Berkeleyside: It’s definitely not just you. Late-night and skipped mail deliveries, suspect delivery “attempts,” slow service and mis-delivered mail: Berkeleyside has received complaints about the U.S. Postal Service from more than 80 Berkeley residents in the past week who detailed a range of problems throughout October. And some say there has been trouble for much longer. “USPS has been horrible lately – either very late … Read More
The bar in Trump’s new DC hotel honors postal history (sort of)
The grand opening of the Trump Hotel at the Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington, DC, has been getting a lot of attention this week. Several news items focus on the hotel’s cocktail lounge. See, for example, the Daily Beast, Huffington Post, and the Washingtonian, as well as an earlier piece from September in the Washington DC Eater. The Trump Hotel … Read More
Finksburg MD post office will move
Carroll County Times: The Finksburg, Maryland, post office will move, but its new home hasn’t been decided upon. In a news release distributed this week, the U.S. Postal Service announced its decision to relocate the Finksburg post office, but said a new site has not yet been determined.At an August community meeting on a possible relocation of the office, Richard … Read More
GAO – USPS: Information on How Broadband Affects Postal Use and the Communications Options for Rural Residents
US GAO: Broadband use has in recent years been associated with reduced use of First-Class Mail. Continued declines as a result of broadband, however, are uncertain. Broadband access to various Internet services, especially online bill paying, is associated with reduced use of transaction mail, a subset of First-Class Mail. GAO analysis of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Household Diary Survey … Read More
Phil Rubio: Organizing a wildcat: the United States postal strike of 1970
Labor History Journal: This scholarly article, part of a larger work in progress, uses archives, key secondary sources, and oral histories from participants in the 1970 United States postal wildcat strike for better pay and working conditions to argue that this was a monumental event both unique and representative of the times. It was a rank-and-file effort that began in … Read More
Why the post office stopped mailing children
RetroIndy: The idea of mailing babies and children wouldn’t cross most peoples’ minds. But after the parcel post law went into effect in 1913, children were routinely weighed, stamped and “mailed” with postal workers on mail service trains. As a bachelor, U.S. Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock decided to call in experts after receiving a rather pathetic plea from a man in … Read More
Bringing Government Secrets to Light
The American Conservative: It was late February 1970, and the federal government was concerned that bad things were afoot in New York City. The past decade had been a series of headaches for the feds—civil rights protests; bombings by the Weather Underground and other radicals; riots in slums, on college campuses, and at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Two … Read More
New McCaskill Bill to Prevent Emergency Postal Suspensions
CBS St. Louis: U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, along with Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, has proposed a new bill addressing post office closures. The bill would prevent the U.S. Postal Service from using its emergency suspension process to indefinitely close post offices without notice to the community, opportunity to appeal, or a time frame for reopening or permanently closing … Read More
GAO report finds rural postal service remains essential
West Plains Daily Quill: A top watchdog study completed at the request of U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, found that the Postal Service remains essential to rural communities, regardless of whether those communities have access to rural broadband services. “This study shows what we already know to be true—that the Postal Service remains … Read More
Ocean City To Buy Downtown Post Office Property, But No Change In Use Expected In Near Future
Maryland Coast Dispatch: Resort officials this week approved the purchase of the downtown post office property in Ocean City for over $1.3 million, while allaying fears the pending sale could seal the fate of the decades-old facility in the future. On Monday, the Mayor and Council approved on second reading the purchase of the commercial property at 410 Philadelphia Ave. … Read More
New Stamford CT post office to open, replacing historic PO building
Stamford Advocate: Stamford, Conn.’s downtown will finally have a working post office after the previous one closed three years ago. The new U.S. Post Office at 550 Summer St. is set to open on Oct. 19, USPS spokeswoman Christine Dugas said. All P.O. Box customers will have their boxes transferred to the new location on the evening of Oct. 18. The … Read More
Historic Morristown NJ Post Office back on chopping block, eyed as ‘centerpiece’ of town
Morristown Green: The Morris Street Post Office in Morristown, New Jersey, which the Postal Service tried to close in 2012 amid vociferous local opposition, is on the chopping block once again. This time, Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty envisions the century-old structure being reborn as the town’s “centerpiece.” “It’s a great, historic building, an amazing site that should be the centerpiece … Read More
In pursuit of historic art, one post office at a time
Journal Sentinel: On vacation about four and a half hours north of Milwaukee, Susan Kwas needed to send a letter. As she waited her turn at the counter at the post office in Park Falls, she noticed a painting. The mural above the door to the postmaster’s office depicted a legendary Northwoods fight between two rival logging crews — in red and white shirts — on the … Read More
USPS won’t speculate on damaged Arlington, NE Post Office building
enterprisepub.com: The U.S. Postal Service is continuing to assess the Arlington, Nebraska, Post Office building after it was severely damaged Sept. 23 when the south wall of the former Village Hall collapsed on it during demolition. Communications specialist Brian Sperry said the USPS does not want to speculate if the building can be salvaged until they have more information. Arlington mail … Read More
