Postal Service

Editor's note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail will run "A Life Remembered. " This continuing series will take a look back - through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others - at a member of the community who died recently. Today's "A Life Remembered" is about Roy Michael Spooner, who died May 5 at the age of 55. His obituary appeared in the May 9 editions of The Morning Herald and The Daily Mail. On Monday, May 8, a moment of silence was observed for "The Gov" by employees of both the main U.S. Post Office on Franklin Street and the northern station on Conamar Drive.

"In reference to the article in The Herald-Mail on the 22nd, front page, 'Rocky road chips away at patience,' I don't know - I have no problem with what the County Roads (Department) did. We're a resident of Beck Road. They've done under road and all out here. Exceptional good job. That's the first time since 1978 they did any overlay in this area. The men that did that job and the County Roads workers that did the pre-work on it did a great job. I'm getting a little of my tax money back.

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.

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.

Joseph Leon Hovermale, 71, of Clear Spring, went to be with his Lord on Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012, at Meritus Medical Center, with his loving and devoted wife at his side. Joe was born Aug. 18, 1941, in Big Pool, Md., to the late Dorothy Pauline Kline Hovermale and Charles Russell Hovermale. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1968. He served a tour in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967.  He was a 1959 graduate of Clear Spring High School.  He was a member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Big Pool, a charter member of the Fort Frederick Ruritan Club and the Joseph C. Herbert American Legion Post 222 of Clear Spring.

Scott Carson, a United States Postal Service letter carrier, trudges over piles of ice and snow Thursday on his Greencastle, Pa., route.

wandaw@herald-mail.com In the past six months, the City of Hagerstown has lost 25 U.S. Postal Service collection mailboxes. A postal representatives cited low volume as the main reason for the closings. "Boxes that don't generate the mail that needs to be generated have been taken out of circulation," Hagerstown Postal Service Customer Service Supervisor Bruce Rice said. Rice said the Postal Service couldn't justify maintaining mail-collection boxes with fewer than 10 pieces of mail on some days.

The price to send a first-class letter will increase to 41 cents on Monday. David Partenheimer, a spokesman with the U.S. Postal Service, said postage is increased to help adjust for inflation, and typically covers the postal service's operating expenses, such as the costs associated with fuel and employee benefits. Partenheimer said the USPS introduced the Forever stamp last month. The stamp can be purchased for 41 cents, and retains its first-class value regardless of future postage rate increases, he said.

The price to send a first-class letter will increase to 41 cents today. David Partenheimer, a spokesman with the U.S. Postal Service, said postage increases help adjust for inflation and typically cover the postal service's operating expenses, like costs associated with fuel and employee benefits. Partenheimer said the USPS introduced the Forever stamp last month. The stamp can be purchased for 41 cents, and it retains its first-class value regardless of future postage rate increases, he said.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Hagerstown Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a site plan for a planned post office to be built across from the Long Meadow Shopping Center, on the condition the U.S. Postal Service pays for its share of infrastructure costs. The planned 18,000-square-foot post office on a 3-acre site off Leitersburg Pike would replace the 4,000-square-foot post office on Northern Avenue. The post office would be adjacent to the Cortland Park development now under construction across from the shopping center.