Nation Digest: 677 Post Offices Considered for Closure

POSTAL SERVICE

677 Facilities Face Closure, Consolidation

The Postal Service has marked 677 post offices nationwide -- including 13 in the District and Maryland -- for possible closure or consolidation, according to a document given Thursday to a House subcommittee considering the future of U.S. mail delivery.

The Postal Service is struggling amid sharply declining mail volume and the gradual migration to e-mail and online payment systems.

"The writing is on the wall, and the Postal Service obviously has to make some tough decisions if it wants to weather this storm," Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) told postal officials during the hearing.

The at-risk offices in the District are Columbia Heights Finance, Fort Davis, Ledroit Park, Naval Research Laboratory, Navy Annex, Northeast, Petworth, Randle and Woodbridge in the District. The Maryland facilities suggested for closure are Friendship Heights, Derwood, Landover Hills and Silver Spring Center.

Fourteen Virginia post offices are on the list, all in the Richmond postal district. The northernmost is the main post office in Fredericksburg. Five offices in Baltimore and its suburbs are also listed.

"You better believe that if those post offices have to be closed, I'm going to be besieged by people asking, 'Please don't close my post office,' " Norton said.

Postal and congressional sources said privately that only about 200 of the 677 facilities are likely to be closed after a review.

The full list of possible post office closures is online at http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye.

-- Ed O'Keefe

NEW JERSEY

Hoboken Mayor Expected to Quit

The mayor of Hoboken, N.J., who has been charged in a federal corruption case, will resign before the weekend, a spokesman for New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine said Thursday.

Attorneys for Mayor Peter Cammarano (D) told the governor's office Thursday that their client would step down within 24 hours, Corzine spokesman Robert Corrales said.

Cammarano attorney Joseph Hayden said the mayor will "render a decision" Friday. He would not elaborate.

-- Associated Press