What’s fair is fair: Amazon customers get delivery on Sunday, SRO residents get none at all
While the news this week has been dominated by rave reviews for the Postal Service's announcement that it will deliver packages on Sunday to Amazon Prime customers (who pay $79 a year for the privilege), there’s another story going on about residents of single room occupancy (SRO) buildings who are ... Read More
Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association weighs in on sale of Berkeley PO
The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) has written a letter to the Postal Service challenging the USPS finding of no significant impact with regard to the disposal of the historic Berkeley post office. BAHA reiterates the Berkeley City Council’s request that any action concerning the proposed sale of the Post ... Read More
Post Office Collaborate opts in on NHPA review of sale of Berkeley PO
The National Post Office Collaborate, a Berkeley-based group fighting the sale of historic post offices across the country, has written to the California State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), requesting permission to participate in the Section 106 consultation process for the sale of the Berkeley post office. The Postal Service has ... Read More
The next chapter in postal privatization: Post Offices inside of Staples
The Postal Service has rather quietly announced a pilot program to put post offices inside of Staples. It’s part of what the USPS is calling the Retail Partner Expansion Program, and the first Staples to host a post office will be located in San Francisco and San Jose. According to ... Read More
Tribal Lore: Whistleblower lawsuit claims Northrop Grumman gave USPS false FSS performance reports
A former subcontractor and employee of Northrop Grumman named Beau Michaud has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Virginia against Grumman. The Complaint claims that Grumman repeatedly gave “false reports and certifications to the USPS that materially misrepresent the speed, reliability, accuracy and efficiency of the FSS ... Read More
PRC Public Rep lays into Postal Service on Stamford closing
The Public Representative of the Postal Regulatory Commission has filed comments responding to the Postal Service's Motion to Dismiss the appeal on the closing of the post office in Stamford, Conn. The comments are worth reading. The Postal Service initially said it closed the post office because the sale of ... Read More
USPS to look into complaints about mail delays in Texas after plant closure
The Postal Service says it will look into complaints from hundreds of Central Texas residents about late mail delivery and carrier errors, problems that seem to have worsened since mail-processing was moved from Waco to facilities in Coppell and Fort Worth. Some residents have complained that their mail is being ... Read More
Coralville, Iowa to appeal decision to move post office to industrial zone
City officials in Coralville, Iowa, are planning to appeal the Unittes Postal Service’s decision to close down the city’s central customer retail services building and relocate services to a carrier annex in an industrial zone where there are no sidewalks or public transportation. Read more ... Read More
Five Steps to Save America’s Incredible Shrinking Post Office
Alternet has syndicated an excellent piece by David Morris from "On the Commons" about what the American people need to do so save the post office. Morris recommends a moratorium on post office closures and hour reductions, a genuine cost analysis of what closing a post office means, a genuine ... Read More
Privatization Nightmare: Alternet excerpts new book on Sen. Feinstein’s Husband Selling Post Offices, Cheap
Alternet, the syndication service and online community of the alternative press, which receives more than 1.5 million unique monthly visitors, has published an excerpt from Peter Byrne's recent report on the sale of postal facilities by CBRE. The article is entitled "Privatization Nightmare: Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Husband Selling Post Offices ... Read More
Silver Spring, MD, post office may be losing customers due to location
Business owners and residents in Silver Spring are hoping to convince the Postal Service to bring back a post office to downtown. Last year, two post offices— the main post office branch at 8616 Second Street and the Silver Spring Center branch at 8455 Colesville Road— were consolidated into one ... Read More
Stamford PO lanterns removed to undisclosed location
The Postal Service has removed two iconic lanterns that adorned the Atlantic Street Post Office in Stamford, Conn., after vandals damaged and pilfered parts off of one. A USPS spokeswoman said the lanterns have been moved to an undisclosed location to discourage thieves from trying to track them down. The ... Read More
Downtown Columbia, MD may lose post office
Downtown Columbia, Maryland, may soon be without a post office. The Postal Service is having lease renewal issues again, this time with the Howard Hughes Corp., which owns the building. The Postal Service had a public meeting yesterday to discuss alternative locations. A spokesperson for the owner says the company ... Read More
Postal Service to revisit NEPA review on Stamford PO
According to a ruling issued today in the U.S. District Court, the Postal Service "has decided to revisit its NEPA review for the Atlantic Street Station." Apparently this means that the Postal Service will at least consider doing an environmental impact review of the impacts of its sale of the ... Read More
San Diego Mission Valley post office to remain open
The Postal Service has reversed its decision to close the Mission Valley Postal Store in the Westfield Mission Valley mall in San Diego. The Postal Service blamed the closure on the expiration of the lease, but thanks to efforts by Mission Valley Planning Group member Josh Weiselberg and other elected ... Read More
Two historic post offices in Connecticut get gutted
When the Postal Service sold two historic post offices in Connecticut, there was probably a general sense that they would be protected by preservation laws. But over the past few weeks, the post offices in Fairfield and Greenwich have been totally gutted, and a good portion of the Fairfield exterior ... Read More
Appeals Court To Decide If Post Office Should Deliver To San Francisco SRO Tenants
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in San Francisco Tuesday over whether the U.S. Postal Service is required to deliver mail to tenants in single room occupancy (SRO) hotels. The outcome will impact tens of thousands of low-income tenants. Read more. (Also, an audio of the hearing is ... Read More
Portlanders Kicked, Arrested for Protesting Post Office Privatization
Calling themselves “postal protectors,” 15 activists gathered in the lobby of the main post office in downtown Portland, Oregon, Tuesday, holding signs protesting postal privatization. Seven were arrested while attempting to negotiate a meeting with District Manager Erica Brix. Read more ... Read More
Getting the facts straight on the Redlands post office
Citizen Karlie Miller has been fighting to save the historic post office in Redlands, California, since last spring (as reported in this post from May). Unfortunately, she often finds herself not fighting just the post office. There are folks in town who want to buy the building and turn it ... Read More
Milton Friedman and the US Postal Service
There's a great piece on Daily Kos dismantling an article by Milton Friedman about the postal monopoly. It takes Friedman to task for errors of omission and commission and everything else, and it gives a very interesting short history of the Pony Express and other chapters in the history of ... Read More
