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Spc. Krystal Juarez, a mail clerk assigned to Company A, Division Special Troops Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, sorts letters during the holiday rush in the division mail room on Camp Liberty, Dec. 23. According to Juarez, daily mail has nearly doubled since the end of November. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Jeff Hansen, MND-B. BAGHDAD — Troops here receive more mail around the holidays than any other time of year, and U.S. Army mail clerks take pride in serving as a liaison between the service members and their loved ones. Spc. Krystal Juarez, a mail clerk assigned to Company B, Division...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Dec. 14, 2009 – The holidays are a special time of year when family and friends get together and celebrate the season in various ways, but many servicemembers serving Afghanistan cannot go home for the holidays due to their military obligations. Army Sgt. Carletha Woods places a bag of letter mail on a skid of packages at the Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, post office, Dec. 11, 2009. U.S. photo by Army Spc. William E. Henry  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Fortunately, the post office here excels at bringing a bit of home to America’s troops on the...

You've Got Mail, But the Mailman Hid It By YVONNE NAVA Updated 1:53 PM EST, Mon, Dec 14, 2009 If your mother-in-law's mail goes through the Waterbury or Wallingford post offices, she might not have received the birthday card you sent in time. Apparently managers at the post office have been hiding mail, Ray Arcovio, president of the Waterbury area postal worker’s union, told the Waterbury Republican-American. And he wants to sincerely apologize. Workers have been stuffing mail into closets and unused rooms at mail facilities in Waterbury and Wallingford because they don’t know how to keep up with such...

Virginia State Senator Ralph K. Smith (R - Roanoke) has pre-filed Senate Bill 3 ahead of the 2010 Virginia General Assembly session. . . . Senator Smith's mail order gun permit proposal is likely the first of an avalanche of mainly pro but also some anti-gun rights bills to be considered by the 2010 Virginia General Assembly. Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave expects pro-gun bills to do well in the 2010 session in part because of election victories by pro-gun House of Delegate candidates last month.

Stop Junk Snail Mail I want to stop my daily Junk Snail Mail deluge from clogging up my US postal box (Not E-Mails). The FTC has a National Do Not Call Registry for telemarketing telephone calls but I am dubious about some of the Do Not Mail websites that I have found: 1. DirectMail.com National Do Not Mail List; https://www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/ 2. The Direct Marketing Association's DMAchoice (www.dmachoice.org) https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/regist.action Anyone have a silver bullet to stop this junk snail mail?

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Starry-eyed children writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole this holiday season likely won't get a response from Santa Claus or his helpers. The U.S. Postal Service is dropping a popular national program begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole, where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year. Replies come with North Pole postmarks. Last year, a postal worker in Maryland recognized an Operation Santa volunteer there as a registered sex offender.

I can get into FReep mail but when I click on the item, it does not open.

WASHINGTON – It's no surprise that Democratic lawmakers got an earful about health care legislation when they went home this summer. But Texas Republicans in the House who have already denounced the legislation have also been bombarded by correspondence from highly informed constituents. The office of Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, received an unprecedented amount of mail, spokesman Sean Brown said. In the five weeks prior to the health care debate, Barton received nearly 400 e-mails. In the five weeks after it began, he got almost 2,800. "We have legislative correspondents that are tasked with returning mail, and they have been...

Yet another giant company has plunging sales, soaring debt, and is weighed down by massive labor costs. Will taxpayers have to pay for another federal bailout? Alas, it's already in the cards because this company is the U.S. Postal Service, which has estimated losses of $7 billion this year. With email grabbing ever more market share from snail mail, USPS's finances are steadily deteriorating. What should federal policymakers do? They can't give USPS the General Motors treatment and nationalize it, because it's already government-owned. And they can't reform postal markets with a "public option" because that's what the USPS already...

CHICAGO (AP) - You can find a bright spot in the recession as close as your mailbox: There are far fewer hefty catalogs, bulging coupon packets, unwanted credit card offers and glossy fliers clogging it up. Thanks to the economic downturn and rising shipping costs, junk mail volume was down 16 percent from last fall to this summer, on pace for the steepest annual decline in decades. Businesses that are still sending junk mail are sending less of it—shrinking their catalogs and using thinner paper to save money. It's a sign stores are still struggling, but it also means less...

