CITY BEAT: ‘WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO?’ AND OTHER BITS AND PIECES

     I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that every summer passes more quickly than the previous one.
     I don’t know if it is because I get older every summer (birthday in August), or have too much to do when the weather is hot, but I can’t believe that area schools are already preparing to welcome back students!
     The first day of school for students in the Decatur School District is next Wednesday, Aug. 13th!
     Even though we had some really hot weather this summer (especially a week ago), which makes us look forward to some cooler temperatures, it seems to me this summer is passing into history much too fast!
     In fact, this year is passing at a high rate of speed with holidays going by in rapid fashion.
     Next up is Labor Day and then, soon after, we’ll start seeing advertisements for Christmas gift giving as we head into fall!

     • ROUNDTABLE — Last week, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) hosted a roundtable discussion in Springfield focused on improving mail delivery and protecting postal services across Central and Southern Illinois. She convened local union leaders, postal workers, and other community stakeholders to talk about efforts to improve on-time delivery, protect local postal jobs, oppose privatization, and stop harmful facility consolidations that reduce access in rural and underserved areas.
     “The Postal Service is a lifeline in rural communities, and lagging delivery rates have meant delayed prescriptions, late bills, missed paychecks, and much more,” said Budzinski. “It’s unacceptable and the administration should do better. I was glad to bring together leaders on the frontlines of this issue today to talk about how we can push back against postal privatization, improve speed and service, and protect good-paying union jobs at USPS. The Postal Service should be a public good accessible to all and I will always fight to keep it that way.”
“Central Illinois residents have seen the impact of our mail being diverted out of state,” said State Senator Doris Turner (D-Springfield).
     “Congresswoman Budzinski and I have been on the front lines as a voice for local postal workers and residents. We will continue to work hard until appropriate action is taken to ensure effective postal services to our constituents.”
“Congresswoman Budzinski has always been a strong advocate for American workers. We are happy to see her continuing support and interest in the well-being of the postal service and the over 200,000 city letter carriers who provide a vital service to the American people every day,” said Chad Ludwig, President of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 80.
     Earlier this year, Congresswoman Budzinski introduced the bipartisan Protect Postal Performance Act, which would prevent the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from downsizing facilities in underserved areas, provide more oversight over modifications to delivery schedules, and increase public transparency on proposed changes. She also led 159 members of Congress in a letter to President Trump expressing concern over his proposal to fire the USPS Board of Governors and merge the Postal Service into the Department of Commerce.

     • CONCERN — I’ve mentioned many times in this column that we’ve always had excellent mail carriers deliver our mail to our office and to local residents, but we’ve experienced more problems with delayed Tribune delivery to some of our mail subscribers the past few years.
     Obviously, paying postage on the gigantic number of Tribunes we mail in Decatur and all over the United States is a major expense — and it keeps increasing as the USPS management continues to raise postal rates and the delivery service gets slower.
     Fortunately, most of our Tribunes are received by subscribers on schedule each week, but some are not.
Interestingly, subscribers who call don’t blame us for the delay in receiving their edition that week, because they know we mail them out on time every Wednesday from Decatur’s Mound Road USPS facility.
Subscribers who call us indicate they also have trouble receiving their other mail, including letters with first class postage, in a timely fashion.
     Obviously, it is very concerning for us as we work hard on each week’s edition and want every mail subscriber to re-ceive it in a timely fashion.
     There was a time when someone would say, “the check is in the mail” and we would view that as blaming the USPS for the check not arriving which we knew was false.
     Now, when someone says “the check is in the mail” and we don’t receive it, we view it as a possibly true statement.
Hopefully, Congresswoman Bud-zinski, and others working to improve postal service can make some headway.
     I find it somewhat ironic that, we must prepay all of our postage costs before mailing that week’s Tribune —but in all the years I’ve published the Tribune I don’t ever remember getting a refund of our money when they didn’t deliver the paper to a subscriber.
     A private delivery business could never get away with not refunding money for non-delivery.

     • LOTS OF LETTERS! — We had a lot of “Letters to the Editor” this week!
     In fact, the letters even spilled over onto another page because there were so many of them.
     Everyone has a right to express their opinion in the “letters” but please don’t think I agree with each letterwriter’s opinion, and that is the reason that all of them are printed.
     If I had to agree with every letter that is published in this newspaper, in order for it to be published, there would be fewer letters published and I would be failing in my job as a publisher.
Over the years I’ve been challenged more than a few times for printing a letter than a reader, or readers, disagreed with.
     They usually write something like “I can’t believe that you agree with that letter and printed it!”
Remember the quote by Evelyn Beatrice Hall: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
     The same goes with what you write and send to any credible newspaper.
A “free press” is not free if it publishes letters, or any story, simply because the editor agrees with it.
     All opinions have a right to be heard.
     If you have a problem with what a letter writer writes, then contact him or her about it — or write a “letter to the editor” of your own in response.

     • OH NO! Both of the elevators to the upper floors of our office building (Millikin Court Building) were out of order over the weekend!
     That’s the first time that’s ever happened in all of the years that we’ve had our newspaper office on the fourth floor.
The building manager indicated to me that the elevators should be restored to service this week and the service returned Monday morning.
     I used the elevator on the east side of the building that services the first three floors and then climbed the stairway to the fourth floor over the weekend.
     I guess it was an unexpected way to get some exercise — even more exercise for those who work in the offices on the fifth and sixth floors and were in the building over the weekend.
     Now I know for sure: having an elevator to my office is a true blessing!!!!

     • MEMORIES — The reaction to all of the downtown stores in 1961 that were listed in my “Viewpoint” column a few weeks ago has been significant.
     Margie Malone sent a photo of a business card and this message: “My parents had this drapery store from 1961 to 1977. It was on the corner of Main and William, across from Rodger’s shoe store and Macon Music. Brings back a lot of memories.”
     Thanks, Margie. I remember Fay Fabrics and so many other stores that filled downtown Decatur many years ago.

     • I JOIN Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co. every Thursday morning at 7:00 for the “City Hall Insider”.
. I always enjoy our conversations about the news.

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