"...Young said Congress should pass proposed legislation, H.R. 22, to correct the payment schedule for pre-funding postal retiree health benefits. The proposed measure would allow the USPS to pay its share of contributions for the benefits, estimated to be $2 billion this year, out of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, instead of its own pocket...."
"...It is a commonly held myth that the Postal Service relies on taxpayers to fund its operations. In fact, the Postal Service is a completely self-sufficient organization. In order for the Postal Service to sustain operations, it must cover 100 percent of its costs as with any business...."
"...If the goal of all this junk mail is profit, the USPS needs to think of something else: Even before the economy went south, Postmaster General John Potter predicted that the USPS would lose a billion dollars in 2008. As it turned out, they lost $2.8 billion. But it probably doesn't take much more than a semester of Business 101 to see that if you're not within a billion dollars of profitability, you probably need to take a hard look at your business model...."
"... The Obama administration initially wanted postal workers to pay 27% of their health insurance costs, up from the current level of 17%. The plan also called for postal employees to begin paying 67% of their life insurance premiums. Both of these changes would have brought postal worker benefits in line with benefits paid to workers at executive branch agencies. To do this, however, the administration would have needed to modify federal law passed in the early 1970s that extends labor contract bargaining rights to Postal Service workers, a privilege not held by other federal employees. ..."
"...Starting May 29, the Postal Service is celebrating the life of one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century: Bob Hope. In addition to issuing a stamp in his memory, the Postal Service is carrying on Bob Hope’s legacy of entertaining American men and women in uniform by encouraging communities nationwide to support the troops and send care packages to military personnel stationed around the world. Care packages and reminders of home are a big morale boost for military service members stationed around the world. To help families and friends of military personnel, the Postal Service is offering a discount on its largest Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes addressed to U. S. military overseas...."
"...An analysis by the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers (ANM) indicates the overall average increase for nonprofit Standard Parcels to be almost 40 percent, said Executive Director Tony Conway. The increases range within the classes, depending on what point in the mail stream it’s entered. Conway said rates are designed to encourage more work by mailers before they dump mail into the system...."
"...Ron Courtney, 72, has been keeping score for Nalcrest softball games for the past five years. He retired to Nalcrest eight years ago from Knoxville, Tenn. Almost 50 people are on the waiting list to move into Nalcrest’s one-story garden apartments...."
"...The men were criminally charged with mailing 324 pounds of marijuana at the Progreso post office since January. The drug packages were wrapped in cellophane with dried chili peppers and insulation inside to try to mask the scent of the drugs, investigators said...."
"...Adults who receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will receive the extra money in the form of a check..."
"...Both FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) and United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) are likely watching government competition for next week. Starting on Monday, the price of most traditional mail will rise...."
"...After hoards of hungry Oprah fans were turned away from KFC outlets across the country earlier this week, the fast-food chain is now sending out rain checks to appease them...."
"...The purpose of the bill (H.R. 2161) is to roll back the harmful changes made by President Bush four days before he left the White House: FMLA regulations that went into effect on Jan. 16 have created problems in the field, such as employer representatives contacting workers’ doctors without the workers’ consent, and rejecting previously accepted FMLA certifications. Workers with long-accepted “conditions” have been challenged and have been forced to visit their doctors repeatedly...."
"...The workers have filed complaints with the USPS Local Safety Office and the National Association of Letter Carriers saying Los Alamitos Post Office supervisor Maria Esparza treats them "inhumanely" and that their working conditions are unsafe. The workers said they have seen no action taken to fix the problem. ..."
"...notification from the Postal Service of “interim measures to be taken by management and employees” to address concerns about H1N1 influenza, commonly known as “swine flu.” The material provides guidance to managers for various scenarios..."
"...a shocking increase in dog bite incidents across the state has occurred. “In an average year, like last year, we’ll see 6-8 cases,” said US Postal Service District Safety Manager Marvin Howard, “but from October 1 to current, we’ve sustained 26..."
"...Siskiyou County letter carrier landed in jail after drug enforcement authorities stopped her near Montague, Calif., Thursday and seized methamphetamine packaged for sale, sales documents, packaging materials, scales prescription drugs, syringes, and pipes...."
"...The collection was amassed by William J. Ainsworth, a retired executive from the consulting and accounting firm KPMG who lives in Roswell, Ga. He inherited his father’s stamp collection in 1963 but has said that for years he paid scant attention to it. Then, after meeting in 1977 with a former postmaster general who specialized in stamps showing Benjamin Franklin, he began building his Lincoln collection...."
"...While anyone other than a philatelist might scoff at how a tiny scrap of paper could inspire such a passionate response, director Scott R.C. Levy has come to understand the seductive power of postage...."
"...The money given in the Combined Federal Campaign — $273 million last year — is directed to groups that say they fight disease, ease hunger and help the needy. But in some cases, much of the cash that charities collect does not go to charity...."
"...“I had to wait in a long line to get a single, solitary stamp the other day. They took out the automated stamp machines in the lobby. It’s ridiculous. It wastes everybody’s time,” Parks said outside the Main Post Office on William Street. “Now they have signs saying go to the supermarket, but who wants to go to a supermarket to buy a stamp?” The quick answer is, the postal service. ..."
