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From: <hier...@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, Dec 10, 2007 at 10:20 AM
Subject: {{ruralc...@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 31, V. 1, Dec. 10, 2007 (List 14)
To: Hier...@comcast.net
Cc: Ruralc...@rootsweb.com
NEW JERSEY POSTAL AND RURAL NEWS
Issue 31, Vol. 1 December 10, 2007 Monday Hier...@comcast.net
Issues of the New Jersey Postal and NRLCA News are now posted and available on the following website: http://groups.google.com/group/rlc_onliners_pub?hl=en
DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with USPS or the NRLCA and as such any information that I pass on is unofficial and constitutes advice and/or suggestions for your consideration. You may be advised to double-check with official sources before depending on its use and while you are doing that ask why is it that someone without official contacts has this information and is passing it on and its not coming from official sources.
Note: These email messages are being sent to the entire NJ State Board and almost all of the senior stewards in New Jersey. There should be no concerns about this being done secretly.
**If you know any rural craft employee who would like to receive this dissemination, please send email address, and office of employment to Hier...@comcast.net.
**If you do not wish to receive these disseminations, please notify Hier...@comcast.net and request removal from dissemination list.
**Please address all comments, submissions, stories to Hier...@comcast.net and be sure to mark it as confidential or note if it is OK to share.
___________________________________________________________________________
I want to express my gratitude for all the comments, submissions and feeback and the termendous interest in this newsletter. We have passed 200 subscribers who have asked for this newsletter and only two have asked to not receive the newsletter. PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH ALL RURAL CARRIER CRAFT EMPLOYEES! _____________________________________________________________________
Mailman Grinch's Brooklyn home decorated with Christmas cheer
New York, New York-He may be a Grinch of a mailman, but he's not short on holiday cheer. The Brooklyn postal worker suspected of swiping hundreds of greetings cards and the money inside them lives in a Queens home with letter-perfect Christmas decorations.
Festive red bows and oversized pine branches festoon the house shared by Michael Olivio, 37, arrested this week following a sting by federal agents, and his sister Roseann. "Roseann usually does a beautiful job. And yes, he did help," said a neighbor, who did not want to give her name.
Two small Frosty the Snowmen and pine cones flank the blue-gray home's front door, while a wreath and ornaments adorn an archway leading to its backyard. The very merry house is by far the most decked-out on the Richmond Hill block "every year," said another neighbor, who also did not want to give his name. Olivio's holiday spirit might come as a surprise to folks along his Bath Beach mail route, whose greeting cards started disappearing around Valentine's Day.
Dressed in a white shirt and sweats, a goateed Olivio declined to speak to a reporter while playing with a bloodhound in the home's front yard yesterday. His enraged sister insisted the charges were a mistake - and claimed Olivio was actually a friendly letter carrier.
"Go to his route. Talk to the old ladies, how he bought them stamps," she said. "He's innocent until proven guilty."
Neighbors were also taken aback by the allegations. "I'm surprised," said the male neighbor. "He's a hardworking man. They're a hardworking family." Investigators suspect otherwise.
Following complaints of missing cards in the 11214 zip code, the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General hatched a plan to catch the culprit. They created a "test" greeting card that didn't arrive at one customer's home along Olivio's route, then placed an electronic transmitter inside another decoy on Wednesday.
The bogus card was still in his car when he returned to the office at 2:45 p.m. When confronted a short time later by investigators, Olivio fessed up, according to a court complaint. Thirty-eight unopened greeting cards were found alongside the decoy, and two more bags with about 100 opened cards were found in the car's trunk.
Investigators aren't sure how much Olivio collected from the pilfered letters, but they say he admitted he started stealing mail this year and picked up the pace during the holidays. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2007/12/09/2007-12-09_mailman_grinchs_brooklyn_home_decorated_-2.html
FORMER U.S. POSTAL SERVICE EMPLOYEES CHARGED WITH STEALING MAIL
DALLAS, TEXAS — A federal grand jury in Dallas has charged James R. Hamilton, a former lead sales and service associate with the U.S. Postal Service, with stealing mail matter, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.
The one-count indictment, returned on December 4, 2007, charges Hamilton, 55, of Garland, Texas, with one count of theft of mail matter by officer or employee. According to the indictment, Hamilton stole a $200 Wal-Mart gift card from an insured mail package in February 2007. An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty, If convicted however, Hamilton faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and mandatory restitution.
