"The Manhattan District Attorney’s office received a parcel containing an eerie white powder inside an envelope on Friday. ...The grand jury proceedings scheduled to meet the following Wednesday were canceled. ...The discovery came three days after a bomb threat had shut down the courthouse at 60 Centre Street"
"John Noviello, 61, of Nashua N.H. was sentenced to one day in prison and three years of supervised release for offering to pay his boss $1,750 per kilogram of successfully delivered cocaine, according to the United States Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts. ..."
"The USPS letter carrier was out delivering mail during Tuesday's nor'easter when the juvenile male attacked him. ...The juvenile male was charged with two counts of juvenile assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of juvenile simple assault, and one count of juvenile breaking and entering into a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. Police did not release the name or age of the suspect. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is also investigating the attack. “The safety and well-being of Postal Service employees is a top priority..."
"“DeJoy may be the only person on earth who could have delivered these wins for America’s beloved, beleaguered agency,” the article states, explaining how he has drawn upon his previous experience as a CEO and political fundraiser. Additionally, the article notes that some early criticisms of DeJoy proved erroneous. The 3,900-word piece is available on Time’s website, in the magazine’s March 27 print edition and on Apple News, where it appears under the headline “The Mail Man — Initially cast as a Trumpian villain, Louis DeJoy is delivering for the Postal Service, and Democrats.” The article concludes by indicating the Postal Service still has a long way to go, but DeJoy plans to keep working to turn the organization around. As he tells Time: “I don’t like to leave a job undone.”..."
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has paused all new applications for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program.
Unenrolled individuals cannot apply for the program.
The suspension period, which will run for 24 months from Dec. 19, 2022, is designed to give OPM and the John Hancock Life and Health Insurance Co., the program’s carrier, “time to thoroughly assess benefit offerings and establish sustainable premium rates that reasonably and equitably reflect the cost of the benefits provided,” according to the suspension notice on the program’s website.
Current enrollees’ coverage will not change as long as they continue to pay their premiums. However, current enrollees may not increase coverage.
Those who applied for the program before the cutoff date will have their application considered and, if approved, will receive all relevant information.
For those in claims status, there is no change to coverage or claims reimbursement as long as benefits have not been exhausted.
For more information on the suspension, call LTCFEDS at 800-582-3337. For other benefits-related questions, contact the Wellness team.
Reference: USPS News Link via NPMHU Local 317 - Alabama
MAIL HANDLERS RATIFY 2022 NATIONAL AGREEMENT
The terms of the 2022 National Agreement between the NPMHU and the U.S. Postal Service were officially ratified on March 13, 2023. The certified results show that over 84% ...
"OSC filed a complaint for disciplinary action with the Merit Systems Protection Board charging a rural mail carrier in California with violating three provisions of the Hatch Act when, in August 2020, she intentionally removed and discarded 66 pieces of presorted deliverable mail intended for delivery on her route because the pieces were sent by a political party or the campaign of a candidate for partisan political office. According to the complaint, the carrier placed the mail in an undeliverable mail bin from which it would have been thrown away, but an attentive employee at the post office noticed an unusual quantity of political mail in the bin and alerted a postmaster. In a settlement agreement, the carrier admitted that OSC would have been able to prove that she violated three provisions of the Hatch Act—the prohibitions on engaging in political activity while on duty or in the federal workplace and the prohibition on using one's official authority to interfere with or affect the results of an election. The carrier agreed to resign from USPS and accept a one-year debarment from federal employment as a penalty for violating the Hatch Act. ..."
"“I’m happy he was charged with something, but a misdemeanor takes almost no consideration that my husband died,” Brimer told Streesblog in 2121. “He ran my husband down with a mail truck. The charge of ‘failure to yield’ doesn’t even suggest that a man died. It’s more like, ‘Whoopsie, I guess I didn’t look.'” Defense manipulated the truth, blamed the cyclist Fast forward to this week. The trial of Sergei Alekseev resulted in a conviction on the “failure to yield” misdemeanor charge, but not before Alekseev’s defense attorney blamed Williamson for being run over, even though the cyclist clearly had the right of way and was riding in a bike lane. ..."
