The U.S. Postal Service is seeking a rate increase this summer that includes hiking the cost of a first-class stamp from 73 cents to 78 cents.

Many residents across Houston, from Stafford to Kingwood, have faced a troubling issue: they get little help after vandals and thieves damage cluster mailboxes in their subdivisions. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) informs them that they and their homeowners associations (HOAs) must cover the costs of repairs or replacements.

Armed robberies of mail carriers, involving stolen mail and master mail keys, have cost customers hundreds of thousands of dollars. KPRC Investigative reporter Amy Davis has repeatedly asked the U.S. Postal Service what it is doing to protect mail.

Betty White is making her mark on the nation's snail mail.

The U.S. Postal Service is facing an uncertain future after the resignation this week of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the suggestion by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk of possibly privatizing the mail service.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has resigned after nearly five years in the position.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has agreed to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the U.S. Postal Service budget.

President Donald Trump says he may put the U.S. Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department in what would amount to an executive branch takeover of the independent agency.

The head of the U.S. Postal Service, Louis DeJoy, says he intends to step down.

The federal civil service that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are dismantling has been a way for people of color, in particular Black Americans, to get a toehold into the middle class for decades, as other occupations were closed off because of racial discrimination or patronage.

President Donald Trump has paused the imposition of tariffs on small-value packages arriving from China.

The U.S. Postal Service is reversing course a day after placing a ban on all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong.

The U.S. Postal Service says all post offices will be closed on Thursday in honor of former President Jimmy Carter.

The National Weather Service confirms that an EF-1 tornado briefly touched down in Southwest Houston during a rash of tornadoes across Texas on Thursday.

After a deadly shooting at a U.S. Postal Service facility in Missouri City, Texas, the USPS’s strict policy on firearms on its properties has drawn renewed public interest.

The U.S. Postal Service says nearly 100% of completed mail ballots were returned to election offices within a week during this year’s presidential contest.

Voters in two counties in Washington state and Oregon have not received mail-in ballots with less than a week to go before the election, election officials say.

The U.S. Postal Service says it has reopened all of its mail processing centers in areas of Florida and North Carolina hit by recent hurricanes.

Some 200,000 letter carriers have reached a tentative contract deal with the U.S. Postal Service that includes backdated pay raises and a promise to provide workers with air-conditioned trucks.

North Carolina election officials say they will do everything in their power to ensure that voters in the crucial presidential swing state will be able to cast their ballots despite the devastation of Hurricane Helene only about a month before the November election.

The U.S. Postal Service’s leader is expressing frustration with ongoing criticism of how it handles mail ballots.

As the U.S. Postal Service faces delivery slowdowns, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, has proposed legislation to impose stricter oversight on who leads the agency.

The Postal Service’s new delivery vehicles aren’t going to win a beauty contest.

Election officials across the U.S. are warning that problems with the nation’s mail delivery system threaten to disenfranchise voters in the upcoming presidential election.

The U.S. Postal Service is ending discounts that shipping consolidators such as UPS and DHL use to get packages to the nation’s doorsteps, in a move meant to help the Postal Service slow losses but that could see the higher costs passed on to consumers.

The post office problems in Houston strike again.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says the U.S. Postal Service is ready for a flood of election mail.

The U.S. Postal Service hopes to save $3 billion a year through a series of changes reflecting greater reliance on streamlined regional networks.

A new forever postage stamp bearing the portrait of former U.S. First Lady Betty Ford was unveiled at the White House Wednesday.

The countdown is on. Less than 14 hours until the packages are scheduled to arrive at their destinations. Will they make it on time?

The U.S. Postal Service said master keys are often sought by criminals to steal mail and commit other financial crimes. This is exactly what happened to several woman in an Upper Kirby neighborhood.

Carriers like the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and United Parcel Service have capacity to meet projected demand this holiday season, which is cheery news for shoppers and shippers alike.

Mail theft is a huge problem both in the Houston area and across the country. Thieves bust into cluster mailboxes or blue collection boxes to take what they want. Or they target postal carriers and steal mail keys. The U.S. Postal Service is working to step up security measures in Houston and across the country to help protect your mail.

