Do it yourself R2D2 mailbox

No Star Wars collection boxes in your town? Download this 'paper doll' style .pdf version.
Starwars.com

Man Wearing Only Underwear Accused Of Vandalizing West Virginia Post Office

WTOV TV Wheeling WV

Online shipping service lays off workers

Greenwich (CT) Time

Private carriers worry union members

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Rate increases may permanently damage mail industry

DMNews.com

Motorists sue over junk mail from motor vehicle agency

Associated Press

USPS introduces new stamps for new rates

USPS Press release

DMNews introduces online magazine

DMNews.com's Deliver Magazine (not to be confused with USPS Deliver magazine) is available as a .pdf file.

Massachusetts letter carrier arrested for distributing drugs on route

click here for video report
WWLP TV Springfield

Postal carrier goes above, beyond duty

Northwest Arkansas News

Going postal in Beaverton

"Emergency" contractor "is the son of... a manager at the Beaverton post office." USPS spokesman: "We all have relatives that work in different facets of the post office"
Willamette Week

USPS.com launches Star Wars stamps promotion

DMNews.com

FedEx profits drop, company looks to China expansion

DMNews.com

Postal worker among those arrested in NY online gambling sweep

New York Times
see also the item in the Register on the case, and US law enforcement's apparent obsession with online gambling

Live from National Postal Forum: PRC’s Decision “Somewhat Anomalous”

multichannelmerchant.com
also from the Forum:
- Intelligent Mailing, Intelligent Barcodes

Con men still seek a quick buck the old way: By using snail mail

Newark Star Ledger

Writing Junk Mail. Somebody has to do it.

DMNews.com

PRC's Blair hopes for expedited decision on rate reconsideration

DMNews.com

Some suspended Battle Creek carriers returing to work

Battle Creek Enquirer

Post Office Has Limits ...

An Amazon seller discovers there's a limit to how many packages she can mail at once...
Amazon Seller Community Forum

Nation Gets Sneak Peak of the Forever Stamp

USPS Press release
See also the Santa Monica Daily Press's coverage of former Santa Monoca mayor, and PRC member, Ruth Goldway's role in introducing the stamp.

PMG Keynote at Postal Forum

Potter urges 7,000 mailers to help shape Postal Service for 21st century
USPS News Link

APWU, USPS Reach Tentative Agreement on IT/ASC Contract

APWU News

Online video shows post-office meltdown

The Daily News catches up with the December video of a not very happy customer at a Brooklyn PO. See also Gothamist. Click here to see the video.

At odds with the postal service

Mail delivery slow in Missouri town
St Louis Post Dispatch Suburban Journals

Delivering Change at the Post Office

Washington Post

Talk of Postal Hikes Kicks Off Mailers' Conference

also:
- Catalogers Need to Pass Costs on to Consumers
- Resilient Catalogers Will Survive
multichannelmerchant.com

They’ve Got Mail, but Look Who Delivered It

New York Times

Carrier makes special delivery- his grandson

Greeneville (SC) News

Mail-processing work to remain in Bloomington

Associated Press

Young, Potter Reach Agreement To Resume Contract Bargaining

April 6 Deadline Set for Settlement
NALC Bulletin (.pdf file)

Mailers Council Calls on USPS Board to Avoid Another Rate Case Under 1970 Statute

Mailers Councl via Postcom.org

Live from NEMOA: Washington Still Needs to Understand Rate Increase Impact

multichannelmerchant.com

Postal Service Continues Plans to Close AMCs

APWU News

Massachusetts town loses mail boxes

Taunton Gazette

Woman critical after postal vehicle bumps her

Janesville (WI) Gazette

Contract postal carriers get more routes

"One new housing development at a time, more non-postal service mail carriers are taking on routes across the nation..."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Postal Worker Files Lawsuit To Avoid Daily Lunch Break

Tampa Tribune

Readers, carriers pan postal service

Original story: Mail delivery problems spark fears of fraud
Joliet (IL) Herald News
and still more from the Chicago area:
More Mail Delivery Setbacks
Southwest News Herald

