BRIEFS.

*Postal wins for publishers, citizens: The United States Postal Service said it plans to provide ways to speed the delivery of newspapers, the National Newspaper Association reported last week. The move comes following two other recent postal changes: a decision that a first-class postage increase isn't permanent and a U.S. Senate call for a study of timely rural mail delivery. With the closure of postal processing plants, many papers are faced with the need to deliver copies to far-away facilities, only to then have the USPS truck the copies back to the paper's community. The NNA, a trade group that represents small dailies and weeklies, fought for the new "service hubs," which will number 187 nationwide. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in June that a 2014 price hike tied to the recession can't be permanent and last week the USPS said it would reduce first-class prices in January. The Senate move mandates that the USPS study whether timely delivery of rural mail has been hurt by the processing plant closures; it was championed by the NNA.

*N.Y. Times adds newsletters: E-mailed reports on specific topics delivered on a daily, weekly or "as needed" basis have proliferated at the New York Times and the paper said last week it has added one new offering and upgraded another. The new weekly "Sports" newsletter will provide readers with "highly visual, magazine-style curation of Times sports journalism," the paper said. The new offering "features a mix of insightful and occasionally amusing sports journalism including some exclusive newsletter-only content and editorial commentary." The weekly "Well" newsletter has been revamped, the Times said, and offers "fitness and health coverage along with tips and tricks about exercise, healthful eating and family health." The Times' 30 newsletters include contributions from sections such as "Travel" and the Sunday Magazine, as well as breaking news, the day's headlines, and columnists such as Nicholas Kristof.