"...among the debris, a group of postal workers and volunteers discovered that the Post Office’s U.S. flag — tattered and torn but still in one piece — survived. “It was an emotional day for us,” said Ginger Rosenbury, a maintenance manager who assisted with recovery and cleanup. When the team found the flag, they knew they wanted to do something special for Mayfield Postmaster Joshua Jenkins. “We witnessed how he put his whole heart and soul into helping his employees and the Postal Service” after the..."
"...The head of Royal Mail told Parliament that his company has used technology to track the speed of postal workers, including for how long they stood still. Appearing before the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Simon Thompson said the exercise was to avoid cases of work overload and not to..."
"USPS customers don’t like and don’t want this change. People want their mail delivered to their home. ...consumers and businesses place the highest value on maintaining delivery to the door and/or curb, rather than delivery to cluster boxes or parcel lockers..." https://mail-boxes.blogspot.com/2023/02/cluster-boxes-centralized-delivery-vs.html" title="Cluster Boxes (Centralized Delivery) vs Mail Delivery to the Home Can Impact Home Value">
"An obituary said Huffman, a former employee with the United States Postal Service, was a “loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather” who “enjoyed spending time with and caring for his family.”...deliberated for just over five hours before finding Trent D. Kreegar guilty on one count of murder and one count of aggravated battery in the horrific Sept. 5, 2021 death of Robert Earl Huffman Jr., prosecutors announced. The date of Kreegar’s conviction also happened to be the day that his grandfather would have turned 69. ..."
"The Postal Service has filed notice in the Federal Register, seeking to change mailing standards to combat a surge in counterfeit postage. Counterfeit postage is any marking or indicia that has been made, printed or otherwise created without USPS authorization that appears to indicate that valid postage was paid. Under the proposed revision to Section 604.8.4 of the Domestic Mail Manual, articles in the mailstream with fraudulent postage will be considered abandoned and may be opened and disposed of at the Postal Service’s discretion. Consumers who are victims of online vendors using counterfeit postage will need to seek recourse from the vendor. “As the most trusted government agency in the nation"
"In accordance with the 2021-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), career employees represented by the APWU will receive a $0.10 per hour cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), effective March 11, 2023. The increase is the result of a rise in the January Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). It will appear in paychecks dated ..."
"This year, USPS will offer employees enhanced experiences at the conferences, including networking opportunities and interactive sessions designed to equip participants with the tools and resources to take the next step in their professional development. “Our organization has a long history of developing and promoting its employees from within. Attending a career conference is a great opportunity for you to learn more about what career opportunities the Postal Service has to offer you and gain some skills and tools to help you get there,” said Jenny Utterback, Organization Development vice president. ..."
"Estampillas de USPS Nuestras estampillas celebran la vida, el arte y la cultura. Encuentre sus estampillas favoritas en lÃnea. Precios de las Estampillas: Forever: $0.63 | Tarjeta postal: $0.48 Comprar ahora Our Priority Is You ® USPS sigue comprometido a proporcionar a todos los clientes servicios esenciales de envÃo y correo. ..."
"...USPS has notified the Postal Regulatory Commission of its intention to replace First-Class Package Service with USPS Ground Advantage. According to the Feb. 10 filing with the commission..."
"...UPS plane is stuck off the taxiway at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport Thursday morning. Spokesperson Kim Hunt said the accident happened around 5:10 a.m. when the 767 was trying to make a turn. ..."
"
"...in other words, the certification allows companies to launch and operate long-range commercial drone delivery services without a limit on size or scope. Flytrex joins Alphabet’s Wing, UPS Flight Forward, Amazon Prime Air and Zipline as the only firms with such an approval. There are still some restrictions on what Standard Part 135 Air Carriers can do—for example, they must receive authorization for each type of operation they want to conduct. But the certification is considered the most lenient regulatory framework available for drone delivery..."
"...The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) expired on January 27. The APWU has opposed the expiration of those provisions of the act that protected federal workers who contracted COVID-19 (COVID). We are providing the following as information to members on the new procedures for COVID-related workers’ compensation (OWCP) claims through the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA)...."