House Republicans this week accused Democrats of censoring GOP mailings to constituents on a variety of subjects and of imposing uneven requirements on the minority party’s mail. Democrats on the franking commission — which must approve all official mail — have blocked Republicans from using politically weighted descriptions of climate change legislation, the stimulus bill and other issues, according to e-mails obtained by Roll Call. Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) said he went through seven drafts of his last newsletter, which included language about energy policy. “It’s embarrassing and unsupportable,” Culberson said, adding that requests for approval used to take a...

<p>Or maybe you've left it on top of the wooden table in your front hallway.</p> <p>Or tossed it onto the chair next to the couch in your living room.</p> <p>The Saturday mail -- the bills, magazines, promotional fliers, and maybe a few actual letters that showed up in your mailbox as always this weekend, and that you haven't quite gotten around to dealing with yet.</p>

Postage rates are increasing on Monday, May 11 for first class postage and other services. .. it's not too late to lock in the current rate by buying Forever Stamps. "If you buy them today at today's price, it doesn't matter if you use them in numerous years to come, even 100 years from now, that stamp will still be good as a first class stamp, even though you paid 42 cents for it," But time is of the essence, because the Forever Stamp rate also will increase on Monday.

"As the price to mail a letter is set to increase on Monday, mail volume at the U.S. Postal Service continues to drop. To counter the tough times, the government-run service operating 579 post offices across the state will continue to reconfigure its work force and its ability to compete for customers. Brian Watson, 37, of Lowell, said he's getting ready to make the jump from putting his bills in a mailbox to completing the transaction online because of the cost to use the postal system."

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 27, 2009 – Using a fleet of specialized aircraft, members of the 53rd Movement Control Battalion ensure that mail, equipment, passengers and supplies make it to their destinations across Afghanistan. The Casa 212 is a civilian-made, Air Force-owned airplane that transports passengers, equipment and mail. An eight-member crew consisting of soldiers, airmen and contractors can move the entire fleet in less than 30 minutes. U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Cody A. Thompson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The 53rd MCB specializes in scheduling, coordinating and executing flights and can move their numerous airplanes on...

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2009 – A recent increase in mail addressed to “Any Servicemember” has prompted the Military Postal Service Agency to remind the general public not to send mail or care packages addressed in such a manner. “Mail to ‘Any Servicemember/Any Wounded-Recovering Warrior,’ deposited into a collection box and erroneously accepted at a United States Postal Service post office will not be delivered,” MPSA officials said in a news release. “This restriction applies to all classes and types of mail.” The Defense Department suspended the “Any Servicemember” and “Operation Dear Abby” programs in 2001 following the terrorist attacks....

A woman's postcard bearing greetings from Montana has finally arrived in northeastern Ohio — 47 years later.Insurance agent Dave Conn opened his post office box in the community of Hudson last week and found the mailing sent from Helena, Mont., in 1962. It was sent to Marion White, the previous renter of the box, who had died in 1988. U.S. Postal Service spokesman Victor Dubina says the postcard may have been stuck in equipment or lost behind a mail chute.

Say what you want about former senator and convicted felon Ted Stevens, but The Hulk did plenty for rural Alaska over his 40 years in the Senate, including establishing a complex system to subsidize air travel in the state's remote communities. Called bypass mail, the Postal Service in effect helps keep costs down for small airlines and their passengers to the villages as it regularly delivers mail to communities. But now there are concerns that rate increases, set to take effect May 11, could impact the bypass mail system. In a letter Tuesday, Gov. Sarah Palin urged Postmaster General John...

Postmaster General John Potter says the massive deficits facing the post office could force the agency to cut out one day of mail delivery per week. Potter asked for an end to the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week. Faced with dwindling mail volume and rising costs, the post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year.

Is Yahoo having issues? I'm not even getting any spam in that account.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT in late August that the U.S. Postal Service planned to transfer 162 mail clerks made no sense to veteran postal worker Nick Casselli. With hundreds of overflowing unsorted mail bins blocking passageways at the Southwest Philadelphia processing plant and a yearlong ban on overtime, Caselli said, he knew there weren't enough clerks to process the daily mail. As a new shop steward, Casselli set out to find out why. Using the "eyes and ears" of co-workers, Casselli was first to uncover the Philadelphia post office's dirty little secret. "I was shocked," he said. Senior managers allegedly were ordering...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2008 – A team of certified mail handlers is helping to boost morale for deployed soldiers by ensuring they receive their holiday care packages from family and friends back home. Army Sgt. Charles Kowalski makes a list of mail recipients to post outside the headquarters mail room while Army Sgt. Frederick Gregory sorts mail in the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team mailroom, at Forward Operating Base Falcon, Iraq, Dec. 10, 2008. Kowalski and Gregory are certified mail handlers and infantrymen assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment,...

