DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has revoked an attorney’s law license, concluding she improperly kept a client’s money she wasn’t entitled to. The court says in an order released Friday that Tina Muhammad cannot apply to restore her Iowa license for at least five years.

Shortly after being admitted to the Iowa bar, Muhammad was asked in 2016 to represent a woman who lives in Washington state. The woman, who had found references on the internet to Muhammad’s work on police brutality while a law student, was seeking a lawyer for a civil rights lawsuit against a Seattle hospital.

The woman paid Muhammad $7,500 in advance but after she ended the attorney-client relationship Muhammad declined to return any money or account for how it was spent. Muhammad claims she earned the money. The court concluded she wasn’t entitled to it and says when a lawyer takes such funds, revocation of license is the appropriate sanction.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety say on Valentine’s Day 2018, at approximately 8:17 p.m., officers with the Creston Police Department conducted a welfare check at 300 East Montgomery Street, Apartment 3. Officers found the apartment’s resident, 45-year-old Paul Allen Scheel, deceased.

Paul Allen Scheel

An autopsy the following day showed that Mr. Scheel was the victim of a homicide. Since February 14th, Creston officers and agents with Division of Criminal Investigation’s Major Crime Unit have worked to find the person or persons responsible for Scheel’s death. Despite the work, the case remains unsolved.

Law enforcement and Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa are partnering to ask for the public’s assistance. Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa is offering a reward up to $1,000 dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) involved in the homicide of Paul Scheel. You can contact Crime Stoppers by going to Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa’s website at crimestoppersofcentraliowa.com and giving a web tip. You can also download our P3 app to submit a tip or call 515.223.1400. Remember: All tipsters can remain anonymous.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Bernie Sanders insists he feels better than ever less than a month after heart surgery, but his return to the campaign trail this week sparked new questions about the unusually old age of the Democratic Party’s leading 2020 presidential candidates. The 78-year-old Sanders and 76-year-old Joe Biden suggest their age isn’t a major issue. But voters, particularly older voters, aren’t so sure.

Gordon Lundberg is a 71-year-old retired Lutheran pastor from Ames, Iowa. He says candidates’ health is a key issue for him because he understands how it feels to age. He’s leaning toward Elizabeth Warren and says even though she’s 70 “she’s the most liberal and she’s not got one foot in the grave yet.” Lundberg says Sanders and Biden are “just too darn old.” Lundberg is not alone.

Polling has suggested that a significant number of Americans believe a candidate in his or her late 70s is too old to be president. If elected, Sanders would take office having already exceeded the average U.S. life expectancy of 78.6 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Biden would be just a few months away. Sanders would be 79 years old when inaugurated. Biden would be 78 if he wins. To date, Trump is the oldest candidate to win a first term: He was 70 when sworn into office.

Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon reports a culvert replacement project on County Road G-35, 4 1/2 miles south of Anita and just north of the intersection of Jackson Road and 740th Street, will require closing the roadway to traffic beginning Monday, October 28th. Detour signs will be posted by the Cass County Secondary Roads Department. The project is expected to last about a month.

A press release notification will be issued when the roadway is back open.

Atlantic Chamber of Commerce Program Director Ashley Hayes today (Friday) announced that she is leaving her position with the Chamber, and will be returning to work in the Day Habilitation program associated with Partnership for Progress–Willow Heights. Her last day will be Friday, November 8th. Hayes, who has also served on the Atlantic City Council, said she has “Enjoyed getting to work with [Chamber businesses] and learning more about [those] businesses, [the owners] and what [they] are passionate about in [the] community.

Ashley Hayes

Hayes said also, “It’s been a pleasure to work with the people of this community in this way and be apart of helping it grow and continue to thrive. I hope to continue that work through volunteering and my continued involvement with Atlantic Rising.”  Hayes has held her position with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce since May, 2017.

Plans to fill the Program Director’s position will be announced by the Chamber at a later date.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a man from Thayer reported Thursday night, that sometime between 8-a.m. and 4-p.m. Thursday, someone entered his property and took his pregnant female French bulldog. The dog is small, white in color with blue/grey colored spots. Also reported missing, was a trail camera valued at $100. The owner of the dog said the animal and her unborn puppies were valued at $30,000.

Sheriff’s officials in Cass County have released a list of arrests taking place from Oct. 13th through the 24th. On Thursday (Oct. 24th), 40-year old Tobin Lee Jensen, of Atlantic, was arrested on a charge of Driving While Revoked. Jensen was taken to the Cass County Jail and released today (Friday), on his own recognizance. On Monday, 58-year old Sharadee Ann Witt, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Sponsoring a Gathering (a Class-D Felony) and Possession with Intent to Deliver/Alprazolam. Witt was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on $5,000 bond.

On October 17th, Cass County deputies arrested 33-year old Cody Michael Johnson, of West Des Moines, on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Johnson was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $5,000 bond. That same day, 51-year old John Kenneth Kay, of Atlantic, was arrested on a two Cass County Sheriff’s Office warrants, each for Theft 2nd Degree (Class-D Felonies). Kay was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on $10,000 bond.

And, on October 13th, 48-year old Ann Kristine Harding, of Griswold, was arrested on a Lancaster County, NE, warrant. Harding was taken to the Cass County Jail and later released to Nebraska authorities.

MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — A judge who presided over a non-jury trial regarding a troubled roadside zoo in eastern Iowa now must determine whether it should be closed.
Testimony ended this week regarding Cricket Hollow Animal Park. Four plaintiffs have sued to have the animals removed and the zoo owned by Pam and Tom Sellner closed. The zoo sits just west of Manchester.

The trial opened Oct. 16, and testimony ended Tuesday. The Telegraph Herald reports that Judge Monica Wittig has 60 days to render a verdict. In April last year a federal appeals court upheld a district court ruling that the zoo violated the Endangered Species Act with its treatment of some animals.