"...The charges were announced Wednesday by Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and District Attorney Michael Jackson. Jackson said Turner is accused of running multiple ballots through a voting machine during the May 2022 Democratic primary election. He is also accused of breaking state law as regards using absentee ballots, Jackson said. Turner was seen with a "stack" of absentee ballot material at the post office, he said. ..."
"The indictment says Alexander Dockery destroyed, detained and delayed letters, postcards, packages and other mail... Dockery’s arraignment is set for Feb. 9. "
"A Canadian-French dual national has pleaded guilty to charges that she mailed threatening letters containing the poison ricin to then-President Donald Trump, as well as eight Texas law enforcement officers, in 2020. Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 55, faces over 21 years in prison if a judge agrees to accept the terms of her plea... There is no place for political violence in our country...'We hope this resolution will serve as a warning that using our mail system to send a toxic substance and other threats of this type will cost you your freedom for many years.'"
"Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar to learn about the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program and Medicare.
The session, “Medicare and FEHB,” will be held Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. EST.
Representatives from GEHA, a not-for-profit provider of health plans for federal employees, will conduct the webinar and explain how Medicare works with FEHB plans, including information on Medicare parts A, B, C and D.
Participants must register before the event on the webinar website. After signing up, directions will be emailed to each registrant.
Following the session, registrants will receive an email with a link to an archived recording, along with the slides shown.
Participation is voluntary. Nonexempt employees may only participate off the clock or during authorized breaks.
For more information, contact the USPS Health and Wellness team at healthandwellness@usps.gov."
"...New Yorkers should be on the defensive against mail theft amid recent rises in stolen mail, including checks and credit cards..."
"...Daniel Nerka knows he’s got it good. “Can’t get any better than delivering on the Hill,” the St. Paul, MN, letter carrier said. Nerka is referring to Cathedral Hill..."
"...The British government’s National Cyber Security Center said it’s aware of the incident and is working with Royal Mail and the National Crime Agency “to fully understand the impact.” Services for mail coming into the country are operating with minor delays, Royal Mail said. ..."
"...A postal carrier spotted a 5-year-old girl outside her home and reported the incident to an Oklahoma police department, then authorities learned the child’s younger sister was missing. A search began for the girl’s sister — Athena Brownfield, 4 — but investigators have been unable to find her, authorities said. “This is a very active and ongoing investigation, and right now our top priority is locating her...."
"...MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – A reward for information about the burglary of the Brownsboro Post Office and theft of a vehicle is being offered by federal officials. ...The number of the stolen vehicle is 0330344. If you have any information about this crime, please contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455, section “law enforcement” and reference Case No. 3946263."
"...The federal government has resumed sending out free at-home test kits. ...Though the program was paused, the White House reserved a supply of test kits. With COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rising again, new shipments started going out on Dec. 19. ...For more on COVID-19, learn why the expiration date on your test kit might be wrong."
"...Please see the latest information that we just received regarding the PostalEase website fraud. FRAUD ALERT...Letter to be sent to only impacted employees notifying them of their situation and share information and next steps. Please note"
"FBI paid Twitter $3.4M for doing its dirty work on users, damning email shows...The email notes that the funds will be used by Twitter on “[law enforcement]-related projects” including “LE training, tooling, etc.” The reports by Shellenberger and fellow independent journalists Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss, have revealed extensive collaboration and employee overlap between Twitter and the FBI, who Taibbi reported last week treated the social media company as a “subsidiary” and repeatedly reported supposed “misinformation.”"
"...U.S. Postal Service is looking to hire about 28,000 seasonal workers and is installing 137 new package sorting machines in an effort to avoid shipping delays. But postal worker representatives say Americans could see after-dark or even nighttime deliveries over the holidays...Lawmakers have been trying to implement reform within the mailing agency amid widespread complaints about mail service slowdowns. ...'We need to make sure that the Postal Service is reliable and that people are on deck doing their jobs.'"
