April 18, 2024

U.S. Postal Service shipping contractor shutting Columbus operations, cutting 82 jobs

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2024/04/18/usps-contractor-evo-transportation-closing.html

(Paywall promotion to subscribe to all relevant stories outside of a free newsnote) Not sure this link will correctly work but condensed and copied/pasted here by recipient OP of the newsnote as a quasi-governmental notice related to USPS management. Please read and alert me in comments, and I will delete if rules prevent publication condensed as is and pasted here.

By Carrie Ghose – Staff reporter, Columbus Business First
Apr 18, 2024

A major shipping contractor for the U.S. Postal Service is closing its Columbus operations center, ending 82 jobs, according to a notice filed with the state.Evo Transportation and Energy Services Inc. is "permanently ceasing all operations" at its 3115 E. 17th Ave. facility as of June 15, according to the WARN notice to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The closure is "caused by a large client unexpectedly notifying Evo that it is terminating its contract with Evo, resulting in a significant loss of work and revenue at the impacted facility," the notice said. The notice did not name USPS, but mail transportation under 200 Postal Service contracts represents 90% of Evo's revenue, according to its latest annual report. The company believes it is one of the largest ground transportation contractors to the agency.

"Over the past few years the USPS has consolidated the number of carriers it utilizes and Evo expects further consolidation of this transportation supplier base," according to Evo's latest annual report, but the company believed at the time it could win more contracts in the process.

Phoenix-based Evo was delisted in March and has been selling off assets, according to its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Its shares are now trading over-the-counter. The company filed its 2022 annual report late in November and has not filed a 2023 report.

Evo shuttered its Austin location in 2020, and filed a WARN notice for its Atlanta location this January, affecting 71 jobs. Besides Columbus, other operations centers are in Des Moines, Indianapolis, St. Louis, suburban Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. The company had 1,760 employees overall at the end of 2022, according to the annual report.

The company went public in 2017 in a reverse merger of a natural gas company into a shell company, then started acquiring regional trucking carriers.Otherwise in Central Ohio, logistics has been booming, with new carriers attracted and local companies expanding.

March 28, 2024

ADVISORY: Serious event and delays

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/francis-scott-key-bridge

Anticipated Delays Due to Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Community Physician locations: Due to changing traffic patterns resulting from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, please anticipate delays when traveling to your appointments in the Baltimore city region. If you need to reschedule or conduct a virtual appointment, please contact your doctor’s office.

Johns Hopkins Care at Home: Due to changing traffic patterns resulting from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, please anticipate delays when traveling to your appointment at our Holabird location in Baltimore. If you need to reschedule, please contact us at your earliest convenience. Additionally, your in-home care, home medical equipment and/or medication delivery may be delayed as we adjust our routes to new traffic patterns. Thank you for your patience.

March 23, 2024

Is your mail lost or missing? Postal hub problem in Atlanta, GA - Elsewhere?

USPS is having difficulties at many hub facilities for some reason, perhaps a new citizen suppression?

FYI - https://duckduckgo.com/?q=USPS+in+Atlanta%2C+GA&atb=v314-1&ia=web&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.msn.com%2Fen-us%2Fmoney%2Fcompanies%2Fsen-ossoff-georgia-reps-demand-answers-to-us-postal-service-delays-across-state-country%2Far-BB1kmpY8&pn=1

Senator Ossof indicates he wants an investigation.

Contact your local postoffice for many unexplained weird routes and tracking issues at various hubs. It's been explained to me recently that the digital tracking software is difficult to use. Mine recently scanned 1700 packages incorrectly, delaying delivery by days to weeks. I'm currently awaiting a package that spent nearly 5 days upon entering the USA without a posted USPS shipping partner/carrier tracking number in Chicago. It's now been sent to the hub in Atlanta??? apparently without a customer-known/shown tracking number for a delivery location in the burbs of Columbus, OH. The only one I have is the foreign tracking number into the US (Shop owner in China) on an Esty gift. I'm not happy being a new guinea pig test case for improved (?) service. I could drive to Chicago faster. In the past two weeks, it's the second package routed through Atlanta. At least that one came in through Miami, FL.(?} on its way north.

What's DeJoy up to now? Maybe it's time to contact Senator Sherrod Brown's office as well!

