Thursday, February 7, 2013
U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly writes letter to Postmaster General, asking for legal justification.
Stopping the mail on Saturdays? Not so fast, say two members of the Northern Virginia congressional delegation. Northern Virginia's U.S. Rep Gerald Connolly (D-11th), who represents Vienna, along with U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-8th), expressed concern Wednesday about the U.S. Postal Service's announcement that it plans to suspend delivery of first-class mail service on Saturdays beginning in August. “I have great concerns about eliminating Saturday mail delivery," Moran wrote in an email to Patch. "The Postal Service is grappling with major forces outside of its control: an economy increasingly relying on email and the Internet for communication, and a Congress that refuses to address the redundant pension pre-funding requirement." …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Vienna Post Office and others will end first-class Saturday mail delivery by Aug. 1. How will this affect you?
Calling the six-days-per-week mail delivery business model “no longer sustainable,” the U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday morning it will eliminate Saturday delivery of mail by Aug. 1. The plan to change delivery from six days a week to five would only affect first-class mail. Packages, mail-order medicines, priority and express mail would still be delivered on Saturdays, and local post offices — including the Vienna office on Lawyers Road — will remain open for business Saturdays. The U.S. Postal Service said in a statement continued economic struggles and the increasing use of the Internet for communications and bill paying by consumers led to the decision. The U.S. Postal Service is also the only federal agency required to pre-…
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Mail carriers will collect non-perishable food for local food pantries.
Letter carriers across the country will be looking to pick up more than just mail this weekend. Saturday is the official day of the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, an initiative of the U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers. Residents are being encouraged to leave at least one bag of non-perishable food at their mailboxes or wherever their mail is normally left. The carrier will pick up the food and take it to a local food bank. More than 49 million people in America struggle to feed themselves and their families and often end up going hungry, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One in five, or 16 million of those 49 million people are children. The postal service and the association of letter …
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
U.S. Postal Service officials say three mail carriers were injured in dog attacks this month.
Dog owners who allow their pets to roam free when the weather's warmer have caused major problems for some mail carriers. In Northern Virginia, three letter carriers were injured by dog bites in the last two weeks, said Patrick Murphy, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service. “We need help from our customers to keep our carriers safe,” U.S. Postal Service District Manager Michael Furey said. “We work hard to make the work place safe for employees. When our carriers are on the street, their work place is the homes and businesses of the customers we serve." Seven cases of dogs biting postal workers were reported this year. Forty-nine cases were reported since March 2011. according to the U.S. Postal Service. Three of them were recorded in …
