As U.S. Postal Service struggles, Stamps.com fortunes rise

From the article: "...the Postal Service isn't the only one making money when a mail carrier brings a new pair of shoes or a school backpack to your door. Private companies compete fiercely to sell postage, prepare labels and help retailers find the best deals for shipping their products. And several of them argue that a single company, Stamps.com, is getting unusually good deals from the Postal Service, allowing it to undercut the prices of rivals and reap profits that should be going to the government..."

Article Reference: www.chicagotribune.com

Labor Department begins monitoring opioid use by federal workers

From the article: "...The department's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs instituted a regulation requiring all doctors who want to prescribe any compounded medications containing opioids to file a Letter of Medical Necessity justifying the prescription and explaining why alternate treatments are not feasible..."

Article Reference: www.washingtonexaminer.com

Postal IG Sounds Alarm on Safety, Security

From the article: "... issues to include safety and security concerns. Auditors reviewed 51 facilities in the Eastern Area, finding that 32 had building safety and security issues, and the same number had potential OSHA violations..."

Article Reference: www.fedweek.com

2 postal workers indicted in marijuana distribution ring in West Philadelphia

From the article: "...Federal authorities say they used their positions at the West Market Post Office to funnel more than 100 kilos of marijuana to three separate drug organizations..."

Article Reference: 6abc.com
Postal drugs, mailing marijuana, mailing marijuana, postal crime,

Postal Service puts lifeline to communities in jeopardy

Deliveries to Two Downeast Islands off MDI in Jeopardy After Postal Service Crackdown

From the article: "...Islanders pay Hopkins for his deliveries, but he says the postal service contract — worth $80,000 a year — accounted for half his income. And delivering everything together — the mail and other freight items — is the only way to be cost-efficient. He has to pay ferry, fuel, and insurance bills, and hires help to get the mail from Swans’ Island to Frenchboro...."

Article Reference: mpbn.net

Postal worker says dog attack was 'horrendous'

From the article: "...He's trained to use his postal bag as a defense, but in this case it was no help. "It literally just jumped up at me and lunged at me and grabbed my arm. Knocked me backward onto my butt," said De Lashmit. He says the dog backed off for a moment before it came back and grabbed his leg. "That's when I knew it wasn't just going to be a bite. I knew it was an actual attack," said De Lashmit. He kicked at the dog and managed to get to his feet only to have the dog attack again...."

Article Reference: www.kwch.com
America's most dangerous jobs, dog attacks,

60 Years After Theft, Rare 'Inverted Jenny' Stamp Turns Up

Rare 'Inverted Jenny' Stamp Turns Up 60 Years After Theft

From the article: "...There are other known "inverted Jenny" stamps from that sheet of 100, but this newly discovered stamp is from the stolen block of four. "After careful expert examination the rarity was determined to be position 76 in the pane of 100 subjects," the Spink USA auction house said in a press release...."

Article Reference: www.npr.org

35 of Alabama's tiniest rural post offices in towns with names you've never heard

From the article: "...In Alabama, post offices were established in small towns in the early 1800s. The earliest service in a town that still has a post office today was begun in Huntsville in 1811, according to the United States Postal Service...."

Article Reference: www.al.com

First Class Mail stamp price decrease in April

Stamp Prices Set To Drop 2 Cents In April, Putting USPS In Sticky Situation

From the article: "...The U.S. Postal Service is in dire financial straits. If the price of stamps goes down as scheduled in April, it could cost the already hemorrhaging post office $2 billion per year, according to a statement released by USPS. The planned cost reduction from 49 cents to 47..."

Article Reference: www.npr.org

How the Postal Service sold Richmond's Saunders Station PO for a song

From the article: "...(Disposing of properties below their market value is the subject of a scathing report by reporter Peter Byrne, Going Postal: U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein's husband sells post offices to his friends, cheap., which argues that CBRE, the Postal Service's real estate agent, is helping out its friends and clients with deals on postal property. The USPS Office of Inspector General has also done several audits criticizig the USPS-CBRE contract ..."

Article Reference: www.savethepostoffice.com

Police Clear Man Who Left Suspicious Envelopes At Post Office

From the article: "...Hours later, police were able to speak to the man and determined he did not commit a crime..."

Article Reference: miami.cbslocal.com

Suspicious Envelopes Left At USPS Office, Authorities Release Pictures Of Man Responsible

Authorities Release Pix Of Man Who Left Suspicious Envelopes At USPS Office

From the article: "...“I do know that the postal authorities that were dealing with him found his behavior to be suspicious and it did not seem to be a normal transaction going on,” said Postal Inspector Blad Rojo. It turned out both envelopes were addressed to the FBI. “That alerted the staff who then called in the FBI..."

Article Reference: miami.cbslocal.com

Never mix business with pleasure: How a postal lottery pool can cause issues

Lottery office pools gone terribly wrong

From the article: "...The postal worker won $175,000 in an Ohio lottery in 2004. He was taken to court by seven co-workers who claimed he'd cheated them out of winnings using a ticket from the office pool. Kyle was ordered by a judge to split the winnings evenly with the 20 other members of the pool, which comes to about $8,750 each..."