Many communities and subdivisions in and around Houston use cluster mailboxes. The clusters with multiple mail slots make it easy for people to get their mail from one location but when the boxes need repair or replacing mail customers say they're getting the runaround. They called KPRC 2 Investigates for help.

The U.S. Postal Service says law enforcement officials have charged more than 600 people with postal crimes since launching a crackdown in May.

To assist customers with their preparations for the upcoming busy holiday shopping and shipping season, the U.S. Postal Service provided a 2023 holiday shipping and mailing deadlines list.

The U.S. Postal Service is rolling out its latest special edition postage stamps, paying homage to a Hispanic tradition that has evolved over centuries to become a universal symbol of celebration.

The USPS issued its annual dog bite ranking ahead of National Dog Bite Awareness Week, June 4-10.

A Ponca tribe chief whose landmark lawsuit in 1879 established that a Native American is a person under the law was honored with the unveiling of a U.S. Postal Service stamp that features his portrait.

The U.S. Postal Service is replacing thousands of antiquated keys used by postal carriers and installing thousands of high-security collection boxes to stop a surge in robberies and mail thefts.

A River Oaks woman is pointing fingers at the U.S. Postal Service after she says two of her debit cards went missing in a span of several weeks.

Postal carriers have more worries than snow, rain or the gloom of night keeping them from their appointed rounds.

For years skateboarding was branded as a hobby for rebels or stoners in city streets, schoolyards and back alleys.

The U.S. Postal Service is buying 9,250 Ford Motor Co. electric vans and 14,000 charging stations as part of a move to switch its fleet to electric vehicles.

The U.S. Postal Service says it delivered more than 54 million ballots during the midterm elections, with nearly 99% of ballots delivered to election officials within three days.

The Postal Service says it will sharply increase the number of electric-powered delivery trucks in its fleet and will go all-electric for new purchases starting in 2026.

The late congressman and civil rights giant John Lewis will be honored with a postage stamp in 2023.

A federal judge has set limits on one of the Postal Service’s cost-cutting practices that contributed to a slowdown of mail deliveries ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

President Joe Biden often promises to lead by example by moving quickly to convert the U.S. government fleet to zero-emission electric vehicles.

The U.S. Postal Service is celebrating the release of a new series of stamps honoring the traditional Mexican genre of mariachi.

President Joe Biden has signed into law plans for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service.

A government watchdog says the U.S. Postal Service's environmental evaluation used for purchases of next-generation delivery vehicles relied on some false assumptions.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says the Justice Department has closed without criminal charges an investigation into political fundraising activity at his former business.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are seeking an investigation into a U.S. Postal Service plan to replace its aging mail trucks with mostly gasoline-powered vehicles.

Congress has passed legislation that would shore up the U.S. Postal Service.

The U.S. Postal Service says it has cleared the final regulatory hurdle to placing orders for next-generation mail vehicles.

The Biden administration has quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially launch.

A 35-year-old Houston woman has admitted to four counts of theft of public money, a federal official announced Monday.

A 45-year-old Houston man has been sentenced to life in prison after admitting to murdering a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in 2013, Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery announced Monday.

A legendary news pioneer will be honored on a new stamp next year.

Postal workers are back on the job at a sorting facility in Tennessee, hours after a co-worker turned it into a crime scene.

The remnants of Hurricane Ida blew through the mid-Atlantic states with at least two tornadoes, heavy winds and drenching rains.

The U.S. Postal Service will implement its second postage rate increase of the year starting this weekend.

An Alaska Native artist has created a new stamp for the U.S. Postal Service.

Residents in the Brenwood subdivision said their cluster mailbox has been vandalized and broken for two months.

The U.S. Postal Service’s plans to raise postage rates could present one more damaging blow to community newspapers already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and advertising declines.

It’s safe to say this isn’t your average job interview, nor has it been for 105 years.

Houston earned the dubious distinction of being the city where the most USPS mail carriers were attacked by dogs in 2020.

The U.S. Postal Service wants to raises rates on first-class stamps from 55 cents to 58 cents as part of a host of price hikes and service changes designed to reduce debt for the beleaguered agency.

