The Morning Report
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Postal
worker aids woman suffering medical emergency
WCSC-TV (CBS - Charleston, S.C.)
October 29, 2013
[This story has also
appeared in KPLC-TV
(NBC - Lake Charles, La.)]
[A similar version of this story has also
appeared in CBS
Miami, WSVN-TV
(Fox - Miami) and WFMY-TV
(CBS - Greensboro, N.C.)]
COCONUT GROVE, FL
(WSVN/CNN) - A postal worker brought more than the mail. He delivered help to a
woman on his route after hearing her screams.
Jesus Malvarez, 72, is a mailman who knows his route well, but
he's also being called a hero.
"I help the people.
That's it," he said.
Though he's not
interested in taking credit, Malvarez's good deed
last Tuesday is stuff of letter-carrying legend.
"But if Jesus was
not here, I was in trouble, really, because I can't do nothing. The pain was so
terrible," Olga Katona said.
She had the scare of her
life.
"When I heard this
(jiggles mail slot) he was … I started not screaming so hard, but he hear
me," Katona said. "… This door was a little
bit open, and he went inside."
That's when he found the
woman he delivered mail to for more than a decade on her couch, trembling in
pain. She had already called fire rescue once for chest pains.
"At that point they
take a little bit long, so he was calling again," Katona
said.
Dispatchers coached the
postal worker of 20 years as he waited with her until medics arrived. Then it
was back to work.
"I was so glad
somebody was here with me, and it was him, and I thank God because he sent me
him here," she said.
Katona
spent two days in the hospital, but wasn't thought to be having a heart attack.
She feels better now.
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Meeting
set on reducing Milan Post Office hours
October 29, 2013
Ray Finger
A meeting will be held next month to discuss the
potential reduction of retail window hours at the Milan Post Office.
A meeting to discuss the possibility of having Milan’s
window hours reduced from eight hours a day to four hours daily will be held at
5:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Milan United Methodist Church, 28291 Route 220, in
Bradford County, the U.S. Postal Service said.
The schedule is subject to change, and customers should
check with the post office to confirm details, the Postal Service said.
Community meetings began in October 2012 and are expected
to be held through September 2014 regarding the retail window hours at 13,000
rural post offices nationwide.
The Postal Service originally was going to close 3,700
post offices across the country but now seeks to keep existing facilities in
place with modified retail window hours.
Meetings have already been held for Twin Tiers post
offices in Odessa, Wayne, Woodhull, Greenwood, Almond, Beaver Dams, Lodi, Rexville, Nelson, Knoxville, Erin, Hector, Gillett, Rock Stream
, Pine Valley, Cohocton, Van Etten and Cayuga.
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Perform
rural mailbox maintenance before cold sets in
Pineandlakes Echo Journal (Brainerd, Minn.)
October 29, 2013
If you have an old or damaged rural mailbox or one
supported by a non-conforming structure, now is a good time to repair or
replace it before the ground freezes, advises the Crow Wing County Highway
Department.
“Every winter, the highway department receives calls of
snowplows damaging mail boxes,” said Jory Danielson, maintenance supervisor.
“Most often the damage results from mailboxes that are in a state of disrepair
or posts that do not stand up to heavy snow thrown during plowing operations.”
Snowplow operators report any damage that might have
occurred on their route. Danielson said each occurrence of mailbox damage is
investigated. Repair by county personnel is limited to those mailboxes and
supports conforming to standards that were actually hit by the plow equipment.
The highway department reminds residents in Crow Wing
County that:
• Rural mailboxes are to be mounted and placed according
to Minnesota State Statute 8818.0300, U.S. Postal Service guidelines, and
federal highway placement standards.
• It is illegal to place objects on the right-of-way that
may cause a hazard to the public or hinder maintenance operations such as
snowplowing.
• Mailboxes are the property and responsibility of the
resident.
• Mailboxes with damaged or worn latches should be
replaced. Wind and heavy snow can cause a mailbox door to fall open if the
latch is not working properly.
• Ornamental displays and other types of decorations
should not be attached to the mailboxes because these add weight to the
structure and may not leave room for maintenance and plowing.
• Newspaper holders should be attached beside (not under)
the mailbox utilizing the same support.
Residents along county roads may purchase supports for
$25 or request installation for $50 at the highway department office.
A diagram of a standard swing-away type mail box may be
viewed at: http://www.co.crow-wing.mn.us/index.aspx?NID=158.