In a similar, but unrelated case, Salvador Gonzalez, a former letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, pled guilty on December 4, 2007, to a one-count Information charging theft of mail matter by an officer or employee. On October 4, 2006, Gonzalez, 35, of Dallas, was stopped for speeding while on his way to work. At that time, he had approximately 2,000 pieces of delayed, undelivered mail, several hundred pieces of riled mail, and some of the contents of the rifled mail, in his possession. The rifled mail included numerous greeting cards, 50 blank checks, 23 checks payable to various people, a social security card, and 53 credit cards, none of which belonged to Gonzalez. Gonzalez admitted that he used some of the credit cards from the rifled mail and removed at least $500 in cash from the greeting cards. Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade on February 27, 2008. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison, a $2!
50,000
fine and mandatory restitution to the victims.
U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Service - Office of Inspector General. The cases are being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy J. Mitchell. http://pages.citebite.com/l7v8u1cbepn
Pedestrian killed crossing Florence Drive
SHELTON, CONNECTICUT - In the aftermath of 75-year-old Everett Fournier's death some have raised concerns about the enforcement of speeding regulations and whether it's safe to locate mailboxes across the street from the houses they belong to. Police said Fournier, of 26 Florence Drive, was struck and killed at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday by a 1998 Chrysler Cirrus driven by neighbor Bruce Bednarsky, 56, of 40 Florence Drive. It appears Fournier was hit while returning from picking up his mail on the opposite side of the street, police said.
Fournier was taken to Bridgeport Hospital by Echo Hose Ambulance Corps and pronounced dead by emergency room staff. No arrest has been made and the accident is still under investigation by the Serious Injury/Fatal Accident Investigation team.
Shelton resident Joan Flannery said she is disappointed by the police department's failure to properly enforce speeding regulations as well as by the absence of safety features like speed bumps and good lighting around town. Flannery said she recalls several cases of pedestrians struck and killed by cars, including the death of Mayor Mark Lauretti's father in 2000 and that of Planning and Zoning Chairman Joseph Pagliaro in 2004.
Flannery said both she and her daughter have had close calls of their own. She was almost hit walking her dogs on Partridge Lane and her daughter was nearly struck coming back from getting the mail. Since it grows darker earlier during the winter months, Flannery said retrieving mail from across the street becomes especially dangerous.
According to Sgt. Mark Ptak of the Shelton Police Department Traffic Unit, there have been several incidents in past years involving injury or death to skateboarders, joggers, or pedestrians struck by vehicles.
In addition to the accidents Flannery remembered, Ptak said a pedestrian was killed crossing over Long Hill Avenue in 2003. Another was hit on Ripton Road as he was returning from his mailbox. Though the second victim didn't die, he was seriously injured and part of his leg had to be amputated, Ptak said.
A third accident in 2004 involved an elderly resident struck as he returned from retrieving his mail across the street. There hadn't been any fatalities in the three years before Fournier's death, however.
Ptak said that in some of the cases arrests were made while in others factors such as the driver's inability to see the pedestrian due to darkness, lack of street lighting, or dark clothing were considered mitigating factors.
It's too early into the investigation of the recent accident to say what factors were involved in causing it, Ptak said. Time of the year, location, and the victim's clothing can all play a role, he said.
Ptak said that while "good old-fashioned enforcement" is the answer to many problems involving speeding and other traffic violations, it's difficult to sustain. "It doesn't last," he said. "We can go out and enforce a week at a time but no sooner do we leave than people realize we're not there and they go right back."
This is not a problem unique to a particular neighborhood or even to Shelton, but one that plagues police departments nationwide, Ptak said. He added that the department has been making an effort to increase enforcement of laws regulating seat belt use, driving under the influence, and aggressive driving.
There are advantages and disadvantages to various safety measures that have been proposed. For instance, speed bumps won't be introduced since they inhibit emergency vehicles from traveling as fast as they need to, Ptak said.
Currently, fines for traveling fast range from $103 to $191. A different infraction, speeding is punishable by fines of $123 to $211. Fines increase considerably if a driver is found speeding in a school or a construction zone.
Mayor Lauretti said he has also heard many complaints about speeding and the role it plays in these sorts of accidents. He said people are often distracted when they drive and inadvertently may go too fast.
