August 2025

Land is voiceless, relying on its residents to be good stewards and make wise decisions for its future. That’s why it’s vital for McCall to reject the 492-home Pine Creek Ranch proposal for the following reasons:

In reading the article on “M-D takes over school bus service” I noticed some information missing. The company, Harlow’s School Bus Service, had its beginning in 1962 by Harlow Hageness and his family, in Rolette, ND. As the company grew, a branch of the Company, Harlow’s School Bus Service, Inc. of MT was formed. This Branch of the company took over School Bus operations for the MDSD in 1999. Harlow’s actually ran the Bus Operations in McCall for 19 years. I was hired as site manager in June 2004. I ran the operation until retirement in 2017. At that time it was still owned by the Hageness family. In 2018 the school bus operations of the company was purchased by the Landmark Company. They maintained the Harlow name and trademark which is still property of the Hageness Family. Later, a private equity group bought the contract, which is who the school district was most recently negotiating with. I am writing to let the public know that the Hageness family was not the ones asking for such a large increase (47.5%), but a nameless private equity group.