Article Reference: www.clickorlando.com

Historic post office mural lies hidden under paint

From the article: "...according to historians, underneath the beige paint — and maybe more layers than that — is the 12-foot by 6-foot mural painted by Donald Hall Robertson titled “Lumber Region of Mississippi.” A website dedicated to historic preservation in Mississippi, Misspreservation.com, includes an article about the downtown post office’s mural by local historian Mark Davis..."

Article Reference: www.hattiesburgamerican.com
Historic Post Offices,

USPS underuses Web system for reporting improperly prepared mail

From the article: "...The Electronic Mail Improvement Reporting system, or eMIR, was designed to save costs by assigning USPS workers to contact mailers about reported problems and how to fix them, according to the USPS Inspector General's December audit ..."

Article Reference: www.fiercegovernmentit.com
Electronic Mail Improvement Reporting system (eMIR),

Post Office drops the ball in pickup of soldier care packages

Mix-up leads to USPS delay in pickup of soldier care packages

From the article: "..."We had made special arrangements with the Albert Thomas post office to pick up on Saturday around 1:00 all of the boxes that we had labeled and ready to go," says HOME co-founder Ronnie Duhon..."They were unable to do anything to help us out," he said. 'Can't, don't, not authorized, impossible, those were the words they were using.'"

Article Reference: abc13.com

USPS Talks Preventing Package Theft This Christmas

From the article: "...We’ve seen it reported nationally and here in the Metro, people following delivery trucks and then stealing packages from front porches. The United States Postal Service says the best way to avoid that is to keep up with your package and keep in touch with the post office..."

Article Reference: wjtv.com
Mail theft,

Truths About Privatizing Social Security

From the article: "...People earn the right to participate in Social Security by working and contributing. It was never intended to be an investment program. Unlike private retirement plans, its purpose is to provide guaranteed income to seniors, disabled citizens, survivors, and their families. Privatization would severely undermine the system..."

Article Reference: www.apwu.org
Social Security

APWU protects workers with '50-Mile Limit' on Excessing Rule

50-Mile Limit - Minimizing Excessing Memo Extended

From the article: "... provisions of the Minimizing Excessing MOU will be reactivated and will continue until at least May 20, 2018 with one exception which is covered in the Step 4 Settlement (explained below),” reported President Dimondstein. “Excessing beyond 50 miles is so destructive to our members and devastating to their families, removing this concern for at least the next three years is a positive outcome for all APWU members of all Crafts.”..."

Article Reference: www.apwu.org
50-Mile Limit on excessing (APWU),

Mail, packages stolen from postal vehicles

From the article: "...Thieves broke into postal vehicles and stole packages and mail in a recent string of robberies in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. Police said the thieves broke in while the vehicles were parked and unattended..."

Article Reference: abc7chicago.com
Mail theft, postal crime,

Carper Postal Bill Will Cost Retirees

Will You Be Forced To Pay Into Medicare?

From the article: "...The bill requires postal retirees and their eligible family members to enroll in Medicare Parts B and D in order to continue coverage through the Postal Service Health Benefits Program: A Postal Service Medicare eligible annuitant subject to this section may not continue coverage under the Postal Service Health Benefits Program unless the Postal Service Medicare eligible annuitant enrolls in Medicare part A, Medicare part B, and Medicare part D. If a family member of a Postal Service annuitant who is subject to this section is a Medicare eligible individual, the family member may not be covered under the Postal Service Health Benefits Program as a family member of the Postal Service annuitant unless the family member enrolls in Medicare part A, Medicare part B, and Medicare part D. There is concern in the Federal community that if this bill becomes law, it will be expanded to include all Federal retirees."

Article Reference: www.fedsmith.com

Self Plus One is a new enrollment type that will be offered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program

From the article: "...Starting next year, all FEHB plans will offer Self Only, Self Plus One, and a Self and Family coverage. Postal employees and annuitants will be able to select Self Plus One coverage during the 2015 Open Season, which will run from Nov. 9 to Dec. 14..."

Article Reference: www.apwu.org
Self Plus One (FEHB), Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB),

Postal Service proposing to eliminate three clerk positions at Decatur Post Office

U.S. Postal Service proposing to eliminate three clerk positions at Decatur Post Office

From the article: "...Shelton Thomas, state president of the Postal Workers Union, said eliminating three clerk positions will result in long waits for customers. “We’re hoping they’ll take a re-look at this entire process,” he said Tuesday..."

Article Reference: www.decaturdaily.com
"Decatur, Alabama", Alabama,

Postal manager accused of selling cocaine off-duty, authorities say

Postal manager accused of selling cocaine, authorities say

From the article: "...Records show Papageorge, 47, is a Charlotte postal manager and makes more than $90,000 a year. Ervin said Papageorge was not getting drugs through mail. "All the business he was conducting as far as the cocaine was coming from his residence. We never got any information about him doing or dealing cocaine while he was at his work," said Ervin. ..."

Article Reference: www.wsoctv.com
Postal manager, postal crime, Postal drugs,