Lauretti said the issue is sensitive for him given his own father's death. He called the recent accident "sad and unfortunate" and said an effort must be made to change driving behavior, in part through additional enforcement of speeding and traffic regulations.
"It don't know where it all ends," he said.
The problem of mailbox placement may be an even more difficult one to solve.
Maureen Marion, public affairs specialist for the post office, said that letter carriers follow a designated route and may travel in only one direction on certain roads. Traffic patterns and population concentrations are taken into account in the creation of a route. Putting mailboxes on the same side of the road is one way to maximize efficient delivery, she said.
Marion said changing the location of a mailbox is a "site-specific" decision that residents must make in consultation with their local post office. If residents are willing to receive their mail later in the day, for instance, it may be possible to change their mailbox's location.
"We are constantly looking into how to tweak deliveries," she said. "It's a challenge for the postal service. We have so much to deliver to more spots than ever, but to keep that at a cost that makes sense for everyone to use the system, we have to look at what's most efficient." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19099508&BRD=1648&PAG=461&dept_id=11784&rfi=6
Postal Service sacks Santa's elves
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY-Some of Santa's elves are being laid off by the Louisville Post Office. Citing concerns about potential scams, the local post office is ending a decades-long tradition of sharing the needy "Dear Santa" letters it receives with the public. In the past, citizen volunteers would answer some of those letters by purchasing presents and other holiday goods for the writers.
It's all part of an even older tradition that will continue: Since 1912, Louisville Postal Service employees have been sending standard reply letters to Dear Santa letter that it receives through 794 post offices in this city, as well as Northern Kentucky and Southern Indiana.
Around 1940, workers noticed that many letters were coming from the needy, and they started trying to help, eventually allowing non-employees to participate. While volunteers from the post office will continue to reply to the letters from children and help as many needy families as they can, non-employees can no longer visit the office and pick up a letter.
The issue is that the post office isn't set up to confirm if the letter writers are truly needy, or whether they're also getting help from other agencies, said Don Beierle, the post office's manager of customer relations.
"There's no way for us to know these are valid or legit," he said. "We have instances where (volunteers have) gone in the family's house and (the family is) sitting there watching their high-definition TV, and they don't need help," he said.
Also, there's a potential for someone with criminal intent -- even a child predator -- to pick up a letter, which often includes names and addresses, Beierle said. Although he said he doesn't know of any instances of that happening, he said he has no way of knowing. "The times have changed so much we just can't do business as usual any more," Beierle said.
So far this year, 1,500 letters addressed to Santa have arrived at the office on Gardiner Lane. Most are from children, and are getting the standard reply letter. The majority of the 105 that so far have been classified as "needy" are written by adults, according to post office officials, who say they will try to help as many as they can.
Last year, postal employees had 136 letters deemed "needy" -- they helped 16 of those families, while the public helped another 24. Sandra Mattingly of Fern Creek said she understands the post office concerns but is saddened that the program has to change. "I just hate that so many good people end up suffering for what a few bad ones will do."
She said she and her husband Alan bought goods for an elderly woman on fixed income last year. "It was such a special and sweet visit," she said of meeting the woman on Christmas Eve. "I actually had tears when we left. We were hugging each other."
Beierle said that in the past, participants who came to the Gardiner Lane post office to pick up a letter or two would sign a confidentiality agreement and provide a copy of their photo ID. But officials weren't sure that was sufficient, or that additional paperwork would be enough to ensure safety.
Connie Dulworth, who works in the post office's consumer affairs office, opens each Dear Santa letter, singling out the ones that appear to be from needy families. "You ought to see some of these letters; they are so funny and cute and fun and sad," said Dulworth, who has been opening the letters for 12 years. "Some of the letters you get, especially old folks on fixed incomes, things like that, they will break your heart."
She said her department is buying coats, blankets and other goods for four elderly people who wrote letters to Santa, while also shipping supplies to a troop of 30 soldiers in Iraq. Another department at the Gardiner Lane office is buying for a family with six boys. "The ones that really, really seem needy -- people jump on those at the post office," she said.
So far this year, Dulworth said she's only had to turn away three people who showed up wanting to help someone in need, but most people usually don't come looking for a letter until the second week of December. "It's hard to tell them because it used to be such a good thing," she said. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20071207&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=712080302&Template=printart
USPS seeking comments on proposed service standards
The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) announced this week that it is seeking public comment on the US Postal Service’s proposed service standards for market-dominant products.
