"...Plus, Williams said the group works well together, making for a good work place. "My biggest worry as a supervisor is just making sure that they get paid," he said...."
This Article is From: www.thespectrum.com
.
Postal news for those interested in the mailing industry, postal employees, stamp collecting, etc...
This site is not affiliated with the U.S. Postal Service
"...Plus, Williams said the group works well together, making for a good work place. "My biggest worry as a supervisor is just making sure that they get paid," he said...."
"...there’s still time to add a little extra love to those Valentine cards or letters. ..."
"...The most likely days to be cut would be Saturday or Tuesday. Recent studies by the Postal Service showed Tuesday as a light mail day...."
"...Saturday would seem like the obvious choice, but apparently, Tuesday is typically the lightest delivery day of the week. If choosing Tuesday would impact customers the least, that would most likely be the day that is cut...."
"...The rumors of a big meeting/announcement have been floating around the internet for a couple of weeks now. Those rumors have come to fruition as of today. The hearing is set to examine how the current financial crisis is hurting business at the U.S. Postal Service,..."
"...During the 2001 anthrax attacks, which resulted in five deaths, 10,000 postal workers and others who were suspected or confirmed to have been exposed received a two-month dose of antibiotics...."
"...Blumenthal calls this warning a pre-emptive measure. He says there have been no actual predatorial cases linked to any of the personalized stamps...."
"...Although they still cannot be used outside Abkhazia due to postal blockade, Eduard Pilia, one of the authors of the Abkhazian stamps project, says collectors from Russia and other countries already consider these stamps as rare and valuable...."
"..."We think moving mail processing to Stamford is going to delay delivery," said Michael Dennehy, president of the American Postal Workers Bridgeport local. "The mail will have to come back from Stamford and as a result it will get to the carriers later. In general that means important pieces like checks, cards and gifts will be delivered later."So the union has filed suit in federal court..."
"...an employee can maximize their annuity, which goes into effect the day after retirement. Annuity is based on completed years and months of service. If an employee opts to retire in the middle of the month, that individual could lose potential compensation. ..."
"...The Biloxi Lighthouse is one of five depicted in ‘Lighthouses of the Gulf of Mexico’ commemorative stamp series that will will be issued by the U.S. Postal Service in July. The lighthouse, built in 1818, has come to symbolize survival after surviving Hurricane Katrina when everything near it was..."
"...an Area Mail Processing study of the feasibility of consolidating some operations at the Manasota and Lakeland (in nearby Polk County, 40 miles from Tampa) facilities in late November. The Manasota Local quickly went into action ..."
"...George's stamp collection, which once belonged to his mother-in-law, includes stamps that commemorate the Inaugurations of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and JFK.
..."
"... "It's like it got dark and she didn't know what to do with the mail." In what could be dubbed "The Newman Factor," a spate of real-life postal carriers have been caught doing what the fictional "Seinfeld" character did for laughs. ..."
"...Some operations in the U.S. Postal Service’s processing and distribution center in Wilkes-Barre could be consolidated into a similar facility in Scranton..."
"...information published by the USPS, “mailboxes are considered federal property, and federal law (Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705), makes it a crime to vandalize them (and to injure, deface or destroy any mail deposited in them). Violators can be fined up to $250,000 or imprisoned for up to three years for each act of vandalism.” ..."
"...The USPS has indicated that its computer programmers have not been able to modify PostalEASE to accept Open Season changes beyond Dec. 28, but they are working on a solution. Postal officials have assured APWU Health Plan staff that no enrollment changes made as of Jan. 31 will be turned away...."
"...suspect attempted to hold up the post office at 1620 W. First St. in Santa Ana, prompting the U.S. Postal Service to offer the $10,000 reward. The Postal Service takes crimes against its facilities seriously...."
"...one-woman crusade to get her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono, a commemorative U.S. Postal Service stamp is true. She’s also successfully enlisted the help of California Rep. Mary Mack, who was married to Sonny..."
"...On several blogs covering Postal Service issues, the topic is hot. Local postal workers near our offices know about the announcement and all have their own theories...."
"...leaving behind two packages with suspicious writing on them and no mailing addresses...."
"...Digital fingerprinting was adapted by the Department of Justice back in 1997. As a result of that legislation, the DOJ developed an automated background check process that requires digitized fingerprints (Live Scan), and beginning January 1, 2000, fingerprints had to be submitted by Live Scan rather than hard copy fingerprint cards...."
"...No full-time letter carriers will lose their jobs as a result of the change, said Todd Skulnik, a USPS communications coordinator for the New Hampshire and Vermont region...."
"...Officials have not yet determined whether any lethal agent was actually inside the envelope, which was addressed to the U.S. Embassy in Manila and mailed from Houston, Texas...."
"...The prospect of some grand announcement by the USPS on January 16 appears to be..."
"...He is the chief shop steward and president of the postal workers union. In these roles, he has consistently stood up for other workers t..."
