(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-O-T’s driver’s license center in Waterloo is closed today (Friday) and will reopen Tuesday in a new location. Darcy Doty, director of customer service for the Iowa D-O-T, says the new location is near the now-closed site inside Waterloo’s Crossroads Mall. “Being in the mall, we are required to follow the mall standard hours of operation,” Doty says, “so this gives us a little bit more flexibility in offering hours that are convenient for our customers.”

Doty says if the mall closed for any reason, the old driver’s license center had to close, too. The Iowa D-O-T operates 18 service centers in Iowa for driver’s license renewals, including Council Bluffs and Sioux City. “A lot of our moves are due to the lease in our current locations have ended and we’ve had an opportunity to look at some different locations that we feel are great for customer service and customer access,” Doty says, “good customer parking, that we have control over the opening of customer entrances, so that we can control those hours of operation.”

Late last month, the driver’s license center in Fort Dodge reopened in a new space. “Last year we were able to open a new facility in Mason City, just move from one location to the other with a new layout, look and feel,” Doty says. “…We are moving when it makes sense and also looking at our budget because we want to make sure that we are budget conscious as we look for new locations.”

Doty says 52 percent of Iowa driver’s license renewals are handled by an Iowa D-O-T service center. Iowans may renew their driver’s licenses at many county treasurer’s offices or at one of the D-O-T service centers. And some Iowans are able to renew online and those are processed by the D-O-T.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is set to receive up to 170 million dollars from a lawsuit settlement with four companies accused of contributing to the nation’s opioid addiction and overdose crisis. The state’s share comes as part of a 26 billion dollar deal involving drug-maker Johnson and Johnson and three opioid distributors who admit no liability as part of the agreement. Attorney General Tom Miller says the money will be spent primarily on treatment and education. “One of the things I want to do is use the money if the most effective way to treat people but also make sure that the benefits, the treatment, are throughout the whole state,” Miller says.

Opioid-related deaths in Iowa increased more than 30 percent last year to 213. “It’s not going to be enough money to solve the whole problem. We’re not going to have money to throw around,” according to Miller. “But we think there’s going to be enough money, if we spend it wisely, to make a real dent in this problem and to really help.”

Miller says the money will be paid over a period of 17 years and the final amount will depend on how many Iowa counties sign on to the settlement. He says around two-thirds have signed up thus far. Iowa is also part of settlements with the consulting firm McKinsey and a pending bankruptcy settlement with Purdue Pharma. All told, the state could receive up to 200 million dollars through opioid litigation.

(By Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)