Comments are due back to the PRC, an independent regulatory agency, by January 7. All feedback will be posted to the PRC’s Web site. People will then be able to reply to those comments until January 21.
These new standards are mandated by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. This act requires the USPS to “establish modern service standards” and set up a system to measure how well those goals are met, said Dave Partenheimer, a USPS Spokesperson.
“The proposed service standards are performance benchmarks that set guidelines for how long it should take to deliver different types of mail from origin to destination,” Partenheimer said. “The standards will enable us to continue providing our customers with reliable, consistent and transparent service.”
The current standards, which have been in place since the Postal Service commenced operations in 1971, do not take into account modern conditions like congestion around cities or road surface transportation issues.
In consultation with the PRC , the USPS must establish a set of modern service standards for market-dominant products by December 20. Market-dominant products include First-Class Mail, Periodicals, Standard Mail , Single-Piece Parcel Post , Media Mail , Bound Printed Matter , Library Mail , Special Services and Single-Piece International.
By statue, the service standards must be measured by an “objective external” performance measurement system, unless the PRC approves the use of an internal system.
The USPS has proposed the use of a “hybrid” measurement system, utilizing both internal and external systems, according to Nanci Langley, a PRC spokesperson. The proposal also includes information on how and with what frequency it will report service performance data.
The USPS has proposed using the External First-Class measurement system for single-piece First-Class Mail, and Delivery Confirmation for parcel-shaped mail. Presort letters and flats will be measured with a hybrid system relying on Intelligent Mail Barcode scans and independent, third-party companies.
Starting in 2008, the USPS has proposed using existing measurement systems, like the External First-Class measurement system and Delivery Confirmation, to report its service performance data. However, starting in January of 2009, the USPS anticipates it will be able to use Intelligent Mail Barcode scans to report service performance data for all products, except for within county periodicals.
The USPS has already sent out a notice for public comment on its proposed service standards on October 17. Comments were due back on November 16. Although the USPS plans to issue its final standards by December 19, which will take public feedback into account, no implementation date has been set, Partenheimer said. http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/direct-mail/43189.html
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Phone: 703-684-5545
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From: <hier...@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, Dec 10, 2007 at 10:20 AM
Subject: {{ruralc...@rootsweb.com}} NJ Postal and Rural News, Issue 31, V. 1, Dec. 10, 2007 (List 14)
To: Hier...@comcast.net
Cc: Ruralc...@rootsweb.com
NEW JERSEY POSTAL AND RURAL NEWS
Issue 31, Vol. 1 December 10, 2007 Monday Hier...@comcast.net
Issues of the New Jersey Postal and NRLCA News are now posted and available on the following website: http://groups.google.com/group/rlc_onliners_pub?hl=en
DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with USPS or the NRLCA and as such any information that I pass on is unofficial and constitutes advice and/or suggestions for your consideration. You may be advised to double-check with official sources before depending on its use and while you are doing that ask why is it that someone without official contacts has this information and is passing it on and its not coming from official sources.
Note: These email messages are being sent to the entire NJ State Board and almost all of the senior stewards in New Jersey. There should be no concerns about this being done secretly.
**If you know any rural craft employee who would like to receive this dissemination, please send email address, and office of employment to Hier...@comcast.net.
**If you do not wish to receive these disseminations, please notify Hier...@comcast.net and request removal from dissemination list.
**Please address all comments, submissions, stories to Hier...@comcast.net and be sure to mark it as confidential or note if it is OK to share.
___________________________________________________________________________
I want to express my gratitude for all the comments, submissions and feeback and the termendous interest in this newsletter. We have passed 200 subscribers who have asked for this newsletter and only two have asked to not receive the newsletter. PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH ALL RURAL CARRIER CRAFT EMPLOYEES! _____________________________________________________________________
Mailman Grinch's Brooklyn home decorated with Christmas cheer
New York, New York-He may be a Grinch of a mailman, but he's not short on holiday cheer. The Brooklyn postal worker suspected of swiping hundreds of greetings cards and the money inside them lives in a Queens home with letter-perfect Christmas decorations.
Festive red bows and oversized pine branches festoon the house shared by Michael Olivio, 37, arrested this week following a sting by federal agents, and his sister Roseann. "Roseann usually does a beautiful job. And yes, he did help," said a neighbor, who did not want to give her name.