All three of President Joe Biden’s nominees to the governing board of the U.S. Postal Service have been approved by the Senate.

Amber McReynolds, the CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, tells The Associated Press in an interview that she is concerned about disinformation, attacks on election officials and lack of uniform national standards for basic elements of conducting an election.

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2020 file photo, United Airlines employees work at ticket counters in Terminal 1 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. United Airlines will pay more than $49 million to settle criminal and civil accusations of defrauding the post office in the handling of international mail. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)(AP) – United Airlines will pay more than $49 million to avoid criminal prosecution and settle civil charges of defrauding the U.S. Chicago-based United agreed to pay nearly $17.3 million in criminal penalties and forfeited revenue to end the criminal investigation, and separately United will pay $32.2 million in related civil penalties, according to the Justice Department. United and several other U.S. airlines trace their roots to air mail delivery contracts in the early part of the last century, and mail remains a source of revenue for them.

Postal Service's stretch of challenges didn't end with the November general election and tens of millions of mail-in votes. Postal Service Board of Governors, marking the first step in a potential shakeup under President Joe Biden. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, wants Biden to fire the entire Postal Service Board of Governors for what he called dereliction of duty. All of that mail helped the Postal Service improve its quarterly financial performance, officials said Tuesday. Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said the pandemic has given postal carriers an opportunity to shine.

Some Christmas gift-givers discovered their presents didn't arrive in time for the holiday despite ordering weeks ahead. Postal Service says it faces "unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19. It hadn’t reached his father after the Postal Service passed through his neighborhood Thursday night, even though he was notified Dec. 8 that it was shipped by two-day priority mail. Joanna Goldstein ordered Christmas ornaments online Nov. 17 for her 10-year-old son’s soccer coach and her son’s friend. All appeared well Dec. 11 when she received a notice from the Postal Service that the ornaments had been received in Columbus, Ohio.

The mail agency’s program, aptly dubbed “Operation Santa,” allows children and families to write letters to Father Christmas, which will then be processed and shared online at USPSOperationSanta.com beginning Dec. 4. According to the USPS, the campaign first started in the early 1900s when the Postal Service started receiving letters to Santa Claus. The online program expanded to 17 cities in 2019. Full instructions are available on the Operation Santa website. USPS Operation Santa ends on Dec. 19.

With the coronavirus pandemic altering lots of holiday plans this year, shippers are preparing for a significant increase in the number of packages that will need to be delivered. Here are the shipping deadlines you need to know if you want your packages to arrive by Dec. 25. Postal ServiceFor the lower 48 states:Dec. 15 -- Retail Ground ServiceDec. 18 -- First-Class Mail ServiceDec. 19 -- Priority Mail ServiceDec. 23 -- Priority Mail Express ServiceFor Alaska:Dec. 18 -- First-Class Mail ServiceDec. 19 -- Priority Mail ServiceDec. 21 -- Priority Mail Express ServiceFor Hawaii:Dec. 15 -- First-Class Mail ServiceDec. 15 -- Priority Mail ServiceDec. 21 -- Priority Mail Express ServiceClick here for international shipping deadlines for USPS. FedExDec. 9 -- FedEx Smart PostDec. 15 -- FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx GroundDec. 21 -- FedEx Express Saver, FedEx 3Day FreightDec. 22 -- FedEx 2Day, FedEx 2Day A.M., FedEx 2Day FreightDec. 23 -- FedEx 1Day Freight, FedEx Extra Hours, FedEx Standard Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, FedEx First OvernightDec. 25 -- FedEx SameDay, FedEx SameDay City Priority, FedEx SameDay City DirectClick here for international shipping deadlines for FedEx. UPSDec. 15 -- UPS GroundDec. 21 -- UPS 3 Day SelectDec. 22 -- UPS 2nd Day AirDec. 23 -- UPS Next Day AirDec. 25 -- UPS is closed, but UPS Express Critical is availableShipments to certain destinations may require an earlier ship date.

