November 16, 2011 Edition

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Crawford visits Sedgwick PO

Congressman Rick Crawford (center) discusses his proposed Protecting Our Rural Post Offices Act of 2011 with Sedgwick Mayor Stanley Debow (right) and Eugene Reithemeyer, a Sedgwick resident, during his visit to the Sedgwick Post Office on Nov. 9.

Congressman Rick Crawford met with local residents at the Sedgwick Post Office on Nov. 9 to introduce the Protecting Our Rural Post Offices Act of 2011.

"The First Congressional District stands to lose 100 post offices," said Crawford. "The Protecting Our Rural Post Offices Act will make sure rural Americans keep access to postal services. Americans living in rural communities rely on their post office for medicine deliveries, social security benefits and countless other reasons. Access to postal services should not be limited to only urban areas."

In July the USPS announced it was considering the closure of 3,652 retail postal facilities.

Rural communities have been overwhelmingly targeted for closings, including 211 Arkansas post offices, 100 of which fall in the First District.

The act proposed by Crawford would prevent the USPS from closing any post office that does not have an alternate post office within eight miles as measured by year-round roads.

In the past month, meetings have already been held for possible closure of post offices in Minturn and Sedgwick.

A Powhatan Post Office meeting will be held on Dec. 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Center; a Saffell Post Office meeting will be held on Dec. 22 at 5:30 p.m. at the Saffell Fire Department; and an O'Kean Post Office meeting will be held on Dec. 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Center.

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