L.A. MAIL DELAYED FOR SIX DAYS, SAYS REPORT POSTAL SERVICE OFFICIAL DENIES SLOW SERVICE.Byline: LISA The first personal computer to include integrated software and use a graphical interface. Modeled after the Xerox Star and introduced in 1983 by Apple, it was ahead of its time, but never caught on due to its $10,000 price and slow speed. FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- An internal U.S. Postal Service The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs. report confirmed Thursday what many Angelenos already know: Mail service can be lousy. The report -- sent anonymously to Rep. Henry Waxman Henry Arnold Waxman (born September 12, 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is an American politician. He has represented California's At-large congressional district (map) in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1975. , D-Los Angeles -- provides a snapshot of a single day at the mail-processing plant in South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. . On that day, May 4, first-class mail was delayed six days and periodicals were delayed as much as 10 days as postal officials consistently and significantly underestimated the amount of mail requiring processing, the report shows. Waxman, who has battled the situation for months amid complaints from constituents, demanded Thursday that officials review the delays and recommend ways to fix the problem. ``For some time now, constituents in my congressional district Noun 1. congressional district - a territorial division of a state; entitled to elect one member to the United States House of Representatives district, territorial dominion, territory, dominion - a region marked off for administrative or other purposes and surrounding districts have complained of receiving first-class letters and magazines late,'' Waxman wrote in a letter to U.S. Postal Service Inspector David C. Williams. Waxman aides said the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. plant long has suffered transportation problems and staffing shortages. But postal officials defended service, saying the report was outdated and the delays cited in it were due to equipment changes and maintenance problems. ``We have since minimized delayed mail at the plant and continue to monitor mail volume levels so that we can keep to our service commitments,'' said Don A. Smeraldi, a U.S Postal Service postal service, arrangements made by a government for the transmission of letters, packages, and periodicals, and for related services. Early courier systems for government use were organized in the Persian Empire under Cyrus, in the Roman Empire, and in medieval spokesman for the Pacific region. ``Mail is moving out to Los Angeles area post offices for delivery to our customers as quickly as possible,'' he said. Postal officials did not provide a more current report on the status of mail delays. Smeraldi, however, said the latest report on operations since Saturday shows no delays at the Los Angeles office for either first-class or priority mail. He did acknowledge, however, that there were some two-day delays for periodicals and five-day delays for standard mail service. The internal report for May 4 obtained by Waxman showed at least 78,000 pieces of first-class mail were delayed at the Los Angeles plant on May 4, 2006. The plant had estimated only 1,000 pieces of mail would be delayed. That underestimation resulted in delays of up to six days, though it is unclear what percentage of mail was delayed that long. Similarly, periodicals were delayed 10 days. Mail delays have been an ongoing issue in the Los Angeles area. In March, Waxman met with Postmaster General POSTMASTER GENERAL. The chief officer of the post office department of the United States. Various duties are imposed upon this officer by the acts of congress of March 3, 1825, and July 2, 1836, which will be found under the articles Mail; Post Office and Postage. John Potter John Potter may refer to:
But Waxman said residents in his district have seen little improvement. ``In fact,'' he wrote, ``recent reports from my constituents have included receipt of mail as much as 14 days after their postmark.'' lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com (202) 662-8731 |
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