Five-Month Moratorium on Post Office Closures Announced

Bloomberg Business Week is reporting, "The U.S. Postal Service is imposing a five-month moratorium on closing facilities, meaning five Alaska post offices are safe -- for now."

Agency spokesman Ernie Swanson is quoted as saying that the waiting period, set to end in May, will give Congress time to act on "relief" for the agency. A bill aimed at overhauling the cash-strapped postal service is pending in the Senate writes reporter Becky Bohrer.

According to Bohrer, "In July, the postal service said it would study more than 3,600 offices for possible closure, including 36 in Alaska. Under pressure from the state's congressional delegation, it eventually removed all but five Alaska offices from consideration, since they generally were in remote communities not connected to a road system."

For more on this story, click here.