U.S. Postal Service

The U.S. Postal Service plans to consolidate some services to regional hubs in Kansas City and St. Louis. Critics say the move will hurt rural customers, especially people who rely on the mail for their medication delivery.

Organizations representing rural communities and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley have pushed back on a proposal that the U.S. Postal Service says could save it billions per year.

Kansas law requires all ballots to arrive by three days after Election Day, with a postmark on or before Election Day. But to avoid delays with the U.S. Postal Service, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab is encouraging voters to drop their ballot off in person.

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican who serves as the state’s chief elections officer, told Postmaster General Louis DeJoy there was cause to be “extremely concerned” about “a troubling pattern that persists in the U.S. Postal Service’s processing and handling of ballots.”

Sending birds through the mail is a longstanding practice in the United States, but reports of deliveries that come too late for hatchlings to survive are getting more common. It's part of a larger trend of complaints about delays within the U.S. Postal Service.

For more than a century, bird hatcheries and farmers across the country have used the U.S. Postal Service to ship newborn birds. But recent shipment delays have led to many birds dying in transit. Plus: Climate change could bring more water scarcity to the Midwest and Great Plains and, with it, more legal battles over water.

Backyard and large-scale farmers in the Midwest and around the country report more deliveries that arrive too late for baby birds to survive. The trend is part of complaints about the USPS as it tries to stem budgetary bleeding.

The U.S. Postal Service has experienced delays in mail delivery around the country, including Missouri and Kansas. As Missouri Congressman Sam Graves pushes for federal legislation to protect citizens, he says it is time to bring in a new postmaster general.

The CleanAirNow Coalition was one of many environmental groups that, along with 16 U.S. states, sued the U.S. Postal Service over their plan to purchase heavily-polluting gasoline trucks. Now the USPS will electrify its fleet of mail delivery vehicles.

Corrections officials say the move is necessary to stem the flow of drugs into Missouri prisons. But criminal justice reform advocates warn it could violate inmates’ privacy and further isolate them from their families.

CleanAirNow KC has joined 16 states and other environmental groups in lawsuits to stop the USPS from buying thousands of gasoline-powered trucks.

Kinship families in Kansas say the state doesn't do enough to support the people who foster children of relatives or friends. Plus, how more young people around Kansas City are reviving the art of letter writing.