John Nichols, Nation Magazine: When then–New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke to the Economic Club of Washington a few years back, he delivered a typical billionaire speech that assigned equal blame to the Democratic Party of President Barack Obama and the Republican Party of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell for a “paralysis” in Washington that was “standing in the way of a full recovery.”

Echoing the messaging of a number of billionaires at the time, Bloomberg preached an austerity-inclined gospel with a heavy emphasis on deficit reduction.

But buried in the speech were references to rural America and to services that are vital to small towns and farm country, like the United States Postal Service. They ought to raise alarm bells regarding Bloomberg’s current quest for the president….

I also agree with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders when he argues not just for preserving but for expanding the Postal Service—and how vital it is for rural America. When a billionaire candidate starts talking about the USPS as an “antiquated industry,” that’s heard as a threat to villages and towns that are already struggling. Post offices and schools are essential building blocks of rural communities. When they are well-funded and well-maintained, everything else takes shape around them. When they disappear, communities frequently begin to wither and die. Read more.

WEAU: The United States Postal Service says that the Colfax Post Office sustained structural damage and will be moving all operations to the Boyceville Post Office. A sign posted on the door said that PO Box services would be moved as well. Read more.

(Photo: Google Street View)

KLEWTV: A post office reduced to just a mail truck. Residents in Deary, ID, have been dealing with it for the past eight months.

The post office building in Deary is closed.  It’s such a concern and frustration for residents a representative from the United States Postal Service (USPS) held a town hall last night to try and find solutions.

A packed room at City Hall Tuesday night in Deary. Residents came out looking for answers about the status of their post office.

Former Deary, ID Post Office (Waymarking.com)

After all the USPS representative explains getting mail out of a truck isn’t unusual.

“Jackson, Montana we are in a hotel room,” USPS, Real-Estate Specialist Greg Shelton said.

They had to close the old post office building down due to maintenance issues.

The post office truck is parked inside the city’s maintenance shop. It doesn’t deliver anymore. Instead, residents go to the truck to pick up and drop off their mail.

Shelton is trying to help residents create another post office. Mayor John Henderson says it’s a challenge.

“The city itself isn’t in a position to offer anything other than assistance with whatever we can,” Mayor John Henderson said.

Some people didn’t like this answer.

“We’re competitive, we want as nicest post office as our neighbors,” resident Dan Whitcomb said.  Read more.

Detroit MetroTimes: We continue to honor our queen because she will always be our queen.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3976, which renamed the post office located at 12711 E. Jefferson Ave. in Detroit the Aretha Franklin Post Office Building. The legislation was signed by all members of the Michigan Congressional Delegation, and the news was announced by Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence.

“It is my pleasure to honor this mega talent and my good friend Aretha Franklin in this manner,” Lawrence said in a press release. “After the renaming of Chene Park to the Aretha Franklin Amphitheater, I felt additional accolades were necessary on the federal level to extend her legacy. This is the contribution from all of us in the Michigan Delegation to that legacy.”  Read more.

(The E. Jefferson Ave. post office is currently named the Fox Creek Station.)

Ozark County Times: An Ozark County post office closure that was hinted at in 2011 seems likely to happen this month in Hardenville, MO, where service will be suspended Saturday, Feb. 22, as the U.S. Postal Service’s lease on space in the old Hardenville general store building expires.

Gainesville postmaster Jeff Elliott told the Times last week that he had received no information from USPS about the Hardenville situation since September 2019, when former building owner Mike Dines notified USPS that he would not be renewing the post office’s lease when it expires Feb. 22.

The Hardenville building’s new owners asked that their names and plans not be published at this time. However, they said in a fax sent to the Times that they had tried to negotiate with USPS’s Denver-based real estate personnel about keeping the post office in the building but “a contract could not be agreed upon,” in part due to “9/11 requirements and square footage” the new owners will need.

The Hardenville post office opened in 1921 at another site and has leased space in the former Hardenville store building – most recently called The Emporium – since the 1930s. It’s expected that the suspended service will lead to the Hardenville post office’s permanent closure.  Read more.

ABC10: The Downtown Post Office on Vernon Street in Roseville, CA, is one of the area’s oldest buildings, but in the coming months, the usually busy location will have to make way for new development.

The lease between the U.S. Postal Service and the city of Roseville is set to expire April 30, and the city wants to sell the property.

“The city is currently working on a project with a developer for a mixed-use project to locate at this site,” said Wayne Wiley, the city’s economic development manager.

That project could include a boutique hotel, city officials told ABC10. Some people like Chuck Locke, a postal worker in Roseville, want to keep a post office in Downtown Roseville.

“I don’t think we need a hotel,” Locke said. “I think what we need here in Roseville is to keep our post office where it’s at.”  Read more.

The Postal Service sold the building to the city of Roseville in 2010.  For more, see this previous post.