Two small Frosty the Snowmen and pine cones flank the blue-gray home's front door, while a wreath and ornaments adorn an archway leading to its backyard. The very merry house is by far the most decked-out on the Richmond Hill block "every year," said another neighbor, who also did not want to give his name. Olivio's holiday spirit might come as a surprise to folks along his Bath Beach mail route, whose greeting cards started disappearing around Valentine's Day.
Dressed in a white shirt and sweats, a goateed Olivio declined to speak to a reporter while playing with a bloodhound in the home's front yard yesterday. His enraged sister insisted the charges were a mistake - and claimed Olivio was actually a friendly letter carrier.
"Go to his route. Talk to the old ladies, how he bought them stamps," she said. "He's innocent until proven guilty."
Neighbors were also taken aback by the allegations. "I'm surprised," said the male neighbor. "He's a hardworking man. They're a hardworking family." Investigators suspect otherwise.
Following complaints of missing cards in the 11214 zip code, the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General hatched a plan to catch the culprit. They created a "test" greeting card that didn't arrive at one customer's home along Olivio's route, then placed an electronic transmitter inside another decoy on Wednesday.
The bogus card was still in his car when he returned to the office at 2:45 p.m. When confronted a short time later by investigators, Olivio fessed up, according to a court complaint. Thirty-eight unopened greeting cards were found alongside the decoy, and two more bags with about 100 opened cards were found in the car's trunk.
Investigators aren't sure how much Olivio collected from the pilfered letters, but they say he admitted he started stealing mail this year and picked up the pace during the holidays. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2007/12/09/2007-12-09_mailman_grinchs_brooklyn_home_decorated_-2.html
FORMER U.S. POSTAL SERVICE EMPLOYEES CHARGED WITH STEALING MAIL
DALLAS, TEXAS — A federal grand jury in Dallas has charged James R. Hamilton, a former lead sales and service associate with the U.S. Postal Service, with stealing mail matter, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.
The one-count indictment, returned on December 4, 2007, charges Hamilton, 55, of Garland, Texas, with one count of theft of mail matter by officer or employee. According to the indictment, Hamilton stole a $200 Wal-Mart gift card from an insured mail package in February 2007. An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty, If convicted however, Hamilton faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and mandatory restitution.
In a similar, but unrelated case, Salvador Gonzalez, a former letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, pled guilty on December 4, 2007, to a one-count Information charging theft of mail matter by an officer or employee. On October 4, 2006, Gonzalez, 35, of Dallas, was stopped for speeding while on his way to work. At that time, he had approximately 2,000 pieces of delayed, undelivered mail, several hundred pieces of riled mail, and some of the contents of the rifled mail, in his possession. The rifled mail included numerous greeting cards, 50 blank checks, 23 checks payable to various people, a social security card, and 53 credit cards, none of which belonged to Gonzalez. Gonzalez admitted that he used some of the credit cards from the rifled mail and removed at least $500 in cash from the greeting cards. Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade on February 27, 2008. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison, a $2!
50,000
fine and mandatory restitution to the victims.
U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Service - Office of Inspector General. The cases are being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy J. Mitchell. http://pages.citebite.com/l7v8u1cbepn
Pedestrian killed crossing Florence Drive
SHELTON, CONNECTICUT - In the aftermath of 75-year-old Everett Fournier's death some have raised concerns about the enforcement of speeding regulations and whether it's safe to locate mailboxes across the street from the houses they belong to. Police said Fournier, of 26 Florence Drive, was struck and killed at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday by a 1998 Chrysler Cirrus driven by neighbor Bruce Bednarsky, 56, of 40 Florence Drive. It appears Fournier was hit while returning from picking up his mail on the opposite side of the street, police said.
Fournier was taken to Bridgeport Hospital by Echo Hose Ambulance Corps and pronounced dead by emergency room staff. No arrest has been made and the accident is still under investigation by the Serious Injury/Fatal Accident Investigation team.
Shelton resident Joan Flannery said she is disappointed by the police department's failure to properly enforce speeding regulations as well as by the absence of safety features like speed bumps and good lighting around town. Flannery said she recalls several cases of pedestrians struck and killed by cars, including the death of Mayor Mark Lauretti's father in 2000 and that of Planning and Zoning Chairman Joseph Pagliaro in 2004.