"Owney was a scruffy mutt who became a regular fixture at the Albany, New York, post office in 1888. His owner was likely a postal clerk who let the dog walk him to work. Owney was attracted to the texture or scent of the mailbags and when his master moved away, Owney stayed with his new mail clerk friends. He soon began to follow mailbags, first onto mail wagons and then mail trains. Owney began to ride with the bags on Railway Mail Service (RMS) trains across the state . . . and then the country! The Railway Mail Service clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot. Postal workers and others began to mark Owney’s travels by placing..."
"The United States is running short of diesel fuel and the consequences could be grave. Waco economist Ray Perryman says there are only a few weeks' supply left with the nation's 130 refineries going full blast and the truck fleets, trains, ships, farmers and military potentially facing big challenges. "Much of our logistics system relies on diesel and if we get to zero inventory, there will be disruptions," Perryman said. "There's not a good way to deal with a shortage...."
"The United States Postal Service announced it is temporarily suspending operations at the Bluff Park Finance Station in Birmingham due to a safety issue concerning some structural issues in need of repair...."
"... tool from the USPS Social Business Intelligence team is using social media information to measure customer service satisfaction.
The social media heat map uses the data visualization program Tableau to geographically display comments left on the organization’s official...Map information can be categorized by customer concern, and those with map access can view results by area, district and ZIP Code. Field managers can use the data as a customer service performance indicator to identify patterns and make operational improvements."
"On Sept. 26, the federal community lost a journalist who had great respect and admiration for federal employees — and in turn, they showed him the same. Mike Causey died at 82 while seated at his desk ...the best dates to retire would not have become an annual ritual for employees nearing the end of their careers."
From the article: "...Following the final fairness hearing, prospective participants will still have until Dec. 23 to join the lawsuit, after which the validity of each claim will be assessed. Assuming there are no appeals, payouts to claimants are expected to take place in the first or second quarter of next year. Under terms of the settlement, each claimant is entitled to a minimum of $700 per claim, up to a maximum of $10,000 per claim. ...Following the breach, OPM contracted with credit monitoring company ID Experts to provide monitoring services to victims of the breach. ...For more information on the settlement or the claims process, please visit www.opmdatabreach.com, which is the website was established consistent with the terms of the settlement agreement. "
"Federal Soup provides federal and postal employees a one-stop resource for information on their career, pay, benefits, financial planning, and retirement options. FedSoup delivers in-depth topic drilldowns, federal employee news, postal employee news, interactive forums, plus opinion and advice from benefits experts. FedSoup is also the portal to weekly issues of Federal Employees News Digest, benefits guides, and the annual Federal Employees Almanac. When feds have questions, Federal Soup has answers."
"...While Social Security recipients receive the full adjustment even if they first claimed Social Security during the same calendar year, FERS and CSRS retirees who entered retirement in 2022 will see the upcoming COLA prorated. If you retired in January, your pension will see 11/12ths of the 8.7% or 7.7% increase. Retiring in February would mean 10/12ths of the COLA can be expected, and so on. It is also important to remember that unless you retired under FERS with special provisions or under disability, there is no COLA if you are not yet age 62. If you turned 62 this year, but have been retired the whole year, you can expect the full COLA and not a prorated one. ..."
"Estampillas Forever disponibles en The Postal Store. Estampillas de USPS. Encuentre estampillas festivas, únicas y clásicas para acompañar su correo. Precios..."
"...Premiums in the health-care program for federal employees and retirees will increase by 8.7 percent on average for 2023 — the largest increase in more than a decade..."
"...if you missed Wednesday’s job fair, you still have opportunities to apply. ...The postal service is hiring Rural Carrier Associates (RCA), Assistant Rural Carriers (ARC), and City Carrier Assistants (CCA) in Athens, Decatur, Elkmont, Florence, Hartselle, Harvest, Hazel Green, Huntsville, Madison, and Meridianville. Both rural carrier positions pay $19.50 per hour and focus on serving rural communities. The postal service said a job as an RCA is a continuous part-time job while an ARC is scheduled as needed. "
"...Outlined in a press release, the Postal Service recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for expected delivery by Dec. 25 to domestic addresses and Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) addresses. ..."
