BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Someone is stealing mail from the place one might least expect it, the post office.

Thieves broke into several post office boxes, as well as parcel boxes, at the Stockdale branch of the United States Postal Service. One business owner who did not want to be identified said the incident is disturbing, because he receives bank statements, credit card statements and other business documents by mail and is afraid any stolen information could lead to problems.

People who use a post office box said they do it mainly for security.

“I use a P.O. box because in my neighborhood, the kids who don’t steal the mail put ice cream and frogs and stuff like that in my mail box,” said teacher Shanon Fairres.

via Mail being stolen from P.O. boxes | Local & Regional News | Bakersfield Now – News, Weather and Sports.

Here we go again- on Tuesday we told you about USA Today’s fuzzy understanding of postal finances. Today it’s the Wall Street Journal’s turn:

The agency says it will default on its 2012 retiree health payment as well—also roughly $5.5 billion, due Sept. 30—if there is no legislative action by then.

Most everyone agrees the Postal Service needs an overhaul. It had a loss of $3.2 billion in the second quarter of this fiscal year; it is to report third-quarter results on Aug. 9.

Amazing, isn’t it? USPS lost $3.2 billion in one quarter, and it owes another $5.5 billion that it doesn’t have!

Well, no… What the Journal doesn’t seem to grasp (or more likely, chooses to ignore), is that almost all of that quarterly “loss” is because of the $5.5 billion payment due on August 1, not in addition to it.

The USPS enters a charge on its books each month for a portion of the 2011 and 2012 trust fund payments due August 1 and October 1, respectively, even though it has said all along that it has no intention of making those payments. That accounts for $9.3 billion in losses so far this year- money that has never, and will never, actually change hands.

Even more bizarre is the fact that the monthly charges for the 2011 trust fund payment, the one due August 1, represent the same dollars that the USPS showed as trust fund charges on last year’s monthly financial reports. That’s right- $5.5 billion of the losses the politicians and pundits are clucking about this year are the same dollars they clucked about last year, and they’re also the same $5.5 billion dollars due August 1. Talk about stretching a dollar!

via Post Office Might Miss Retirees' Payment – WSJ.com.

DHL has further strengthened its intercontinental air network with the addition of a direct flight connecting the US with key growth market Australia, improving transit times by up to a day.

Launching in July 2012, the new twice-weekly flight will start at DHL’s America’s hub in Cincinnati and travel to Sydney, Australia’s major commercial center. En route, the B747-400 freighter with a payload of up to 113 tons, will make a refueling stop in Honolulu, Hawaii, the first destination ever served by DHL Express, back in 1969.

The connection will significantly increase DHL capacity between the Americas and Oceania, supporting volume growth from Canada and the US into Australia and New Zealand that is expected to exceed 20% in 2012. It will improve services and reliability into all East Coast destinations in Australia, particularly the key markets of Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. The scheduled service will alternate between the Cincinnati-Sydney and Cincinnati-Sydney-Melbourne routes. Integrated road feeds operating from Sydney to Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne ensure next day morning deliveries in these cities off each flight.

The freighter will return to Cincinnati via Hong Kong, further strengthening the high service performance and platform for growth that the DHL network offers for customers shipping from Asia to the Americas.

More benefits for customers

The rationale behind the new flight is both operational and economic. Aside from the benefits that the freighter, operated by DHL partner airline Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, is expected to bring in terms of transit time improvements and increased reliability, the investment will target a key trade lane for express shipments out of the US, reinforcing DHL’s leading position as the international specialists. The US accounted for 12.5% of all imports into Australia in 2011, making it the second largest source of imports overall after China¹. Trade on the US-Australia lane enjoyed a year-on-year growth rate of 8% in 2011, with high value goods such as engineering equipment and vehicle parts among the top categories of imports².

Charlie Dobbie, Executive Vice President, Global Network Operations, DHL Express said, "As International Specialists, we recognize that our customers are interested above all in what a new flight means for their shipments every day. This new flight, operated with modern, environmentally-friendly freighters, will bring a number of clear benefits for customers: it will guarantee uplift on a route that is already in high demand, while reducing delivery times on shipments picked up in the US and destined for key destinations in Australia. Additionally it strengthens uplift capability on the Asia to Americas trade lanes as the flights return to the US. Perhaps most importantly, it demonstrates to our customers once again that DHL understands their business and is focused on supporting their trading activities and growth."

The latest freighter brings the total number of B747-400 aircraft operated by Polar Air Cargo Worldwide on behalf of DHL to nine.

via Deutsche Post DHL | Jul 19, 2012: DHL Launches US-Australia Flight.

A DEDICATED Deeside subpostmaster has joined the Queen in celebrating 60 years of service.

John-Pierce Margarson OBE, who has run Queensferry Post Office since 1952, received a long service award last week – at the age of 88.“It’s been quite a surprise – but a lovely one – to receive this award,” he said.

“I am very flattered to be recognised for serving the community. I am very lucky, as many of my customers have become my friends over the years.”

John was destined for a career in the postal service, being born above Sandycroft Post Office in 1924, where his father had been the postmaster for 25 years.

Read more: Queensferry postmaster celebrates 60 years of service – Flintshire Chronicle.