| Advertisement |
|
|
"There are some who are Amish. How are they going to use their computer to go online and buy stamps?" wonders Dedra Sawatzky.
"I'm not a fan of it," Chy Miller says.
"The people obviously are upset," the U.S. Postal Service's Dan Wishall says.
People in Yoder are reacting to the news that their post office will continue to be open--but only half as much.
"It's happening because of the financial situation of the Postal Service," Wishall says. "Until we get some help--either through generating more retail or finding new ways to cut--this is part of our plan to reduce costs overall."
Community members learned about the change at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The Yoder Post Office will soon start closing at noon every day.
It's an inconvenience for some, but many of the small business owners in this small community near Hutchinson say reduced hours at the post office could result in reduced profits for them.
Tammy Mills operates a travel business. She says she visits the post office several times a day.
"I do most of my business through the post office," Mills says. "It's just down the block. I walk down there, and they handle all my services. I get taken care of."
About three dozen other towns in Central and Western Kansas are seeing their post offices cut back on hours also--some down to two hours a day. Many of the changes will take place in the next couple months.
The Postal Service says in all those communities, residents surveyed said they prefered the reduced hours to closing the offices althogether and turning over services to local businesses or rural mail carriers.