‘Health Care Equity Act’ Introduced in the Senate

‘Health Care Equity Act’ Introduced in the Senate: "Retirees Could Use Pre-Tax Dollars for Premiums"

USPS puts three Houston post offices on sales block

Government puts three Houston post offices on sales block - Houston Business Journal:: "The United States Postal Service is marketing three local post offices for sale — the Houston General Mail Facility at 401 Franklin Street downtown, River Oaks Station at 1900 West Gray and Julius Melcher Station at 2802 Timmons Lane."

USPS :2009 Price-Change Stamps Unveiled

USPS News Release:2009 Price-Change Stamps Unveiled: "New Forever Personalized Stamp Envelope Introduced"

US Postal Service picks Ad Agency for $1million account

US Postal Service picks Weber Shandwick for $1million account - PRWeek US: "The account requires work on various strategic planning and counsel duties, crisis response support, and assistance of the USPS internal communications staff. It cites the 2001 anthrax attacks and natural disasters as examples of where crisis communications would be needed."

USPS Seeking Home-Based Independent Contractors For EEO Investigations

PostalReporter.com Blog » USPS Seeking Home-Based Independent Contractors For EEO Investigations: "The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is soliciting individuals with the right skill sets and availability to invest numerous hours a week to conduct EEO investigations in accordance with EEOC regulations and USPS quality and timeliness standards. Selected individuals will be home-based independent contractors, located throughout the United States, who will enter into Ordering Agreements with the USPS to provide investigative services in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement. Individual Task Orders assigning the investigation of particular complaints of discrimination may be issued under the Ordering Agreement in a “fee for service” arrangement."

Postal Workers Picket to Save Plant

Postal Workers Picket to Save Plant - Wilkes Barre- msnbc.com: "The U.S. Postal Service is facing some serious budget problems. It's cutting some post offices and looking to consolidate mail processing. One of the ideas includes consolidating Wilkes-Barre's plant with Scranton's.

Dozens of postal workers picketed Thursday"

USPS OIG’S Review Of Postal Managers Unnecessary Purchases

PostalReporter.com Blog » USPS OIG’S Review Of Postal Managers Unnecessary Purchases: "Employees put these purchases into the eAwards System (eAwards):
1. Electronic and household items such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS), navigational systems, video game consoles, camcorders, digital cameras, personal computers, printers, an espresso machine, and a TiVo® system given as employee awards/recognition, purchased in late fall 2007, and costing a total of $93,234.
2. Thirteen 23-inch high-definition televisions given as employee awards, purchased in fall 2007, and costing $6,435.
3. Three designer watches given as employee awards, purchased in fall 2007, and costing $4,370."

NYC mailman among 3 charged in tax refund scam

NYC mailman among 3 charged in tax refund scam -- Newsday.com: "Authorities say a Brooklyn mail carrier is among three people arrested in a scam that sought tens of millions of dollars in bogus tax refunds.

Court papers filed in federal court in Manhattan this week say the plot involved about 8,000 electronically filed federal tax returns. Authorities say participants stole Social Security numbers to file fraudulent returns."

Former South Carolina Postal Employee Indicted for Theft

Former Hartsville post office employee indicted for theft | SCNow: "A former Hartsville post office employee has been indicted on charges that she took postal funds from the office while she worked there, U.S. Attorney Walter Wilkins said in a press release issued Wednesday."

UPS Expands Territory for Early A.M. Delivery

ATLANTA, Feb. 25, 2009 - UPS (NYSE:UPS) has expanded its early morning delivery territory in the United States by almost 3,000 new ZIP Codes, an increase that brings to more than 23,000 the number of ZIP Codes with guaranteed early morning delivery service.

The increase in coverage area for UPS Next Day Air® Early A.M.® means that UPS now delivers early - by 8:30 a.m. - to more businesses and ZIP Codes than any other transportation carrier. In addition, UPS delivers overnight by 10:30 a.m. to more businesses and ZIP Codes than anyone.

With the increase, more than 80 percent of U.S. businesses can receive early morning deliveries, which arrive up to two hours before UPS's regular guaranteed overnight service at 10:30 a.m. In some areas, arrival time can be guaranteed as early as 8 a.m.

"Early morning delivery is crucial for customers who have urgent deadlines or critical shipments across time zones, from hospitals needing supplies in time for morning surgeries to lawyers needing signed documents for legal proceedings," said Dale Hayes, UPS's vice president of U.S. marketing. "Offering more early morning service choices is a fundamental way that UPS is meeting customer needs."

UPS was the first express carrier to offer early morning delivery service nearly 13 years ago, responding to customers with expanding infrastructures and more complex supply chains as well as more widely dispersed workforces and customers. Saturday service also is available to certain destinations.