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Veterans
Beat: Get Ready To Send Packages To Overseas Service
Members
October 30, 2013
Ron Seman
In a few days we will be
reminded by the media folks that deadlines for mailing packages to our
servicemen and women overseas will soon be upon us. So, make a note to observe
these dates. Don't disappoint your loved ones on duty around the globe.
Military Postal Service
Agency officials recommend that parcel post packages for service members
overseas be mailed by Nov. 12 for delivery by the holidays.
Officials at MPSA, an
extension of the U.S. Postal Service, have published a chart at
http://hqdainet.army.mil/mpsa/xmas.htm that shows deadlines for various mailing
options, broken down by the APO/FPO/DPO numbers of various destinations.
USPS is offering a
discount on its largest Priority Mail Flat Rate box at $14.85. The price
includes a $2 per box discount for military mail being sent to APO/FPO/DPO
destinations worldwide, officials said.Priority Mail
Flat Rate boxes are available free at local post offices, or can be ordered
from USPS online. Postage, labels and customs forms also are available online.
I've reminded everyone
many times about the importance of sending letters and packages to members of
our armed forces, especially during the Christmas holidays. You've often seen
the scene in the movies and other media about the looks on the faces of our GIs
who wait as patiently as they can in hopes of hearing their name called during
mail call. Thanks!
Veterans' ID: Cuyahoga
County is now issuing a Veteran's ID card at 1701 East 12th Street, Reserve
Square (lower level). Just walk in. For more information, call 216-443-7010.
Hours of operation: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
To obtain an ID, you
must have a certified DD214 and two forms of ID. They will certify your DD214
on site and there is a $1 charge for the ID.
In Summit County,
Veterans ID cards will be issued at the following dates and locations:
• Springfield Community
Center, 2491 Canfield Road in Akron Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Laurel Lake Retirement
Community, 200 Laurel Lake Dr. in Hudson Nov. 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Cascade Community
Development, 2360 Copley Road, Suite 6 in Copley on Friday, November 15 at 10
a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Stow Munroe Falls
Public Library, 3512 Darrow Road in Stow Dec. 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
If you live in another
area of the state, call your county offices to find out if the service is
offered.
Many counties in Ohio
are now making the service available to veterans.If
you are a veteran or veteran's family member and;
• You have a medical
emergency -- dial 911
• You are in crisis --
dial 800-273-8255
• You are homeless, or
about to become homeless, contact the National Call Center for Homeless
Veterans at 1-877-424-3838
If you are a member of
the public wanting to learn more about the Department of Veterans Affairs,
please visit the agency's web at www.va.gov.
Thanks to all of my
colleagues at Record Publishing for their generous reporting on my selection
for induction into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame, in Columbus, Nov. 7.
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USPS
hosts ‘Grow Your Business’ workshops
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.)
October 29, 2013
ALGONQUIN – The United
States Postal Service invites small businesses to attend a Grow Your Business
Day workshop to help entrepreneurs and proprietors promote their businesses
using direct mail, without the cost of mailing lists or permits.
In this one-hour
presentation, experts will show how to select a campaign message, target an
audience and prepare Every Door Direct mailings. Information will be provided
on how to do it yourself or using mailing house vendors. Attendees also will
learn about USPS’s new Direct Mail Hub, a website that has simple, cost-effective
ways to tap into the marketing advantages of Direct Mail.
The workshop will be
held at 11 a.m. Nov. 6 at the Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Chamber of Commerce,
2114 W. Algonquin Road, Lake in the Hills.
Seating is limited, so
those interested in attending are encouraged to register at eddmrsvpcid@usps.gov.
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Post
Office Plans For More Delivery Routes In Watford City
McKenzie County Farmer
(Watford City, N.D.)
October 30, 2013
Kate Ruggles
The Watford City Post Office has dealt with the expanding
community needs as much as any business or entity. After two public input
meetings, that have led to the hiring of additional staff and more pay and
training for the additional staff, the Post Office is proposing another
community meeting on Oct. 30, at 2 p.m. in the lobby of the Watford City Post
Office.
“As you know, we are working in Watford City to extend
service on our existing delivery routes and to create new routes to accommodate
additional growth,” states Pete Nowacki of the United
States Postal Service.
The Oct. 30 meeting will discuss possible changes to
delivery routes as well as a proposed project of expanding the current Post
Office building in Watford City to accommodate additional delivery routes.
“In the last month we have started delivery to 144 apartments and a number of
individual boxes on the existing routes,” states Nowacki.
“We are also establishing a new route, beginning next week,
that will bring even more street delivery service.”
