Postal Service

The Postal Service has been in the news a lot lately, and for good reason. The Postal Service has lost billions of dollars while losing market share to electronic forms of communication. But this is not entirely the fault of the Post Office or the Internet. In 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), a bill that was supposed to help the Post Office compete with private delivery services and be more responsive to public needs.  Unfortunately, many provisions in the bill have been the source of the problems the Postal Service is now facing.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The independent panel that oversees the U.S. Postal Service voted Thursday to deny the agency's request to increase the cost of mailing a letter by 2 cents -- and keeping the price of a first-class stamp at 44 cents. Ruth Goldway, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, suggested at a news conference that the problem with the proposal was more in the packaging than the plea. In July, the Postal Service proposed raising first-class postage from 44 cents to 46 cents as part of a strategy for dealing with a worsening financial crisis.

The weeks since Frederick, Md.'s mail-processing operations were transferred to Baltimore have been challenging for the Postal Service, but only because of the heavy volume of holiday-season mail, Postal Service spokeswoman Freda Sauter said Monday. "With the busy mailing season upon us there may be some days when some of our customers may be getting their mail a little later in the day and that's only due to the heavy mailing season," Sauter wrote in an email. Since Nov. 19, mail that previously would have been processed in Frederick - including mail to ZIP codes beginning with 217 - has been processed at the Baltimore Processing and Distribution Center.

A study of the U.S. Postal Service Processing and Distribution Facility in Frederick, Md., has found that consolidating its operations with a Baltimore plant could save the agency more than $4 million a year. But area postal workers are concerned that if the move takes place, service to the 217 zip code — which includes Washington County — will suffer. "All of this handling of the mail most assuredly will result in sacrificed service for our customers," the employees of the Frederick Post Office wrote in a letter to The Herald-Mail.

HAGERSTOWN -- Mildred St. John said she nearly burst with joy on Monday when the U.S. Postal Service returned the blue mailbox that it previously had removed from near the intersection of East Avenue and North Mulberry Street. The Postal Service recently had removed that postal box, which is a few yards from St. John's apartment, along with 12 others in the city to reduce fuel costs associated with mail collection, USPS spokeswoman Yvette Singh said last week. St. John, 81, said the Postal Service's decision to remove the mailbox made it difficult to send letters because she and her neighbors, who also are senior citizens and find it hard to get around, couldn't walk to the nearest mailbox a few blocks away.

More than 100 people attended a rally Sunday afternoon in downtown Hagerstown that a local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers held to advocate maintaining six-day delivery of mail. In February, the postal service announced plans to cut mail delivery to Monday through Friday, but to keep delivering packages on Saturdays. The cut is expected to save about $2 billion a year, according to a news release from the postal service. Current and retired postal workers, as well as family and friends, showed up in front of the post office on West Franklin Street to garner support for keeping six-day mail delivery.

The question posted Wednesday on The Herald-Mail's Web site was: Should the U.S. Postal Service discontinue Saturday delivery to homes and businesses? "The U.S. Postal Service has to stop Saturday delivery to cut costs because it is incredibly inefficient, just like every government entity. Not only do they not earn a profit, but they are subsidized by us, the taxpayer. ... The postal service is the poster child for why government shouldn't run anything in our lives. " "No delivery of mail on Saturday wouldn't bother me a bit. Perhaps no mail delivery on Saturday, but keeping the post office open for a half-day would help.

“Just say 'No delay'” and “Banks got bailed out. We got sold out” were some of the chants heard Sunday as more than 50 people attended a rally in front of the former Frederick Mail Processing and Distribution Facility to launch a campaign to reopen the mail-sorting facility. “Incredible, even many postal service employees hesitate to depend, to depend on the postal service to deliver their important, time-sensitive personal mail,” organizer Rich Shelley told the crowd.

The U.S. Postal Service has amended its latest cost-savings plan, proposing to limit the hours of rural post offices instead of closing them. The change, announced last week, apparently would keep open four Tri-State-area post office branches that were considered last year for closure. Two are in Washington County - Big Pool and Brownsville. The other two - Crystal Spring and Wells Tannery - are in Fulton County, Pa. Under the new plan, the Crystal Spring and Wells Tannery post offices would be open four hours a day instead of eight, according to a list of affected branches.

MARYLAND -- The U.S. Postal Service is considering moving Western Maryland mail processing from Frederick, Md., to Baltimore as a summertime cost-saving experiment. A Postal Service official said the temporary change wouldn't affect how long it takes local mail to be delivered, but a retired postmaster disagreed. Currently, mail collected from ZIP Codes starting with 217 -- which includes Washington County -- is processed Monday through Friday in Frederick, where postage is canceled, then mail is sorted for delivery.