Post Office Requests Police Escort After Violence Stops Service For Two Weeks HARVEY, Ill. (CBS) ― Dozens of mailboxes remain empty after the post office suspends service in one south suburban neighborhood. Some people get angry when their mail is late. But in Harvey, people have been waiting for days and days. They're not getting any mail at all. CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports that one mail carrier in Harvey feels threatened. The U.S. Post Office seems to think that this is one of the most dangerous blocks in the country. People who live on it say they haven't gotten...

Government mail carriers would deliver emergency supplies of antibiotics to people in U.S. cities in the case of an anthrax attack, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials said on Wednesday. The system has been tested in three large cities -- Seattle, Philadelphia and Boston -- and a pilot program is set to begin soon in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in Minnesota. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said there was no evidence any attack was imminent but that it was important for authorities to have a quick distribution system ready. The U.S. Postal Service carriers who would bring the antibiotics...

SUTTON ISLAND, Maine - This offshore island, one of five islands that make up the town of Cranberry Isles, has no year-round residents. It doesn’t even have any roads to speak of, which is one reason it has had a peculiar seasonal mail delivery system to serve the occupants of 25 or so seasonal homes. Residents say that since at least the 1950s, and perhaps longer, mail has been delivered to the island by a private passenger ferry service, leaving packages, postcards, letters, bills, and whatever else had enough postage in a specially marked trash can on the float at...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq , July 18, 2008 – When Patton’s tanks rolled across North African desert sands, letters of encouragement, love and support from family back home connected 1st Armored Division soldiers to loved ones left behind. Army Pfc. Courtney Flaherty, a unit mail clerk and Pacific, Miss., native, sifts through letters for Spc. Daniel Conley, of Columbiaville, Mich., in the mail room of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, on Forward Operating Base Hammer, Iraq, on July 12, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Michael Schuch, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st...

Can Canada’s mail carriers be trusted to deliver the mail to Israel’s embassy in Ottawa, its consulate in Toronto, or any other location affiliated with the Jewish state? It’s a valid question: At its national convention earlier this month, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers passed a resolution that included the following provision: “CUPW will … support the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel recognizes the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.” I’m no labour expert. But doesn’t this mean that a mailman who, say, slips the new Eddie Bauer catalog through the mail slot at 180 Bloor...

HIT, Iraq, April 7, 2008 – Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kevin M. Natt knows a large chunk of his battalion’s morale rests on his shoulders, and he says he doesn’t mind at all. Natt, 22, a mail clerk from Mangham, La., is responsible for ensuring that Marines and sailors with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, receive their mail as soon as possible. “I’m responsible for getting mail from postal in al Asad, Iraq, to our battalion and detachments,” Natt said. “I also keep the mail secure. I make sure nothing is lost or stolen.” It’s work...

Cannot post: Here is the link:http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ODD_LOST_POSTCARD?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Stamps to Cost a Penny More February 11, 2008 By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Writer Mailing a Letter Will Cost a Penny More Starting in May WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mailing a letter will soon cost a penny more. The cost of a first-class stamp will rise to 42 cents starting May 12, the U.S. Postal Service said Monday. The price of the Forever stamp will go up at the same time, meaning those stamps can still be purchased for 41 cents but will remain good for first-class postage after the rate increase takes effect. The post office has sold...

Will the check be in the mail?Last Edited: Saturday, 19 Jan 2008, 1:47 PM EST TAMPA - Cash can be like a jolt of caffeine to a national economy. In 2001, the federal government sent every income taxpayer a $300 rebate check. It ran up our debt, but also helped end our last recession. Now President Bush and Congressional leaders want to try it again. This time they may send every income taxpayer a larger check. Economists say that could stimulate our economy again if recipients spend much of their rebates on products. "Letting American people keep more of their...

