Will the historic Minneapolis post office be sold?

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There's talk in Minneapolis that the large downtown post office, built in 1934, will be the next historic postal facility to be sold.  Minneapolis City Council member Jacob Frey is envisioning a food marketplace with restaurants and markets. “One major piece we lack downtown is a multicultural, multifaceted market,” he said. “Here in Minneapolis, we have so many unbelievable cultures cooking … Read More

Post Office to exit historic federal building in Texarkana

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The Postal Service has announced plans to move out of the historic federal building in Texarkana, Texas.  The GSA owns the building and has plans to use the USPS space for more courtrooms and offices.  The Postal Service is looking for an alternate location downtown. Texarkana Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell said she strongly opposes a move from the downtown federal building, the only … Read More

New Mexico State U. to lose its post office

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The Postal Service has announced plans to close the post office on the campus of New Mexico State University and merge it with another post office 1.6 miles from campus, which will make it tough on students without a car.  The university offered to help downsize the USPS footprint as part of its renovation of the student center, but NMSU never received … Read More

Relocation of North Platte PO moves forward

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  The Postal Service is going ahead with the relocation of the post office in downtown North Platte, Nebraska.  The new location is the USPS processing center in an industrial park on the outskirts of town.  Mayor Dwight Livingston and City Manager Jim Hawks were notified of the decision in a letter dated March 12. They expressed disappointment and frustration. “Not … Read More

The USPS and PRC ponder the meaning of “post office”: The appeal on the Careywood Idaho CPO

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In December 2011, the Postal Service declared a five-month moratorium on post office closings, and by the time it was over, the plans to close thousands of post offices had been abandoned.  The Postal Regulatory Commission had already dealt with over 200 appeals during the previous two years, and it was expecting an avalanche.  Instead, there was just a handful of … Read More

The doctor will see you now: The Postal Service takes the pulse of employees

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The Postal Service has replaced the Voice of the Employee (VOE) survey with a new one called Postal Pulse.  The survey is being administered by Gallup from March 16 to April 3. You can see the old VOE survey here, and the new Postal Pulse here. The Postal Service hasn’t said much publicly about why it decided to discontinue the VOE and … Read More

“We’re all in trouble”: The Yantic CT post office, from suspension to appeal

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The Postal Service has made a final determination to close the post office in Yantic, Connecticut, a village in Norwich.  Deberey Hinchey, the mayor of Norwich, and Kevin Ryan, a state representative, have filed an appeal on the closing to the Postal Regulatory Commission. It’s the first appeal filed on a post office closing since July 2013.  (Another appeal has recently … Read More

Fitness Center Will Take Over Historic Bethesda Post Office

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The historic old Bethesda Post Office has a new tenant.  Bridges Fitness & Yoga, from the brothers who founded Bethesda-based software firm Opnet, will move into the historic building that was built in 1938 and sold in 2012 to the Donohoe Companies.  Donohoe Development Senior Vice President Jad Donohoe confirmed the fitness and yoga studio would be moving in. A website for … Read More

Historic Topeka post offices nominated to National Register

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In January 2014, the Postal Service announced its intention to sell the historic post office in Topeka, Kansas.  It's a controversial decision, not simply because the community doesn't want to lose a post office.  The building housed the courtroom where the Brown v. Board of Education case challinging school segregation was heard in 1951.  The City of Topeka received word this … Read More

Postal Services moves forward on sale of historic Plant City post office

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In late January 2015, the Postal Service discontinued the post office in Plant City, Florida.  As reported in this previous post, it was the first discontinuance in over 16 months.  The community had until Feb. 27 to file an appeal with the Postal Regulatory Commission, but no one did so, and now the Postal Service is reviewing the property for … Read More

PRC rejects Discover NSA and the Postal Service’s “subjective intuition”

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For the first time since they were created in 2002, a Negotiated Service Agreement (NSA) has been rejected by the Postal Regulatory Commission.  Yesterday the PRC turned down the Postal Service’s request to add a NSA with Discover Financial Services to its market-dominant list. This is quite an unusual event.  Since the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the PRC … Read More

Kearny post office studied for discontinuance

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The Postal Service is closing the post office on Kearny  Avenue in Kearny, New Jersey.  The discontinuance procedure has been initiated, which means there will be a public comment period, a public meeting, and the opportunity to appeal to the Postal Regulatory Commission.  The mayor has promised to protest the decision.  Read more.

Epic Fail for the Postal Service: The wrong model and the wrong BOG

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BY MARK JAMISON In 2001 Postmaster General Bill Henderson submitted the first blueprints for a transformation of the Postal Service into a sleeker, more efficient business entity.  To justify the transformation, the rhetoric has repeated one mantra: the problem with the Postal Service is its outmoded and defective business model.   A great deal of our speech with public policy … Read More

Congresswoman Barbara Lee proposes moratorium on sale of historic post offices

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Congresswoman Barbara Lee 
of California (13th District) has introduced legislation to halt the sale and consolidation of historic Postal Service facilities. The Moratorium on US Historic Postal Buildings Act would prevent the Postal Service from selling any facility until all buildings listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places are removed from the auction block.  The text of … Read More

Who owns the Postal Service?

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BY MARK JAMISON Who owns the post office?  Who is the post office designed to serve?  What is the system’s ultimate function? These questions are fundamental to the future and the fate of the post office, the postal network, and postal services in this country. How we answer them will have a significant impact on businesses, workers, and communities. We … Read More