"...Adding to the resident’s frustration is that the Meridianville Post Office sent a letter dated on September 20 to the residents that read in part, “Unfortunately, we have been unsuccessful in establishing the required mode of delivery agreement resulting in all mail being returned to sender as of October 1, 2022.”..."
To Ratify or Not: Will Rail Workers Stand Firm on the Number One Most Important Benefit They Were Going to Strike Over? ...or was it just about the money?
"Biden administration brokered a tentative deal, avoiding a work stoppage that could have crippled supply chains and cost the US billions of dollars a day. Crisis averted. Formalizing the deal will be an uphill battle. As the Post points out, some 115,000 union members have to ratify the contracts to avoid a strike. Two major unions haven’t accepted the agreement, and a third, smaller one already rejected it... Or not. As more details of the deal come to light, it’s unclear that union members—who have to vote on the deal—will get on board...."
'The pandemic is over,' he said. 'We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over.
"Beyond the Main Table, President Hogrogian and other NPMHU representatives are meeting with Deputy PMG and Chief Human Resources Officer Doug Tulino to discuss the various economic proposals that the NPMHU has submitted. While no agreements have yet been reached..."
"...“We can’t tell why, it could be something as simple as more people are reporting it, or it could be there’s one particular person out causing a lot of problems,” said Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Sgt. Nathan Garnaat. ..."
Article Title: In Memorial to the Saudi Attack on America Sept. 11, 2001
"...Financial professional and longtime fed Abraham Grungold joins the podcast to discuss the Thrift Savings Plan..."
"...Stacks of mail accidentally left in a hotel room led to the arrest of three crooked Queens postal carriers — and unraveled a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme, officials say. ..."
"...The retroactive payments will be processed on October 11, 2022. They will appear as a pay adjustment on paychecks received October 28, 2022. “Those in management responsible for overseeing these payroll changes had so little respect for postal workers that they apparently thought a May 2023 date for the retroactive payments would somehow be acceptable. This was outrageous,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. ..."
"...“Under the 2019 National Agreement, the parties commit to re-establishing their Subcontracting Committee and continuing their discussions about the possibility of returning mail handler work from the Surface Transportation Centers (STC), Mail Transport Equipment Service Centers (MTESC) and the bedloading project. The Committee will consider all relevant factors when discussing the issue outlined above, to include cost, operational efficiency, availability of equipment, and qualification of employees. In addition, any MHA employees utilized as referenced in paragraph 1 will not count against existing non-career caps.” ..."
"...Over the weekend it became apparent that an issue with the implementation had occurred when PSEs began reporting that the additional $0.50 was not included in their pay. Today, June 21, 2022, the Postal Service acknowledged the $0.50 was not included. The Postal Service acknowledged that they made an error, but management has not identified what caused the error or when it will be added to the hourly pay of the PSEs...."
"...Once the mail has been received at the Digital Mail Center, it will be digitally scanned and made available on the offender’s media player. Offenders who have not been issued a media player will have their digital mail printed and delivered to them. Any personal mail received after July 1, 2022, will be returned to the sender. Personal mail received between June 15, 2022, and July 1, 2022, will be forwarded to the Digital Mail Center for processing. All mail must be properly addressed with information to clearly identify the offender in custody. Mail will be returned to the sender or delayed if ...Offenders’ families and friends can send electronic mail, greeting cards, pictures and 30-second videos through a Securus JPay account. More information about creating an account can be found at https://securustech.net"
"...Without rural mail delivery, Bad Rock Canyon residents will have to travel to Columbia Falls or West Glacier to pick up mail and packages..."
"...Leading her to search on Facebook looking for baby formula. Synnott said she came across an account that was willing to help. "She messaged me and she said I will send it out to you the next day. My husband works for United States Postal Service if you can Venmo me the money. I paid her the whole $85 she said cool, I will send it out the next day and I told her to let me know what the tracking number is," said Synnott. The formula never arrived..."
"What is the official number for leave call in for the postal service?...Requesting postal unscheduled leave with the postal call in number is by use of the usps Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) at 877-477-..."
"... delivery performance scores across all mail categories, including periodicals, continues to see significant gains over the fiscal second quarter. The average time for delivery of a mailpiece was 2.4 days for the month of April...."