Flannery said both she and her daughter have had close calls of their own. She was almost hit walking her dogs on Partridge Lane and her daughter was nearly struck coming back from getting the mail. Since it grows darker earlier during the winter months, Flannery said retrieving mail from across the street becomes especially dangerous.
According to Sgt. Mark Ptak of the Shelton Police Department Traffic Unit, there have been several incidents in past years involving injury or death to skateboarders, joggers, or pedestrians struck by vehicles.
In addition to the accidents Flannery remembered, Ptak said a pedestrian was killed crossing over Long Hill Avenue in 2003. Another was hit on Ripton Road as he was returning from his mailbox. Though the second victim didn't die, he was seriously injured and part of his leg had to be amputated, Ptak said.
A third accident in 2004 involved an elderly resident struck as he returned from retrieving his mail across the street. There hadn't been any fatalities in the three years before Fournier's death, however.
Ptak said that in some of the cases arrests were made while in others factors such as the driver's inability to see the pedestrian due to darkness, lack of street lighting, or dark clothing were considered mitigating factors.
It's too early into the investigation of the recent accident to say what factors were involved in causing it, Ptak said. Time of the year, location, and the victim's clothing can all play a role, he said.
Ptak said that while "good old-fashioned enforcement" is the answer to many problems involving speeding and other traffic violations, it's difficult to sustain. "It doesn't last," he said. "We can go out and enforce a week at a time but no sooner do we leave than people realize we're not there and they go right back."
This is not a problem unique to a particular neighborhood or even to Shelton, but one that plagues police departments nationwide, Ptak said. He added that the department has been making an effort to increase enforcement of laws regulating seat belt use, driving under the influence, and aggressive driving.
There are advantages and disadvantages to various safety measures that have been proposed. For instance, speed bumps won't be introduced since they inhibit emergency vehicles from traveling as fast as they need to, Ptak said.
Currently, fines for traveling fast range from $103 to $191. A different infraction, speeding is punishable by fines of $123 to $211. Fines increase considerably if a driver is found speeding in a school or a construction zone.
Mayor Lauretti said he has also heard many complaints about speeding and the role it plays in these sorts of accidents. He said people are often distracted when they drive and inadvertently may go too fast.
Lauretti said the issue is sensitive for him given his own father's death. He called the recent accident "sad and unfortunate" and said an effort must be made to change driving behavior, in part through additional enforcement of speeding and traffic regulations.
"It don't know where it all ends," he said.
The problem of mailbox placement may be an even more difficult one to solve.
Maureen Marion, public affairs specialist for the post office, said that letter carriers follow a designated route and may travel in only one direction on certain roads. Traffic patterns and population concentrations are taken into account in the creation of a route. Putting mailboxes on the same side of the road is one way to maximize efficient delivery, she said.
Marion said changing the location of a mailbox is a "site-specific" decision that residents must make in consultation with their local post office. If residents are willing to receive their mail later in the day, for instance, it may be possible to change their mailbox's location.
"We are constantly looking into how to tweak deliveries," she said. "It's a challenge for the postal service. We have so much to deliver to more spots than ever, but to keep that at a cost that makes sense for everyone to use the system, we have to look at what's most efficient." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19099508&BRD=1648&PAG=461&dept_id=11784&rfi=6
Postal Service sacks Santa's elves
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY-Some of Santa's elves are being laid off by the Louisville Post Office. Citing concerns about potential scams, the local post office is ending a decades-long tradition of sharing the needy "Dear Santa" letters it receives with the public. In the past, citizen volunteers would answer some of those letters by purchasing presents and other holiday goods for the writers.
It's all part of an even older tradition that will continue: Since 1912, Louisville Postal Service employees have been sending standard reply letters to Dear Santa letter that it receives through 794 post offices in this city, as well as Northern Kentucky and Southern Indiana.
Around 1940, workers noticed that many letters were coming from the needy, and they started trying to help, eventually allowing non-employees to participate. While volunteers from the post office will continue to reply to the letters from children and help as many needy families as they can, non-employees can no longer visit the office and pick up a letter.
The issue is that the post office isn't set up to confirm if the letter writers are truly needy, or whether they're also getting help from other agencies, said Don Beierle, the post office's manager of customer relations.
"There's no way for us to know these are valid or legit," he said. "We have instances where (volunteers have) gone in the family's house and (the family is) sitting there watching their high-definition TV, and they don't need help," he said.
