale Arvin Premer, Sr., of Villisca, was traveling east on east 1st Street at around 2:10-p.m., when he tried to stop at the intersection with north 4th Avenue. Due to the icy road conditions, the car skidded through the intersection and hit the right rear of a 2012 Dodge Ram truck, owned and operated by 23-year old John Dale Beem, of Villisca.

Damage from the collision amounted to $6,500.  No citations were issued.

The 64 Rotary Clubs in the southern half of Iowa are helping finance a shipment of food to the Philippines. One-and-a-half million meals were made by the “Outreach” organization a couple from Union, Iowa, founded to feed the hungry. Jackie Matt is the executive director of business development for the non-profit. “Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton, who are the co-founders of Outreach, when the typhoon hit the Philippines just knew they needed to do something,” Matt says.

Meal-packaging events were held in Minnesota and Missouri. “And Rotary stepped up to the plate to help with the funding to actually ship the meals over to the Philippines,” Matt says. The meals were being loaded into huge shipping containers Monday, in Des Moines. “It’s pretty costly to be able to send things over to the Philippines because it does have to go by rail and then also by actual freight,” Matt says, “and it takes about 45-60 days to get to the Philippines.”

Rotarians in Manilla plan to meet the containers and monitor distribution, to ensure the meals get to disaster victims. Matt says this project fits with Rotary’s core mission, and that’s why Rotary Clubs in southern Iowa and in other parts of the country are helping to pay to ship these meals to typhoon victims.

(Radio Iowa)

EARLY, Iowa (AP) — The Sac County Sheriff’s Office says two men who died in a minivan crash were on their way to work at a construction site. The sheriff’s office on Monday identified the men as 43-year-old Ignacio Zuleta-Soto, the driver, and 30-year old Jeronimo Piox-Zuleta, a passenger. Another passenger in the minivan, 23-year old Gabino Piox-Zuleta, was treated at a Sioux City hospital and released.

The crash happened just before 5 a.m. Friday on U.S. Highway 20 west of Early when the driver of a minivan lost control and the vehicle entered the median and rolled. The sheriff’s office says the men, who were from Guatemala, lived in Eagle Grove. They were working as insulators at a construction site.

The two men who died each were married and had children in Guatemala.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Several upper Midwestern states are dealing with higher propane prices because of supply problems in recent weeks. Farmers used more propane than usual to dry the late harvest of grain that came out of the fields too wet. Rural households not served by natural gas lines dipped into propane supplies early due to colder than normal temperatures. And the Cochin pipeline that carries propane to the Midwest from Canada closed for several weeks, stalling supply to the region.

The supply problem has driven prices 14 percent higher since mid-November in Iowa, where customers pay $1.88 a gallon. That’s 34 percent higher than last year. Propane’s up 15 percent in Illinois in the last month, 13 percent in Wisconsin and Minnesota and 12 percent in Nebraska.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

AMES, Iowa (AP) — An assistant Iowa State University professor has resigned after admitting he faked research to make it appear an AIDS vaccine under development was working better than expected. The Des Moines Register reports an Iowa State spokesman confirmed Monday that Dong-Pyou Han resigned in October after admitting he’d added human blood components to rabbit blood to make it appear a vaccine was spurring animals to build defenses against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines City Council has voted to put $750,000 toward a fundraising effort to save a downtown bridge. That’s the amount officials estimated would be needed to remove the Southwest Fifth Street bridge, which needs repairs of between $1.75 million and $3.75 million. The bridge, which spans the Raccoon River, was built in 1898. It has recently been used by pedestrians and bicyclists as part of the trail system along the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers.

EARLY, Iowa (AP) — Two men who died in a minivan crash were Guatemalan immigrants on their way to work at a construction site. The Sac County Sheriff’s office on Monday identified the men as 43-year-old Ignacio Zuleta-Soto, the driver, and 30-year old Jeronimo Piox-Zuleta, a passenger. Another passenger in the minivan was treated at a Sioux City hospital and released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State police have issued arrest warrants in connection with a burglary that occurred in Iowa’s locker room during a football game against the Cyclones. The Des Moines Register reports that warrants for second-degree theft and second-degree burglary were issued on Dec. 12 for 23-year-old Nicholas Beary. Beary’s last known residence was West Des Moines, but police said they believe Beary may have fled the country.