Nowacki states that the hope is
for the Post Office’s delivery initiatives in Watford City to bring mail closer
to its customers’ residences and businesses. Their goal in doing this is to
make receiving the mail more convenient for customers.
“Delivery in town should mean fewer trips to the Post
Office for customers,” states Nowacki, “which means
fewer wait times in line.”
The topic slated for discussion at Wednesday’s meeting
will be the possibility of expanding the current Postal facility.
According to Nowacki, in the
near future, the Post Office will hold an organizational meeting to discuss
establishing a Consumer Advisory Council in Watford City.
A Consumer Advisory Council works as a forum, where
customers share ideas, concerns and suggestions to improve service. Nowacki states that the Post Office tried to hold an
informal meeting on Oct. 22, but not many were able to attend. The Post Office
will try for a meeting about an advisory council if there seems to be local
interest in the idea.
The meeting regarding postal routes and facility
expansion will take place at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in the lobby of the
Watford City Post Office. Postal Service officials will be on hand to receive
and discuss community members’ opinions, as well as answer questions and share
information.
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Mailman
blamed for lost package
ValleyCentral.com
October 30, 2013
Brett Crandall
The United States is
known to have one of the most reliable mail delivery systems in the world, but
one Brownsville man says he is constantly receiving other people's mail and
blames his local mailman for losing his valuable package.
Eduardo de Leon spent
$350 online for a new rifle scope.
After it arrived in the
mail, he realized it didn't fit.
Eduardo sent it back for
a replacement, weeks later, it still hasn't arrived.
"[The mailman] hand
deliver it to my door, I don't see why he didn't do it a second time,"
Eduardo said of his mailman.
Eduardo works for
Brownsville ISD and due to Hurricane Ingrid, he had that day off.
"I called the
company and said I'm still waiting for my package, and they said it was
delivered on September 16. So I checked with the post office who said it was
delivered,” Eduardo said.
Eduardo's sister Lupita orders plants through the mail all the time and says
she’s never lost a package, but recently says they have received a lot of mail
that doesn't belong to them.
"We've gotten
several envelopes that don’t belong to us and we usually just return them back,
usually from people on the same street but lately we’ve gotten several pieces
of mail that don’t belong on this street at all,” Lupita
said.
While it may have just
been an honest mistake, it still cost Eduardo $350.
“Just like he (the
mailman) left this wrong envelope at my address, maybe he left my package
somewhere else,” Eduardo said.
While the vast majority
of packages do arrive to their destination, the USPS says they are dedicated to
helping their customers find lost packages; just contact your local post
office.
"We certainly
apologize for any packages that do get misplaced and try to work with the
customer to see if we can find that package,” USPS public information officer
Stephen Seewoester said.
The USPS still has a
case file open for Eduardo’s missing package, but because the company he bought
it from didn't insure the package, if it's not found, he will be the one who
loses the money.
To insure you don't lose
any packages this holiday season, Seewoester suggests
tracking your package online with its assigned tracking number, to buy
insurance for high value items, and to mail your packages early.
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Seven
arrested in Portland postal privatization protest
The Oregonian
October 29, 2013
Stuart Tomlinson
[This story has also
appeared in Northwest
Cable News (Seattle)]
Seven people were
arrested during a protest at a downtown Portland postal facility Tuesday after
a security guard clashed with demonstrators.
The protest was being
held in opposition to the outsourcing of postal jobs
Greg Margolis, a
spokesperson for Portland Communities and Postal Workers United, a group of
letter carriers, postal truck drivers, and mail processing clerks, said a dozen
demonstrators entered the lobby of the main downtown postal building in the 700-block of Northwest Hoyt Street shortly before 12:50 p.m.
Protestors were
congregating on the second floor, hoping to speak with a postal administrator
when a postal inspector confronted them, Margolis said. a
scuffle ensued, according to some witnesses.
According to Sgt. Pete
Simpson, spokesman for Portland Police, some Postal Service employees told
police that the protesters were attempting to enter a secure area and were told
to leave when the scuffle broke out between the postal inspector and one of the
protesters.
Demonstrators were
protesting the recent loss of postal jobs to private corporations in Portland
and Salem.
Protestor Donna Daniel
said the group was there to peacefully protest.
"We've written
letters, we've called and were up there before when they promised they would
meet with us," Daniel said. "Then they said no, they would not meet
with us."
Daniel said three men
told them to leave the post office's 3rd floor office: "We said 'No, we're
not going to go. We're waiting for a meeting.''
Portland police
responded to a reported assault at the location at 12:51 p.m.