"...Mr Hodson-Walker, 29, was shot in the chest when three robbers, armed with a handgun and sledgehammer, targeted the Fairfield Post Office and Stores in Fairfield, north Worcestershire, yesterday morning. ..."
"...Grahn served in the Navy from 1953 to 1957, and received his first postal experience on board a destroyer escort. "I became interested in this kind of work in the Navy," Grahn said. "I was in communications, and part of my job was the post office. Yeah, we sold a few stamps, but I was the first to go to shore to get the mail and bring it back...."
"...Postal management’s response to the dismal situation has been in keeping with its historic knee-jerk reaction: Reduce work hours. Service has begun to suffer, and some members of Congress have begun to question whether the USPS is in compliance with its service standards...."
"...After a 35-year tenure with the United States Postal Service, Sanchez won a seat on the Miami Town Council in 1994. Post office rules previously prohibited Sanchez from running for partisan office...."
"...Adkins Postmaster Jesse Garcia said the two boxes might be part of a string of several similar incidents, and that the San Antonio metropolitan area has been dealing with a recent spike in this sort of activity. At his post office, Garcia said, they are working to prevent future incidents...."
"...paperbackswap.com came in. Post a list of books you want to get rid of. Mail them to folks who want them. Get credits to buy other people’s books. Jewell, a 61-year-old Sandy Springs business consultant who reads 300 books a year, swaps out 15 to 20 books a month, costing herself only $25 to $30 a month in postage. Her closets are a bit emptier and she’s happy that “the books have gone to a better place.” ..."
"..."Postal Inspectors warn that if you should call these promoters for "employment information," you are probably going to very disappointed. In most instances, you will find that you are going to have to pay about $30 to receive information of very dubious value. The con artists may lead you to believe you are talking to someone from the U.S. Postal Service, but no postal jobs will be offered."
For legitimate information about jobs with the Postal Service, go to the Postal Service's web site: www.usps.com/employment/welcome.htm..."
"... found last month inside a fake United Parcel Service truck in Pima County, according to a news release. ..." "...USPS used structural insulated panels, which are high performance building materials. “We used the highest level of thermal resistance attic insulation, smaller energy-efficient windows and a radiant stove for heat..."
Wander over to YOUR POSTAL BLOG and get the 2009 Payroll Calendar
One of our readers pointed out to us that a member of the Federal Soup Community has cited us as one of the better websites for following the latest
"...The change is part of a nationwide effort to right an agency that lost $2.8 billion last year after experiencing the largest percentage decline in mail volume since the Great Depression...."
"..."There will be no layoffs. That would require an act of Congress. That's a far more complex process. The type of reductions we're talking about are natural attrition, people who were going to retire anyway, a voluntary early retirement option...."
"...The panel also said the agency's delivery "obligation" applies not only to letters but to so-called competitive products, such as Priority Mail, Express Mail and package services...."
"...The leading national operator on the market of mail and cargo express delivery over Russia, to the CIS countries and abroad. (Ведущий национальный оператор на рынке экспресс-доставки почтовых отправлений и грузов по всей территории России, в страны СНГ и за рубеж.)..."
"...Shorty Yates said his dad started the route when there were "star route" addresses in the 1940s. "These government contracts go back to the old west days, and it has slowly gotten up to where it is today," Shorty Yates said. "They began with the Pony Express." ..."
"...The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the North American continent from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 1860 to October 1861. Since 1866 until 1990, the Pony Express logo was used in security business. Presently, "Pony Express" is a trademark for postal services in Russia (by Freight Link) and the US (by the United States Postal Service)...."
"...For 2009, the IRS permits you to contribute up to $16,500 in tax-deferred money to the TSP. If you are a member of the uniformed services, you may contribute a total of $49,000 in tax-deferred and tax-exempt money. If you will be age 50 or older during 2009, you may also contribute up to $5,500 in additional “catch-up” contributions if you will reach the $16,500 limit in 2009..."
"...lowest FERS participation rate since September 1997. It’s also the steepest one-month drop since June, when the participation rate dropped 0.7 percentage points to 85.3 percent. All FERS employees who enroll in TSP automatically get a contribution from their agencies equal to 1 percent of their basic pay..."
"...The packages that have been sent across the country have all looked similar. They have no return addresses, extra postage and they are all sent through the US Postal Service...."
"... "I don't think it's a good sign that the Postal Service can sweet-talk GAO out of an investigation," said Gwen Ivey, president of American Postal Workers Union, which represents workers at the plant. "Our concern is that the mismanagement in Philadelphia goes above the plant level where the problems occurred," she added. "No one would be protected from scrutiny in a GAO investigation, and that's the way it should be."..."
"...All the postcards in this exhibit are over one hundred years old. Most of them have undivided backs which allowed only the mailing address to be written on the back, and, most of those had a space on the front to write a message. The postcards in this exhibit are from what postcard collectors have termed the Private Mailing Card Era (1898-1901) and the Undivided Back Era (1901-1907)...."
"...Members of the U.S. Marshals task force learned that Reid and Housley would be at a hangout in south Macon and arrested them at the hangout..."