More than 100 people attended a rally Sunday afternoon in downtown Hagerstown that a local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers held to advocate maintaining six-day delivery of mail. In February, the postal service announced plans to cut mail delivery to Monday through Friday, but to keep delivering packages on Saturdays. The cut is expected to save about $2 billion a year, according to a news release from the postal service. Current and retired postal workers, as well as family and friends, showed up in front of the post office on West Franklin Street to garner support for keeping six-day mail delivery.

The Postal Service has been in the news a lot lately, and for good reason. The Postal Service has lost billions of dollars while losing market share to electronic forms of communication. But this is not entirely the fault of the Post Office or the Internet. In 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), a bill that was supposed to help the Post Office compete with private delivery services and be more responsive to public needs.  Unfortunately, many provisions in the bill have been the source of the problems the Postal Service is now facing.

At a time when the U.S. Postal Service is recommending cutting Saturday service, it is actually adding outlets for customers in the form of village post offices such as the one at May's Service Center at 8708 Sharpsburg Pike, where a grand opening ceremony was held Friday. May's Service Center is the 200th village post office to open since the USPS introduced the idea in 2011. “As our financial situation at the Postal Service has changed, it has become more and more important for us to find ways to be relevant in the communities we serve, and not just have our own brick-and-mortar solution,” said David Fields, the vice president of the service's Capitol Metro Area.

Gary Breakall personified the best of small-town living. His devotion to family, church, community and work made a difference in the lives of many. Born and raised in Hancock, Gary was the third of six children. His parents, Oscar and Jesse Breakall, owned a flour mill in town, and that later became a feed mill and small grocery store. Shirley Hawbaker and Gary, who played basketball and soccer, were in the same class in high school and started dating during their sophomore year.

The U.S. Postal Service defaulted on its second multibillion dollar payment Monday, raising concern among some area residents about the future of the post offices they routinely visit. “I'd be really upset if they close the Funkstown Post Office down,” said Funkstown resident John Chirgott, 67. “I get medication through the post office, along with my mail.” Chirgott, like many residents in towns across the county, uses his town's post office to receive his mail because many smaller towns, such as Funkstown, do not have home mail-delivery service.

Mary Ellen Younkins has operated the Brownsville Post Office out of the first floor of her Boteler Road home since 1979. That will change on Tuesday. U.S. Postal Service officials recently announced that they plan to reduce the village's postmaster position to two hours per day and discontinue the government benefits that go with it. Younkins said that left her with no other choice. “It was my decision to leave,” the 60-year-old Younkins said. “I'm just fortunate that I'm old enough and have enough years to retire.

The U.S. Postal Service has amended its latest cost-savings plan, proposing to limit the hours of rural post offices instead of closing them. The change, announced last week, apparently would keep open four Tri-State-area post office branches that were considered last year for closure. Two are in Washington County - Big Pool and Brownsville. The other two - Crystal Spring and Wells Tannery - are in Fulton County, Pa. Under the new plan, the Crystal Spring and Wells Tannery post offices would be open four hours a day instead of eight, according to a list of affected branches.

With the Tuesday deadline to file federal and state tax returns approaching, U.S. Postal Serviceofficials advise those who plan to file by mail to check their post-offices' hours because most branches will not have extended hours. Among post offices in the Baltimore district - those with zip codes beginning with 210 through 219 - only the Baltimore Main Post Office at 900 E. Fayette St. will have extended hours on Tuesday, spokeswoman Yvette Singh said. That office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., with a final collection from the box at that address at midnight, she said.

“Just say 'No delay'” and “Banks got bailed out. We got sold out” were some of the chants heard Sunday as more than 50 people attended a rally in front of the former Frederick Mail Processing and Distribution Facility to launch a campaign to reopen the mail-sorting facility. “Incredible, even many postal service employees hesitate to depend, to depend on the postal service to deliver their important, time-sensitive personal mail,” organizer Rich Shelley told the crowd.

I want the U.S. Postal Service to stay in business, and I don't really care whether it delivers any mail or not. That's because sometimes it seems like the mail carriers and people who work at the post office are the only friends I have. They're always cordial. They always smile and have a kind word and listen sympathetically to whatever insanity is cooking in my head at any given time. I've never had a bad experience in the post office or with my letter carrier. It's one of the last things in life I can count on. So if you want to change the name from the U.S. Postal Service to the American Affirmation Society and just pay them to stand around and say hi, that's fine with me. I know a lot of people are frustrated by the mail system at the moment; I know this because when people have a problem with the post office, they call The Herald-Mail.