Saturday, March 25, 2023

Play

Georgia prepares for the end of COVID-19 emergency; comment period open for experimental nuclear tech in eastern ID; Mexican gray wolf population rebounds in Arizona.

Play

Lawmakers grill the CEO of Tik Tok over national security concerns, the House Pro-Choice Caucus aims to repeal the Helms Act and allow U.S. foreign aid to support abortion care, and attempts to ban or restrict books hit a record high as groups take aim at LBGTQ+ titles.

Play

Finding childcare is a struggle everywhere, prompting North Carolina's Transylvania County to try a new approach. Maine is slowly building-out broadband access, but disagreements remain over whether local versus national companies should get the contracts, and specialty apps like "Farmers Dating" help those in small communities connect online.

"Postal Road Warrior" Delivers to Rural Oregon

Play

Monday, August 6, 2012   

PORTLAND, Ore. - One month and hundreds of miles is a long route for a letter carrier. But Jamie Partridge is a man on a mission: to help small towns, if they want it, to fight the closure of their local post offices or, in larger cities, their mail processing plants. After 27 years delivering mail in Portland, he's come out of retirement to work with the Rural Organizing Project.

An estimated one-third of Oregon post offices will be affected by the current plans to close or reduce services. Partridge agrees with some in Congress who say the U.S. Postal Service is being strapped by an unnecessary requirement to pre-fund 75 years of retirees' health benefits. And he says there are plenty of ways the Post Office could expand its services.

"Post Offices could offer one-stop government services – you know, renew your driver's license – now it does passports and money orders, but it could do much more than that. It could be a notary service; it could be a check-cashing service; it could be all kinds of things, particularly in low-income and rural neighborhoods."

He points out that postmasters in 124 Oregon communities are also slated to lose their jobs, starting this fall, and he thinks it's time for their customers to speak up.

"Losing their full-time postmaster is a big thing in a small town, because a postmaster is a source of information about what's happening in town, and the Post Office is a place where people meet and greet and, you know, the postmaster tends to be a leader in these small towns."

Today, Partridge is taking his message to a national convention of mail handlers in Portland. Then he'll be back on the road in towns from Adams to Blodgett to Idanha, for the rest of the month.


get more stories like this via email

Nevada is the only state with what is known as a summary eviction process. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

The Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, tenants, lawmakers and community leaders gathered at a news conference outside the Capitol in Carson City this …


Social Issues

Family caregivers provide valuable work to Washington state - even if they don't get paid. A new report puts a value to the unpaid work they do…

Social Issues

Advocates for Michigan's LGBTQ community are calling lawmakers' move to expand the state's civil rights law to include them a victory that's "been a l…


Illinois advocacy groups say they are educating policymakers on the benefits of hospital screening as a solution to prevent medical debt, both for low-income patients and the hospital. (volgariver/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

A new report finds thousands of low-income or uninsured people in Illinois face medical debt that is depleting their savings and, in some cases…

Health and Wellness

The Iowa Senate has approved a measure allowing some medical facilities to be licensed as "emergency hospitals." This would be especially important in…

The Idaho National Laboratory is located near Idaho Falls. (MichaelVi/Adobe Stock)

Environment

The U.S. Department of Energy has opened a short public-comment window on an experimental nuclear technology in Idaho. The agency has released a …

Social Issues

School nutrition providers told Ohio lawmakers this week they're tired of hounding parents for school lunch money when their child's account accrues d…

Health and Wellness

A Georgia health advocacy group is concerned about people's health outcomes as the COVID-19 public health emergency is set to expire on May 11…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021