House members spent $20.3 million on mailings to constituentsFriday, December 28, 2007 By DENNIS CONRAD ~ The Associated Press Pieces of mass mailings from Congressmen were seen Dec. 19 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Gerald Herbert Associated Press WASHINGTON -- U.S. House members spent $20.3 million in tax money last year to send constituents what's often the government equivalent of junk mail -- meeting announcements, tips on car care and job interviews, surveys on public policy and just plain bragging. They sent nearly 116 million pieces of mail in all, many of them glossy productions filled with flattering photos and...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FENTY, Afghanistan, Dec. 25, 2007 – Soldiers from 458th Adjutant General Postal Company stationed here run the central mail hub for the entire Task Force Bayonet area of operations and are responsible for handling, sorting, and processing all incoming and outgoing letters and packages through Jalalabad, Afghanistan, for thousands of soldiers. A forklift aligns to move a bulk pallet of outgoing mail to the air strip Dec. 20, 2007, to load onto the next C-130 Hercules at Forward Operating Base Fenty in Afghanistan. Mail at FOB Fenty has tripled since the beginning of November, averaging 9,000 pounds...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2007 – While most soldiers are tucked in their beds for the night, a mail handler with 461st Human Resource Battalion, out of Decatur, Ga., is waiting for the mail to arrive. Army Pfc. Cassie Durkin, from Whitewater, Wis., a human resource specialist for 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, sorts packages at Forward Operating Base Hammer, Iraq, Dec. 14, 2007. Photo by Spc. Ben Hutto, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We started getting a spike in mail at the end of October,” explained Army Spc. Tony Rogers,...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2007 – Staten Island residents are getting a little help sending mail to servicemembers these days thanks to a local troop-support group. Staten Island Project Homefront Inc. in the New York City borough has set up a “Postage Due” account for those sending mail to troops from the community’s main post office, its executive director said. “Our main effort is to send items to our military,” John T. Semich said. “We also help families by supplying postage (for Staten Island residents to send packages) to the combat zones.” The project’s volunteers focus on packing up special-request...

Mailman arrested for stealing cards BY JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, December 8th 2007, 4:00 AM Every thief has a hallmark, and a Brooklyn letter carrier is the Greeting Card Bandit. The feds arrested Michael Olivio this week after an elaborate sting operation to identify the Grinch-like mailman in Bath Beach who intercepted hundreds of greeting cards for the cash inside, the Daily News has learned. After receiving complaints from residents in the 11214 area code, the bait was set. Special Agent Stephen Dolloff mailed "test greeting card letters" to the postal customers who had complained. One customer...

Peeved Patron Plugs Postal Worker Resident Shoots Chicago Postal Worker for Allegedly Delivering the Mail Too Late The Associated Press CHICAGO A postal worker in Chicago was shot in the leg late Tuesday after a resident along his postal route allegedly became angry that he was delivering the mail too late. Police said Denny Robinson, 31, was delivering mail around 6:30 p.m. in Chicago's West Pullman neighborhood when he was shot in the thigh. Robinson was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment for the non-life-threatening injury. Authorities said witnesses reported hearing a person yelling the postal worker was delivering...

10/16/2007 - DALLAS (AFPN) -- While the holidays may still seem far away, Americans hoping to show their support to deployed troops must be aware of some rapidly approaching deadlines. According to the Military Postal Service Agency, or MPSA, mail going parcel post must be sent by Nov. 14, while first class mail must be sent by Dec. 10 to arrive by Dec. 25. In addition to deadlines, several other factors must be considered when sending mail downrange. For example, each country has customs regulations that apply to all incoming mail, pertaining to everything from food items to reading materials....

9/13/2007 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Airmen will have a unique opportunity to commemorate the Air Force's 60th anniversary Sept. 18 through Oct. 18. The Air Force and U.S. Postal Service have joined forces to offer a commemorative postmark that will be available for cancellation from Sept. 18 to Oct. 18 at 40 base post offices worldwide. The pictorial cancellation features the B-24 Liberator bomber, which was flown in every combat theater during World War II. "This postmark has special meaning because bombers were the swords of Air Force history," said Andrew Stephens, a historian for the 11th Wing at Bolling...

By the time the letter marked "Return to Sender" was opened by an employee at the Montgomery County jail, prosecutors had assembled a strong case against Quinton J. Thomas: They had the cooperation of a woman who said she helped Thomas plan a robbery, and they had cellphone records that appeared to place Thomas near the Germantown parking lot where the victim of that planned robbery was fatally shot. Things looked so bad for Thomas, in fact, that his attorney had been urging him to consider pleading guilty to first-degree murder. Irritated, Thomas wrote a friend to complain about the...

Police: Mailman In Uniform Arrested In Drug Sting Postal Worker Intended To Sell Cocaine, Authorities Say POSTED: 3:26 pm EDT July 24, 2007 UPDATED: 7:04 am EDT July 25, 2007 INDIANAPOLIS -- A postal carrier wearing his work uniform was arrested this week after he tried to buy crack cocaine from undercover officers with the intention of dealing it, police said. James A. Hunter, 46, was arrested Monday at 2708 E. Thompson Road on suspicion of smoking a small sample of cocaine he allegedly accepted from the officers and asking for a price on 2 ounces of the drug, police...

