Postal Updates

August 17, 2017 05:00 PM

Coast-to-coast eclipse postmarks include ‘landfall’ marking in Oregon

The total solar eclipse sweeping across the United States Aug. 21 is the theme for numerous pictorial cancels in this week’s listings.

August 14, 2017 09:45 AM

Continuing decline in first-class mail volume highlights ‘strong headwinds’ facing USPS

Double-digit increases in package mail volume have continued, but the executives noted that it’s more costly to move than letter mail and doesn’t contribute as much to the Postal Service’s overall expenses as first-class and marketing mail.

August 04, 2017 09:00 AM

USPS addresses filthy facilities, UN continues World Heritage series: Week’s Most Read

Also this week, the U.S. Postal Service’s controversial ‘postage reselling’ program received some serious scrutiny.

August 01, 2017 08:45 AM

USPS ‘postage reselling’ program scrutinized

An investigative firm in Washington, D.C., has called into question some of the price discounting behind the Postal Service’s ‘postage reselling’ program.

July 31, 2017 09:00 AM

Rochester postmark for baseball fan and stamp honoree Robert Panara

The Rochester Red Wings baseball team paid tribute July 23 to Robert Panara, the grandfather of deaf studies, who worked in Rochester, N.Y.

July 30, 2017 08:00 AM

Post offices need ‘upkeep and repair,’ says USPS inspector general

The Office of Inspector General said it was looking at the conditions in mail-processing plants and would be reporting on conditions in those facilities in the future.

July 23, 2017 07:00 PM

Post office counter display magnet shows preliminary design for Hot Rods stamp

For some reason, the USPS chose to show a preliminary design on the magnet rather than the stamp design as issued.

July 22, 2017 07:00 PM

Eclipse postmarks will be visible long after the total solar eclipse has passed

The Jefferson City post office is planning to participate with a booth set up outside the main post office downtown. Along with selling stamps, the post office is offering an Aug. 21 postmark showing the sun in eclipse and the dome of the Missouri state capitol.

July 20, 2017 08:30 AM

USPS letter carriers violated federal law while working for Clinton presidential campaign

The accusation, made at a July 19 Senate hearing, drew an immediate apology from Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan. She called the Postal Service’s violations of the Hatch Act “unintentional” and promised to end the abuses.

July 14, 2017 01:00 PM

Thoreau Farm postmark celebrates author’s July 12 birth bicentenary

With Sam Weber’s oil-on-panel portrait, the commemorative stamp is a tribute to the author of Walden and Civil Disobedience, and it celebrates the 200th anniversary of Thoreau’s birth.

July 13, 2017 02:30 PM

USPS to raise rates on pair of international mail services

An organization composed of international mailers is warning its members to expect “a significant mid-August price increase” on two popular products offered by the U.S. Postal Service.

June 30, 2017 09:46 AM

Questions continue to swirl around USPS press sheets, more Jenny uprights found: Week’s Most Read

Also this week, we learned that the ATP and APS will join forces for a 2018 summer show.

June 27, 2017 03:30 PM

Another postal reform effort fades away

The pending retirement of House Oversight chairman Jason Chaffetz appears to signal the end to his efforts to enact postal reform in Congress.

June 25, 2017 08:50 AM

USPS press sheets: more questions than answers

After uncut press sheets without die cuts were abruptly pulled from sale by the U.S. Postal Service, press sheets with die cuts remained available.

June 16, 2017 05:00 PM

Nitro, W.Va., dedicates memorial park as part of centennial celebration

The city’s unusual name comes from the term nitrocellulose: Nitro was created in 1917 as a manufacturing complex to provide gunpowder for the United States War Department during World War I.

June 16, 2017 08:00 AM

Is ‘Voice Stamp’ a real option? Plus a look inside a significant cover: Week’s Most Read

Also this week, we find some balance and inner peace with a fresh batch of yoga-themed stamps from the United Nations.

June 11, 2017 09:00 AM

Troy, Ohio, serves up tasty strawberry red postmark for its popular festival

The strawberry red pictorial postmark was put into service June 3 to mark the opening of the 2017 Troy Strawberry Festival in Troy, Ohio.

June 09, 2017 10:30 AM

‘Voice Stamp’: experimental USPS project could spell the demise of postage stamps

The U.S. Postal Service described the device as a “prototype” that “combines the power of the Post Office with the convenience of the iconic blue USPS collection boxes.”

June 02, 2017 03:30 PM

Troy, Ohio, serves up red postmark to celebrate town’s annual strawberry festival

A pictorial postmark in red celebrates the June 3 opening of the annual Troy Strawberry Festival in Troy, Ohio.

June 02, 2017 12:00 AM

Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 federal budget targets postal union benefits

President Trump wants to roll back some gains the postal unions have made in the almost five decades since President Nixon gave them bargaining rights.
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