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WASHINGTON: The U.S. Postal Service had a net loss of more than a billion dollars in the third quarter of the fiscal year, the agency said Wednesday. For the quarter ended June 30, the loss was $1.1 billion, which officials blamed on reduced mail volume in the slowed economy, coupled with rapidly rising transport costs because of high fuel prices. The post office is working to deal with its losses by cutting costs. The agency has reduced its staff by about 100,000 since 2000 and is offering early retirement to some clerks, mail handlers and supervisors.

WASHINGTON -- The Postal Service had a net loss of more than a billion dollars in the third quarter of the fiscal year, the agency said Wednesday.

National on-time performance scores for the delivery of First-Class Mail set another new record for highest level of service during the third quarter of fiscal year 2008. "These record delivery levels are the direct result of employees all across the country working as a team to provide excellent service to our customers," said Delores Killette, Postal Service vice president and consumer advocate.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Preparing for the eventual extinction of its DVD-by-mail rental service, Netflix Inc. on Tuesday is introducing its first solution for subscribers who want entertainment delivered directly to their television sets with just a few clicks on a remote control. The breakthrough comes in the form of 5-inch-by-5-inch device tailored for a year-old service that uses high-speed Internet connections to stream more than 10,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix's library. Although it's provided at no additional cost to most of Netflix's 8.2 million subscribers, the streaming service has had limited appeal so far because it doesn't...

Remember the old Saturday Night Live skit about the First CitiWide “change bank” that does nothing but make change? Our customers ask us how we make a profit, quips the bank’s spokesman. “The answer is simple – volume.” As laughable as this dubious business plan sounds, it bears many similarities to the business plan the management of the U.S. Postal Service has been practicing for much of the past decade. And, as might be expected, the model isn’t doing much to help the Post Office – which lost $5 billion last year – cover its costs. This week, the Service...

The attack on the mailman was prefaced with a request to bum a cigarette. Carrier Greg Nelson later decided that the question thrown at him by a group of boys as he delivered mail Thursday on the East Side likely was an attempt to size him up. Within minutes, the youths chased, assaulted and robbed Nelson in what the U.S. Postal Service said is only the third such attack on a mail carrier in Columbus in the past 30 years. "They didn't see me as a mailman, they saw me as an opportunity," said Nelson, 45, who has delivered mail...

Newspaper carrier Bruce Pitts knew the elderly couple only by the prayers the wife made for him while he was working at night and in bad weather, but he felt something was wrong when the papers piled up outside their home."It was never like them to leave a newspaper in their tube," Pitt said Tuesday. "That wonderful, small voice inside me said, `This isn't right.'"After his route early Sunday, Pitts went home, napped briefly and, with his wife, returned to Blanche and Fred Roberts' home, just outside Marion, Ill.They repeatedly rang the doorbells but got no answer. Pitts then eased...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama on Wednesday won the endorsement of the country's largest postal workers union in a fresh boost to his 2008 nomination race against rival Hillary Clinton. "Senator Obama's message is one of hope and change," American Postal Workers Union (APWU) president William Burrus said in a statement. "We believe he will be a president who will strongly represent the interests of working Americans," he added. The union represents more than 300,000 postal employees and retirees. The support follows last week's endorsement of Obama by the National Union of Hospital and Health...

Imagine my surprise when I found the below notice in my mail box. The United States Post Office is now advertising primarily in Spanish, with English being a minor added language. Has it reached the point where we not only have to press 1 for English, but have to request our mail to come in English as well? And whose identity is the post office concerned about?

Stamps to Cost a Penny More February 11, 2008 By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Writer Mailing a Letter Will Cost a Penny More Starting in May WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mailing a letter will soon cost a penny more. The cost of a first-class stamp will rise to 42 cents starting May 12, the U.S. Postal Service said Monday. The price of the Forever stamp will go up at the same time, meaning those stamps can still be purchased for 41 cents but will remain good for first-class postage after the rate increase takes effect. The post office has sold...

WASHINGTON, DC (AFPN) -- Planning to send a care package to a military service member serving abroad? Send it after March 3 to take advantage of a new flat-rate box from the Postal Service that is 50 percent larger and delivered for $10.95 to an APO/FPO address -- $2 less than for domestic destinations. "This is the first time the Postal Service has offered a special price for our armed forces serving overseas," said Postmaster Gen. John Potter. "We're proud that family and friends will be able to use this new larger-sized box to send much appreciated packages from home to our dedicated troops overseas."...