March 12, 2024

Eric Carmen dead at 74 years of age

https://ericcarmen.com/

March 12, 2024

Eric Carmen dead at 74

https://ericcarmen.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Carmen

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February 22, 2024

The Last Repair Shop 2024 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Short

February 18, 2024

High-altitude winds over Washington soared to 265 mph, near record

Propelled by the jet stream, at least two flights departing from hubs in the Mid-Atlantic reached speeds over 800 mph

By Jason Samenow
February 18, 2024 at 11:33 a.m. EST''
'
Winds roared to speeds of 265 mph high over Washington late Saturday — at about 35,000 feet above ground, cruising altitude for airplanes — as a powerful jet stream swept over the region.

The National Weather Service office serving the Washington-Baltimore region said the 265-mph wind speed was the second-highest measured since records began in the 1950s. The only higher wind speed recorded at a comparable “For those flying eastbound in this jet [stream], there will be quite a tailwind,” the Weather Service wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Virgin Atlantic flight 22, from Washington Dulles International Airport to London, took off at 10:45 p.m. Saturday and landed 45 minutes ahead of schedule.altitude was 267 mph on Dec. 6, 2002''.

United Airlines flight 64 from Newark to Lisbon, which departed at 8:35 p.m. Saturday, reached a ground speed of 835 mph just off the East Coast, according to Flight Aware, which would rank among the highest on record. The flight reached Lisbon 20 minutes early. It comes less than a month after a China Airlines flight reached a speed of 826 mph over the Pacific Ocean. It was also propelled by a tailwind over 250 mph. [snip]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/02/18/record-jet-stream-winds-dc-flights/ (paywall)

February 9, 2024

FDA says hands tied after suspect named in applesauce lead poisonings

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/fda-says-hands-tied-suspect-211949390.html

CBS News
FDA says hands tied after suspect named in applesauce lead poisonings
Alexander Tin
Updated Fri, February 9, 2024 at 5:10 AM EST·3 min read


FDA says hands tied after suspect named in applesauce lead poisonings
Authorities in Ecuador have named a suspect in their investigation of now-recalled lead-tainted applesauce, which has been linked to poisonings of more than 400 Americans across 43 states, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday — but U.S authorities have "limited authority" to take steps against him.

Ecuador's authorities allege that Carlos Aguilera, a cinnamon grinder in Ecuador, is "the likely source" of the poisonings, the FDA said in an update, noting that the investigation by the Agencia Nacional de Regulación, Control y Vigilancia Sanitaria and legal proceedings to determine responsibility for the contamination are still ongoing.

U.S. authorities have said for months that they suspected that the lead poisonings could be intentional, saying one of the theories they were pursuing was that it was the result of "economically motivated adulteration" of the cinnamon used in the applesauce.

"FDA's investigation is ongoing to determine the point of contamination and whether additional products are linked to illnesses," the agency said in its statement. [snip]

January 29, 2024

Question: Why don't casino ATMs have "deposit" buttons to bank one's winnings on the spot or at least return the "junk

fees" designed to curb ill-advised withdrawals??? My daughter, bless her heart, took me to the casino and spotted my play $100 for my birthday. We stopped at the bank ATM beforehand and withdrew some cash; no problem. Headed out for a couple hours of leisure fun!

Code in Ohio requires familial financial responsibility. Hahaha...but the State hardly ever enforces the rule. So I played, I won some and returned her monetary birthday spot in cash. Decided to get a few extra bucks from my account to play a bit longer as there was ample funds for at least another hour's fun. I'm not starving, after all. Guess what, the casino ATM declined my transaction...went to the cashier cage...declined there also. Called my bank...got transferred to fraud dept who explained they had flagged the account??? when there was sufficient funding to cover even the "junk fees." They asked for lots of info to verify my use, then removed the flag...Long story short, I did lose it but had a ball. (The grandkid always gets the change from the wins fpr his piggy bank. It amounted to about $5).

January 20, 2024

It's still 8 degrees here, and the constant drip, drip, drip of the indoor faucets and open cupboards and vanities are

driving me insane after a week...and, of course, it will be in our water/sewer bills...I've dripped those faucets on dish- and wash-clothes to lessen the sound but....drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip....

The office warned us about raising the values of our rent insurance and not letting it lapse...and threatened to investigate "water emergencies" and hold tenants responsible for damages if we don't follow their freeze alert protocols, especially if we go on OOT vacations and not keep the furnace warm enough or fail to drip, drip, drip... SMH at the genius that put inaccessible water piping without shut-off values that lead to outdoor faucets,, front and back, between the units and the main. Hope all your pipes continue to be cozy and intact!