PRC seeks mailer input on postal reform

DMNews.com

Forever Stamp Debuts Monday at National Postal Forum

USPS News Release

Postal worker faces charges in identity theft

Reading (PA) Eagle

Bayonne losing last local-only mailboxes

...because of 2001 anthrax mailings?!?
Bayonne Journal

'Forever' stamp better bet for mailers than investors

USA Today

Topeka Postal Employee Charged with Embezzlement

WIBW TV Topeka

Transcript of USPS/PRC Customer Summit

The PRC has posted a transcript of the March 13 'Summit' session entitled "Meeting Customer Needs in a Changing Regulatory Environmrnt'. (Note that this is a 276 page .pdf file, apparently scanned from a typed copy).
PRC web site

OIG Reviews Delivery and Retail SOP Compliance

USPS Office of Inspector General (.pdf file)
click here for a complete listing of available OIG reports

Note to Boston police: New R2-D2 mailboxes are not a bomb

Homeland Stupidity

Dog poop too much for Canada Post

CBC News

DMA head: marketers face regulation if they don't keep consumers happy

DMNews.com

Canada Post turns to U.S. counterparts in medal theft

Halifax Chronicle Herald

Unions Press FBI to Brief Congress on Anthrax Investigation

APWU News

UPS CEO earned $6.2M last year

Memphis Business Journal

Pitney Bowes promotes president to CEO

Stamford Advocate

Editorial: U.S. Postal Service isn't delivering

Merced (CA) Sun Star

USPS Board Approves Rate Increases, new rates effective May 14...

...except that the Governors "have concluded that three issues -- Standard Mail flats, the Nonmachinable Surcharge for First-Class Mail letters, and the Priority Mail Flat Rate Box -- would benefit from further consideration", and requuested the PRC reconsider them on an expedited basis.
- Text of the Governors' decision text pdf
- Coverage of the decision from DMNews.com

To mail or not to mail is marketers' question

New York Post

Georgia PM wins Benjamin Franklin Award

Press release

Fanciest Postal Code Is About To Be Split Up

New York Sun

The Strike That Stunned The Country

Thirty six years ago today, postal workers in New York City voted to strike
TIME Magazine

Sizing mail to save

Businesses work to avert size surcharges
Berkshire Eagle

Postal service aims to improve

"Complaints about late mail and no delivery have been signed, sealed and delivered to the U.S. Postal Service, and the Albuquerque plant is working to make those complaints obsolete."
Albuquerque Tribune

Postal Service asking its customers to think flat

"A package is fine, but a flat is better. The best thing to do is send a letter."
Columbus Dispatch

Hundreds protest use of private mail carriers

Beaverton Valley (OR) Times

Phoenix letter carrier gets probation for stealing mail

Associated Press

Cluster boxes may replace home delivery in dangerous areas

"The postal service is considering ending home mail delivery to the area where a postal worker was killed" last October.
Canton (OH) Repository

Tennessee contract mail center's work force halved

Knoxville News Sentinel

Shots fired in robbery attempt at Virginia PO

Salisbury (MD) Daily Times

New Jersey postmaster faces numerous charges

Sparta Independent

USPS seeks contractor for Omaha mail center

Federal Business Opportunities web site

Beaverton PM: Contractors play important role in USPS

Letter to the Editor, Beaverton Valley (OR) Times

Alabama carrier accused of mail theft

Mobile Register

Four-year-old hit by postal truck

KETK TV Tyler TX

PMG airs reservations on postal reform law

Linn's Stamp News

Bronx congressman halts plans to shut 3 mail centers

New York Daily News

APWU: New Contract Provisions Offer Additional Protection Against Excessing

(The 'protection' is to become a part time employee)
APWU News

It isn't just dogs: postal delivery stopped by teens on ATVs

WMAZ-TV Macon, GA

Postal-bag cuts mean layoffs for 250 disabled workers

(Note: this is the same company that, according a January 21 article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "...has taken its executives on a Lake Minnetonka party boat, given them $100 bills to gamble with at a casino and sprung for a retreat for executives and their spouses at a golf-spa resort... At the most recent getaway, executives played golf and discussed plans to lay off workers."
St. Paul Business Journal

NALC's Young: "It's time to stop the 'run amok' OIG

NALC Postal Record

You've Got Mail- But it isn't always the USPS delivering it

"Mail delivery finally came Monday to a west-side housing development after a two-month search for a private contractor by the U.S. Postal Service that even included posting a query on Craigslist."
Willamette Week

BOG considered rate recommendations in telecon last week

According to the Federal Register, the USPS Board met via closed teleconference last week to consider the PRC's recommended rate changes.