RACINE, Wis. -- A right to life group in Racine is under fire after mailing controversial material to 44,000 people. It included an informational letter, a fundraising envelope and a small plastic fetus. Mystical Listrom said she was not happy with what she found inside when she opened a letter from Wisconsin Right to Life accompanied by a plastic fetus. "It's my right to choose to do what I want with my body. I shouldn't have people telling me what I can and can't do with my body," Listrom said. Her neighbor, Glenda Pollock, got the same package. "If...

This is one of the kindest things I've ever experienced. I have no way to know who sent it, but there is a kind soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service. Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:...

The U.S. Postal Service revealed its upcoming stamps for 2008. According to the Service's press release, "the 2008 stamp program recognizes a range of subjects as diverse as America itself, from the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrated in Chinatowns all over the country, to 20th century movie icons and literary figures, to the flags of our states and territories." Joining the likes of Bette Davis, Frank Sinatra, journalist Eric Severeid, and numerous other notable Americans, the Post Office will kick off its new stamp series this January by celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year with the issuance of the...

The original server has been overwhelmed, so I'm using the Fark mirror to post. Watch out, the comments can get a little on the wild side, as most of the members are younger. Still worth posting. 'It was your dad that answered all those letters that the kids wrote to Santa every year' Background: Tim Russert's Wisdom of Our Fathers has hundreds of stories men and women tell about their fathers, including the one below. It's a remarkable book--to learn more, see my co-authored column America's Father Hunger (World Net Daily, 10/13/06). The story below is "The Mail" from John...

OBERLIN, Kan. — A postcard featuring a color drawing of Santa Claus and a young girl was mailed in 1914, but it's journey was slower than Christmas. It just arrived in northwest Kansas. The Christmas card was dated Dec. 23, 1914, and mailed to Ethel Martin of Oberlin, apparently from her cousins in Alma, Neb.

Mailman arrested for stealing cards BY JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, December 8th 2007, 4:00 AM Every thief has a hallmark, and a Brooklyn letter carrier is the Greeting Card Bandit. The feds arrested Michael Olivio this week after an elaborate sting operation to identify the Grinch-like mailman in Bath Beach who intercepted hundreds of greeting cards for the cash inside, the Daily News has learned. After receiving complaints from residents in the 11214 area code, the bait was set. Special Agent Stephen Dolloff mailed "test greeting card letters" to the postal customers who had complained. One customer...

NEW YORK (AP) — Call it a special delivery. A postal carrier pocketed dozens of greeting cards he was supposed to deliver to get at the cash inside, postal inspectors said. He was found with more than 130 pieces of other people's mail in his car, according to a court complaint. Michael Olivio was released on his own recognizance Thursday following his arrest the previous day, court records show. The exact charges against him were not listed in court records available early Saturday, and a spokesman for prosecutors did not immediately return a telephone call. Olivio said he was "not...

During the Christmas season, when Christmas displays and the public outcry against them get almost equal billing, the tiny postage stamp dares to push the envelope, so to speak. While some towns are battling over the use of red and green lights on city buildings, Nativity scenes in parks and what to call holiday evergreen trees, the tiny adhesive squares on billions of letters and packages this December will subtly remind postal workers and mail recipients about Christmas and other religious holidays. This year the Postal Service has issued more than 2.6 billion holiday stamps. The majority of them are...

WASHINGTON, DC — Frank Sinatra, one of the most iconic entertainers of the 20th century, will be commemorated on a postage stamp next spring, Postmaster General John Potter announced today. Sinatra’s three children — Nancy, Frank, Jr. and Tina Sinatra. — will preview the stamp image during a special ceremony in Beverly Hills, CA, on Sinatra’s birthday, Wed., Dec. 12. “Frank Sinatra was an extraordinary entertainer whose life and work left an indelible impression on American culture,” said Potter. “His recordings, concert performances and film work place him among America’s top artists, and his legendary gift for transforming popular song...

For more than 80 years, the U.S. Postal Service was one of Santa's biggest helpers, but modern life has taken a toll on the relationship. What used to be Operation Santa -- a heartwarming tradition of postal workers and volunteers fulfilling the Christmas wishes of thousands of needy children -- is now: "Operation Santa Letter Adoption" Individual or Third Party agreement with indemnity clause. In other words, St. Nick lawyered up. Perhaps nowhere will the change be more obvious than at the Newark post office, where 20,000 gifts were delivered to needy Newark children last Christmas through Operation Santa. In...