KATY, Texas – The two envelopes labeled as official election mail and addressed to the Dale County Absentee Election Manager in Ozark, Alabama were found in the Houston area. Denise Fierros said the mail was delivered to her hundreds of miles away in Katy this week. The absentee election manager’s telephone number is listed as the third and final line of the address. The phone number 334-774-5003, which includes the digits 77450, a zip code for the Katy area. Fierros said she did not open the envelopes and plans to turn them into a city official in Katy on Monday.

The nation is waiting to learn whether Biden or Trump will collect the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency. As the hearing unfolded Thursday evening, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden were locked in a tight battle for the 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania. Trump last appeared in public early Wednesday, when he falsely declared victory over Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential race. The presidential race has not yet been called because neither Trump nor Biden has yet collected the requisite 270 Electoral College votes. Still, Trump’s campaign has held out hope that continued counting in Arizona could overcome a Biden lead in the state.

Postal Service inspectors found just 13 ballots — all in Pennsylvania — during an Election Day sweep of mail processing centers ordered by a federal judge. The ballots were found in two separate mail processing facilities and were expedited for delivery to local election offices, according to court records filed Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington, D.C., had given the Postal Service until Tuesday afternoon to search 27 facilities in several battleground areas for outstanding ballots and immediately deliver any ballots discovered to election offices. Justice Department attorneys representing the Postal Service said they could not meet the judge's order without disrupting the agency's own Election Day operations. Instead, they are expedited directly to the boards of elections,” Postal Service spokesman Dave Partenheimer said.

Postal Service on Tuesday said it could not meet a federal judge’s order to sweep processing centers for undelivered mail-in ballots, arguing that doing so would disrupt its Election Day operations. At the same time, President Donald Trump has baselessly attacked mail voting as fraudulent throughout his campaign. In its response to the judge's order, the Postal Service said it had already conducted rounds of morning checks at all its processing hubs. Further, the agency said has been performing daily reviews of all 220 facilities handling election mail and planned another sweep hours before polling places closed Tuesday. Much of Sullivan’s order hinged on postal data showing roughly 300,000 mail-in ballots in several states had not received scans showing they had been delivered.

Postal Service says it can't meet a federal judge’s order to sweep processing centers for undelivered mail-in ballots. THE BACKGROUND:U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan's order came after weeks of bruising court decisions for an agency that has become heavily politicized under its new leader, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Much of Sullivan’s order hinged on postal data showing roughly 300,000 mail-in ballots in several states had not received scans showing they had been delivered. The Postal Service said it had already conducted rounds of morning checks at all its processing hubs. Further, the agency said has been performing daily reviews of all 220 facilities handling election mail and planned another sweep hours before polling places closed Tuesday.

WASHINGTON – A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered U.S. Postal Service inspectors to sweep more than two dozen mail processing facilities for lingering mail-in ballots and for those ballots to be sent out immediately. The order, which includes centers in central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, south Florida, parts of Wisconsin and Texas, including Houston, comes after national delivery delays leading up to the election and concerns the agency wouldn’t be able to deliver ballots on time. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who has presided over several lawsuits aimed at USPS election mail delays, gave the Postal Service until 3 p.m. to “ensure that no ballots have been held up” in regions that have been slow to process mail ballots. The Postal Service’s ability to handle the surge of mail-in ballots became a concern after its new leader, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major GOP donor, implemented a series of policy changes that delayed mail nationwide this summer.

YAKIMA, Wash. – A federal judge in Washington state is giving the Trump administration and the U.S. Postal Service 10 days to turn over records and information about service changes that critics say could undermine mail-in voting in the November election. More than 20 states filed lawsuits last week over the changes, including 14 states that sued in U.S. District Court in Yakima. U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian on Thursday granted the states’ request to speed up discovery in that case. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced the same day the lawsuit was filed that he was halting many of the changes, which included reducing overtime and removing mail sorting equipment.