A complete list of the UPS Next Day Air Early A.M. ZIP Codes is available on UPS.com. Plans are underway to offer the service to even more ZIP Codes later this year.

Postal carriers help curb crime

KXXV-TV News Channel 25 - Central Texas News and Weather for Waco, Temple, Killeen | Postal carriers help curb crime: "Carriers with the United States Postal Service do more than deliver mail, in some cases they are often tagged as the unofficial neighborhood watchmen on their routes.
Tom Day, who's been a carrier for more than a decade said, 'We are part of the neighborhood in every neighborhood in Waco, Texas.' He said taking a small break on his route in"

Mail-pilfering postal worker gets house arrest, probation

Local News | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC: "A former Aiken County postal worker has been handed a two-year sentence for stealing from the U.S. Postal Service.

Denise Larae Key, 44, of New Ellenton, pleaded guilty in 2008 and was sentenced last week to six months of house arrest and two years of probation by U.S. District Court Judge Margaret B. Seymour."

FMLA Coordinators Soliciting Release of Medical Information to USPS Law Dept.

PostalReporter.com Blog » Postal FMLA Coordinators Requiring Employees To Release Medical Info to USPS Law Department: "FMLA Coordinators Soliciting Release of Medical Information to USPS Law Dept.
The Postal Service is soliciting medical releases for those employees that are required to partake in the 2nd and 3rd opinion process. In doing so, the FMLA Coordinators are requiring employees to release the “specified information” to the USPS Law Department"

USPS Smacks Nonprofit Mailers Again

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management: "Charities that use premiums to fundraise have again taken it on the chin from the United States Postal Service. Nonprofit parcels and Nonflat Machinables (NFM) will again bear the brunt of postal rate increases, with percentage increases ranging from almost 10 percent to 50 percent, according to analysis from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA)."

Postal customers angered at early closing

Postal customers angered at early closing: "A postal worker may be in trouble for shutting down the post office early.

Customers of the Porter Square post office complained that it has recently been shutting down several minutes before its 7:00 closing time."

Americans Advocate Reduced Services to Help Postal Service

Americans Advocate Reduced Services to Help Postal Service: "When given a choice of three options for helping the U.S. Postal Service out of its financial difficulties, a majority of Americans prefer cutbacks in services -- such as ending Saturday mail delivery and closing post office branches -- to either government assistance or higher stamp prices."

Coupon shuffle in Cleveland area Sunday papers

Coupon shuffle in Cleveland area Sunday papers: "In a statement released to Channel 3 News, Valassis stated:
'Starting in February, the RedPlum coupon booklet will now be delivered in Cleveland through consumers' mailboxes along with their weekly grocery circulars and other savings and deals. By using direct mail, the RedPlum insert will now be able to reach almost twice as many Cleveland households as in the past. In these challenging economic times, it has never been more important to make these essential savings available to as many Clevelanders as possible so they can stretch the dollars in their wallets.'
-- Thomas Murray, Valassis Vice President and General Manager of the FSI"

Printers, ACMA Head Defend Five-Day Postal Delivery

Printers, ACMA Head Defend Five-Day Postal Delivery: "While many consumers and businesses were outraged at Postmaster General John E. Potter’s Jan. 28 appeal to Congress to let him reduce postal delivery, a few catalog industry watchers are supporting Potter."

Public to have say on Wilkes-Barre post office

Public to have say on post office | Wilkes-Barre News | The Times Leader: "A decision on the closing of the Wilkes-Barre Post Office facility won’t be made before June 1 and the public will have the opportunity to offer input at a hearing in April, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service."

Snow Keeps Mailman Away For Week

Snow Keeps Mailman Away For Week - Indiana News Story - WRTV Indianapolis: "Bloomington Postmaster Jim Mennel is advising customers that haven't received mail since last week to stop by the post office, where it's being held after about a foot of snow fell on the area Jan. 27-28.
Snow piles on curbs in some neighborhoods have kept delivery vehicles from reaching mailboxes, Mennel said."

Falling numbers are adding up to Postal Service cuts

Falling numbers are adding up to Postal Service cuts : Home: The Buffalo News These are difficult times for the 7,574 people who sort and deliver mail in Western New York. Bone-chilling temperatures, icy sidewalks and deep snowbanks are just part of the problem.

Netflix Considers Weekend Delivery While Post Office Contemplates Saturday Elimination

Netflix Considers Weekend Delivery While Post Office Contemplates Saturday Elimination | homemediamagazine.com: "Netflix has begun shipping DVD rentals from distribution centers on Saturdays in select regions despite warnings from the U.S. Postal Service that it may suspend weekend mail delivery in order to cut costs"