CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that a Mingo County woman pleaded guilty in federal court to misappropriating postal funds. Kristen K. Maynard, 29, of Delbarton, Mingo County, W.Va., admitted that over a six-month period in 2011, she took more than $25,000 in cash from the United States Post Office in Alkol, Lincoln County, W.Va. Maynard was an officer in charge at the Alkol Post Office at the time she committed the federal felony.

Maynard admitted that during the embezzlement scheme, she took cash that the office received from the sales of stamps and postal money orders and used it to pay personal bills and gambling debts. Maynard further admitted that she manipulated the books and records in the office to cover up her thefts.

Maynard faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when she is sentenced on October 1, 2012 by United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.

The United States Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Larry Ellis is in charge of the prosecution.

via USDOJ: US Attorney’s Office – Southern District of West Virginia.

Postmasters and mail handlers have until Monday, July 2, 2012, at 8:30 p.m. EDT to take advantage of their special incentive offers.

The effective date of separation for Postmasters accepting their offer is July 31, 2012. Two alternate separation dates — Aug. 31 and Sept. 30 — also are available to the Postal Service to help prevent operational disruptions. Postmasters will be informed if they are assigned an alternate separation date.

Mail handlers who accept their offer will separate from the Postal Service Aug. 31, 2012.

Details of how to accept the offers, as well as FAQs and retirement videos, are available at the Workforce Connection website on LiteBlue.

via USPS News Link Story – Special incentive offer deadline.

From the New Haven US Attorney’s office:

Korey Streater, 25, of New Haven, pleaded guilty Thursday before United States District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to one count of robbery of the mail, money, or other property of the United States.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on Jan. 22, 2011, Streater brandished a fake handgun and robbed the United States Postal Service Contract Station “E-Z Mail & More,” at 920 Foxon Road in East Haven, of some $1,413 and several U.S. Mail items.

On January 25, 2011, law enforcement officers executed a state search warrant at the Streater’s residence and recovered some of the stolen mail items as well as the weapon he brandished during the robbery.

Judge Bryant has scheduled sentencing for Oct. 3. Streater faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

Postal supervisors and managers will see their take home pay shrink under the terms of the postal service’s 2011-2015 pay package. Managers will receive no pay increase in the first two years, and the USPS says it will review “economic conditions” before deciding on an increase in the third year. At the same time, employees will have to pay a bigger share of their health insurance premiums. Newly hired managers will also earn less annual and sick leave than current employees.

The pay and benefit cuts do not apply to PCES executives or Officers. Read the rest of this entry »

The Postal Service’s 2012 Mobile Commerce and Personalization Promotion starts July 1 and runs through Aug. 31.

Business mailers will receive an upfront 2-percent postage discount on Standard Mail and First-Class Mail letters, flats, and cards (presort and automation only) that include a two-dimensional (2-D) barcode or print/mobile technology which can be read or scanned by a mobile device.

This is the first time meter mailers are eligible to participate in an upfront postage discount promotion. In order to qualify, mailers must affix a postage amount as specified by the Postal Service during this promotion. Click here for the various incentive postage amounts for metered mail.

Qualifying mailpieces that bear postage with the promotional amounts should not be mistaken for, or returned as, “shortpaid.”

For more information, visit the Mobile Commerce and Personalization Promotion site.

via USPS News Link Story – Ready, set, go!.

Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission (Commission) today denied a Motion from the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) requesting an Emergency Order preventing the Postal Service from implementing changes in service standards until after the Commission has issued a final ruling on an APWU Complaint filed on June 12, 2012.

The underlying APWU Complaint is still before the Commission, and the Postal Service response to the Complaint is due by July 2, 2012.

In its Motion, APWU asked that the Commission issue its ruling on or before June 30, 2012. The Commission weighed the merits of APWU’s arguments and is issuing its decision on the Motion promptly, before that date.

The Commission Order states that “APWU has failed to demonstrate that it has a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits, that it will suffer irreparable harm, or that the balance of the equities in this matter weighs in its favor.” The Commission Order concludes that “the potential harm to the Postal Service from a preliminary injunction outweighs the potential harm to mailers from not issuing a preliminary injunction.”

For more on the decision, check out “The Hail Mary is an incomplete: The PRC denies the APWU motion to stop the change in service standards” at Save the Post Office.

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