Daily printout: Aug. 26

The Postal Service filed notice today with the Postal Regulatory Commission, or PRC, about temporary price changes for some package services during the 2026 holiday shipping season.

The planned changes would affect prices on Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select.

No other products or services would be affected.

Pending favorable review by the PRC, the temporary rates will go into effect on Sunday, Oct. 4, and remain in place until Sunday, Jan. 17.

This seasonal adjustment will bring prices for the Postal Service’s retail and commercial customers in line with competitive practices.

These temporary changes will support the organization in achieving its public service mission — providing a nationwide, integrated network for the delivery of mail and packages at least six days a week — in a cost-effective and financially sustainable manner over the long term, as the U.S. Congress has intended.

The Postal Service’s Aug. 25 news release has a list of the planned changes, and the Postal Explorer website has the full list of commercial and retail pricing.

Members of the SeaWeeders gardening club give their time every week to maintain the grounds of the Solana Beach, CA, Post Office.

An initial cleanup in the early 2000s involved dozens of volunteers from several groups trimming trees, pruning overgrown plants, and removing several dump trucks’ worth of weeds and debris.

With a major renovation made possible by a county grant and donations, among the helping hands were members of the SeaWeeders, a local gardening club.

Since that day, a small group of club members has continued to maintain the space weekly — weeding, planting and greeting the community members as they walk by, club member Jane Morton said, pointing out that the Post Office is just a block from the beach on a heavily traveled sidewalk.

“Every Saturday we get thanks and compliments, and the community then goes inside and thanks the people at the counter at having such a beautiful garden out front,” club member Jane Morton said.

A few years after the initial cleanup, a member of the club who is a landscape designer created a new plan for the site.

It was apparent that the space had been professionally designed at one point, Morton said, with good structural bones, so most of the existing scrubs and rock formations were kept.

The SeaWeeders added new elements such as low-water succulents, benches and decomposed granite pathways.

Morton said this was done with the permission of the local postmaster, and the SeaWeeders shouldered the cost as well as the labor.

“We get many visitors from so many states, so many cities in those states, and they always stop to tell us how beautiful the place is compared to any Post Office they have ever been to, not just their hometown, but other cities they have traveled to,” Morton said.

Solana Beach Postmaster Richard Zamora appreciates the work the SeaWeeders do.

“They do a dynamite job maintaining our beautiful landscape here. It truly is a lovely scene,” he said.

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The Postal Service is reminding employees that wearing a seat belt while operating a vehicle could be a lifesaving move.

On Dec. 15, 2022, Riegelsville, PA, Postmaster Drew Boardman set out for a nearby Post Office where he was asked to help out.

A light snow had made the rural road he was driving on a little slick.

“I was going about 25,” he said. “I’ve always been a cautious driver. And I always wear my seat belt.”

Coming around a curve, a larger vehicle from the opposite direction was traveling too fast for the slippery conditions and veered into Boardman’s lane.

The two vehicles collided head-on.

The impact was devastating. Boardman couldn’t move his left arm because it was broken in two places. His femur was shattered, his kneecap was broken and his right foot and ankle were crushed. He was also bleeding internally.

It took two hours and 20 emergency responders to get him out of his SUV.

“The tow truck driver thought I was dead. The police thought I was dead,” Boardman said.

His injuries, however, were limited to his limbs. He suffered no head trauma because the seat belt kept him from going through the windshield.

Boardman spent four months in the hospital after the accident, and he has undergone 10 surgeries, with another major ankle surgery on the horizon. It’s only been a year since he started walking again.

“The seat belt saved my life,” he said.

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