Thursday,  May 10, 2012 • Vol. 12--No. 301 • 20 of 32 •  Other Editions

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buttons" for staff.
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SD delegation welcomes new Postal Service proposal
DIRK LAMMERS,Associated Press

• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota's congressional delegation welcomed the U.S. Postal Service's announcement Wednesday that it will seek to keep thousands of rural post offices open with shorter hours.
• Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said the agency has to

be reformed to ensure its long-term viability, but whether the new proposal is aggressive enough to remedy the Postal Service's financial woes remains to be seen. He said the agency cannot continue to lose money every year and put the American taxpayer on the hook.
• "What we're encouraged by is that it looks like they're trying to achieve those goals and those reforms without penalizing or hitting too hard rural areas of the country, which as we all know depend very heavily on access to the Postal Service," Thune said during a conference call.
• Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced Wednesday that the mail agency was backing off its plan to close up to 3,700 low-revenue post offices sometime after May 15. Citing community opposition, the agency said it now will whittle down full-time staff but maintain a part-time post office presence in rural areas with access to retail lobbies and post office boxes.
• Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said the announcement is good news for South Dakota.

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