The federal personnel agency has launched an online system for processing retirement applications, ending a paper-based method that had remained largely unchanged for decades. The rollout is one of the more tangible changes from a larger effort to modernize government operations under the Department of Government Efficiency, a high-profile initiative championed early on by Elon … Read more
FLORIDA – A new Florida law targeting dangerous dog attacks is now in effect, following the 2022 death of a mail carrier who was fatally mauled while on her delivery route. The “Pam Rock Act,” signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, honors 62-year-old Pamela Rock, who died after being attacked by dogs in Putnam County while … Read more
Ruralinfo note: Although this is from the NALC, I still feel it is good information to know.. NALC Headquarters has been made aware of some of our members receiving invoices from USPS regarding non-payment of health benefit premiums. These should not be ignored, and each instance should be individually investigated and grieved if the invoice … Read more
Sen. Mark Warner urged OPM’s acting director to ensure identity protection services continue for the more than 21 million individuals affected by the 2015 breach. A top Senate Intelligence Democrat is warning the Office of Personnel Management against cancelling identity protection services that have been provided to current and former federal employees since their data … Read more
A Christian worker has settled for $1 million his religious bias lawsuit against the US Postal Service over his having to work Sundays, a case that went to all the way to the US Supreme Court. Gerald Groff will receive three separate payments from the agency, according to a copy of the agreement provided by the Department … Read more
Somewhere in America, a retired mail carrier just did a double take, and not because someone put the flag up on the mailbox. Jeep’s getting weird again, and this time it’s by turning a Gladiator into something that looks like it delivers packages and wrangles rattlesnakes. Meet the Kestrel, an up-armored mail truck on stilts, built … Read more
FedEx’s new deal comes nearly six years after its express business dropped Amazon, and about four months since archrival UPS cut its Amazon business in half FedEx Corp. said that, following about a year of talks, it has a new delivery deal with Amazon.com Inc., which comes some five years after the two companies pared … Read more
Legislation Summary H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, instructed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to recommend legislative changes that would decrease deficits by a specified amount over the 2025-2034 period. As part of the reconciliation process, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform … Read more
Efforts to reform or privatize the United States Postal Service have been around for decades. But they’ve gained new traction under the Trump administration, which has openly mused about making big changes at an agency even older than the United States. At first glance, some changes make a modicum of sense. Even as traditional mail … Read more
It is possible the proposed federal benefits cuts will end up in the final language of the reconciliation bill. But there is also a possibility that some, or even all, of the federal benefits provisions will be taken out. During the committee markup last week, Oversight Republicans argued the changes are warranted because federal benefits … Read more
Around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 6, deputies with the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office responded to a two-vehicle crash on Oneida Road in Cashton, just outside the Town of Clinton. Deputies say a pickup truck was driving north when he reportedly looked out his passenger window to wave at a “farmer in the Amish community.” At the … Read more
A new CEO statement from Amazon suggests it could be angling to take over the US Postal Service. It would have been easy to miss. Buried deep within Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s annual letter to company shareholders — a glowing, energetic 5,000-word essay released in April — was a foreshadowing of the company’s keen interest in … Read more
The white Jeep Wrangler sprinting down the gravel road, stirring up dust in the early morning light, bore no markings of the U.S. Postal Service. No lights, no logos. But everyone in this corner of Acadiana knew who was inside: Aleke Kanonu Jr., the only mail carrier in town. Kanonu covers 100 miles a day, … Read more
April 30 (Reuters) – Amazon.com said on Wednesday it would spend more than $4 billion to expand its U.S. rural delivery network by the end of 2026, doubling down on faster shipments to drive up demand from shoppers in small towns and the countryside. The investment will grow its rural delivery network to more than … Read more
Louis DeJoy was among the federal officials who learned a hard lesson about power in the new Trump era. The former CEO of a logistics company and a Trump megadonor, DeJoy was tapped to become Postmaster General in 2020. Hired to retool an agency on the brink of insolvency, he cut billions of dollars in … Read more
A bill addressing dangerous dogs, prompted by a tragic local case, passed unanimously on the state senate floor Monday. The Pam Rock Act is named after a mail carrier who died in 2022 in Putnam County after being mauled by a pack of five dogs. State Sen. Jay Collins is one of the co-sponsors for the bill. He spoke … Read more
Informational Demonstration in Baton Rouge Part of Growing Movement to Hold Elected Officials Accountable and Defend Rural Jobs and Communities This isn’t a hypothetical. Privatization is at our doorstep. If it happens, rural families, seniors, and veterans will pay the price. We’re calling on every Louisiana elected official to stand up.” — Tameka Brown BATON … Read more