A large police
presence remained at the facility well into Tuesday afternoon.
Police spent nearly an
hour inside the building trying to negotiate a peace between the protestors and
postal employees. Seven people were arrested for trespassing, including the Rev. John Schwiebert, a planner of the direct action.
Ten activists were
arrested in May of 2012 during a protest at the now-closed University Station
post office. Five people were jailed for civil disobedience at a Salem mail
plant last April. Members of the group were also arrested in July during an
occupation at the Matheson Company in Portland.
It was not immediately
clear whether anyone was injured in the fracas.
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INDUSTRY
FedEx,
Cardinal Health launch joint 3PL partnership to serve health care manufacturers
DC Velocity
October 29, 2013
Mark B. Solomon
The relationship will
combine Memphis-based FedEx's transportation and logistics network with
Cardinal's health care expertise and warehouse and distribution center
infrastructure, the companies said in a joint statement. Cardinal, based in
Dublin, Ohio, operates 39 distribution centers in the United States.
Today's agreement
dramatically broadens the existing relationship between the two companies,
which up until now was limited to FedEx providing transportation services for
Cardinal. The original agreement will remain in force but will be separate from
the compact announced today, according to Rob Doone,
Cardinal's vice president of integrated logistics services.
The new agreement will
target product manufacturers by offering integrated logistics services, Doone said in an interview. Either FedEx or Cardinal will
be the customer's main point of contact, depending on the customer-specific
circumstances, Doone said. The other party will
essentially serve as a subcontractor, Doone added.
Customers "will deal with only one of us," he said.
Cardinal will be able to
leverage FedEx's global shipping and logistics network, which could help to
expand Cardinal's international presence, Doone said.
China is Cardinal's primary market outside the U.S.
"Through this
collaboration, customers will have access to deploy their inventory at over 40
distribution points across the country, access to two proven networks that
reach every U.S. ZIP code, and end-to-end inventory and transportation
visibility," Carl Asmus, vice president, supply
chain solutions & market development, for FedEx Services, a FedEx unit,
said in the statement.
The new service doesn't
directly affect Cardinal's core business of product
distribution, where the company buys the product from a manufacturer and
sells to health care providers such as hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and
doctor's offices. In that scenario, Cardinal takes ownership of the product and
the provider is the customer. Cardinal generates most of its $100 billion in
annual revenue from its traditional distribution operations. Doone added, however, that the new relationship will likely
piggyback on Cardinal's own distribution network if the circumstances warrant.
Cardinal will maintain
its existing relationships with other third-party logistics providers, Doone said. One firm that Cardinal does not have a
relationship with is UPS Inc., the Atlanta-based shipping giant and FedEx's
chief rival. UPS has its own well-established health care logistics operation.
Last October, FedEx
announced it would aggressively pursue vertical industries like health care as
part of a
major repositioning of the company's value proposition. The core of that
strategy is a restructuring of FedEx's air and international unit, FedEx
Express, to make the unit less prominent within the corporate structure. The
restructuring is expected to add about $1.7 billion a year in overall annual
profit by 2016 through a mix of cost cuts and productivity improvements.
Last week, the company
announced a multistep initiative to expand into the market for global biopharma cold chain shipping services. Among those steps
was the opening of a 88,000 square foot "Cold
Chain Center" in Memphis that will connect directly with FedEx's primary
air hub. The link between the two facilities will streamline the movements of
cold-chain shipments through the FedEx Express network, the company said.
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FedEx
adds electric vehicles in Brazil
Memphis Business Journal
October 29, 2013
Ed Arnold
Memphis-based FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) announced it
will add the first all-electric vehicles to is local fleet in Brazil at the
beginning of next year.
The Brazilian market is the seventh to receive this type
of vehicle from FedEx worldwide.
FedEx has been focusing more attention on the rapidly
expanding Brazilian market. Last year, the shipping giant bought Rapidão Cometa as a means to expand its
market presence.
“We are celebrating the introduction of the electric
vehicle in Brazil, which will provide us with an opportunity to assess the
feasibility of this vehicle in this market, and is part of our efforts to find
cleaner, more efficient transportation solutions. It is also an initiative that
can encourage other companies to introduce this type of vehicle into its
fleets,” says Mike Murkowski, senior vice president of
operations for South America for FedEx Express.
The total number of electric vehicles bound for Brazil
was not disclosed.
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FedEx
opens distribution center // PHOTO GALLERY
The News
Herald (Panama City, Fla.)
