Mail Delivery

OTHER VOICES receives a good deal of mail from state prisoners, many of whose essays and poetry we've published over the years. Only recently has this postmark appeared in addition to the regular postmark of the U.S. Postal Service.Greg Shipley, prison spokesman, said there are two reasons for the new stamp. One is that courts have attempted to expedite mail delivery between prisoners and their lawyers. The stamp is required on letters tio attorneys, Shiplkey said, but instead of attempting to segregate such mail, officials decided to stamp all mail.

This schedule will be in effect today: Annapolis City offices: closed Courts: closed Parking meters: free Trash: no pickup Anne Arundel County offices: closed Courts: closed Libraries: closed Public schools: closed Trash: no pickup, landfills closed Baltimore City City offices: closed Courts: closed Libraries: closed Parking meters: free today; feed Monday Public schools: closed Trash: no pickup; landfills and transfer stations closed...

1899: rural mail delivery begins On Dec. 20, 1899, Carroll County became the first place in the nation to offer countywide Rural Free Delivery Service. The idea of Rural Free Delivery Service was conceived in the 1890s by Rep. Tom Watson of Georgia. Carroll County postal employee Edwin W. Shriver liked the idea of delivering mail throughout the county. He commissioned Herr Bros. of Westminster to build a "Post Office on Wheels," complete with a counter and mail slots. The cart made its first 30-mile route on April 3, 1899.

This schedule will be in effect Saturday: County Trash: No pickup in Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties. In Carroll, Frederick and Harford, check with contractors. Howard has no recycling pickup. Harford waste disposal center and waste-to-energy center closed. Annapolis Parking meters: free Trash : no pickup Baltimore City Parking meters: free Trash: no pickup; landfills and transfer stations closed Transit MTA buses: holiday schedule MTA commuter buses: no service Subway (Metro)

75 Years Ago* Yesterday, "Great Britain Day" was observed at the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Annapolis with the Rev. H. W. Burgan giving a lecture on "Our Obligation to Great Britain." On Dec. 13, a similar observance will be held in the House of Delegates with Judge Robert Moss presiding. -- The Sun, Dec. 9, 1918.* Postmaster T. J. Linthicum and staff in Annapolis have been swamped with Christmas mail with critical staff out with the flu. Motor Route A has been without mail since Friday.

The U.S. Postal Service says everyone should have free mail delivery, and in Union Bridge, that could mean erecting mailboxes along a stretch of Main Street.Town officials, however, contend that mailboxes along the street would be impractical, dangerous and unattractive.The prospect of mailboxes crowding narrow sidewalks and postal vehicles causing traffic detours has the Town Council considering an ordinance to bar mailboxes on Main Street."It would be almost impossible to have mailboxes on Main Street," said Mayor Perry L. Jones Jr. "It's not a question of whether [residents]

SENDING a magazine, newspaper or postcard got more expensive July 1. So did mailing a first-class letter weighing more than an ounce. But if you think that's bad, better not look ahead: The Postal Service is heading toward bankruptcy. Delivering 208 billion pieces of mail annually to 134 million addresses is very labor-intensive. More than 80 cents of every Postal Service dollar goes to pay employees. What's left isn't enough to keep pace with rising fuel and other operating expenses. Meanwhile, more people are using e-mail, overnight couriers, faxes and the Internet.

"Bob's still here," your co-workers exclaim. "Look, his wallet and keys are still on his desk." Little do they know the wallet's empty and the keys fit your long-expired 1973 Pinto. You've sneaked out of work early on Friday. Your phone is forwarded, your BlackBerry can catch important messages and you're hanging out at the beach. Don't laugh. There is serious strategy involved. Men's Journal has actually done a scientific study. Well, sort of. The magazine dispatched a writer to a beach in San Francisco at 3 p.m. on a Friday and asked the early arrivals how they pulled it off. Among the findings, to disappear with ease it's best to establish a schedule that requires a lot of time out of the office: long lunches with clients, off-site meetings and frequent conferences.

A mail wagon that may have left Westminster loaded with letters for county residents in the nation's first Rural Free Delivery service now belongs to Carroll County Farm Museum.The wagon had been on loan to the museum since 1967. The family of Howard W. Senseney of Westminster deeded it to the farm museum last month in honor of the 90th birthday of Mr. Senseney, who acquired the wagon in the 1950s.Museum staff and advisory board members said they could not be certain that the wagon was one of four that left Westminster on Dec. 20, 1899, to inaugurate countywide Rural Free Delivery service after three years of trials in Maryland and other states.

The U.S. postmaster general told an audience of area business people today that the city has the nation's most improved mail service during the past three months.Marvin Runyon, speaking at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, said Baltimore's mail delivery, considered dismal a year ago, has improved 11 percentage points.For every 100 pieces of mail delivered here, he said, 77 of them were delivered on time. Last year at this time, only 66 pieces of mail out of 100 were delivered on time.