(Des Moines)– The Iowa Senate has confirmed the appointment of Tom Bedell, President of Spirit Lake-based Pure Fishing and son of former Congressman Berkley Bedell, to the Iowa Board of Regents.
Bedell joins three other appointees, including Ruth Harkin, who was narrowly appointed on a vote of 34 to 15…just meeting the two-thirds majority required for approval. Harkin came under fire from critics who say she doesn’t really live in Iowa. The Harkins have a home in Cumming, just south of Des Moines. Harkin told lawmakers she wouldn’t bill the state for the expense of returning to Iowa from Washington for meetings.
Appointments of Iowa Cubs owner and newspaper publisher Michael Gartner and Teresa Wahlert, President and Chief Operating Offier of Mid-America Group, were also approved.
(Story from the Associated Press.).
