Free Republic

Camille Topham is your typical American voter who sought to cast her vote in Utah’s June 25 primary elections. Using the Beehive State’s universal mail-in voting system, the Iron County resident and her family reportedly deposited their ballots into a local post box on June 23.

Informed Delivery is an existing free service provided by the USPS. If you go to their home page, you can see the service mentioned near the middle-right side of the page. After you create an account, each morning you are sent an email that tells you how many pieces of mail you will receive that day, including packages. It then shows photos of the pieces to be delivered. It does not provide Sunday service. This service is not new. It's been around since 2017, but I was unaware of it. It could be especially useful for people who often have...

Records reveal that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been sharing information from thousands of Americans’ letters and packages with law enforcement over the past decade. This practice, known as the “mail covers program,” involves conveying details from the outside of boxes and envelopes to federal agents and police officers without requiring a court order. Postal inspectors fulfill such requests primarily to aid in finding fugitives or investigating crimes. Notably, 97% of these requests were approved, covering days or weeks of mail sent to or from specific individuals or addresses.

On January 12, 2024, Judge Kathryn Kimball ruled the federal ban on possession of firearms in post offices is unconstitutional because it violates the Second Amendment. The United States indicted Emmanuel Ayala, a postal worker, for possessing a firearm in a Federal facility in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 930(a). Ayala argues that statute is unconstitutional as applied to him because the historical record does not support a law banning firearms in post offices. See N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022). Relying on dicta from earlier cases, the United States responds that the Second...

U.S. Postal Service workers are facing a growing number of dog attacks, with 5,800 letter carriers suffering bites last year, according to the USPS. "Letter carriers are exposed to potential hazards every day, none more prevalent than a canine encounter. All it takes is one interaction for a letter carrier to possibly suffer an injury," said Leeann Theriault, USPS Manager, Employee Safety and Health Awareness, in a news release to highlight a promotional campaign running this week to draw attention to the problem.

There were 5,800 mail carriers attacked by dogs last year — about 500 more hair-raising incidents than in 2022, according to the latest rankings from the United States Postal Service. “Letter carriers are exposed to potential hazards every day, none more prevalent than a canine encounter,” said Leeann Theriault, USPS manager of employee safety and health awareness. “All it takes is one interaction for a letter carrier to possibly suffer an injury.” ... New York ranked 6th in most dog attacks on mail carriers ... As in 2022, California topped the list of states with the most dog bites. ....

A postal carrier who federal prosecutors said was caught on camera stealing cash, lottery tickets, gift cards and other items from the mail in western New York has avoided a prison sentence. After community members in Rochester complained to the U.S. Postal Service that “their mail had been tampered with,” surveillance cameras were installed in the employee’s delivery vehicles and recorded her from January 2022 to November 2023, according to court documents. On 38 separate occasions, the mail carrier was seen rifling through nearly 90 pieces of mail she was meant to deliver along her route, court documents said. After...

On Monday, a 63-year-old female mail carrier was robbed at gunpoint by two thugs while delivering mail in Dublin, California. Surveillance video of the incident shows the carrier, who has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 33 years, delivering mail in a quiet residential neighborhood around 4:30 p.m. when suddenly a masked man emerges behind her. A second masked individual follows closely behind. Suddenly, a masked man comes up behind the mail carrier, followed by a second person who is also masked and the two masked men pull a gun. KTVC reports: “Somebody came up behind me and ‘boom,’...

A San Gabriel Valley woman pleaded guilty to defrauding over $150 million from the U.S. Postal Service. Lijuan “Angela” Chen, 51, of Walnut, carried out the scheme by using counterfeit postage to ship tens of millions of packages, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. From November 2019 to May 2023, Chen and her accomplice, Chuanhua “Hugh” Hu, 51, owned and operated a package shipping business in the City of Industry.

… Across the country, residents and businesses have been reporting widespread slowdowns in mail and package delivery by the U.S. Postal Service. The delays have become so persistent that members of Congress have gotten involved, urging the Postal Service to drastically correct course and raising concern about what impact the disruptions could have on mail-in ballots in the upcoming election. The delays appear to largely stem from a new system the Postal Service began rolling out last fall that will eventually funnel all the nation’s letters and packages through a consolidated network of 60 regional distribution centers — similar to...