Peeved Patron Plugs Postal Worker Resident Shoots Chicago Postal Worker for Allegedly Delivering the Mail Too Late The Associated Press CHICAGO A postal worker in Chicago was shot in the leg late Tuesday after a resident along his postal route allegedly became angry that he was delivering the mail too late. Police said Denny Robinson, 31, was delivering mail around 6:30 p.m. in Chicago's West Pullman neighborhood when he was shot in the thigh. Robinson was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment for the non-life-threatening injury. Authorities said witnesses reported hearing a person yelling the postal worker was delivering...

Members of the U.S. military have been vilified for their service and have faced criminal charges for battlefield decisions and congressional accusations of rampant "hate crimes." Now a California post office also has banned photographs of local soldiers who are defending their country. "It's an emotional issue and people look at their post office as a hub of the community, but the post office is there to do postal business and it's not a place to post things or make displays,” postal spokesman Richard Maher told the San Luis Obispo Tribune. The newspaper reported that "a customer" had complained that...

GRAND RAPIDS -- If not rain nor snow nor dark of night, what did prompt reports last winter that mail went undelivered on the Northwest Side of Grand Rapids? The Postal Service isn't saying, even though nearly half of the 59 letter carriers from the postal station at 1625 Walker Ave. NW faced suspensions ranging from two days to nine months. The last of the suspensions of 29 workers ended in August. But officials refused to reveal details. In fact, with the help of their unions and arbitration, all of the workers received back pay for their time off, said...

9/13/2007 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Airmen will have a unique opportunity to commemorate the Air Force's 60th anniversary Sept. 18 through Oct. 18. The Air Force and U.S. Postal Service have joined forces to offer a commemorative postmark that will be available for cancellation from Sept. 18 to Oct. 18 at 40 base post offices worldwide. The pictorial cancellation features the B-24 Liberator bomber, which was flown in every combat theater during World War II. "This postmark has special meaning because bombers were the swords of Air Force history," said Andrew Stephens, a historian for the 11th Wing at Bolling...

The US Postal Service and the Servicio Postal Mexicano (SEPOMEX) have signed an agreement to improve mail services between the United States and Mexico. The USPS has agreed to help SEPOMEX in an effort to improve its management structure and processes, and re-engineer its operations. SEPOMEX has agreed to work with the USPS in exploring and developing joint business opportunities and improving cross-border services. SEPOMEX has struggled with inefficiency and security. Mexican citizens have reportedly lost confidence in the mail delivery provided and finded by the government. Following an economic crisis in 1982 and earthquake destruction of postal facilities, the...

LEBANON, Ind. -- Dogs may be natural adversaries of postal carriers, but Joe Luckey couldn't have been prepared for an attack by a police animal. Luckey was working his route when Erik, the Lebanon Police Department's 7-year-old German shepherd, ran for him Tuesday, startling the mailman and the dog's handler. The dog bit his face and neck and barely missed his jugular vein. "I was thinking, 'Boy, this is really going to hurt. I don't know how bad, but this is really going to hurt,'" Luckey told 6News' Ray Cortopassi on Wednesday. The dog was with his longtime, off-duty handler,...

Lots of actors play war heroes on the screen. James Stewart was one in real life. A decorated World War II bomber pilot who returned from battle to star in "It's A Wonderful Life," Stewart will be commemorated on a new 41-cent postage stamp being released Friday. Stewart flew 20 bombing missions over Germany, including one over Berlin, after wrangling combat duty when commanders would have preferred to use a movie star for morale building work at home. As a squadron commander, Stewart flew many dangerous missions when he could have sent others instead, recalled Robbie Robinson, a sergeant who...

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government has signed an agreement with the U.S. Postal Service to improve Mexico's notoriously inefficient mail agency. Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez said the Mexican Postal Service has been neglected for years, while the USPS is "an example of modernity, efficiency and quality." Under the agreement signed Tuesday, Mexican staff will visit U.S. facilities to analyze procedures and equipment, and the two also will cooperate to improve cross-border services. U.S. Chief Postal Inspector Alexander Lazaroff said at the signing event that the agreement will address security concerns in both countries. Tellez told reporters the government plans...

Powell Presents Purple Hearts; Postal Service Reissues Stamp Honoring Medal WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2007 – Retired Army Gen. Colin Powell presented Purple Heart Medals to two wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here today, as the U.S. Postal Service reissued a stamp honoring the medal and those who wear it. The medal, which features George Washington’s family crest and the first president’s silhouette set against a purple heart, is awarded to U.S. servicemembers wounded by an instrument of war in an enemy’s hands. Powell received a Purple Heart after a booby trap wounded him in 1963 near the...

