Postal Facilities Closing

Want that birthday card to arrive on time? You should probably drop it in the mail a day or two sooner.

The U-S Postal Service is shutting down three facilities that postmark and sort mail in Michigan. By the summer, mail sent from Lansing and Kalamazoo will go to Grand Rapids and mail sent from Iron Mountain, in the U-P, will be sent to Green Bay, Wisconsin. The extra travel time could mean it takes a letter or card two or three days to arrive instead of one.

The postal service says fewer people are mailing cards and letters so they need to consolidate operations.

However, Michigan representative for the National Association of Letter Carriers Pat Carroll says the real reason is a costly mandate by Congress to fund health insurance benefits for retirees long before they actually retire.

The three closings in Michigan are among 82 nationwide.