October 29, 2013
Zack McDonald
[A similar version of
this story has also appeared in WMBB-TV
(ABC - Panama City, Fla.)]
PANAMA CITY — Community
leaders greeted a company being seen as a bellwether for growth in Panama
City’s future as a distribution hub Tuesday afternoon.
FedEx Ground, a leader
in small-package ground delivery, opened a nearly 60,000-square-foot package
distribution facility on the Port Panama City Intermodal Park with an audience
of several prominent officials.
“Twenty years ago we
didn’t know what distribution meant in Panama City — we’re at the end of U.S.
231,” said Rep. Jimmy Patronis. “Now we have this
incredible opportunity where products, goods and services are going to find
their way here and then populate other people’s houses and businesses.”
The initial opening will
bring about 30 direct employees of FedEx and move about 3,800 packages a day,
ramping up to about 6,000 packages closer to the Christmas holidays. One
“feed-line” of conveyors will not be in use initially, but FedEx expects about
11 percent growth each year, according to Ron Lewis, managing director.
“We have capacity for
the next 10-plus years,” Lewis said. “We’re building to be a part of the future
out here.”
Lewis said besides the
30 employees who will work directly at the new facility, FedEx will be hiring
about 40 additional workers at other locations to help service the distribution
plant, including drivers and clerks. Those opportunities brings the job number
closer to 70, and that number, too, is anticipated to increase.
“As we grow so does the
pool of people needed,” Lewis said. “We’ve got a great group of quality people
from Panama City here, and we absolutely focus on retaining talent inside our
company.”
Meanwhile, a fleet of
backhoes and dozers grazed in the distance, clearing and leveling plots of land
adjacent to the FedEx facility on the Intermodal Park’s grounds.
“Having the FedEx brand
is like a huge stamp of approval for this development,” said Wayne Stubbs, port
director. “It’s already bringing a lot of additional attention to our park and
a lot of credibility to our plans to develop more distribution warehouses.”
Stubbs said several
well-known companies have expressed different levels of interest in the site,
though he would not name names. Simply having the FedEx name to throw out
during negotiations gives the park an edge over competing locations, he said.
“When you bring somebody
up here to see a warehouse and they see FedEx Ground next to it, it makes a big
statement,” Stubbs said.
The Bay Line railroad
being in the same neighborhood does not hurt either.
At capacity, the distribution
facility will be able to process about 3,000 packages an hour with the two
closest FedEx centers comparable in size and volume located in Atlanta and
Jacksonville, according to FedEx representatives.
“It brings a different
sense of credibility now that Panama City is going to have when it goes to
negotiate other opportunities of folks who want to consider the area,” Patronis said. “We’re going drop the name of FedEx a lot
when it comes to people considering Bay County as a place to live, work and do
business.”
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UPS
Uses Big Data to Make Routes More Efficient, Save Gas
Bloomberg
October 30, 2013
Mary Schlangenstein
[A similar version of
this story has also appeared in Business
First of Louisville]
BREAKING NEWS
Euro-Area October
Economic Confidence Rises to 97.8 vs. Estimated 97.2
UPS Uses Big Data to
Make Routes More Efficient, Save Gas
United Parcel Service
Inc., the world’s biggest package shipping company, is using data from
customers, drivers and vehicles in a new route guidance system that will save
time and money and reduce fuel burn.
The On-Road Integrated
Optimization and Navigation, or Orion, system is being introduced this year to
10,000 of the Atlanta-based company’s 55,000 U.S. drivers, UPS (UPS) said today. Orion
has been in development nearly 10 years and is the company’s biggest
technological advancement in the same timeframe, UPS said.
UPS has a history of
monitoring and standardizing even the smallest issues, from drivers keeping
keys hooked on a finger instead of in their pockets and making only right
turns, to increase efficiency and reduce costs. The company declined to provide
total savings from technology it has designed and other programs.
“We’re using big data to
drive smarter and the idea is an extension of that to other things,” Chief
Information Officer David Barnes said in an interview. “This is a world where
we have such levels of connectivity the information in almost all cases is coming
faster than the packages are being picked up.”
The latest effort
gathers electronic information from UPS customers, from its fleet of 101,000
delivery vehicles and from handheld devices carried by drivers to craft optimal
routes that reduce distance, time and fuel. Complicating the task are parcels
with specific pickup or delivery times, and the company’s My Choice option that
lets customers use a smartphone app to move or delay deliveries.
Mathematical Model
“We brought that
information together and looked at developing a mathematical model that would
take into account the physics of the driving route, the knowledge of the driver
and information from the packages to bring it all together with optimal
routing,” Barnes said.