WASHINGTON -- As a new version of the Purple Heart stamp was unveiled Tuesday, more wounded soldiers received Purple Hearts of their own. In a ceremony at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Retired Gen. Colin Powell awarded Purple Hearts to two men wounded by IEDs in Iraq. "When the time came, they were there. When the time came, they showed up, when the time came they showed bravery. When the time came, they stood by their fellow buddies. When the time came they stood by the nation, they did not turn away, did not blink, did not find an excuse...

WASHINGTON – Endowed with superhuman strength, yet looking different as day and night, the Amazing Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk will stand shoulder-to-shoulder as the Postal Service launches its latest set of super hero stamps. The 20-stamp set premieres Thursday at Comic-Con, the comic book and pop culture show in San Diego. The 41-cent stamps honor the creations of Marvel Comics, and also include Sub-Mariner, The Thing, Captain America, the Silver Surfer, the Spider-Woman, the Invincible Iron Man, Elektra and Wolverine. In addition, 10 of the stamps highlight covers of comic books featuring the characters. Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man,...

BARTLETT, TN- We are all paying more for postage these days, but one Bartlett woman discovered she had been charged nearly 5 trillion dollars to send a UPSP priority package. Kathy Poletti didn't have any plans to go out of town for the memorial day weekend, and says that's a good thing. Monday she received an email from her bank stating her accounts had been frozen due to illegal check card activity. "I glanced at it and thought I ought to check it out and see if I see anything unusual," said Poletti. Poletti called her bank and listened...

Indictment alleges Pacifica man stole $170,000, falsified records By Josh Richman, STAFF WRITERInside Bay Area Article Last Updated:05/25/2007 02:55:14 AM PDT A postal workers' union president from Pacifica was indicted Thursday on charges that he embezzled more than $170,000 and then fudged union and Labor Department records to cover it up. Graham Paul Vane, 49, was president of the San Mateo-based National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO, Branch 1280, from January 2002 through 2006 and allegedly used a union-issued credit card and 10 personal credit cards to rack up massive personal expenses such as dining, family travel, spa treatments,...

Get those cards and letters into the mail this weekend while those 39-cent stamps are still enough to get your correspondence out of town. Come Monday, postage for a first-class letter will rise to 41 cents. The last increase also was a 2-cent bump in January 2006. For Mary Bermudez, 67, standing in line at the downtown Post Office Thursday, mailing is her communication method of choice since she isn't computer-savvy. "The first stamp I can remember was a 3-cent stamp," Bermudez said. "It has gone up so many times. It's really ridiculous. Oh, well." Bermudez had come to buy...

Federal authorities have been stepping up their efforts to locate a “person of interest,” who calls himself “The Bishop,” since he mailed incomplete explosive devices to financial services companies in the United States several weeks ago. A forensic investigation has been under way since early February, and offers of a reward (up to $100,000) for information leading to The Bishop’s arrest and conviction were followed recently by the release a sketch, showing what federal authorities believe “The Bishop” might look like...

FORT WORTH — The missing clock didn't stop postal customer Al Cunningham from noticing the amount of time spent waiting for service. "It's always long here," said Cunningham, 49, an insurance adjuster and former postal employee who was standing in line at the Watson Post Office in Fort Worth. The Watson Post Office is one of the nation's 37,000 post offices in which clocks have been removed from retail areas as part of a "retail standardization program" launched last year. The effort is designed to give the public-service areas a more uniform appearance, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in Thursday...

Bush asserted this authority when he signed a postal overhaul bill into law Dec. 20. He then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions. That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, experts said. Bush's move came during the winter congressional recess and a year after his secret domestic electronic eavesdropping program was first revealed. It caught Capitol Hill by surprise. "Despite the president's statement that he may be able to circumvent a basic privacy protection, the new postal law continues to prohibit the government...

Not allowed to post articles from the El Paso Times... All I can do is give you the link.

Unions were created to serve an important purpose -- to protect workers' rights and safety. But in their zeal to negotiate as many benefits as possible, some may be hurting the very employees they represent.

I just received a notice card in the mail today informing me of the Boulder Passport Fair coming up this Saturday Sept. 23rd. The purpose of this fair is so that Americans wishing to travel to Canada and Mexico can obtain an official passport for crossing the border by vehicle or by foot. Scanned image of the postcard notice from the USPS - I wonder how long it will be before the same standard will apply to illegals crossing the USA border, becoming employed in the USA, etc.??? There seems to be such a high priority on making USA citizens...