More Forever Stamp Designs

Humor site Fark.com asked readers to suggest designs for the 'forever' stamp.

Daley on mail: Feds are 'dysfunctional'

Chicago Sun-Times

Predictability, flexibility key issues at USPS/PRC regulatory summit

DMNews.com

PRC chairman seeks mailer feedback on rulemaking

DMNews,com

Minnesota carrier dies in truck crash

St Paul Pioneer Press

USPS BOG member mentioned in US Attorney scandal

New York Times, New Mexico Politics blog

Fundraiser for mail carrier comes a day after he succumbs to cancer

Orange County Register

Would you let your pizza guy deliver your paycheck, or your ballot?

Blue Oregon blog

Postal service's response to picketing in New Jersey

Asbury Park Press Online

Top U.S. postal official checks mess in Chicago

Chicago Sun Times

'Forever' Stamps Save Time, Not Money

Washington Post
audio: Sloan discusses the forever stamp on Marketplace

Maryland withdraws do-not-mail bill; Vermont, Arkansas introduce bills

DMNews.com

Credit card mail increased six percent in 2006

DMNews.com

Chinese-American Postmaster Left Indelible Stamp on Postal Service

New American Media

Maureen Deprince battles back

South Jersey Courier Post

Forever stamp’s sticking point

Kansas City Star

Tables Turned In Anthrax Investigation

'Person Of Interest' Files Lawsuit Against FBI
CBS News

Letter carriers protest in New Jersey

Asbury Park Press

DMA’s Greco again asks postal governors to reject catalog rates

DMNews.com
also from DMNews- Editorial: Reject the PRC’s recommended postage hike

Postal Service aims to save with "independent carriers"

"Looking to cut costs nationwide, the Postal Service will now award contracts to nonpostal employees for deliveries in large new housing tracts... these independent contractors don't get benefits."
Fresno Bee

• How well have 'independent carriers' worked for FedEx?
  postalnews blog
• Reaction to contracting out from the Democratic Underground blog (best comment: "Now we can look forward to the same kind of service the soldiers at Walter Reed get")

Postal union joins Chelsea anti-war action

(The Chelsea section of Manhattan is home to the Morgan and Farley facilities, as well as the NYC Truck terminal)
Chelsea now
Meanwhile, in Canada, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers joins the fight against that nation's involvement in Bush's other war, in Afghanistan.

R2-D2 Themed Mailboxes - Not So Long Ago At A Post Office Not So Far Away…

OhGizmo! blog

Trade Group Requests 120-Day Postal Case Implementation Period

MultiChannelMerchant.com

Congressman seeks update on Gaylord consolidation

Gaylord (MI) Herald Times

Postal Pallets Pose a Problem

"The pallet industry is full of crooks. Or at least that must be what the USPS thinks."
Pallet Enterprise

Niagara postal workers reassured on meningitis

Buffalo News

Chicago: More Mail Delivery Complaints

Southwest News-Herald City
... and nearby: Alsip mayor: boycott post office
Daily Southtown

'Do-Not-Mail' Bills Deliver Dissent

Eleven states consider junk-mail bans, sparking constitutional debate
Law.com

Commentary: Mail delivery shouldn’t be contracted out

Beaverton (OR) Valley Times

Postal Governor Vote on Rate Case Expected Next Week

Multichannel Merchant

Postal Service's rate changes could be a boon to some small businesses

Los Angeles Daily Breeze

Cleveland clerks indicted in credit card theft

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Burrus: BOG should accept PRC rate recommendations

APWU President Bill Burrus letter to the BOG
PRC web site

Man blocks his own mailbox, wonders why he doesn't get mail...

Culpeper (VA) Star Exponent

1,000 late Social Security checks should be in hand

Bridgeton (NJ) News

DHL trims expansion

St Louis Post Dispatch

Letter carriers protest plan for contract delivery in Oregon

The Oregonian

Rate increase a 'fatal blow' for catalogs?

