Slower mail, fewer office hours part of Postal Service plans
United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy speaks during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on "Legislative Proposals to Put the Postal Service on Sustainable Financial Footing" on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in Washington. United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is left. Postal Service over persistent delivery delays under DeJoy, a major GOP donor who took over the agency last summer. He announced the plans at a webinar with other postal service officials. And those concerns remain.โDeJoy, a former supply-chain CEO who took over the Postal Service last June, has been mired in controversy since taking over the agency.
Biden nominates 3 to postal board as delays persist
United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy looks on during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on "Legislative Proposals to Put the Postal Service on Sustainable Financial Footing" on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in Washington. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated three postal experts to the governing board of the U.S. Postal Service, a move that could alter the course of an agency grappling with delivery delays and rumored cuts under its embattled Republican leader. A spokesman for the Postal Service said it "will welcome all qualified members to the Board of Governors." AdDeJoy and the board are finalizing a 10-year plan to revitalize the Postal Service, an independent agency with roots to the 18th century.
USPS โtemporarilyโ suspends some retail, delivery operations in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO โ United States Postal Service officials announced on Wednesday that some retail and delivery operations in the Rio Grande District service area that includes San Antonio has been โtemporarilyโ suspended . The delivery suspension affects the following three-digit ZIP Codes in the district: 733, 765, 766, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787, 788, 789, 797, and 798. According to officials, all of the listed zip codes are experiencing โinclement conditions and intermittent power outages.โThe delivery suspension does not affect any processing facilities. Stay InformedAs always, Your Weather Authority team will keep you updated. You can get the very latest forecast anytime by bookmarking our weather page and downloading the KSAT Weather Authority App - available for both Apple and Android devices.
USPS to post letters to Santa online; public can adopt letters, send gifts
Moreno explains that Operation Santa has been around for years, but only in certain cities digitally. โIn 1912 post master Frank Hitchcock allowed post masters and their employees and community to adopt letters, so we have continued on the tradition and it is now known as Operation Santa,โ Moreno said. It allows children to write letters to Santa, and the USPS will post those letters on its Operation Santa website, where people can adopt letters and send children gifts. In the middle of the envelope write in Santaโs address: Santa Claus, 123 Elf Road, North Pole 88888. Santa letters image2.
West Side neighborhood honors longtime USPS mailman during final route
He delivered mail to the West Side neighborhood Collins Garden for 28 years. โMarcos is just one mailman that touches everyoneโs heart,โ said Cruz Martinez, a Collins Garden resident. The Collins Garden neighborhood wanted him to know that he was loved and appreciated and that he would be greatly missed. If you treat people with respect, theyโll respect you back,โ he said as his final message to the neighbors. Perez has the following advice for future USPS workers:โCome to work every day and give it your all.
USPS delivers new Christmas movie thatโs sure to spark some holiday joy
SAN ANTONIO โ The United States Postal Service and its 100-year-old โOperation Santaโ program is the subject of a new documentary-style movie set to come out on Dec. 4. The new movie sheds light on a tradition like no other: the fulfillment of wishes from children writing to Santa. According to USPS, hundreds of thousands of letters are sent to Santa from children and families across the country every year. The agencyโs Operation Santa makes it possible for individuals and organizations to adopt these letters and send responses and thoughtful gifts in Santaโs place. The movie debuts Dec. 4, the same day that letter adoption opens in the program.
Donโt be a Scrooge! Read these letters to Santa to get into the holiday spirit
SAN ANTONIO โ Trouble getting into the Christmas spirit because you canโt go home or donโt have the day off? Try reading a few letters to Santa to get into the holiday spirit. Most of the letters ask for toys and games, but some kids actually ask for basic necessities or help for a loved one. Letter adoption opens on Dec. 4 and is available at USPSOperationSanta.com. To read through some of the letters, click here.
Mailman rescues man in chainsaw accident in Norwalk
NORWALK, Calif. โ A mailman on his route in southern California helped another man who accidentally cut his arm with a chainsaw late last week, authorities said. United States Postal Service mailman Fernando Garcia was wrapping up his shift in Norwalk when he heard a loud scream from a nearby house before rushing toward the home to help, KNBC-TV reported Monday. Garcia said he found a man with a cut to the arm and used his belt as a tourniquet. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department posted on Twitter Friday from the Norwalk station that the man is expected to recover because of Garcia's quick action. โI was just fortunate to be there, to help him out.โIt is unclear where the man was in the home and what the man was doing with the chainsaw at the time of the accident.
Post office defends on claims that cuts threaten election
FILE - In this May 6, 2020, photo, United States Postal Service carrier Henrietta Dixon gets into her truck to deliver mail in Philadelphia. Postal Service that they say threaten the upcoming presidential election(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)PHILADELPHIA โ Lawyers for the U.S. Postal Service argued in court Thursday against accusations that service cuts are slowing down the mail and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. Lawyers for the Postal Service say headquarters never ordered a slowdown or overtime ban. They said the cuts also threaten the integrity of the upcoming election, given the expected widespread use of mail-in ballots across the country.