WASHINGTON -- The post office is in a pickle over the spelling of motor-sickle. At least, that's how Arlo Guthrie might explain it. Problem is, the Postal Service recently, with great fanfare, issued a new set of stamps depicting motorcycles. Collectors who buy copies issued on the first day the stamps are available can get them with a special commemorative postmark. Unfortunately, the colorful postmark spells it "motorcyle." Having discovered this, the post office announced Friday that new orders for first-day envelopes will have a corrected postmark. Unless the buyer wants it spelled wrong. In that case they can still...

Harley-Davidson enthusiasts now have their own stamp of approval, thanks to the United States Postal Service. A 1965 Harley Electra-Glide is featured as one of four new first-class stamps being rolled out in Wisconsin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Capital City Harley-Davidson/Buell, 6200 Millpond Road, on Madison's far east side. The stamp rollout ceremony at kick-starts the third annual motorcycle ride to raise funds for the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. The stamps were officially introduced to the public Aug. 7 during the 66th annual Harley rally in Sturgis, S.D., and have been unveiled in local ceremonies throughout America since...

Postal worker caught with thousands of letters Fri Jul 14, 11:14 AM ET BERLIN (Reuters) - A Berlin postal worker who was caught with more than several thousand undelivered letters in his basement has admitted he was overwhelmed by the job but insisted he planned to deliver them soon. Police recently found 90 boxes of post stacked in his basement. The postal worker, 36, identified as Thomas H., told Bild newspaper Friday he was only temporarily storing the post at his house and friends would help with delivery. "There were just too much and I couldn't deliver it all by...

Re-elected! Reagan stamp reissued Reminiscent of his landslide re-election to a second term as President of the United States in 1984, Ronald Reagan won overwhelming support as the stamp in his honor was “re-elected” in its new 39-cent denomination this week. “Ronald Reagan’s record is proof that one person, determined and dedicated, can shoulder the greatest of burdens and carry them through to victory — and in his case, even make it look easy,” said Board of Governors Chair James Miller, who dedicated the stamp. Miller served as Reagan’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, and later chaired...

WASHINGTON, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Hiram Bingham IV, the U.S. diplomat credited with saving more than 2,000 Jews and other refugees in France from the invading Nazis, will be immortalized as part of the U.S. Postal Service's "Distinguished American Diplomats" commemorative postage stamps with five other diplomats. The stamp image was previewed today at a Capitol Hill briefing that highlighted Bingham's incredible and little-known story of his clandestine work to help refugees in France escape the Nazis. The "Distinguished American Diplomats" sheet of six stamps will be dedicated Tuesday, May 30 at the Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exposition at the...

Not just diamonds are forever. Add stamps to the list. The post office is planning a "forever" stamp for letters, good no matter how many times postal rates increase. That means folks could say goodbye to those annoying two- or three-cent stamps that have to be added to letters every time rates go up. Sheets, rolls, books or loose stamps in the drawer would still be good. Forever. The idea for the special stamps, which would be sold at the same price as other first-class stamps, was included in proposals announced Wednesday that would also raise stamp prices 3 cents...

WASHINGTON - The Postal Service said Wednesday it wants to raise the price of a first-class stamp by 3 cents — to 42 cents — and proposed a "forever" stamp that people could use as hedge against future rate increases. The changes would take effect in the spring of 2007 if approved by the independent Postal Rate Commission. "A forever stamp would help ease the transition to any future price adjustments," board Chairman James C. Miller III said. Postmaster General John E. Potter said the agency would not be making a rate change if it were not necessary. "The Postal...

Undelivered mail from 1956 comes back to DeLand DELAND -- It's been a long, mysterious journey for one little postcard. In 1956, George Hitz dropped a postcard into his Stetson Avenue mailbox, hoping a fellow HAM radio operator in Riverside, Calif., would soon get it. No one knows whether the postcard completed its cross-country journey, but it was returned to its starting place this week bearing a 1956 DeLand postmark and a "return to sender" stamp. George Hitz as a teenager at his HAM radio shack on Stetson Avenue in DeLand, from where he sent the card to California. Hitz,...

SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) - The Smithfield Post Office is now the Ava Gardner Post Office. President Bush signed legislation Monday to rename the post office in honor of the Oscar-nominated actress, who grew up in Johnston County. "Ava Gardner was a small-town girl who became a big-time celebrity," said Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., who sponsored the bill to rename the post office. "She represents the can-do attitude and patriotism of the people of Smithfield and Johnston County," Etheridge said. Gardner was nominated for a best-actress Oscar for 1953's "Mogambo." Her films also include "The Night of the Iguana" and "On...