Tagged: USPS

There is a magic to the act of putting pen to paper and writing down one's thoughts and wishes.

Writing a letter.

You can save that letter. And no matter when you open the letter, there you are - right in the moment with the emotions of that moment - connecting with the person to whom you were writing.

That magic certainly touched a Niles man recently.

Bob Rodgers.

The postmaster of New Carlisle Indiana knocked on Bob's door, and handed the 79-year-old man a very special letter.

It was a letter Rodgers had written on June 13, 1953 to his wife Jean. He was at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in basic training with the Army's  503rd Airborne Infantry.
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Bob Rodgers joined us now from Niles, Michigan.

You can listen to the interview above.

WASHINGTON (AP) - With no financial relief in sight, the Postal Service is pushing ahead with cuts to more than 260 mail processing centers around the nation.

It's part of a billion-dollar cost-cutting effort that will slow delivery of first-class mail.

In a statement, the cash-strapped agency says it completed a review of closings to mail processing centers that were announced last fall. Based on community input and other factors, the post office says it will move forward, beginning in mid-May.

The consolidations are expected to result in a loss of roughly 35,000 jobs.

The agency described the move as a necessary cost-saving measure. Mail volume is declining as people and businesses switch to the Internet in place of letters and paper bills.

DETROIT (AP) - A trial is getting under way in Detroit in a corruption case involving the repair of mail trucks.

Four U.S. Postal Service employees have pleaded guilty, but Greg Gorski of Canton Township is going to trial Monday. He's accused of accepting cash, sports tickets, a minivan and other payoffs from the owner of Metro Diesel in exchange for sending mail vehicles to the Detroit garage.

The indictment also accuses Gorski of receiving $500 in monthly gift cards for restaurants and gas stations.

Postal workers plan to fight a proposal to close mail processing centers in Michigan.    

Postal Service officials confirmed this week they plan to move forward with closing more than 200 processing centers nationwide next year. That includes facilities in a half dozen Michigan cities, including Lansing, Jackson and Kalamazoo.   

 Postal workers delivered a message at more than a dozen rallies across Michigan today.   

Postal workers say they have a solution to the multi-billion dollar budget deficit that is threatening the future of the U.S. Post Office.  Postal officials say they are looking at closing hundreds of local post offices and mail processing centers as a way to reduce the red ink.  

 Mail delivery could become even slower in Michigan under a plan announced  today.    The U.S. Postal Service wants to close most of its processing centers, including a half a dozen in Michigan.   

Postal Service officials are considering closing mail processing centers in Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo,  Jackson, Saginaw and  Iron Mountain.    All the state’s mail would be routed through three other locations.   

A Postal Service spokesman says he does not expect any mail processing centers will close before next Spring.

UPDATE  1:45pm

The leader of thousands of rural mail employees says she’s worried about a U.S. Post Office proposal that could close many small town post offices.  The national postal officials say they need to make cuts to reduce red ink.  The postal service lost eight billion dollars last year.  

Cindy Opalek is the president of the Michigan Rural Letter Carriers Association.   She says closing small town post offices will hurt rural communities. 

“The people who work there get a little more connected…a little more bonded with the people that they serve.   That will be a shame if they lose that.    Does the (U.S.) Post Office care?   I couldn’t tell you." 

ORIGINAL POST: 1:05pm

The U.S. Postal Service has released a list of 62 Post Offices in Michigan that they're studying for closure.

The potential closures could affect smaller cities like Kingsford, Baron City, and North Star. And they could also affect bigger cities like Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Lansing.

In a statement, Postmaster General Patrick Donahue said closed offices could be replaced by "expanded access locations" - similar to how some pharmacies are now located in your grocery store:

“Today, more than 35 percent of the Postal Service’s retail revenue comes from expanded access locations such as grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMs and usps.com, open 24/7. Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.”

The U.S. Postal Service currently operates 32,000 retail offices (the largest retail network in the country). It's studying the potential closure of 3,700 offices.

The USPS suffered $8.5 billion in losses in 2010.

Is your city on this list? How would you feel if your local post office was closed?

Five United States Postal Service supervisors were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday in Detroit for conspiring to take bribes from  a private contractor in exchange for directing over $13 million in maintenance work on Postal Service vehicles.

From the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Michigan:

The USPS maintains Vehicle Maintenance Facilities around the country, including in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Akron, Ohio. The five Postal Service employees charged today worked at these facilities, and they had the responsibility to decide whether work on Postal vehicles would be performed by USPS employees or sent out to private contractors. They also had the responsibility to decide which private contractor would be used for work sent outside of the USPS.

Between 2004 and 2010, during the course of the conspiracies between the private contractor and the five USPS employees indicted today, the private contractor charged the USPS over $13 million for maintenance and repair work.

The bribes included things like tickets to sporting events, prostitution, drinks and lap dances at a strip club, Levitra (erectile dysfunction) pills, auto repair work, cars, and cash.

“U.S. government employees hold positions of public trust, and they are responsible for managing public funds," said United States Attorney Barbara McQuade. "Federal employees who personally profit by taking bribes in exchange for official acts will prosecuted.”