The shipping company, which
spends about $1 billion each year in technology to improve operations, won’t
comment on the cost to develop the program beyond saying it was “significant”
or how much it will save when it’s fully deployed in 2017.
Initial tests show a
decline in miles driven on routes using Orion, UPS said. a
reduction of 1 mile per day for every driver can save the company as much as
$50 million a year in fuel, vehicle maintenance and time.
“Early results have been
extremely positive,” Myron Gray, president of U.S. operations, said on an Oct.
25 conference call with analysts. On average, routes using Orion have been
meeting or exceeding expectations, Barnes said.
Reduced Emissions
By the end of this year,
it will have saved UPS more than 1.5 million gallons of fuel and reduced carbon
dioxide emissions by 14,000 metric tons, the company said.
Using a proprietary
system of telematics to gather 200 data points from equipment on each vehicle,
UPS in 2012 was able to eliminate 206 million minutes of idling time and save
more than 1.5 million gallons of fuel.
As part of an effort
begun in 2004, delivery routes were designed to minimize left turns, which
require vehicles to wait at intersections for oncoming traffic to clear before
proceeding.
Orion won’t have updates
of real-time data that would help drivers avoid accidents and road
construction, Barnes said. That ability already is being worked on for the next
generation of the system.
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UPS
Prepares to Deliver 29 Million Parcels in 2013 Holiday Season
WIFR-TV (CBS - Rockford,
Ill.)
October 29, 2013
ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- The
United Parcel Service is bracing for another hectic holiday. The company
expects to deliver 29 million packages before Christmas Day.
That is a 5% increase
from 2012. To sort the parcels that come through Rockford, UPS is currently
hiring at a pace of 90 people a week. Those are seasonal temporary workers and
UPS will hire 600 in all to help with the extra holiday volume. The peak delivery
day for UPS is December 17. The company expects a 10% increase in packages
because of more people taking advantage of Cyber Monday deals. Bad news for
procrastinators, there's 6 fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving Day and
Christmas Day in 2013.
Holiday peak is part of
the UPS culture, part of the business,
something everyone is trained for, says Christine Hand, communications
supervisor of the central region at UPS. We are prepared to deal with it and we
have planners working on it. Its part of the routine
and in some ways people actually look forward to it because we feel like we're
bringing the holidays to folks."
The busiest day this
season at the Rockford hub will be December 23. Workers will handle 200,000
parcels that day.
To apply for a seasonal
position: upsjobs.com
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Commemorative
stamp available at Brush Post Office
Brush News-Tribune
(Brush, Colo.)
October 29, 2013
Lisa Jager
A replica of America’s
most famous stamp printing mistake, and most sought after collector’s stamp, is
available for purchase at the Brush Post Office.
And if you’re incredibly
lucky you could purchase what might turn out to be another find for stamp
collectors.
The story behind the
Inverted Jenny stamp began in 1918 when the Post Office printed a 24-cent
airmail stamp with a Curtiss Jenny biplane to commemorate America’s first airmail
flight.
Brush Postmaster Kevin
Fergus said a printing error occurred and the biplane was printed upside down.
The Post Office caught the error, however, one sheet of 100 stamps of the
upside down planes was sold. A stamp collector actually bought the sheet and
eventually the stamps were sold individually.
The Inverted Jenny
became a rare find for stamp collectors, and for that matter, any type of
collector.
These days the Inverted
Jenny sells for six figures. Fergus said one of the stamps that recently came
up for auction sold for $625,000. Another sold for more $900,000.
Fergus said the Postal
Service decided to reprint the famous stamp in its upside down form in 2013 as
a $2 stamp, sold in a package of six for $12. However, he said “there’s a catch”
with the reprint.
“What they ended up
doing is issuing 100 sheets with the plane right side up,” Fergus said.
To create additional
interest, the Postal Service is selling the new Inverted Jenny in sealed
packages. If a customer purchases the upright plane stamp a note from the
postal service will be enclosed alerting them to its purchase.
“When you come in and
buy them you don’t know if you’re buying the right side up plane or Inverted
Jenny,” Fergus said.
Right side up or upside
down, Fergus said the “stamps will be good,” adding that if you are lucky
enough to purchase right side up stamps “you wouldn’t want to use those.”
The $2 stamp could be
used for priority mail or international mail, he said, adding, they haven’t
sold too many of the Inverted Jenny stamps, which was issued on September 13,
as he doesn’t think many people know about it.
