By Susan Stephens
Clare, IL – The U-S Postal Service is considering closing 1 in 10 post offices across the nation. A number of those closings could take place in northern Illinois. There are 208 Illinois post offices on the list released Monday by the U-S Postal Service. It's a list almost entirely comprised of tiny towns. Possible closures in northern Illinois include Clare, Esmond, Lindenwood, Nachusa, Troy Grove, Lee, Lee Center, Chana, and Seward. Beverley Howard represents the U-S Postal Service in its Central Illinois District. She says to keep in mind that the towns on the list won't necessarily lose their post offices: there's still a lot for postal officials to study and evaluate. That's why they want more community feedback before making any final decisions.
Howard says customers will be notified in about a week if their local post office is on the list. Then public comment will be collected and public hearings held in each town over the next two months. Howard says they'll look at a lot of factors, including mail volume, community involvement, employee workloads, and whether nearby businesses could host postal services.