Our 15-year-old son Noah is a baseball player. Baseball gear today can be quite expensive. A new (and sometimes even used!) quality bat or glove alone can easily cost several hundred dollars. For many years now, we’ve used Christmas and Noah’s birthday to provide him with a new bat or glove based on what he most wants or needs. If it’s not gift-giving time and Noah wants an expensive baseball item, he typically either waits or uses his own money (maybe with a little help from us) to purchase the item. If it’s the latter, Noah will often look for...

Several neighborhoods in San Francisco and Oakland had the most postal worker robberies in California in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Postal Service. According to the data analyzed by ABC7, about 61% of the 145 reported postal robberies across the state last year happened in the Bay Area. Robberies of postal carriers and drivers have increased across the country in recent years. Thieves, often armed with guns or other weapons, have stolen mail carriers’ master keys to gain access to large groups of mailboxes. The robberies have become an increasing concern since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic...

The description of postmarks types starts with an assumption that a postal marking has both a postmark and cancel. The postmark is assumed to be a medium size circular date stamp with san serif lettering.

A paid a visit to the local Post Office today. At the counter, I was told that the branch had no postage stamps available for purchase. None, nada, zero. How is this possible?

When it comes to mailing letters, many people do it by dropping their envelopes in the United States Postal Service's blue collection bins placed in neighborhoods across America. However, the USPS is now warning would-be mailers that those blue boxes might not be the safest option. In a press release, the Postal Service explained that unfortunately, the collection bins have become very attractive to thieves looking to steal identities or checks, especially at specific times and on specific days. The agency stated, "The biggest variable enticing these criminals to steal are customers depositing mail into blue collection boxes after the...

According to FOIA’d emails, on Monday, November 2, 2020, only one day before a critically important presidential election, Michigan’s Democrat Attorney General was busy investigating a claim by a USPS whistleblower who worked at the Detroit USPS distribution center. MI Democrat AG Dana Nessel FOIA’d emails obtained by independent investigator Yehuda Miller and shared on Twitter, reveal a postal worker, who asked to remain anonymous, first told MI Rep. Ellissa Slotkin’s office that “thousands of ballots are sitting in the main Detroit postal service distribution center (references their warehouse).” The whistleblower mentioned that “there are boxes and boxes of ballots...

UPS fell short of Wall Street revenue estimates Tuesday, reporting drops in shipping volume, both internationally and domestically, in its fourth-quarter earnings report. The company also announced 12,000 layoffs as part of an effort to align resources in 2024. The workforce reductions will save the company about $1 billion in costs, CEO Carol Tomé said on a company earnings call. “2023 was a unique, and quite candidly, difficult and disappointing year. We experienced declines in volume, revenue and operating profits and all three of our business segments,” Tomé said. Shares of the package giant dipped 8% in early trading.

In January of 2023, a Florida federal district Court restored the right to keep and bear arms on United States Postal Service (USPS) property. The court ruled a statute banning the possession of guns on USPS property, dating from 1972, was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. Currently, the ruling only applies to the individual case in Florida. The USPS has issued a statement aimed at employees, stating the USPS policy has not changed. From the USPS: A recent Florida district court decision is being misreported or may be misinterpreted as holding that the Postal Service’s ban on carrying firearms —...

CHICAGO — Prosecutors say a Lakeview man was found carrying 97 pieces of mail, a counterfeit U.S. Postal Service master key, and other items when Chicago police stopped him for a warrant investigation. Imer Resumovic, 37, is currently on probation for burglarizing a Walgreens in the 3600 block of North Broadway two years ago. CPD officers spotted him less than 100 yards from that store around 11:30 p.m. on January 12 and recognized him as someone with an outstanding warrant, according to his arrest report. As the cops patted him down, they allegedly found a forgery of an “arrow key”...

In Florida, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle has ruled that the federal law prohibiting people from possessing firearms inside post offices is unconstitutional. The ruling is based on the 2022 Supreme Court ruling New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen recognized a person’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.The case concerned Emmanuel Ayala, a U.S. Postal Service truck driver, who had a concealed weapons permit and held a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun in a fanny pack for self-defense. When police tried to stop him, he ran and struggled with officers. While dismissing the...