Fergus said he did
confirm with the Postal Service in Denver that the 100 sheets of Upright Jenny
stamps could be anywhere, including Brush.
Another reason the Postal
Service issued the Inverted Jenny in the fall is that October is Stamp
Collecting Month. Fergus said, “Over the years people have gotten away from
stamp collecting,” especially among those under the Baby Boomer age.
He explained the
Inverted Jenny could be a great way for a budding stamp collected to get
started and encourages people to come by the Post Office and purchase it.
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USPS
Continues Sale Of Breast Cancer Awareness Stamps
WLNS-TV (Lansing, Mich)
October 30, 2013
October is breast cancer
awareness month and while the month is nearly over, the fight against breast
cancer is still going strong at the United States Post Office.
Officials there want to
remind people that sheets of breast cancer awareness stamps are still
available.
"We're just asking
people to come out and support the sale of this stamp because somebody has been
touched, a family member, a close friend, a co-worker, everybody has been
impacted by this disease and we're doing our part to help fight the fight and
to find a cure," said Sabrina Todd, a USPS spokeswoman.
Official say that over
$77 million has been raised for breast cancer research with the stamps. They
will remain on sale until December of 2015.
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USPS
needs to move into 21st century
Billings Gazette
October 30, 2013
Dick Bush
David Vaughn's Oct. 23
guest opinion advocating essentially no change for the USPS is shortsighted and
as president of the Montana Rural Letter Carriers Association, he is not a
disinterested party. He is correct that we should not burden the organization
with an unreasonable pension burden, but we must also update this function. We
have hired professional managers in the post office, asked them for a
recommendation that was delivered before the last election. Not only have we
not let them implement it, we can't get our politicians to voice an opinion,
other than it needs more study.
Tell me, who really
needs to get mail six days a week, why should we subsidize bulk mail rates for
businesses and nonprofits to advertise to consumers and donors, when the items
we order are delivered by commercial carriers? As I travel the back roads of
Montana and Wyoming, I see more Fed Ex and UPS trucks than I do USPS trucks.
Vaughn compares the USPS
to libraries and public schools. Our libraries have evolved with e-books,
Internet access, video selections and interlibrary loans. Schools have
computers, Wi-Fi and tele-teaching. Let the post
office have flexibility to determine routes, rates, product mix and pricing
just like its competitors. That is the only way it will stay relevant. The post
office is not being singled out as Vaughn suggests. It is an aging institution
that needs to move in to the 21st century
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San Jose Mercury News
October 29, 2013
Horace Hinshaw
I worked for the Postal
Service for 42 years, retiring in 2006. As Marian and I were raising our
family, we took vacations just like most people. But, probably not like most
people, we often ended up at a post office in whatever city we were visiting.
It became a standard
joke that 'dad's got to have his picture taken in front of the post office'.
Since I was the photographer of the family and was always filming our son and daughter
it was a rarity that I was in a lot of vacation pictures. So, yes our scrapbook
is filled with photos of me standing in front of post offices, courtesy of
Marian's photography.
I enjoy learning about
the history of post offices. If you haven't visited the Postal Museum in
Washington D.C., I encourage you to do soon on your next visit. It's a
fascinating experience of traveling back through the ages of the postal system.
Recently, I learned that
our own post office on Manor Drive is celebrating its 50th anniversary this
week. I suggested to our postmaster that the office should hold an open house
for the community. So, on Friday, the public is welcomed to visit the post
office and see behind-the-scene operation that gets your mail to you six days a
week. Following a presentation by postal officials at 11 a.m. the tours will be
available from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It was in November of
1963 that the main post office at 50 West Manor Drive opened. That was, in
fact, 69 years after the first mail service came to Pacifica. Until 1963
Pacifica was served by three small post offices, one located in Sharp Park,
another in Rockaway Beach and the third in Pedro Valley, which was later housed
in the Linda Mar Shopping Center. All the offices originated as stops on the
old Ocean Shore railroad early in the century.
According to documents
obtained by the late Pete Cacicedo, who served as
Pacifica Postmaster from 1983 to 1987, the community's first post office was on
a site near the Sanchez Adobe, north of San Pedro Creek and south of the old
San Pedro Road which ran from Colma to Spanish Town
in Half Moon Bay. That was in 1894.
Cacicedo,
who died in 2012, researched the history of post offices in Pacifica and shared
a copy of his writings with me. I dragged it out of the closest recently and
found the history fascinating.