Postal Service facility in McLean, Va. A U.S. judge on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide. The judge called them "a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service" before the November election. Postal Service to take “extraordinary measures” to deliver ballots in time to be counted in Wisconsin and around Detroit, including using a priority mail service. “The Postal Service continues to implement extraordinary measures across the country to advance and expedite the delivery of the nation’s ballots." Postal Service that challenged the Postal Service's so-called “leave behind” policy, where trucks have been leaving postal facilities on time regardless of whether there is more mail to load.

Postal Service records show delivery delays have persisted across the country as millions of Americans began voting by mail, raising the possibility of ballots being rejected because they arrive too late. Postal Service records show delivery delays have persisted across the country as millions of Americans are voting by mail, raising the possibility of ballots being rejected because they arrive too late. The agency also announced it will treat election mail as first-class, which had previously been an informal policy. Other battleground areas also showed problems in early October, with delivery rates of first-class mail below the national average. Postal delays also could compound existing issues that have cropped up in recent weeks as election officials manage the unpreceded surge in mail voting with deadlines looming.

HOUSTON – Katherine Green has a small mountain of shipping boxes growing inside her home, and she has no idea why they’re being sent. 22 of those packages are shipping boxes with 25 items each. “I got labels another week, then I got a couple of more little smaller packages the next week,” said Green. Postal Service several times to let them know she never ordered the boxes. “But they were not going to pick it up.”The packages are coming from a third-party contractor that delivers for the postal service.

Postal Service agreed Wednesday to reverse changes that slowed mail service nationwide, settling a lawsuit filed by Montana Gov. The agreement also requires the Postal Service to prioritize election mail. “The Postal Service was willing to resolve this matter because it has always been our goal to ensure that anyone who chooses to utilize the mail to vote can do so successfully,” said Postal Service spokesperson David Rupert in a statement. “This settlement underscores our unwavering commitment to that principle and to our important role in the nation’s electoral process.”The agreement comes after a federal judge temporarily blocked the controversial Postal Service changes on Sept. 17, calling the changes “a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service” before the November election. Postal Service.

Postal Service agreed Wednesday to reverse changes that slowed mail service nationwide, settling a lawsuit filed by Montana Gov. The agreement also requires the Postal Service to prioritize election mail. Postal Service did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The agreement comes after a federal judge temporarily blocked the controversial Postal Service changes on Sept. 17, calling the changes “a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service” before the November election. Postal Service.

Postal officials have repeatedly said the agency has more than enough capacity to handle the surge of ballots this fall, and its leaders have committed to prioritizing election mail. On top of that, each state has different rules on whether it accepts mail ballots that arrive after Election Day. Then, not too long after DeJoy took over, Trump openly admitted he was starving the Postal Service of coronavirus relief money to make it harder for the agency to process ballots. The Postal Service agreed Wednesday to reverse changes that had slowed mail service nationwide, settling a lawsuit filed by Montana Gov. AP’s Advance Voting guide brings you the facts about voting early, by mail or absentee from each state: https://interactives.ap.org/advance-voting-2020.

PHILADELPHIA – A federal judge in Philadelphia joined others Monday in ordering a halt to recent Postal Service cuts that critics say are causing mail delays and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. Postal Service itself that shows “a pronounced increase in mail delays across the country” since July, the judge found. The Postal Service, in response, called election mail the agency's “number one priority." Shapiro was joined in the Philadelphia case by attorneys general in California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and the District of Columbia. In the Washington case, which involved several presidential election battleground states, U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian said state officials had made a “strong showing” that the Trump administration was using the Postal Service “as a tool in partisan politics.”

HOUSTON – A postal worker has been indicted on federal charges after a video surfaced in June showing a Postal Service worker dumping campaign fliers for Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls' into a dumpster. Officials said Lovely Eliabe, 24, of Richmond, turned herself in to federal authorities after being indicted on Sept. 15 on a charge of destroying U.S. mail. Postal Service when the crime was committed on June 26, prosecutors said. READ: Postal worker caught on camera dumping Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls' campaign fliers, he saysThe business owner said he showed Nehls the video footage of a postal worker throwing an object in the dumpster behind a building near FM 359. The owner said when he went to go retrieve what was thrown away, he found Nehls’ campaign fliers.