For rural Texans, the Postal Service is a lifeline, but some say itโs been in decay for years
In rural areas where broadband internet connection is scarce, residents rely on the Postal Service to send checks, pay bills, get Social Security benefits and receive prescription medication. Places that had bad service probably still have bad service.โAcross rural Texas, business owners, community leaders and farmers told The Texas Tribune that the quality of USPS service varies from post office to post office. We have no issues with the Postal Service, they are prompt and they do good service,โ Plagens said. โWe depend on our Postal Service, and we get taken care of by them,โ Roberson said. โThe Postal Service is grossly understaffed, especially in the rural areas that I represent,โ Williams said.
States ask judge to reverse changes at US Postal Service
FILE - In this April 2, 2020 file photo, a United States Postal Service worker makes a delivery with gloves and a mask in Warren, Mich. A group of states suing over service cuts at the U.S. Postal Service is asking a federal judge to immediately undo some of them, saying the integrity of the upcoming election is at stake. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya,File)SEATTLE โ A group of states suing over service cuts at the U.S. Postal Service is asking a federal judge to immediately undo some of them, saying the integrity of the upcoming election is at stake. Michigan spent $2 million earlier this year on envelopes that met election mail standards โ only to learn that the Postal Service wouldn't treat them as First Class mail.
Worried about whether your vote will count? Hereโs how to submit a ballot without using the mail
Restrictions and types of early voting vary by state, but 40 states and the District of Columbia do offer some form of early voting. Turning in ballots at a local election office or polling locationJust about every state allows voters to bring ballots in person to turn them in at local election offices. If youโre not close to a local election office to turn in a ballot, some states allow ballots to be turned in to alternate locations or the polling locations. New Hampshire and Vermont allow voters to return ballots to a polling place. Drop boxesThese are special containers that allow voters to drop off absentee or mail-in ballots in sealed envelopes.
This has never happened before: Postal workers cry foul as sorting machines removed from USPS facilities in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO Four sorting machines that process 35,000 pieces of letter-type mail per hour have been removed from United States Postal Service distribution facilities in San Antonio, the local union president says. Before the four machines were removed in recent weeks, there were 32 total sorting machines in the San Antonio area. Thats his vision.San Antonio isnt alone: hundreds of other sorting machines have been removed throughout the country in recent weeks. CNN reported that number could be as high as nearly 700, citing records they obtained from the postal service. A USPS spokesperson told Business Insider that: The Postal Service routinely moves equipment around its network as necessary to match changing mail and package volumes.
Former USPS leader from Texas says Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is destroying the confidence of the postal service
Postal Service trucks at an Austin office. Postal Service said Tuesday that while she applauds Postmaster General Louis DeJoys latest commitment to delay proposed changes to mail services, she is still worried about the impact on mail-in voting this November. In 2009, she guided the postal service through the Great Recession as the board's chair. The USPS board of governors is comparable to a board of directors of a publicly held corporation, according to the USPS website. Presidential-appointed governors serve terms of seven years and only as many as five governors may be members of one political party.
Pelosi to call House back into session to vote on USPS bill
WASHINGTON Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is calling the House back into session over the crisis at the U.S. In a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is Election Central," Pelosi wrote Sunday in a letter to colleagues, who had been expected to be out of session until September. The House Oversight and Reform Committee said it wants to hear from DeJoy and from the chair of the Postal Service board of governors, Robert Mike Duncan. With heightened scrutiny of its operations, the Postal Service is now requesting a temporary preelection rate increase, from mid-October through Christmas, although not for first-class letters. "Given the recent customer concerns the Postal Service will postpone removing boxes for a period of 90 days while we evaluate our customers concerns,'' Postal Service spokeswoman Kimberly Frum said.
Democrats, local election leaders fear Donald Trump's attacks on mail-in voting foreshadow voter suppression
As President Donald Trump rails against the idea of expanding mail-in voting, resists new funding for the U.S. That continued a pattern of Trump steadfastly fighting the expansion of mail-in voting, saying without evidence that it leads to voter fraud. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton have vigorously fought efforts to expand mail-in voting this year. But even without an expansion of mail-in voting, millions of Texans qualify because of their age, location or disability. "That means they cant have universal mail-in voting; they just cant have it."
Post Office warns states across US about mail voting
Voters and lawmakers in several states are also complaining that some curbside mail collection boxes are being removed. Postal Service is sufficiently prepared to fulfill.Meanwhile, the removal of Postal Service collection mail boxes triggered concerns and anger in Oregon and Montana. All three members of Montanas congressional delegation two of whom are Republican raised concerns about the removal of mail boxes in letters sent to Postmaster DeJoy. Postal Service spokesperson Ernie Swanson said the Oregon removals were due to declining mail volume and that duplicate mail boxes were taken from places that had more than one. The Postal Service said four mail boxes were removed in Portland this week.
On this 50th anniversary for the USPS, mail a letter to a friend
Fifty years ago, the former Post Office Department changed over and became the United States Postal Service. Postal Service, as we know it now, has only been around since 1970? Energized by the Civil Rights Movement, postal workers in New York went on strike, and the movement eventually swelled across the country. Previously, letters were taken to a Post Office, where employees would note the postage due (or paid) in the upper right corner. Postal Service stands financially, perhaps we do have to consider, what if the mail goes away someday?