| JUNE 1, 2024 -- As I write this article on May 15, 2024, in 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed an act establishing the Department of Agriculture. Our Founder Oliver Hudson Kelley worked there and helped build the Grange in 1867.
In 1896 the National Grange used its membership to have Congress pass the US Postal Service Rural Free Delivery (RFD) system. This opened the remote areas of our country to mail service, bulk packages, and even some banking services to rural America. The Sen- ate has been having hearings about the operations of the Postal Service, under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Since 2020, when President Trump appointed him to this position, the Postal Service has been in decline. With cutbacks, layoffs, removal of sorting machines, and postage stamp price increases, the delivery rates of mail has failed to meet the needs of the community. At the Senate hearing, members questioned the plan to close processing centers and to make region- al hubs for better flow. This test has shown that increased delivery time is the only result.
Some examples are the Reno, NV center. It is closed and all mail is trucked to Sacramento, CA. The question was “What happens with road closures” from Reno to Sacramento -- Interstate 80, Donner Pass on I-80. Last year there were 9 closures of I-80 due to fires and snow events. Donner Pass was closed for 38 days during the Christmas rush. Georgia has merged many of its processing centers causing a delay of up to seven days for a letter to reach across town to Atlanta, and up to three weeks for packages to be delivered.
Friends in Southern Vermont have told me their mail is sorted in Springfield, MA and then returned to Vermont for delivery.
Scotland, Connecticut has 600 mailboxes, have lost their zip code and now the residents have been given one of seven zip codes depending on which neighboring town they are closest to and packages have to be picked up at the Willimantic Post Office.
People in rural America rely on RFD service. A large amount of medicine is sent through the mail. Live poultry is sent by mail. Bills are still sent by mail. Voting ballots are sent by mail. This is a cri- sis. If the Postal Service cannot get its programs together, then the Postmaster General needs to be terminated. We, as Grangers, have always required honest, fair, and efficient service.
Some of the new equipment used by the USPS has been known to reject letters and launch packages off the conveyor belts onto the floor. Many new hubs are warehouses without heat or air conditioning. Workers are laboring in 28 degree winters and 100 degree summers. They deserve better.
The State General Assembly has closed its short session, passing and rejecting bills.
Passed: Paid Sick Leave - Nurse healthcare bill to protect nurses and providers from violence. Affordable housing; Elder Care Reform; Education, Student Mental Health Study, Teacher Certification (to help speed up the certification of new teachers); Line of Duty Deaths to help families of Police officers killed in the line of duty.
Failed: Guard Rails for AI Tech; Electric Cars due to a lack of charging stations; ban on Chinese made drones, Elimination of the car tax; Constitutional Amendment on Abortion Rights; Small Business Healthcare, Tipped Wage increase, Reduction of DUI from .08 to .05.
They still seem to split down party lines, yet our state has moved forward more than neighboring states.
Last month I wrote about John Deere partnering with Star Link with auto steer and GPS technology for farm tractors and equipment. May 10-13 we witnessed the northern lights, bringing multi colors to the skies from Canada to as far south as Florida. A report came out that some farm equipment doing field work lost GPS guidance functions, so the equipment shut down and parked at the end of the fields. Isn’t technology great?
|
