Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
That dusty creed is a reflection of the old United State Postal Service, which in a bow to technology and competition, has announced the cessation of Saturday delivery of most first-class mail beginning in August. (A historical aside: The motto is actually a translation of an ancient Greek work circa 500 B.C. describing the Persian system of their version of letter carriers. I found that on the Internet.) The decision is an effort to stem the flow of red ink which has resulted in a $16 billion deficit over the last several years.
The reaction to the decision depends largely on which side of the generational divide one is on. Clearly, the younger crowd has little attachment to “snail mail,” doing most of their correspondence and bill payments online. But the older one gets, the more they are bemoaning the loss of the weekend delivery, something that they have as much affinity for as land lines and newsprint. Maybe it’s telling that one of the most vocal opponents is Ralph Nader, who first came to consumer prominence railing against the Corvair and has never left. Rural areas like the Berkshires will be hit hard by the move. The unions representing carriers are also up in arms about it, mainly because the estimated $2 billion in savings comes from not needing as many carriers.
That is also an indication of which businesses will be most affected by the decision. While the USPS says they will continue to deliver packages, which is a growth area for the one-time tax-supported agency, and Express Mail, the Saturday arrival of newspapers and magazines will go the way of the Elvis stamp.
A number of magazines plan their deadlines and mailings so that the vast majority of their subscribers get it delivered on Saturday, when advertisers hope the leisure time allows readers to browse the ads for the highest impact. Delivery on Fridays mean an earlier deadline, potentially making the magazine less timely, while Mondays mean far fewer readers and fresh news. When Time magazine reinvented itself and its circulation model a few years back, the key was getting it in readers hands by Friday or Saturday. A spokeswoman told Poynter Institute the magazine has been preparing for the change but wouldn’t say what the company intends to do to adjust.
The same goes for community newspapers, many of which are weeklies or use their Saturday edition as the biggest revenue producer. Some say they’ll have to put the money they paid the Postal Service into other delivery forms to try to maintain that weekend connection with readers and advertisers.
But that also shows where the divide lies. Most younger people, if they get their news at all, get it online 24/7 at the click of a mouse. Those holding fast to Saturday deliveries are the same contracting circle that maintain their subscription to the dead tree edition of their local news. The customers for both the papers and the traditional postal services are nearly all one and the same.
A 24-year-old woman who the Globe caught at the Fort Point Station Post Office perhaps best summed up the effect of the diminishing service on her life and others of her age. “I do e-banking; I only have to get stamps when I send thank you notes and for other formal things,’’ said Windsor Hanger, when asked what she needed the post office for. “Oh, yeah, I send mail to my grandmother.”
                                                –JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
The Telegram & Gazette pans Gov. Deval Patrick’s tax package.
Bay State Banner editor Howard Manly interviews Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins.
Patrick re-nominates Shannon Frison, a Roxbury District Court judge and Marine reservist whose promotion stalled at the Governor’s Council amid anonymous complaints about her reserves service.
David Bernstein, apparently, believes he can can ask Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr any question that pops into his head, even if they are based solely on rumors.
Walz-ing away from Beacon Hill.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Lawrence  City Councilor Daniel Rivera holds his first mayoral campaign rally, telling about 70 people that he would bring optimism and hope to a community “overtaken by selfishness, incompetence, and arrogance,” the Eagle-Tribune reports.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey contacted top officials in connection with his friend’s Medicare dispute, the Washington Post reports.
California’s new tax rates on high earners ignite debate about whether the rich will, or should, flee the state. Harvard economist Ed Glaeser has argued in the Globe that tilting Bay State tax rates toward the top of the income scale could invite outmigration.
Who is Gayle Trotter and why is she saying gun control is sexist? The Daily Beast has the story.
Republican moderates want to clear out the “underbrush” elements of their party, but aren’t feeling so bold as to identify which elements need purging.
Slate asks whether pro-lifers are losing their clout.
ELECTIONS
Jane Swift tells the Daily Beast that the Massachusetts GOP is having trouble finding a Senate candidate because of a Catch-22: It’s tough to win in Massachusetts and, even if you win, it’s unlikely you’ll get much done in the polarized capital.
Scott Brown may go the Sarah Palin route; he also tells Politico that he’s not dead. Massachusetts Republicans struggling to fill the Senate ballot line Brown would have occupied are now worried that this weekend’s snowstorm may doom their signature-gathering efforts.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Despite a multi-million dollar settlement with Honeywell over a disputed energy deal with Quincy, a city councilor is continuing to hold hearings to get answers about whether the company delivered on its promises to the city. Meanwhile, Honeywell CEO David Cote told a meeting of Greater Boston corporate leaders Massachusetts is not a business-friendly place, citing his company’s adversarial dealings with Quincy and the Big Dig.
An advocacy group called Good Jobs First identifies those states and metropolitan areas that are known for using financial incentives to poach jobs from other states. Rhode Island is cited for its efforts to lure jobs from Massachusetts, Governing reports.
Joe Kennedy II , founder and chairman of Citizens Heating Oil, notes that only CITGO and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez  have ever responded to his appeals to help provide heating oil to poor Americans.
Internal emails show some inside JP Morgan knew they were bundling and selling flawed mortgages, but continued the practice anyway. See further: this, this, and this.
EDUCATION
Another Boston public schools headmaster is in legal trouble.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth plans to give out $700,000 in direct financial aid in an effort to keep students’ loan debt down.
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell is proposing to replace two elementary schools in an effort to jumpstart the city’s school building program.
A judge said a suit challenging the validity of a contract given to a lawyer for the Diman Regional Vocational High School in Fall River can move forward.
HEALTH CARE
A female anesthesiologist has settled a gender bias lawsuit against Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for $7 million.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
The manager of the regional power grid says a new power plant in Salem is needed, the Salem News reports.
Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley wants more water fountains installed in the city where people can refill reusable water bottles in order to discourage the purchase of disposable bottled water containers that are clogging landfills. CommonWealth reported last summer on a campaign to promote just such a practice that has been underway in Washington, DC.
Some people are excited about the upcoming storm.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
It may be that Whitey Bulger ain’t that smart after all. The jailed gangster told his brother Jackie in a phone call from the Plymouth County Correctional Facility that he was never an FBI informant, the Globe reports. Bulger’s lawyers are arguing that he was granted immunity from prosecution for crimes because of his role as an informant.
Lawrence police arrest three members of the Everybody’s Killers gang who were carrying a loaded assault rifle, a loaded handgun, masks, and walkie-talkies, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
Ayer Selectman Frank Maxant accuses the local Legion Post of “social cowardice” by shunning a vet who was also a Level 3 sex offender, the Sun reports.
Prosecutors told a judge at a dangerousness hearing that cell phone records linked two suspects to a string of arsons in southeastern Massachusetts.
MEDIA
CommonWealth’s Michael Jonas will serve as ombudsman for the Dorchester Reporter during the upcoming special election campaign for the First Suffolk state Senate seat in which publisher Bill Forry’s wife, state Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, is a candidate.
The flexible paywall at the Boston Globe is getting a little less flexible, the Nieman Journalism Lab reports.
USA Today ranks the nation’s most literate cities: Washington, DC, comes in first while Boston drops to seventh.
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler lends his name to a Hawaiian anti-paparazzi law proposal.