Dogs Bite Mail Carriers Most In California (May 17, 2007)--It looks like mail carriers have a better chance of being bitten in California than any place else in America. As Dog Bite Awareness Week kicks off Thursday, the Post Office is releasing information on where the biggest problems are for carriers, and noting safety tips for dog owners. The New York metropolitan area had no record of a mail carrier bitten last year. Santa Ana, Calif. had the most: 96. In fact, of the top-five most likely places where mail carriers are bitten, three are in California. One carrier in...

OTTAWA (AFP) - Neither rain, sleet nor snow can stop Canada Post's trusted carriers from delivering the mail, but a cuddly house cat believed to be the devil in disguise seems to have done just that. According to reports, a Winnipeg couple was refused mail delivery this week and was asked to walk four kilometers each day to pick up their letters at a local post office in the western Canadian city because their cat terrifies the mailwoman. Canada Post spokeswoman Kathi Neal told AFP the eight-year-old black cat often sleeps underneath the front steps of the small bungalow and...

In-town Chicago mail system worst in U.S. CHICAGO, March 11 (UPI) -- A report that Chicago's in-town overnight mail delivery is the nation's worst appears indicative of the city's overall problem with postal satisfaction. The Chicago Sun-Times said that in addition to Chicago's struggles with in-town mail delivery, the Illinois metropolis has been failing in nearly every postal area related to customer satisfaction. While 92 percent remains the average quality rating of U.S postal delivery, only 77 percent of Chicago residents rated their mail services "excellent, very good or good." In response to instances of mail fraud and delivery problems,...

Question: Why is the U.S. Postal Service removing all clocks from its lobbies? Answer from the U.S. Postal Service: "It's part of our retail standardization program to make all the post offices look alike so you get the same service and the same supplies are available everywhere you go." Answer from a woman in line at the Academy Post Office on San Antonio NE: "That would be so I don't know how long I've been standing here." Yes, the clocks are gone, or they will be as post offices all over the country continue a decade-long switch to red, white...

<p>ANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- He calls himself "The Bishop." Exactly why is just one of the many mysteries surrounding the increasingly menacing figure.</p> <p>The man -- and investigators believe they are dealing with a man -- is suspected of sending at least a half-dozen threatening letters to financial institutions over the past 18 months and mailing two dud pipe bombs that arrived a day apart in Kansas City and Chicago in January.</p>

KANSAS CITY, Mo. He calls himself "The Bishop" and he's suspected of mailing two inoperable explosive devices through the mail last month. The devices arrived a day apart in Kansas City and Chicago. His work has also been found in Iowa and Wisconsin.Authorities say the devices are thought to be connected to a series of threatening letters sent to financial institutions over the past 18 months.Corporate Counterrorism expert Fred Burton says it could take help from the public to nab the suspect.In his letters, "The Bishop" has ordered financial companies to move the prices of certain stocks to predetermined rates,...

Hi All. I'm an Army dad. A package that I sent to my son at a stateside Army base was never delivered to him, through the USPS. Talking with a few other soldiers on the base, theft of packages from home seems to be rather common.I plan on bringing some attention to this matter, but am looking for any additional firsthand experiences that any of you may have had regarding this issue. No personal details needed, just any occurances that you may have had, with approximate date and base. My focus is stateside bases, any military branch.

Police investigate wave of seven letter bombs By John Steele, Crime Correspondent Last Updated: 3:51pm GMT 07/02/2007 Police chiefs today issued a nationwide warning to companies, organisations and the public after seven "viable explosive devices" were sent through the post, injuring at least seven people, over the last three weeks. The latest blast happened just after 9am today when a package exploded at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s main centre in Swansea. Three woman in the postroom were injured in the blast and taken to hospital. At least three of the recent attacks have targeted organisations connected to motoring:...

Post office delivers letter 52 years late BY FRANK SOJAK The Tribune-Democrat — Whoever sent this letter with a 3-cent stamp was overcharged. The missive to a young man in Ferndale just arrived – 52 years late. The letter, postmarked Oct. 26, 1954, presumably was lost in the mail. Brian McAteer, who resides at the Ferndale Avenue home now, said he was shocked when the letter, encased in a large, United States Postal Service window envelope, allowing the address to be seen, arrived at his home a couple weeks ago. The letter had a return address of Fieldstone Avenue in...