In the late 1800s, mail
service was provided by a contractor (known as Star Route) via wagon and
dispatched from the Colma Station Post Office. In
1901, the post office was discontinued and residents of the community were
required to go to Colma for their mail.
In 1907, service was
restored and the community post office was established as Salada
Beach. In 1935, the name was changed to Sharp Park.
Being that the Pacifica
Main Post Office was going to celebrate its 50th anniversary, I sought out
people who might have worked at the post office in the early 1960s.
Unfortunately, my search only got a couple of nibbles.
However, Fred Schoenduby, formerly of the Pacifica Lumber Yard, heard my
request and offered his background. Now retired and living in Paradise, CA, he
worked at the Linda Mar station from 1960 to 1962.
"I was a
clerk/carrier and had the good luck to work with some damn fine people. My most
favorite person was Juanita Lombardi (station superintendent)," said Schoenduby. "My route was delivering mail at Rockaway
and Pedro Point."
"In 1963, I gave up
the post office for Rainbo Bakery located in Rockaway
Beach and worked for them until they folded as door-to-door deliveries were
coming to an end," he added.
Andy Gabin
went even further back than 1963. She worked at the Sharp Park post office in
1948 and 1949. At that time the post office was located on Francisco Blvd
between Carmel and Paloma Avenues. The office was later moved to the corner of
Francisco Blvd and Santa Maria to make way for the building of the coast
highway.
"Working at the
post office was my first job, and I loved it," said Gabin,
who was a student at Jefferson High School and worked during Christmas vacation
and summer vacation. "I worked with my friend, Rusty Johnson. We had a
ball."
"I could only touch
third and fourth class mail. We were not allowed to pickup
first or second class mail," said Gabin.
"We stuffed the mail boxes because everybody had a mail box; there was no
home delivery."
"The post office
was a social place, saying hello to everyone who came for their mail. We had
several hundred mail boxes even then," added Gabin.
"During the regular employee's lunch period I was allowed to handle money
and sell stamps. These transactions took place with me behind a steel-barred
window, rather like the old West."
"Opening the new
post office in Pacific Manor was a big deal," stated Gabin,
who has stayed active in the community for the past 70 years. In 2010, she was
honored by the American Association of University Women for her service to the
community.
On April 1, 1959, with
the operations of Pedro Valley and Rockaway Beach consolidated into the Sharp
Park office, the name of the post office was officially changed to Pacifica in
order to correspond with the community name change.
Pacifica Post Office
would now serve the entire coastal community with a staff of 11 people handling
the mail under the administration of Postmaster William Wolfe.
The final move of post
office operations came in 1963 when the Post Office was relocated to its
present site at 50 West Manor Drive. The Linda Mar Station would later relocate
to its present Crespi Drive site. On November 3,
1963, the Pacifica Main Post Office held a city-wide celebration of the opening
of the new building. This Friday, the main post office will try to re-create
that same atmosphere with the open house.
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First Living American?
October 2013
In August I wrote on
this subject in our sister publication, Mekeel’s
& STAMPS, but did not have a chance to present here my case for the
powers at be to actually honor a living American. So here is an edited-down
version of that M&S column:
It has been more than a
year since the U.S. Postal Service announced that living people are now
eligible to be honored on postage stamps. And that was the last we heard on the
subject.
Could it be that they
have someone in mind? Or was this a bureaucratic response on the part of the
USPS and the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee to give lip service to the
concept without actually implementing it.
Most likely, they do
intend to use the living option, but just need the right subject—and I
emphasize “right” because you know they want to be sure that whoever is chosen
passes everyone’s test as being deserving—and that with so many special
interest groups out there, satisfying everyone is going to be impossible.
But at least we can hope
that there will not be any protestors at the First Day of Issue ceremony for
‘the Chosen One’.
Or that THE ONE will not
be an ‘O. J. Simpson type’. (If you will recall, opponents of the Living
honoree rule liked to use O. J. as an example of what might happen if a living
person were selected, and then fell from grace. While there never was a chance
that Simpson would have been the subject of an individual stamp, it was a
useful worst-case scenario defense.
On the other hand, there
does have to be a legitimate concern that whoever is chosen is not only an
exemplary figure now, but also will remain so.
[After suggesting some
approaches, I concluded]
The main point is that
someone should be chosen. I can’t imagine that there isn’t at least one
deserving living person who has earned stamp recognition. (Certainly, some of
those recent subjects who are deceased, while having some merit, are being
chosen when more deserving living people are being passed over.)
So, get off the fence,
CSAC, and pick SOMEONE.
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