Newsbriefs

It’s official: be kind

You may think that Valentine’s Day is the big day for celebrating love this month, but Grant County commissioners last week added a twist, declaring Feb 16-23 to be “Random Acts of Kindness” week, with Feb. 17 the single day so named.

“The purpose of a Day of Kindness is to remember the simple day-to-day acts of kindness that enable our community to be a kinder, safer, and more secure environment to live, work, and play,” their official proclamation states in part.

And fair — to the Post Office

The National Newspaper Association applauded passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of the USPS Fairness Act, HR 2382 last week. The bill would reverse a Congressional act of 2006 that imposed a heavy financial burden upon the U.S. Postal Service to set aside billions of dollars for future retiree benefits.

“This bill is the first step in a long journey to repair the U.S. Postal Service and protect universal postal delivery,” NNA President Matt Adelman said. “It puts USPS back on a pay-as-you-go basis for its benefits and protects community newspapers and others from obligations to pay billions in postage dollars to the U.S. Treasury to just sit there until people who aren’t even born yet retire from USPS. Without this burden, USPS will have an opportunity to preserve its business and not drive away mail with escalating postage rates.”

The bill moves to the U.S. Senate where a companion bill, S 2965, has been filed by Sens. Steve Daines, R-Montana, and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.