Postal Service to live up to its responsibilities to timely process election mail. The Monday, Sept. 21 written decision by Judge Victor Marrero came after several individuals including candidates for public office sued. Postal Service to process election mail. Officials at the Postal Service are reviewing the ruling, spokesperson Marti Johnson said in a written statement. “There should be no doubt, however, that the Postal Service is ready and fully committed to handling expected increased volumes of Election Mail between now and the conclusion of the November 3rd election,” the statement said.

Postal Service facility in McLean, Va. A U.S. judge on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide. Scott Applewhite, File)SEATTLE – A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide, calling them “a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service” before the November election. Postal Service. They also sought to force the Postal Service to treat election mail as first class mail. “There's been a lot of confusion in the briefing and in the press about what the Postal Service has done,” Borson said.

FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2020, file photo, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on the Postal Service on Capitol Hill in Washington. Postal Service operations, according to a report released Wednesday by Senate Democrats. The Postal Service had no immediate comment. In a letter to the Postal Service Board of Governors, the senators urged quick action to reverse these lapses in services," which they said "represent an ongoing public health threat.'' We know Louis DeJoy is sabotaging the Postal Service, Warren said.

But for election officials and voters in Oregon, which pioneered all vote-by-mail in the nation 20 years ago, there's no turning back to the old way of having people cast ballots in person at neighborhood polling places. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)SALEM, Ore. Running an election by mail is a major undertaking, involving the U.S. But for election officials and voters in Oregon which pioneered all vote-by-mail in the nation 20 years ago theres no turning back to the old way of having people cast ballots at neighborhood polling places. State Elections Director Steve Trout said officials from around 30 states have asked him for advice about expanding mail-in voting. Election officials here believe other states can do similar pivots so they can offer voting by mail noting that all states already have absentee voting in some form.

PORTLAND, Maine At least 4,800 chicks shipped to Maine farmers through the U.S. Postal Service have arrived dead in the recent weeks since rapid cuts hit the federal mail carrier's operations, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said. The Postal Services media contact for the Eastern U.S. did not immediately return a Press Herald reporters message Wednesday. The Postal Service is the only entity that ships live chicks and other small animals and has done so since 1918, according to the services website. Rural Americans, including agricultural producers, disproportionately rely on USPS for their livelihoods, and it is essential that they receive reliable service, Pingree said.

But the small number of voters who missed the cutoff to submit mail-in ballots on time also highlighted longstanding disconnects between state election law and the realities of the U.S. Postal Service recommends that Texans ask for mail-in ballots no later than 15 days out from that due date. Aided by the election funding her county received through the federal coronavirus relief package, Carew hired an election worker solely dedicated to mail-in ballots. To return their ballots, voters can either rely on the postal service or drop them off in person at their county elections offices. Texas voters will also be able to drop off their completed ballots at county election offices.

PORTLAND, Maine At least 4,800 chicks shipped to Maine farmers through the U.S. Postal Service have arrived dead in recent weeks after rapid cuts hit the federal mail carrier's operations, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said. Postal Service. The Postal Service is the only entity that ships live chicks and other small animals and has done so since 1918, according to the services website. Rural Americans, including agricultural producers, disproportionately rely on USPS for their livelihoods, and it is essential that they receive reliable service, Pingree said.

The mail-in ballot deadlines are tight in the best of times. Georgia voters can request a ballot by mail until four days before the Nov. 3 election, with completed ballots due by 7 p.m. on Election Day. New Jersey ballots mailed on Election Day must be received within 48 hours of polls closing. Other states also are seeing conflicts between state officials and lawmakers over changing ballot deadlines. LaRose is urging voters to submit applications no later than Oct. 27, rather than waiting until the Saturday before Election Day.

Several vowed they would press on, keeping a watchful eye on the Postal Service ahead of the election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing ahead with Saturdays vote to prevent election-year mail changes and provide emergency postal funds. A Postal Service spokesman declined to comment beyond DeJoys statement. Ferguson and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced they were leading collections of other states in suing to block service changes at the Postal Service, just as the postmaster was making his own statement Tuesday. The Postal Service is among the nations oldest and more popular institutions.