Also, there's a potential for someone with criminal intent -- even a child predator -- to pick up a letter, which often includes names and addresses, Beierle said. Although he said he doesn't know of any instances of that happening, he said he has no way of knowing. "The times have changed so much we just can't do business as usual any more," Beierle said.
So far this year, 1,500 letters addressed to Santa have arrived at the office on Gardiner Lane. Most are from children, and are getting the standard reply letter. The majority of the 105 that so far have been classified as "needy" are written by adults, according to post office officials, who say they will try to help as many as they can.
Last year, postal employees had 136 letters deemed "needy" -- they helped 16 of those families, while the public helped another 24. Sandra Mattingly of Fern Creek said she understands the post office concerns but is saddened that the program has to change. "I just hate that so many good people end up suffering for what a few bad ones will do."
She said she and her husband Alan bought goods for an elderly woman on fixed income last year. "It was such a special and sweet visit," she said of meeting the woman on Christmas Eve. "I actually had tears when we left. We were hugging each other."
Beierle said that in the past, participants who came to the Gardiner Lane post office to pick up a letter or two would sign a confidentiality agreement and provide a copy of their photo ID. But officials weren't sure that was sufficient, or that additional paperwork would be enough to ensure safety.
Connie Dulworth, who works in the post office's consumer affairs office, opens each Dear Santa letter, singling out the ones that appear to be from needy families. "You ought to see some of these letters; they are so funny and cute and fun and sad," said Dulworth, who has been opening the letters for 12 years. "Some of the letters you get, especially old folks on fixed incomes, things like that, they will break your heart."
She said her department is buying coats, blankets and other goods for four elderly people who wrote letters to Santa, while also shipping supplies to a troop of 30 soldiers in Iraq. Another department at the Gardiner Lane office is buying for a family with six boys. "The ones that really, really seem needy -- people jump on those at the post office," she said.
So far this year, Dulworth said she's only had to turn away three people who showed up wanting to help someone in need, but most people usually don't come looking for a letter until the second week of December. "It's hard to tell them because it used to be such a good thing," she said. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20071207&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=712080302&Template=printart
USPS seeking comments on proposed service standards
The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) announced this week that it is seeking public comment on the US Postal Service’s proposed service standards for market-dominant products.
Comments are due back to the PRC, an independent regulatory agency, by January 7. All feedback will be posted to the PRC’s Web site. People will then be able to reply to those comments until January 21.
These new standards are mandated by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. This act requires the USPS to “establish modern service standards” and set up a system to measure how well those goals are met, said Dave Partenheimer, a USPS Spokesperson.
“The proposed service standards are performance benchmarks that set guidelines for how long it should take to deliver different types of mail from origin to destination,” Partenheimer said. “The standards will enable us to continue providing our customers with reliable, consistent and transparent service.”
The current standards, which have been in place since the Postal Service commenced operations in 1971, do not take into account modern conditions like congestion around cities or road surface transportation issues.
In consultation with the PRC , the USPS must establish a set of modern service standards for market-dominant products by December 20. Market-dominant products include First-Class Mail, Periodicals, Standard Mail , Single-Piece Parcel Post , Media Mail , Bound Printed Matter , Library Mail , Special Services and Single-Piece International.
By statue, the service standards must be measured by an “objective external” performance measurement system, unless the PRC approves the use of an internal system.
The USPS has proposed the use of a “hybrid” measurement system, utilizing both internal and external systems, according to Nanci Langley, a PRC spokesperson. The proposal also includes information on how and with what frequency it will report service performance data.
The USPS has proposed using the External First-Class measurement system for single-piece First-Class Mail, and Delivery Confirmation for parcel-shaped mail. Presort letters and flats will be measured with a hybrid system relying on Intelligent Mail Barcode scans and independent, third-party companies.
Starting in 2008, the USPS has proposed using existing measurement systems, like the External First-Class measurement system and Delivery Confirmation, to report its service performance data. However, starting in January of 2009, the USPS anticipates it will be able to use Intelligent Mail Barcode scans to report service performance data for all products, except for within county periodicals.
The USPS has already sent out a notice for public comment on its proposed service standards on October 17. Comments were due back on November 16. Although the USPS plans to issue its final standards by December 19, which will take public feedback into account, no implementation date has been set, Partenheimer said. http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/direct-mail/43189.html
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