(Des Moines, Iowa) – A Polk County man has entered a plea of guilty to a Felony count of Theft in the 2nd Degree. 27-year-old El Messiah Muhammad Moor, of Des Moines, pled guilty on April 20, 2023, following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau. The investigation began in September 2022 after the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau received information indicating Moor provided false information and fabricated documents in support of six insurance loss claims and received monetary benefits to which he would have not otherwise been entitled.

The investigation determined that Moor claimed that multiple incidents of power outages resulted in damage to perishable food items, a computer and television. Moor provided false information and submitted fabricated repair receipts to two different insurance companies. The receipts were from companies that did not actually exist and to which no payments were made. Moor received $2,273.85 in benefits due to the false statements and fabricated receipts. Moor was arrested on February 10, 2023.

El Messiah Muhammad Moor. (Photo courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office)

Following his guilty plea, Moor received a five year suspended prison sentence and was placed on supervised probation for a period of two years. Moor was also ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1,025 as well as restitution which has yet to be determined.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

(Creston, Iowa) – A collision Wednesday morning in Creston, resulted in minor damage that amounted to a total of $6,000, but no one was hurt. According to the Creston Police Department, the accident happened at around 8:20-a.m., the intersection of N. Cherry and Howard Streets. A small, 2013 shuttle bus driven by 62-year-old Lorie Cooper Lee, of Bridgewater, was traveling south on N. Cherry Street and nearing the intersection with Howard Street. She did not have a stop sign or lights.

A 2003 Chevy Express van driven by 38-year-old Boone Daniel Hayes, of Creston, was traveling east on Howard Street and approaching a stop sign at the intersection. Hayes told Police his brakes failed, and he was unable to stop before entering the intersection and colliding broadside with the shuttle bus. Hayes said he pressed on the brake pedal, but it did not engage without being pressed repeatedly.

Both vehicles were able to be driven away from the scene. No citations were issued.

POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, Iowa — A second first-degree murder trial that began this week in Council Bluffs, continues for a day care provider in Massena, charged with the death of a child. Alison Dorsey, of Anita, is accused of causing the death of 11-week-old Luka Hodges, in October 2019. Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas had previously said the child suffered from internal bleeding resulting in brain death while in Dorsey’s care. According to court documents, Dorsey said the child was hurt outside her care. Strazdas said medical evidence shows the child’s injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome. Dorsey’s first trial in 2021 ended with a hung jury and mistrial, in Atlantic.

The prosecution has presented its evidence in the case and is expected to wrap-up today. The defense is expected to present its opening arguments today (Thursday). The trial began Monday, with the selection of a jury, followed by opening statements and testimony, on Tuesday.

(Radio Iowa) – Work on the campanile on the University of Northern Iowa campus in Cedar Falls is moving right along. U-N-I Assistant Vice President, Hillery Oberle, says 15 bells were installed when the campanile was built in 1926, and 32 more were added in 1968. The brass bells are still in good shape, but the operating systems were showing some deterioration. “The connection pieces and things that suspend them in the campanile, the transmission system that controls the clappers, down to the plain keyboard, and then also the playing keyboard were really showing signs of age and weather,” she says.

All but a few of the bells were removed and lowered to the ground to be worked on. They decided to add a couple of bells while everything was being refurbished. “While we were doing that we knew we had the opportunity to fill in a couple of the musical gaps in the carillon,” Oberle says. ” When they cast the first bells they did not do two of the largest bells. So the C sharp and the D sharp. Those were not a part of our time or our carillon.” Seven new small bells at the other end of the music spectrum are also being added. “So for those musically inclined it means that we have a five-octave instrument that has four octaves that are fully chromatic,” Oberle says. They reworked the infrastructure and put in steel beams to carry the weight of the bells — which range from 20 pounds for the smallest bell to four-thousand pounds for the largest.

The UNI photo from 1926 on top of the 2023 version.

A bell almost to the top. (UNI photo)

Crane lifting bell up into tower. (UNI photo)

Oberle says the campanile is a key campus point for students, faculty and alumni. “You know it holds different types of memories for everybody. It might be where you took your graduation photo, we have so many stories of people who proposed at the campanile,” Oberle says. “You know a tradition is to go campaniling and kiss your sweetheart at midnight at the campanile. So a lot of great stories it’s really the center of the campus.” She says it’s where the university comes together to celebrate and sometimes come together and in sadness. They took advantage of having the bells out on the ground to recreate a picture of the U-N-I president and others lined up with the bells before they were first installed in 1926.

The two-point-two million dollar campanile renovation project is one the iconic spaces projects along with the Gallagher Blue Dorn and UNI-Dome renovation. Cranes started hoisting the bells back up to their hanging spot Wednesday. Getting the campanile operating again is part one of the project. “The second part of the project will revitalize the plaza surrounding the campanile. So new paving, new seating areas, new landscaping,” she says. “That all has taken a bit of a beating as we’ve had construction on the carillon going on etcetera.” They’ve raised one-point-five million dollars so far to fund the project.