"in the 1990s, the Clinton Administration was busy eliminating welfare.... the reality was that welfare was simply transferred to a full employment program in the federal government. The USPS... and a host of other agencies all swelled and absorbed a large number of the nation’s unemployed"
DMNews.com commentary "by Donald R. Libey, president Libey Inc., a direct marketing advisory and consulting firm in Des Moines, IA. Reach Mr. Libey at libey@libey.com."

Postmaster wants to make door mail slots history

Greenwich (CT) Time

USPS wants to automate postage due processing

Federal Business Opportunities

USPS, PRC announce regulatory summit

DMNews.com

APWU: Retroactive Pay to Be Issued May 18

APWU News

Police: Man fishes for mail in front of post office

New Britain (CT) Herald

Mailing industry urges “en masse” response to halt increases in catalog rate

DMnews.com

USPS says FSS on track

DMNews.com

Several thousand pieces of mail found in storage units in Tennessee town

Kingsport Times News

Do Not Mail Bills Create Conflict Between States and Federal Government

May it Please the Court Law Weblog

They'd rather be in Marysville

Non-Indians on reservation upset about postal name change
Everett (WA) Herald

Ask President Burrus: Can a PTF be excessdd out of a 200 man-year office to avoid conversion to full time?

APWU News

Chase Still Tops Direct Mail Volume List

"In 2006... from credit card companies alone, American households and businesses received 9.2 billion pieces of mail"
Marketing Daily

Seattle District mandates 204-B reduction

NAPS Branch 61 News

Ex-carrier gets probation for tossing mail

Aspen Times

State rep., Letter Carrier Union President Comment on Do Not Mail Bill

DMNews.com

Bicycle tracks lead to PO burglary suspect

Worcester Telegram

Signed, sealed - but is it delivered?

That's the question many bulk mailers are asking as late deliveries continue to frustrate
St. Charles (MO) Journal

Postal reform Q&A: Taxes on competitive products

USPS News Link
click here for the original Link article

Hoosiers could soon be voting by mail

Hendricks County Flyer

Biloxi Post Office rebounds

Reopening celebration set for Monday
Biloxi Sun Herald

N.J. congressman wants hearings on anthrax case

Asbury Park Press

More on the 'forever' stamp

San Francisco Chronicle
and even more in the blog: Forever stamps and class struggle

DMA Calls on Members to Protest "Exorbitant, Unexpected Postage Rate Recommendations"

Press release

Postal Rate Recommendation Could be Catastrophic for Catalogers

Catalog Success

Indiana Newspaper Abandons Home Delivery Service, Will Use U.S. Mail

Editor & Publisher

APWU, USPS Sign Off On Contract Questions & Answers

APWU News
click here for the Q&A document in .pdf format

Is eBay stamp racket the Net's stickiest scam?

MSNBC

Postal Service hunts men who robbed mail carrier

San Diego Union Tribune

Man pleads guilty to obstruction in postal worker’s death

Canton Repository

Mailman arrested, charged with delivering pot

The Oregonian

Postal Calculator

Online calculator projects the impact of rate changes for mailers
Marketsmithinc.com

Postal regulation vs. mailer incentives

DMNews.com

"A whole new attitude" for paralyzed letter carrier

Asbury Park Press

Dumbest editorial of the week

postalnews blog

Strange Bedfellows

Why is the APWU's Burrus 'in bed' with a rabidly anti-postal, anti-union lobbying group?
APWU Burrus Update
Why indeed...
postalnews blog

El Paso Residents Experiencing Mail Problems Again

KFOX TV El Paso

Postal Service Circulates Sketch of Suspected Mail-bomber

KCTV Kansas City

Long time, no see: Post offices hide their clocks

USPS: "We want people to focus on postal service and not the clock." Marketing expert: "It's silly, I guess they think people don’t have watches."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Northrop Grumman Awarded $874.6 Million U.S. Postal Service Contract to Provide Flat Sequencing Machines

Press release
see also the presentation on the FSS program given at last week's MTAC meeting at Postcom.org

New Jersey Postmaster indicted in sack of scams

Newark Star Ledger

PO burns, mail spared

Opelika-Auburn (AL) News

Today's Postage Due comic strip

Previous Postage Due comic strips